US Commission No. CZCE000415
Alternate German name: Hohenelbe. Vrchlabi is located in Bohemia, Trutnov at 50°37′40″N 15°36′37″E , 21 km WNW of Trutnov and 26 km NE of Jicin. Cemetery: 400 meters NW of chateau. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with than 10 Jews.
- Town: Mestsky Urad, 543 01 Vrchlabi; tel. 0438/216-92 and mayors' tel. 0438/216-91.
- Regional: Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, Horska 5/1, 541 Trutnov; tel. 0439/3251 or 4251 and Jewish congregation: Ms. Jana Wolfova, Zidovska navozenska obec v Praze, Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-69-25.
- Key holder to municipal cemetery gate: Hrbitovni sprava, 54 3 01 Vrchlabi; for Jewish cemetery information call tel. 0438/220-27.
Earliest known Jewish community was late 19th or early 20th century. 1930 Jewish population was 105. The history of the religious society is unknown because the Nazis burned the archives. The prayer-hall existed probably since second half of 19th century. Peak Jewish population probably was about 1900 with 136 people in 1910. Later, Jews moved to big towns. Forced Labor camps with Jewish inmates existed in vicinity 1942-1945. This was the native town of American musicologist Paul Nettle (1889-1972). The unlandmarked Jewish cemetery originated before 1913 with last known Conservative or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial in 1945. Soviet prisoners of war were later exhumed. The suburban hillside, part of a municipal cemetery, has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a continuous masonry wall with a locking gate of municipal cemetery. The approximate size of cemetery before WWII was 0.2431 ha and is now possibly 0.2531 ha.
There are no stones, no known mass graves, or structures. The municipality owns property used for municipal cemetery/urn grove. Adjacent properties are recreational, agricultural and cemetery. Private visitors and local residents stop visit the cemetery frequently as municipal cemetery. Nazis vandalized the cemetery prior to World War II in 1938, during World War II and the remainder liquidated after 1974. Now, authorities occasionally clean or clear municipal cemetery. Local contributions as municipal cemetery and as a Jewish cemetery pay the caretaker.
Vlastmila Hamackova, Zabelska 37, Martina Chmelikova, Nad Ondrejovem 16, 140 00 Praha 4; tel. 02/69-20-350 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on 28 August 1992. Documentation: censuses of 1910, 1921, and 1930; 1986 letter of Mr. Kovar, local parish-priest of Evangelical Church; and 1981-1983 letters of head of regional Jewish community in Trutnov, Vit Korec, deceased. 78.yes. Korec in Praha from 1981 to 1987 were interviewed.