(Daudleb) see Vamberk for Doudleby's cemetery
map and photos: "The small village lies about 10 km south of the town of České Budějovice above the Malše river. The Slavonic settlement, the centre of the Slavonic tribe Doudlebs, and then the fortress of the Slavníkovec family were here before 1000. Only remains of ramparts have been preserved. The first mention of the village comes from the 14th century and it reports on the Church of St. Vincent de Paul. The Early-Gothic Church of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in the place of the original settlement in the first half of the 13th century. It was extended later and at the beginning of the 18th century it was rebuilt into the Baroque style. A lot of valuable Gothic tabular paintings originated in this church are deposited in the Czech National Gallery in present. Doudleby is not only the village, it is also the whole region around the village. The people living here have peculiar habits and their own folk culture." [February 2009]
Doudleby is one of the oldest settlements in the region, already prominent around the year 950 but the Jewish community dates from about 1640. Since 1562 Doudleby belonged to the Counts of Bubna. Their Late Renaissance castle was returned at the end of the Communist regime. The Bubna estate included Doudleby, Jeleni and Blato (both in Chrudim region), and earlier Vamberk (Senftenberg) near Daudleb. The count of Bubna (Buben) gained the right to settle 43 Jewish families in the estate Doudleby. For many years this was the number of Jewish families (Familianten) out of about 1,850 in Bohemia. Doudleby Jews suffered blood-libel riots in 1772 when just before Pesach, a Christian girl was found dead in Doudleby. Suspected that the Jews murdered her to bake Matzos with her blood [The Blood Libel], rioters attacked Jews. Bubna estate armed personnel prevented farther violence. Of course, later the murderer was found, a Christian man. From 1777 they had their own synagogue, rebuilt in stone in 1821. Before the mid-19th century, 46 Jewish families lived in Doudleby in 29 houses in a contiguous area (left bank of the River Orlice and west of today’s school), with 1 family in Vyhnánov. An August 17th, 1860 fire in the Jewish Ghetto began at the house of Samuel Weissbart and destroyed fifteen houses in the northern side of the street (today’s Školní, then it was also called Židovská/Jewish/ Street). The houses on the southern side, including the Synagogue, were spared. After the fire, this place was also referred to a Na Spáleništi/On the Burnt Site. A Jewish school also fell victim to fire and therefore it was moved to the southern part, undamaged by the fire, today’s No.135. At the scene of the fire, the Jews had their own slaughter house and nearby a mikvah. After this fire, most of the families moved out of Doudleby. Two women who lived in Doudleby before World War II were taken away by the Nazis in 1942. Both died. In 1951 the synagogue was purchased by the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. [February 2009]