Jewish Religious Community of Rakovník

Collection description

Scope and content:: The fonds contains the statutes of the Jewish Religious Community of Rakovník (1879), minutes of meetings, election records, official memoranda, financial records, a register of synagogue seats, plans for alterations to the local synagogue and cemetery, books/registers of a Jewish school, statutes (1855, 1879–1881), records of the burial society (chevra kadisha), statutes (1893) and minutes of meetings held by a women's association, and records of the associated communities of Slabce and Svinařov. The fonds also contains the community's correspondence from 1941–1942.

Archival history:: The records were incorporated into the archives of the Jewish Museum in Prague during the Second World War as part of shipments of material from Jewish religious communities that had been disbanded.

Administrative/biographical history:: Jewish settlement in Rakovník is documented from the middle of the 15th century. A religious community existed peramps from the 17th century. Rakovník was the seat of the regional rabbinate in the 19th century. The community was disbanded by the Nazis during the Second World War and did not subsequently resume its activities.

Subject terms:: Burial; Education; Education--Schools and universities; Hevrah kadisha; Jewish community; Jewish community records; Synagogues

System of arrangement:: Materials in the fonds are arranged thematically as follows: books/registers and files of the Jewish community, books/registers, files and plans of the local synagogue, registers of a Jewish school, books/registers and files of the burial society (chevra kadisha), books/registers and files of a Jewish association, books/registers and files of associated communities.

Finding aids:: Dolista K, Heřman J: Židovská náboženská obec Rakovník, Prozatímní inventární seznam, 1971, 4 s., ev. č. 124.

Links to finding aids:: http://c.jewishmuseum.cz/files/documents/archiv-sbirky-a-fondy/inventare/124ZNORakovnik-prozatimniinventarniseznam.pdf