Czech Republic: Important Jewish heritage web resource is now (at least partially) in English

(JHE) — An important online resource for Jewish heritage sites in the Czech Republic is now at least partially available in English. Called  Židovské památky Čech, Moravy a Slezska – Jewish Heritage in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, it is a revamped and updated version of an earlier site and is aimed at creating a complete online database of the synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, monuments, and other sites around the country.

There are around 200 synagogue buildings and 370 Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic today. Many are owned by one of the ten independent Jewish communities or the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, but some are also in the property of cities and municipalities, some are churches and some are private hands.

To date, the web site includes 526 Jewish heritage sites — mainly synagogue buildings and Jewish cemeteries. 

The site is administered by Matana, which manages property owned by the Federation of Jewish Communities and the Prague Jewish community. The Czech language version was launched a year ago.

The English version came online this week — though it is still under development. The main pages, information, and navigation are in English, but information on most of the sites is still in Czech (Google translate works well).

You can search by the name of the town — but the web admins warn that for now, you must use the correct spelling, with the Czech diacritical marks when searching for monuments  —  e.g. Čáslav, not Caslav.

You can also search by time frame and type of site. And there is an alphabetical list of sites and also an interactive map that you can click on to find description, photos, information, etc.

For cemeteries that have undergone full documentation, you can also find a cemetery map and a table with the names and dates of those buried.

On the web site you can also find links to publications, and also (eventually) will enable sponsorship of site restoration and mai penance as well as the restoration of specific individual gravestones.

The web site states:

This website aims to make accessible the complete database of the Jewish heritage sites of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. As such, the website serves as a tourist portal and a source of reliable information for historians, genealogists, and the general public. In the featured database, you may find current and historical photographs, detailed descriptions of the monument’s condition, and the history of each Jewish heritage site. Those thoroughly documented cemeteries are featured here with their map and a table containing the dates and names of those buried. This website provides an invaluable source of information for all engaged in history and those looking for their ancestors to discover relations that were cruelly disrupted in the past.  

Click here to access the web site