1 www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] Thanks for your cooperation and for the materials provided: תודות על שיתוף הפעולה ועל החומרים שהוגשו: Miriam Friedman Morris; Museum Karlovy Vary; Státní okresní archiv Cheb; Museum Sokolov; Židovská obec Karlovy Vary, www.chewra.com, J. Achab Haidler, PhD. Jitka Chmelíková – Mlsová, Mgr. Lukáš Svoboda, PhD. Helena Kavková, www.medilanicentrum.cz . Coworkers: Jana Kofránková, Lukáš Kučera, Günther Juba, Jana Hubáčková, Petra Řezníčková, Hoai Le Thi, Jana Jechová, Karol Babíčková, Iveta Bellová, Marie Lendělová, Noe Schořálek, Pavla Gabhrelíková, Tomáš Kabát, Josef Mašek, Jana Kociánová, Martin Bednařík, Lucie Kinderová und anderen Mitgliedres und Volunters Project manager: Iva Kofránková Editor: Jana Frank 2 Czech version: www.medialnicentrum.cz German version: www.egeschichte.eu FRANK, Jana a kol.: Jüdische Friedhöfe und Denkmäler in der Karlsbader Region 1. vyd. SeeMedia o.s. 2013, 60 NS © SeeMedia o.s. 2013, Czech Republik ISBN 978-80-87701-16-4 (on-line: Pdf) E-mail: [email protected] This project has been funded with support from the European Union. Only the author is responsible for the content of publications. The publication does not represent the views of the European Commission and the European Commission is not responsible for any use which may be contained therein. www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] Be inspired and embark on an extraordinary journey Four dozen places shrouded mysticism ... Why publish this eBook? „Vergiss nie etwas davon, was du in deinem Leben erkanntest und lerne es deine Kinder und Enkelkinder./Dt 4:9/ Because we like quaint places where the Jewish cemeteries are located. Magical place deep in the 3 woods, at the end of towns and villages. Jews often received the worst places for its municipal cemeteries. Most synagogues were burned, others flooded by water tank, the cemetery boards were used as paving – into buildings, sidewalks or streams. From cemeteries were created gardening colonies or they were 'rescued' by lying in the woods so hard to reach places that no one gets to them. Thanks to this they remain beautiful adornment of nature. Some places were lucky - local volunteers from Germany found them and began to reconstruct and maintain. Ironically, they are mainly smaller municipalities - like Drmoul, Hroznětín, Kynšperk and more. We want to thank the ones who try restoring these places, honoring our former compatriots and seeking no political and economic causes – they do it just from the heart, because they know that it is correct! www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] This book is also intended to serve as a guide for those who want to participate in the documentation and reconstruction of these places. Because even the lay public can be very helpful. Jana Frank Editor 4 www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] 5 What means… Kristallnacht Nazis in Germany started the Jewish pogrom. They set fire to the synagogue, shattering glass at Jewish shops. Kristallnacht bears his name by broken glass from shop windows, but also because it should have symbolized the 'purge' - crystallization - the Aryan race from the Jews. It took place in the night of the 9th to 10 November 1938. A day later also in the Czech-German borderlands - Sudetenland. Local Nazis, however, refused to burn synagogues, and so there were sent special units of the SS from Plauen. "The mood among the inhabitants of Eger was very despondent. Nobody didn´t rejoice. Nobody but also dared to publicly protest against it, "says Edith Bergler, a former high school teacher of Bayreuth high school in her book, for which she collected material between the former German residents of the Karlovy Vary Region.“Around firefighters stood ready with water. They were not allowed to extinguish. Just to see that the fire has not spread to other houses. " www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] Shoah / Holocaust The systematic name for a state-run persecution and mass murders of marked individuals (in the case of the 2nd World War, it was the Jews). The Holocaust was a Nazi practical application of a coded phrase "the final solution of the Jewish question" (Endlösung der Judenfrage) 2. Word war Kennen Sie nicht? Diesen Begriff müssen Sie also ´googeln´.... :-) How to behave at the Jewish cemetery? 