The Jewish Quarter of Třebíč ( cs, Židovská čtvrť v Třebíči) is a neighborhood and former ghetto in the town of
Třebíč
Třebíč (; german: Trebitsch; yi, טרייביטש Treybitsh) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants.
The beginnings of the town's history are connected with the establishment of a Benedictine ...
, located in western
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The m ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
. The Jewish Quarter is situated on the north bank of the
River Jihlava and is one of the best preserved
Jewish ghetto
In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter (also known as jewry, ''juiverie'', ''Judengasse'', Jewynstreet, Jewtown, or proto-ghetto) is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were ...
s in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
.
In 2003, together with the nearby Jewish Cemetery and the
St. Procopius Basilica in Třebíč, the Jewish Quarter was inscribed on the
UNESCO World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, because of its testimony to the exchange of cultures and values in the region.
As of 2013, it is the only Jewish monument outside
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
specifically placed on the World Heritage List.
Description
The Jewish Quarter is surrounded by rocks and the river, containing 123 houses and two
synagogues. Above the Quarter on a hill is the Jewish cemetery, holding roughly 4000 gravestones.
The cemetery has two sections: one dating from the 15th century, and the other from the 19th century.
The residential buildings in the quarter are generally condominium-style, with several (sometimes up to 16) owners of a subdivided house.
However, the architecture in the quarter varies widely (even across different aspects of the same house), demonstrating the continuous use of the quarter for centuries.
History
The oldest mention of a synagogue in Třebíč is from 1590, although many of gravestones in the cemetery are much older. In the 16th century, orders were given to expel all Jews from the town, although they were not carried out.
The older of the two synagogues still standing dates to the mid-1600s. Unusually for Europe at the time, the Jewish Quarter had its own self-government with an elected magistrate and councilors beginning in the Renaissance.
In 1894, the town had a mayor and was called Zamosti (meaning 'over the bridge').
All original Jewish inhabitants (in 1890 there lived nearly 1,500 Jews, but in the 1930s only 300 of them were of Jewish faith)
were deported and murdered in
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
s by
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Only ten of them came back after the war. Therefore, many buildings of the Jewish town (e. g. the town hall, rabbi's office, hospital, poorhouse or school) do not serve their original purpose any more and the houses are now owned by people of non-Jewish faith.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewish Quarter Of Trebic
World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic
Jewish ghettos in Europe
Jewish Czech history