photo: Northern end of cemetery collides with an industrial complex. cemetery photo and town website. Alternate name: Senftenberg [Ger]. A small Jewish community probably existed in the 17th century whose Jews were expelled and found refuge in Doudleby. The cemetery is on a hill to the north of the main square. Most buried there were from Doudleby rather than Vamberk. In 1820, the cemetery was enlarged and the wall built to enclose it. [February 2009]
Burial list [February 2009] Vamberk Lace Museum [February 2009]
I revisted the cemetery in July 2010. Vegetation is somewhat overgrown, but there were visible restoration efforts on the site. Lack guiding signs seems to be the main obstacle to locate the cemetery. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Haifa Israel [August 2010]
US Commission Report No. CZCE000314
Alternate name: Wamberg in German. Vamberk is located in Bohemia, Rychnov nad Kneznou at 50º07 16º18, 5 km SSE of Rychonov nad Kneznou and 32 km ESE of Hradec Kralove. Cemetery: 600 meters N of square. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Mayor Lubor Borek, Mestsky Urad, 517 54 Vamberk; tel. 0445/412-31 and 414-14 with mayor's office telephone: 0445/413-22.
- Regional: Petr ben Pinhas Narwa, Okresni urad, 516 01 Rychnov nad Kneznou; tel. 0445/212-84 or 217-04 and Pamatkovy ustav vychodnich Cech, zamek, 530 02 Pardubice and Jewish congregation: Ms. Jana Wolfova, Zidovska navozenska obec v Praze, Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-69-25.
- Interested: Okresni Muzeum, zamek, 516 11 Rychnov nad Kneznou; tel. 0445/2250 and Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-06-34 and 231-07-85.
- Caretaker: Vladimir Dvorak, Janova 588, 517 54 Vamberk.
Earliest known Jewish community wash prayer-room was allegedly in the 17th century (but not recorded) then expelled and moved to nearby Doudleby nad Orlici. Later, only one Jewish family lived in Vamberk. Local cemetery owned by Doudleby n. Orlici congregation originated by record in 1688. 1930 Jewish population was 3. Buried in the cemetery are rabbis and founders of textile industry in Kostelec nad Orlici with last known Conservative Jewish burial 1936. Doudleby nad Orlici Ger: (Daudleb); Chocen Ger: (Chotzen), 3 km and 14 km away, used this landmarked isolated suburban flat land of a hillside by water without sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall without gate. The approximate size of cemetery before WWII was 0.2617 ha and is now approximately 0.2 ha
100-500 stones, most in original location, date from 1700-20th century. The marble, granite and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, multi-stone monuments or obelisks have Hebrew, German, Czech, and ?. Some have portraits on stones and/or metal fences around graves. The cemetery contains no known mass graves or special sections but has a ruin. Praha Jewish community owns the site used for Jewish cemetery, agriculture, and industrial-commercial use. Adjacent properties are commercial-industrial, agricultural, and residential. The boundaries are smaller than 1939 because of commercial or industrial development. Occasionally, private visitors stop. This cemetery was not vandalized. Local non-Jewish residents and Jewish groups within country do work periodically. Now, individuals and Praha Jewish congregation paid regular caretaker do occasional clearing or cleaning. Moderate threats: uncontrolled access, pollution, vegetation and proposed nearby development. Slight threat: weather erosion and vandalism.
Vlastmila Hamackova, Zabelska 37, 312 15 Plzen, office tel. 02/231-06-34 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 and Vlastmila Hamackova, Zabelska 37, Engineer Mojmir Maly, Ve Stresovickach 58, 169 00 Praha 6; tel. 02/35-57-69 completed survey on 24 August 1992. Documentation: censuses of 1723 and 1930; notes of Statni Zidovske Muzeum Praha; Josef F. Kral: Pameti mest Vamberka (1927); Vacslav Kodousek: Monografie Doudleb (1874-1885); and Jan Herman Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980). The site was not visited.