Jewish Religious Community of Břeclav

Collection

Scope and content:: The fonds contains fragments of documents of the Jewish religious community in Břeclav, in particular about Jewish foundations. There are 8 accounting books of foundations of the religious community: 3 general ledgers of foundations 1887-1937; the Schwitzer foundation 1823-1918; the Susskind foundation 1843-1890; 2 books of the Samuel Goldreich foundation 1895-1938; book of foundation interest 1911-1917. The fonds also contains the following documents: foundation sheets 1868-1933 and documents of the creditors of the foundation administration payment fund 1926-1933; purchase contract between the Jewish Community and Katy Hofmannová 1870; fragments of accounting documents 1917-1938; fragments of correspondence about foundations 1917, correspondence with the Moravia Lodge in Brno on exhibition of cult items 1931. There are also Jewish files that were handed over by the liquidation commissioner to Liberec in 1940 which relate to the period of the Holocaust.

Archival history:: The history of this fonds are not very clear. This evidently concerns part of the documents of the Jewish religious community in Břeclav which should now be stored in the archives of the Jewish Museum in Prague. These archival records were stored or hidden in the museum in Břeclav by the last foundation curator, Dr. Ignác Cžucžka, a lawyer from Břeclav . They were discovered in the museum during the time of the Protectorate by the occupying authorities and handed over to the District Commissioner for Liquidation of Jewish Organisations in the districts of Břeclav and Hustopeče. He then sent them to the head office of the authority Stillhaltekommissar für Organisationen (Continuity Commissioner for Organisations) in Liberec. From there, the documents made it in an unclear manner to the State District Archives in Jablonec nad Nisou, which transferred them in 1960 to the State Regional Archives in Brno (currently the Moravian Provincial Archives).

Administrative/biographical history:: Jewish settlement in Břeclav is documented from the 16th century, continuously from the 2nd half of the 17th century. After 1848, the Jewish community there evolved into the Jewish political community in Břeclav and the Jewish religious community in Břeclav, which is the creator of this fonds. The Jewish religious community in Břeclav de facto ceased to exist in October 1938 after the annexation of the Czech borderlands by Nazi Germany, when most of the Jews there moved inland or were forcibly relocated by the Nazi Occupation authorities. Until 1942, Jews from Břeclav were transported to the ghetto in Terezín and the death camps in Poland.

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Correspondence; Exhibitions; Financial matters; Financial records; Holocaust; Jewish community; Jewish community records; Legal records

System of arrangement:: The fonds is divided into accounting books (8 books) and files.

Finding aids:: Švábenský M: Židovská náboženská obec Břeclav 1843-1938, 1823 - 1940. Prozatímní inventární seznam, 1960, s. 3, ev.č. 2.