NOVÁ CEREKEV JEWISH QUARTER
Of the hundreds of Jews who lived in Nová Cerekev at the end of the 19th century, no one lives here any longer. It is interesting that a closed ghetto was not created here, but the houses were concentrated around the synagogue.
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Nová Cerekev
District: Pelhřimov
39415
- Wheelchair access
The landmark date of the establishment of a Jewish community with a house of prayer in Nová Cerekev in the Pelhřimov region is said to be around 1690. Jews appeared here as early as 1570 and at the beginning of the 18th century there were already six Jewish families living there. At that time, the Jewish community built its first synagogue featuring a residential section on the east side of Rubešova Street. Next to it stood a rabbi's house, a ritual bath, a Jewish school and until 1903 a hospital.
In 1840 there were fourteen Jewish houses in the town. The community had its own teacher and rabbi, as well as a hazzan, hospital administrator, kosher butcher and gravedigger. The houses on the northern side of Rubešova Street are preserved in their original form and together with the synagogue form a distinctive urban unit.
In 1895 there were 109 Jews living in Nová Cerekev, five years later only 63 people and in 1930 twenty people. After 1983, the town’s Jewish community joined that of Pelhřimov and services were held in both towns. 19 Jews from Nová Cerekev perished during the Second World War.
The entrance to the synagogue is complicated by several stairs for wheelchair users, but these can be overcome with the help of a chaperone.
Photo: Market town Nová Cerekev, archive of Vysočina Tourism
