Jewish Religious Community of Kolín

Collection description

Scope and content:: The fonds contains registers of the Jewish Religious Community of Kolín from the latter half of the 18th century, marriage banns register (1853–1861), charitable foundation files, financial registers, statutes (1873) and registers of the burial society (chevra kadisha), registers of the Derech Yeshara Association, a group of registers and files of a Jewish school, and records of the Spira family. Most of the extant materials date from the 19th century. A donation book and charitable foundation files were the only records kept until the period of Nazi Occupation.

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 Kolín is documented from the start of the 14th century. The local Jewish community was probably in existence from the start of the 15th century and was one of the largest in Bohemia. Many prominent Talmudists and other scholars were active there. In 1925 the community incorporated the area of the disbanded Jewish Religious Community of Kouřim. The Jewish Religious Community of Kolín was disbanded by the Nazis during the Second World War but subsequently resumed its activities.

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Burial; Education; Education--Schools and universities; Financial records; Hevrah kadisha; Jewish community; Jewish community records; Personal records; Vital records; Vital records--Marriage records

System of arrangement:: Materials in the fonds are arranged thematically as follows: registers and files of the Jewish community, registers and files of the burial society (chevra kadisha), registers of a Jewish association, registers and files of a Jewish school, inheritance records.

Finding aids:: Dolista K, Heřman J: Židovská náboženská obec Kolín, Prozatímní inventární seznam, 1971, 10 s., ev. č. 64.

Links to finding aids:: http://c.jewishmuseum.cz/files/documents/archiv-sbirky-a-fondy/inventare/064ZNOKolin-prozatimniinventarniseznam.pdf