Jewish Religious Community of Louny

Collection description

Scope and content:: The fonds contains the statutes of the Jewish Religious Community of Louny (1896, 1928), meeting minutes, personnel records, a community membership list, documents relating to the sale of the synagogue in Hříškov, financial records, a register of synagogue seats, statutes and other documents of the burial society (chevra kadisha)-including graves registers-and registers of a women's association. Material relating to the affiliated community of Horní Ročov: financial registers and Jewish school registers. Material relating to the affiliated community of Hříškov: a circumcision register (1796–1848), a register of synagogue seats, statutes and registers of the burial society (chevra kadisha). The fonds also contains correspondence records (1941), a list of payers of the religious tax, financial records of the burial society (chevra kadisha), a membership list and a graves register (kept until 1942), all from 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:: It is assumed that Jews were already living in Louny in the 14th century. A Jewish religious community was established there in the following century. Jews were expelled in the 16th century, and it was not until the mid-19th century that a new settlement began to develop. A prayer association was established in 1860, becoming a religious community in 1875. The community incorporated the area of the disbanded Jewish Religious Community of Hříškov in 1932. It was disbanded by the Nazis during the Second World War and did not subsequently resume its activities.

Subject terms:: Burial; Cemeteries; Cemeteries--Gravestones; Circumcision; Education; Education--Schools and universities; Financial records; Hevrah kadisha; Jewish community; Jewish community records; Jewish community records--Mohel books; Synagogues

System of arrangement:: Materials in the fonds are arranged thematically as follows: registers and files of the Jewish community, a register of the local synagogue, registers and files of the burial society (chevra kadisha), registers of Jewish associations, registers and files of affiliated communities.

Finding aids:: Dolista K, Heřman J: Židovská náboženská obec Louny, Prozatímní inventární seznam, 1971, 3 s., ev. č. 82.

Links to finding aids:: http://c.jewishmuseum.cz/files/documents/archiv-sbirky-a-fondy/inventare/082ZNOLouny-prozatimniinventarniseznam.pdf