Metadata: Archive of the Town of Opava
Collection
- Country:
- Czechia
- Holding institution:
- State District Archives Opava
- Holding institution (official language):
- Státní okresní archiv Opava
- Postal address:
- Lidická 2a , Opava, 746 22
- Phone number:
- 00420 553 71 31 91
- Email:
- podatelna@op.archives.cz
- Reference number:
- 607
- Title:
- Archive of the Town of Opava
- Title (official language):
- Archiv města Opava
- Creator/accumulator:
- Municipal Office (Magistrat) of Opava
- Date(s):
- 1247/1947
- Language:
- Czech
- German
- Latin
- Extent:
- 64.03 linear metres
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The fonds provides valuable information about the legal, economic and social history of the town from the middle ages to the modern era. The most important section in terms of Jewish history is inv. 747, which contains documents relating to the settlement of the Jewish population, the operation of trade and cultural and religious activities, 1742-1859; the lease of bartending rights for Jews; regulations of school attendance of Jewish children; an investigation into unauthorised residence of Jews in Opava; a dispute concerning the acceptance of a Jewish apprentice into the brewers' guild; transcripts of interrogations of Jews by the municipal council in Krnov and Hlučín concerning the murder of a Christian boy in 1521; transcripts of the act of King Louis II of Hungary from 1522 banishing Jews from the town and later confirmations by the Habsburgs Charles VI and Maria Theresa; measures against Jewish settlement and trading in the town; prohibitions for Jews to employ Christians as servants; conversions from the Jewish to the Catholic faith; and permissions for marriages. Jewish-related materials from 1848-1945 include protocols from a hearing on income tax of the Jew Jonas Kaufmann 1852-54 (inv. 630, sign. VI/48); documents on the construction of a Jewish prayer room and the establishment of a new Jewish cemetery, 1854-56 (inv. 748); a Jewish canteen, 1831-59 (inv. 749); and the purchase and lease of Jewish community land for the construction of stables and barracks, with a plan and sketch for the new Jewish cemetery, 1841-56 (inv. 1656). Documents from before 1848 include a notification from the Jewish community to the municipality office that no illicit religious rituals were held, 1810 (inv. 774) and complaints about Jewish trading, 1798-1816 (inv. 1107).
- Archival history:
- The old municipal registry was originally situated in the town hall. In 1907 the municipal council passed a resolution to establish the municipal archive in the town watchtower, where older written documents including charters were stored. In December 1946 the records were taken into the care of the Land archive in Opava as a trust. After 1961 the fonds was gradually transferred to the district archive in Opava, where it was arranged in 1989-93.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Opava (German: Troppau) is the historical centre of Austrian and later Czechoslovak Silesia. The administration of the town was performed by the municipal council; the municipality office was established in 1784. Jews lived in Opava from the middle ages, contributing to the trading and economic life of the town. The Jewish population increased in the mid-19th century: in 1848 there were a mere 24 Jews in Opava; at the census of 1910, 1,112 Jews were recorded. They were affiliated in a range of associations, had their own library and school and for religious ceremonies met in the local synagogue. The Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia saw the burning of the synagogue in November 1938 and the Aryanisation of Jewish property. Most of Opava’s Jews did not survive the war, and only a few individuals returned afterward.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Kaufmann, Jonas
- System of arrangement:
- The fonds is arranged as follows: I. Charters, lists, diplomas; II. Official books; III. Files; IV. Accounting material; V. Maps and plans; VI. Other material. Written documents relating to Jews are classified in the department of File Material, in the chapter of Files in the following groups: Land and state taxes, communal surcharges, general Jewish matters, Jewish public canteen, Religious matters, churches, Trade, Military buildings, barracks, stables. However, it is also possible that information about the Opava Jews is also contained in other parts of the fonds.
- Access, restrictions:
- The collection is only partly accessible.
- Finding aids:
- Medková M.-Malurová H., Archiv města Opava 1247–1945(1947), sv. 1–3. Inventář, 1993, 562 s., ev.č. 464, 465, 466.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Prague
- Author of the description:
- JMP Survey, 2015.
