cemetery photos and cemetery photos [February 2009]
"It has 9,528 inhabitants. There is a big machine factory ZVVZ (Závody na výrobu vzduchotechnických zařízení - The Factory for the Production of Air-technic Equipment)....Archeological excavations in the area have shown that the first people lived in the area in the Paleolithic [age]. ...Discoveries from the Bronze Age and the period of the Hallstatt Culture ... During the Migration Period the area was slowly settled by Slavs, who started driving out native inhabitants (the first Slavic excavations date back to 8th century). ... [built at the crossroads of two 12th century trade routes]. The first written mention about Milevsko is from 1184 ... about a rich person Jiří z Milevska (Yuri of Milevsko). Three years later a Premonstratensian monastery was build. The following years were the time of prosperity... Its breakdown is connected with ... the Hussites, who burnt it in 1420. In the 17th and 18th century the town was struck by the Black Death. Wikipedia [February 2009]
Torah photo and NY Times story about 2009 theft: " 6 TORAHS STOLEN FROM SYNAGOGUES. February 25,2009. Police and religious leaders said they doubted that the thefts were the result of anti-Semitism or vandalism. Milevsko Torah --''There is no indication of defamation or desecration,'' Mr. Kundts said. ''They're not painting swastikas or damaging property. ''This is a specific criminal act to steal a specific religious object.'' Two Torahs were taken Feb. 10 from Congregation M'kor Shalom in Mount Laurel, N.J. One of the scrolls was known as the Milevsko Torah and was recovered after World War II in Prague.''The congregation feels violated -individually and collectively,'' Rabbi Fred Neulander said. ''Their reactions are very similar to reactions of death.''Rabbi Neulander said it would cost between $15,000 and $40,000 each to replace the Torahs. He said he doubted that they would be recovered because the handwriting in them is the only means of identification."
Jews lived here since the mid-16th century. in 1694 - 8 families, in 1783 - 10 families, in 1849 - 90 Jews, the highest number in 1890 - 127 Jews, 1910 - 133 Jews and in 1930 - 81 Jews. The birthplace of lawyer and politician Angelo Goldstein (1889 - 1947). New Synagogue - Sokolovská street No. 209, built in 1914 - 1919 by leading Prague architect Střílek. Its exterior is a unique combination of neo-Classicistic and Cubistic elements designed by the leading Czech Cubism architect, O. Tyl. The synagogue served to the Jewish congregation until WWII with its preserved neo-Empire sandstone sanctuary and a women gallery supported on three sides with stone columns. During the occupation, a store for dried milk and packagings was here. Since 1950 it has been used as a chapel by the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. Cemetery – in the cadastre of the Sepekov township, 1.7 km northeast of the square in Milevsko, at the edge of the Bělohrad forest at gamekeeper’s lodge “ Židovna”. It was founded before 1714. There are about 200 gravestones in regular rows, dating to 1938, including several valuable Baroque and Classicistic steles. The ceremonial hall was built in 1928. The Jews of Milvesko were deported to Terezin and Tabor concentration camps from November 12-16, 1942. [February 2009]
map and photos: " The town Milevsko lies on Milevský Potok (Milevsko Stream) about 20 km northwest of the town Tábor and 12 km from the Orlík Dam. The town history dates back to the end of the 12th century when the construction of the Premonstratensian monastery started. In the 14th century it grew into the small town. When the monastery was the main economic, cultural and ideological centre of the region at that time...and closed in the 18th century, the whole region declined. In the 19th century it became one of the poorest regions in Bohemia. A new flowering came after the Second World War (mainly industry started developing).The oldest part of the town is the monastery on the northern outskirts comprised of the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary and St. Gilles' Church, which stands in the cemetery. In the complex is a town museum too. In the square in the centre of the town there is the Baroque old town hall from the 17th century, the Neo-Renaissance new town hall with graffiti from 1902 and the Pseudo-Romanesque St. Bartholomew's Church from 1866. The Jewish synagogue with valuable entry with the Cubist elements was built between 1914-1919. A speciality is the nature gallery of the modern granite sculptures from the 1990's in the Bažantnice park near the monastery. A traditional carnival with fancy-dress parade has taken place in the town since the third quarter of the 19th century. ...
