ZDERAZ: Rakovnik, Bohemia

town website in Czech. A synagogue from the second half of the 19th century is today used as a storage place. [February 2009]

US Commission No. CZCE000419

Alternate German names: Dereisen and Woratschen. Located in Bohemia, Rakovnik at 50º09 13º34, 11 km WNW of Rakovnik, 20 km S of Zatec and 35 km W of Kladno. Cemetery: 1700 m SW of village green, on the cadastre of Oracov. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.

• Town: Obecni urad, 270 32 Oracov; tel. 0313/973-72.
  
• Regional: Zidovska Nabozenska Obec v Praze, (Ms. Jana Wolfova) Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-69-25; Okresni Urad, Referat Kultury, 269 01 Rakovnik cp. 166; tel. 0313/3282; and Pamatkovy ustav strednich Cech, Hybernska 18 110 01 Praha 1 tel. 02/23-54-940 to 2.
  
• Interested: Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-06-34 or 231-07-85; Okresni Muzeum, Vysoka 232, 269 01 Rakovnik; tel. 0313/3953, and Frantisek Herink, 270 02 Kolesovice 38. Jindrich Becvar, Zderaz 4, 270 02 Kolesovice.
  

Earliest known Jewish community was mid 17th-century (prayer room recorded). 1921 Jewish population was 3. Peak Jewish population was in first half of the 19th century with 6 families in Zderaz, seat of congregation for vicinity, and 238 in congregation in 1893. Jews moved to big towns in 20th century. Scanty congregation existed until 1938. Jewish cemetery probably originated in the 17th century with last known Conservative Jewish burial before 1939. Kolesovice (German: Koleschowitz); Dekov (German: Dekau); Jesenice (German: Jechnitz) before 1927; Petrohrad (German: Petersburg, Klumtschan), 3 to 9 km away, used this unlandmarked rural isolated flat land without sign or marker. Reached by crossing private (fields), access is open to all via a broken masonry fence with no gate. Approximate size of cemetery before World War II was and is now 0.1 ha.

100-500 stones, all in original location with 50-75% toppled or broken, date from 18th-20th century. Three historical stones were removed to the museum in Jesenice. The marble, granite and sandstone flat shaped and inscribed stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decorations, double tombstones or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew and German inscriptions. Some have traces of painting on their surfaces. Cemetery contains no known mass graves but has pre-burial house ruin. Praha Jewish community owns the Jewish cemetery. Properties adjacent to cemetery are agricultural. Rarely, private visitors stop. Vandalized frequently, local non-Jewish residents and municipal authorities cleared vegetation from the cemetery in 1983. There is no care now. Security (a secluded spot) and vandalism are very serious threats. Vegetation is a serious threat. Weather erosion and pollution are slight threats. Liquidation of the cemetery was planned in the 1980s.

Martina Chmelikova, Nad Ondrejovem 16, 147 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 24 August 1992 using Census 1724, 1849, 1930. Cadastre of 1841. Jahrbuch fur die israelische Cultusgemeinden Bohemens (1893-94). Wenzel Rott: Der politische Bezirk Podersam (1902), letters of local historians of both Kolesovice and Jesenice (1983). Other documentation exists but is not accessible. Exact records: No. 26, 35, 36, 63, 73 in archives of Jewish congregation in Praha. M.Chmelikova visited site in August 1992.