Jaroměř, Jermer. 50°21' N 15°55' E, 66.8 miles ENE of Praha.
website in Czech with photo: not landmarked. cemetery is part of the municipal cemeteries and open during their hours. "Jewish part of the city cemetery on the NE outskirts of the main road leading to Nachod was established in 1893, in two rows with 29 modern tombstones visible. Outside the Jewish section still stands gravestone of DVM. J. Nettela of 1903. ongoing maintenance." [Sep 2011]
At the beginning of the11th century, duke Jaromir built a fort here and gave the town name Jaromer. The oldest written document about Jaroměř written in 1126 or 1298 concerns the existence of the town. Declaration from the year 1307 confirmed city rights. In 1421 Jan Zizka from Trocnov made this a staunch Hussite town. Queen Barbara Celska wrote a town history. Later, the town saw commercial prosperity but also war and other disasters. At the beginning of the18th century, Jaromer started to build Sporks Spa in Kuks. Of interest for whole region is Josefov´s Citadel near Jaromer built from 1780 to 1787 on plans of French engineer Mr.Duhamel de Querlonde. Industrialization and a railway arrived in 1857. Josefov became a part of Jaromer in 1948. Josefov Fortress details: see Josefov. Tourism web site: "Between 1780 and 1789, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph II built an extensive military fort and a town here, which conformed to the Classicist ideas of an ideal town. The large complex of the Upper and Lower fort and the fortress Brodce formed a perfect defensive system, built of 500 million bricks, was paradoxically never besieged or conquered. The military town itself was built on a regular geometric ground plan and includes mainly military and administrative buildings (barracks, headquarters etc.). A modest dominant of the town is the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, built in the early 19th century. In the depth of 23m under the ground there are 60 kilometres of casemates, which are partly accessible to the public." [February 2009]
US Commission No CZCE000038:
Alternate/Former name: (German) Jermer. The town is in Bohemia, Nacod at 50º22 15º55, 16 km NNE of Hradec Kralove. Cemetery: 1200 meters NE of the main (old) square, close to the road leading to Caslavky. Present town population is 5000-25,000 with possibly fewer than 10 Jews.
- Town: Mestsky Urad, 551 00 Jarmer; tel. 0442/2141 and mayor's tel. 0442/2266.
- Regional: 1. Okresni Urad, Referat Kultury, 547 01 Nachod; tel. 0441/201-29; 2. Pamatkovy Ustav Vychodnich Cech zamek, 530 02 Pardubice; and 3. Zidovska Nabozenska Obec v Praze, Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-69-25.
- Interested: Mestske Muzeum, Husova 295, 551 01 Jaromer; tel. 0442/2731; and 4. Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-06-34 or 231-07-85.
- Caretaker with key: Technicke slzby (Custodian of municipal Cemetery), tel 0442/2163.
Earliest known Jewish community dates from second half of the 19th century. 1930 Jewish population was 32 in Jaromer and 66 in adjoining Josefov. Jewish religious society was founded in second half of 19th century. Soldiers of garrison in adjoining town-fortress Josefov (Ger: Josefstadt) were largest part of worshippers. Prayer-room in Jaromer probably disbanded after WWI. Seat of congregation and rabbi were in Dvur-Kralove nad Labem, 11 km away. This was native town of Hana Volakova (1904-1985), historian and head of the State Jewish Museum in Prague, and of Mudr. Wilhelm Winternitz (1881-1906, founder of hydropathy). The unlandmarked Jewish cemetery originated in second half of 19th century with last known Conservative or Reform/Progressive Jewish burial probably 1976. The flat suburban location is part of a municipal cemetery with no sign. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. The Jewish portion has no separation from the rest of the cemetery by wall, fence, or gate. Size of cemetery before and after WWII: approximately 0.0125 ha.
20-100 gravestones in original location with less than 25% toppled or broken date from second half of 19th-20th centuries. The granite, limestone, and sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones, multi-stone monuments, pr horizontally set stones have Hebrew and/or Czech inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. Some stones removed from the cemetery are incorporated into roads or structures. The cemetery property is used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are residential and Christian cemetery. Frequently, private visitors and local residents stop. The cemetery probably was never vandalized. [?] Local or municipal authorities occasionally cleared vegetation. Current care is occasional clearing or cleaning by authorities )caretaker is the municipal cemetery). Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Security (uncontrolled access), weather erosion, and vegetation are slight threats. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem preventing access.
Martina Chmelikova, Mad Ondrejovem 16, 140 00 Praha 4; tel. 02/69-20-350 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 115 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on 16 August 1992. Documentation: censuses of 1849 and 1930 and 1983 letter of regional Evangelical parish priest, Jan Skubal. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible: No. 20, 35, 36, 45, 59, 60, and 62 in archives of town of Jaromer. M. Chmelikova conducted no interviews but visited site in August 1992.