photo. The old Jewish Cemetery in Trhový Štěpánov from the 1730s has graves from the cemetery in Dolní Kralovice reburied here. Chateau [February 2009]
[used the cemetery at Trhovy Stepanov until approximately 1890]
US Commission No. CZCE000267
Alternate German name: Wlaschim. Vlasim is located in Bohemia-Benesov at 49º42 14º54, 17 km SE of Benesov and 56 km SE of Praha. Cemetery: 1200 meters NE, close to the road leading to Pavlovice. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Town: Engineer Svejda, Mestsky Urad-odbor kultury, Jana Masaryka 302, 258 01 Vlasim; tel. 0303/431-31.
- Regional: Jewish congregation: Ms. Jana Wolfova, ZNO Praha, Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1 tel. 02/231-69-25. Dr. Lenka Svobodova, Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, Male namesti 74, 256 01 Benesov u Prahy; tel. 301/233-53. District Conservator of Monuments: Dr. Jiri Tywoniak, Zapova 601/22, 256 01 Benesov u Prahy; tel. 0301/236-18.
- Interested: Okresni Muzeum, zamek, 258 01 Vlasim; tel. 0303/429-27 and Okresni Muzeum, Vitezne namesti 3, 256 46 Benesov u Prahy; tel. 0301/204-14. Regional Historian: Jan Svoboda, Lidicka 732, 258 01 Vlasim. Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-07-85 and 231-06-34.
Earliest known Jewish community was 1724. 1930 Jewish population was 67. Peak Jewish population was in 1880 with 172 people. Later, Jews moved to big towns. This was the native town of Austrian painter Salomon Benesch (1867-1942). The landmarked Jewish cemetery originated or renovated in 1890 with last known Conservative or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial before 1943. The suburban flat land of a hillside, separate but near cemeteries, has Hebrew inscriptions on wall plate that is lying on the ground. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall and non-locking gate. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.1863 ha.
1-20 stones date from second half of 19th century. The granite and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew, German and Czech inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. Within the limits of the site is a wall. Praha Jewish community owns cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural. Occasionally, private visitors and local residents stop. Vandalism occurred during World War II, occasionally 1945-1991. Jewish groups within the country did the restoration in 1945-46 with vandalism afterward. There is no maintenance. Serious threat: vandalism. Moderate threat: pollution. Slight threat: weather erosion, vegetation and existing nearby development.
Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 75 completed survey on 8 July 1992. Documentation: censuses of 1724, 1880, 1930; Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries of Bohemia and Moravia (1980); Jahrbuch fur die israelische Cultusgemeinden Bohemens 1893-94); Dnesek, 1948, p. 633-635; Frantisek Al. Slavik: Dejiny mesta Vlasime (1889); 1947 notes of Statni Zidovske Muzeum Praha; and 1991-92 notes and letters of Jan Svoboda. The site was not visited. J. Svoboda was interviewed in 1991.