JewishGen Austria-Czech SIG for genealogical information.
To reach the cemetery from the village, go up the hill to the second farm track SW of the village (about 2 km). Go 800 m down the track and through fields to the stand of trees on the hillside to the left. The cemetery is surrounded by a masonry wall with the gate missing. The pre-burial house is in ruins. 50-60 gravestones are in half of the cemetery, many overturned and/or broken. All are weathered. The latest burial found was in 1923 or 1942. [February 2009]
The cemetery began in the 1800s or during the 1866 cholera epidemic. Jan Herman's book indicates before 1830; a local villager indicated 1866 in a cholera epidemic. The isolated rural flat land on a hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing private property, access is open to all via a broken masonary wall. The approximate size of cemetery before WWII was 800 sq. m. The granite (probable) flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones and flat stones with carved relief decoration have Czech inscriptions. No structures. Prague Jewish community owns property used as a cemetery only. Adjacent properties are agricultural. The site is visited rarely with no maintenance. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access and vegetation. Slight threat: vandalism. Vera Finberg, 9716 Ceralene Drive, Fairfax, Va 22032; 703-978-6990 (August 25, 1997) visited and used no documentation. An unnamed local resident in 1981 gave information on date of cemetery. [1997]
UPDATE: In January 2006, the first burial since WWII occurred when Felix Barber of London, who died on December 31, 2005, was buried there. A minyan and rabbi came from the Brno Jewish community came to assist the family. Source: Ben Barber, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [March 2006]
"Return to Rousinov: Memories of a Murdered People" by Ben Barber, State Department correspondent for the Washington Times. "The older stones were in Hebrew, written without vowels, ...Carved symbols of hands, fish, deer, and trees added to their mystery. About 1830, the tombstones began using Latin letters...names of families: Lampl, Munk, Barber, Gottlow, Steiner....The cemetery is at Rousinov, a town about fifteen miles northeast of Moravia's capital, Brno. Back in the seventeenth century, the town was mostly Jewish. Both the cemetery and the squat former synagogue in the Jewish quarter ...are more than 500 years old. The onion-domed Catholic church that stands today on the town square is a mere 250 years old. Except for those under the snow in the cemetery, the Jews are now all gone." [February 2009]
1722/3 Torah Ark Valance from Rousinov [February 2009]
US Commission No. CZCE000169
Alternate name: Czech-Rausinov. Neu-Raussnitz and Raußnitz in German and Novy Rousinov in Hungarian. Rousinov is located in Morava-Vyskov at 49°12' N, 16°53' E , 11 miles E of Brno (Brünn), 21 miles SW of Prostějov (Proßnitz). Cemetery: 0.4 km S, Travniky Street. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Mayor Engineer Vladimir Mikyska, Mestsky Urad, Susilovo namesti 64, 683 01 Rousinov; tel. 0507/2377.
- Local: Bozena Janska, Mestsky Urad-Referat Kultury, Ssilovo nam.64, 683 01 Rousinov; tel. 0507/92323.
- Regional: Dr. Ivo Klenk, Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, 682 01 Vyskov; tel. 0507/411.
- Interested: Dr. Frantisek Jordan, Director, Muzeum Vyskovska, zamek, 682 01 Vyskov; tel. 0507/21147. Eduard Kalina, Susilova namesti 36, 682 01 Rousinov; tel. 0.
- Caretaker with key: Anezka Svobodova, Traniky 21, 682 01 Rousinov; tel. 0.
Earliest known Jewish community was 1554. Jewish population: 199 (in 1900), 31 (in 1910). 1930 Jewish population was 31. Separation of Jewish quarter occurred in 1727. Rosa Barach (1841-1913) poet, Rabbi Dr. Hehemias Brull (1843-1891); Siegfied Reiter (1862-1942), historian; Lisa Frankl (1895-1942, painter; family: Barber (buried here). The unlandmarked Conservative Jewish cemetery originated in 16th century with last known Jewish burial in 1942. No other towns or villages used this cemetery. The flat urban location has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a continuous masonry wall and locking gate. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.5964 ha.
500-5000 stones all in original location date from 1695-20th century. The marble, granite, limestone and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones or obelisks have Hebrew, German and Czech inscriptions. Some tombstones have traces of painting on their surfaces, bronze decorations or lettering and/or metal fences around graves. The cemetery contains no special memorial monuments or known mass graves. Brno Jewish community owns the Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural and residential. Occasionally, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred 1945-1981. Local non-Jewish residents, regional/national authorities and Jewish groups within country did restoration in 1988 and 1990. Brno Jewish congregation pays the regular caretaker. Serious threat: weather erosion. Slight threats: uncontrolled access, pollution, vegetation, vandalism, and existing and proposed nearby development.
Engineer arch Jaroslav Klenovsky, Zebetinska 13, 623 00 Brno; tel. 0 completed survey on 1 March 1992. Documentation: Hugo Gold: Die Juden und Judengemeinden Bohemens (1934); Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries of Bohemia and Moravia (1980). Other exisiting documentation was not used. No site visits or interviews occurred.