6 כיצד להתנהג בבית הקברות היהודי? As in the synagogue - respectfully, quietly כמו בבית הכנסת - בכבוד, בשקט Cover your head cover לכסות את הראש בכיסוי Ask the tomb stones - and supported by the leaves לשים אבנים על הקבר – ניתן לשים גם פתק תחתם www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] 7 What distinguishes Jewish tombstones? Tombstones are mostly written in Hebrew. Hebrew is read from left to right. To each character is given a Hebrew letter, number, and even symbolism. For example, A means Alef (the meaning it's the head of a bull, while thus identifies itself Bh), therefore means the letter A and the number 1. When it is necessary to ascribe the year so they write rings above letters and the sum of these rings is the year. (The year according to the Jewish tradition is different because they did not start from 0 with the coming of Jesus, but went further in AD.) Most of the graves has only vertical section - the plate on which the text can be found. There's no 'deferrals area' on the bouquet, which generally follows the body deep below the surface. At various times, the trend of burials was different. Sometimes people were buried horizontally (a deceased was placed as we used to - like lying) and sometimes vertically (a deceased was placed as if he stood – when there was a 'little place'). In Ashkenazi communities there is the tradition of erecting the tombstone at the feet www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] of the a deceased. In Sephardic communities there is the tradition of erecting the tombstone at the head of a deceased. For us - in the Czech Republic and in the Karlovy Vary region were Ashkenazi . Texts on the tombstones are read from right to left 8 Mostly, there is far more data than we are used to from civil or Christian cemetery - which are names, dates of birth and death, or short mottos. The Jewish tombstones are far more about the man who rests below. There are usually very short sentences about the deceased's life. These stories give life to cemeteries. Because who else lies in cemeteries than the one that was alive. (For example: She gave birth and raised her four children, embraced two other orphans and raised them. During the war she helped in the field hospital.) www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] Sample: The inscription on the tombstone She gave birth and raised four own children, adopted two other orphans and raised them. During the war helped 9 in a field hospital. A man in death must not be left alone For Jews it is customary to bury in the ground. Cremation is neither welcome nor habit. Burying the Jews is a very important ceremony. The funeral is like in other religions ritual that is used a last and dignified farewell to the deceased, according to the religious rules and regulations. (These rules are called HALACHA) Traditions of Judaism teach that one should not be in sickness and death itself. Fellow man takes care of that – or traditionally a burial brotherhood, in Aramaic "Chevra Kadisha", a full name then "de-Chevra Kadisha gomlej Chasadim? (Holy Brotherhood of those who perform deeds of mercy. They are mostly members of each Jewish community who are in this worry. It is divided into men and women. www.take-off-story.com E-mail: [email protected] Women take care of dead women and men of dead men.). If the patient's death is inevitable, the burial brotherhood is still with him. A very important role of Brotherhood is listening to the confession of sins of a dying man (viduj), who then as his last words uttered a profession of faith "Shema Yisrael". Then Brotherhood begins to prepare for the funeral. They put a dead man on the ground, cover him by a sail and light a candle at his head. When members of the Brotherhood announce the death they go to dig a grave and make a coffin from rough boards. They wash a deceased man with warm water while chanting verses from the Torah. Then they clothed him in white robes. The funeral is to take place within 24 hours. The period of mourning lasts a week to a year The closest relatives, the first seven days would not even leave the house or work. Every year on the anniversary of the death is a custom to burn a candle for the dead (Jahrzeit). Twelve months after the funeral ceremony a tombstone “maceva” is erected on the tomb. It takes so long because the remembrance of the deceased man goes slowly away. 10 In the Middle Ages it was customary to write texts on the tombstone concerning the life of the deceased and highlight his merits. Today, on the tombstone there remains only the name and date of birth and death. The only element that remained preserved from the Middle Ages is "tanceba", named after the initial letters of words (nafs Tihje crura bicrur-ha-Hayyim let his soul attached to the bundle of life). Tombstones are different sizes. The richer or more important person – the bigger tombstone.