The old Jewish cemetery lies on the north-eastern outskirts of the town about 1 km far from the monastery. It was used since the foundation at the beginning of the 18th century until the Second World War." [February 2009] NEARBY:
protected area Kněz
Květovská Obora (Květov Enclosure)
Orlík chateau
Zvíkov castle
village Červená nad Vltavou
village Sepekov
small town Bernartice
small town Jistebnice
US Commission No. CZCE000363
Alternate names: Milevsko [Cz], Mühlhausen [Ger]. Town is in the Bohemia, Pisek at 49°27' N, 14°22' E , 22 km NE of Pisek, 21 km WNW of Tabor, and 44 miles S of Praha (Prague), in S Bohemia. Cemetery: 2 km ENE of the square, on the cadastre of Sepekov. Present population is 5000-25,000 with than 10 Jews.
- Town: 1. Mestsky Urad, 399 01 Milevsko, mayor's tel. 0368/3461 and Dept. of Culture: 0368/3549; and 2. Obecni urad, 398 51 Sepekov; tel. 0368/86286 and 86274.
- Regional: 1. Jewish Congregation: ZNO Praha (Ms. Jana Wolfova), Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/2318664; 2. Pamatkovy Ustav, Jiznich Cech, namesti Premysia Otakara 34, 370 21 Ceske Budejovice; tel. 038/23792; and 3. (Inspector for Care of Historical Monuments) Jiri Hladky (tel. 0362/2321) and Head, Zbynek Samsuk, Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, ulica O. Sevcika 207, 397 01 Pisek; tel. 03624384.
- Interested: 1. Prachenske Muzeum, head: Vaclav Bartos, Velke namesti 114, 397 24 Pisek; tel. 0362/4731 and 4732; 2. Vlastivedne Muzeum, Klasterni 568, 399 01 Milevsko; tel. 0368/2583; 3. PhDr. Karel Dolista (local historian and former archivist of State Jewish Museum), Mazurska 519, 181 00 Praha 8; tel. 02/8559606; and 4. Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/2310634.
Earliest known Jewish community was late 17th century. 1930 Jewish population was 81. Noteworthy historical events: Jewish community reduced by authorities in 1724. Peak Jewish population was in second half of 19th century (198 people in 1890). Later, Jews moved to big towns. The landmarked Jewish cemetery originated in 1715 with last known Conservative or Reform Jewish burial before 1943. Between fields and woods, on a slightly isolated hillside a tablet in Czech near the entrance gives a brief history. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a newly reconstructed masonry wall and non-locking gate. Size of cemetery before and after WWII: 0.1932 ha.
100-500 gravestones, with 20-100 not in original locations and 25%-50% toppled or broken, date from 1715-20th century. Some stones removed from the cemetery are incorporated into roads or structures. The marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew, German, and/or Czech inscriptions. Tin roofs [ohel] protect several gravestones. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. A pre-burial house has wall inscriptions ("You are dust and you will return to dust" in Czech and Hebrew) and a little platform for funeral speeches. Praha Jewish community owns the property used for Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are meadow, private orchard, and forest. Occasionally, organized Jewish tours or pilgrimage groups, private visitors, and local residents stop. The cemetery never was vandalized. Regional or national authorities and Jewish groups within country re-erected stones, cleared vegetation and fixed wall after 1989. Current care: continuing reconstruction. Security (uncontrolled access) and vandalism are moderate threats. Weather erosion, pollution, and vegetation are slight threats. Vegetation overgrowth seasonally prevents access.
Ladislav Mertl, Mgr. of Geography, Kubanske na. 1322/17, Praha 10-Vrsovice; tel. 02/743213 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey in August 1992. Documentation: 1. Josef Kytka: Milevsko a jeho kraj (1940); 2. Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980); 3. Pamatky archeologicke a mistopisne III (1859); 4. Jahrbuch fur die israelische Cultesgemeinden Bohemens (1894-95); 5. Cadastre of 1831 and 1855; and Censuses of 1723, 1849, 1890, 1930, and 1991. Other documentation exists but were inaccessible: records No. 14, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 in archives of Prague Jewish Congregation. Mertl visited site on 8 September 1992. Dr. K. Dolista in Praha (1985-1988) was interviewed.