THE JEWS OF KASEJOVICE

By Václav Mentberger

Kasejovice 1954

Development of the Jewish Population of Kasejovice

The majority of Jews on their way to Bohemia passed through the neighboring German lands, where they adopted the language. A minority came from Poland and Hungary. Those who did not succeed in settling in Prague did so gratefully in the countryside; it was also thus, the Jews of Kasejovice. The disadvantage of this dispersal was compensated for by Jewish coherence, an important factor in commerce, which was their main occupation. Apart from that, all Jews were joined by faith and the word of the Torah, in which there are 647,319 letters, behind each of which stood the whole Jewish people.

As a rule, first settlers are omitted from historical records. The oldest report ‑just a mention of Jews in Kasejovice ‑‑ comes from a summary list of towns in the Kingdom of Bohemia in the year 1570, which also states that a "free" Jew of Kasejovice was obligated to pay tax to the Chamber of Bohemia. The first named Jew, Jacob Malému owned (in 1597) a cottage below the dam of the brewery fishpond, bought for 30 kop, 30 pennies. A later co‑owner of the cottage, Jacob Cerny (a Jew) who also owned fields, was obligated to the parson of Kasejovice for a tithe of three kinds of cereal crops at six sheaves each.  In 1609, they both sold their halves of the cottage to Václav Ivanides. Jacob Cerny still appears in Kasejovice in 1654. According to the 1775 memorial to citizens of [word unclear] authority, four Jewish couples or families lived in Kasejovice in 1618.

According to the tax rolls of 1654, there were 12 older and 4 younger Jews, of whom the following are named:

1.         Jacob Černy, a Bohemian Jew, owned a small shop and was a peddler in the villages.

2.         Abraham Kavka, lived off remittances from Prague, and already here 7 years.

3.         Vit Polak, a peddler of herbs in the villages and bought feathers and hides; originally came from Poland and got married here a short time ago.

4.         Hirser Veger Leibl was dealing in wool; he was a wealthy Jew born in Bohemia. He had a son, Simon, 18 years old, and another, Jacob, 12 years old.

5.         Matej Majstr served among the gentry and thus made a living. His son, Stastny, peddled hides in villages, a second son Leibl was a village messenger. Two other sons, Solomon and Nathan, served in Prague.

6.         Samuel Prefat was a peddler of hides in the villages. He was a Bohemian Jew who moved to Kasejovice 8 years ago.

7.         Samuel Unger, a Bohemian Jew, had a store here.

8.         Marek Unger, a Bohemian Jew, made a living as a shopkeeper.

9.         Wolf Lazar, a Prague Jew, lived in Prague for most of his life.

On November 12, 1659, the mayor and the town council made a contract with the Jew Smilem, native of Ruibersdorf, regarding the place where he would be permitted to live. It was again near the brewery fishpond, and he would pay 20 gr. annually,  10 to St. George, and 10 to St. Havel. He would have no further obligations more than any other neighbor.

By 1686, the number of Jewish families had grown to 14 couples. When, in 1680, the plague raged in Kasejovice, Jews were also affected and were compelled to live in the fields; still, towards the end of November when the infection was abating, the lord of the castle, Frant. [išek = Frank) Rehof Greiner of Veveri and Mysletina. did not allow their return. In 1695, the Jews remained dispersed among Christians in six houses; they bought four more houses and lived together with Christians in them.

Before the establishment of the ghetto, the following Jews lived in Kasejovice, according to the 1719 census:

1.        Marek Samuel, of Jacob's tribe, feathers and cloth merchant, with a family of six.

2.        Lobl Samuel, of Jacob's tribe, born locally, with a family of six.

3.        Abraham Pisecky, of Reuben's tribe, born locally, with a family of six.

4.         Israel  Berlik, of Jacob's tribe, horse merchant, with a family of four.

5.         Hertzky  Berlik. of Moses' tribe, born locally, horse merchant, with a family of five.

6.         Moses  Taysl, of Levi's tribe, horses and feathers merchant, has lived in Kasejovice for 21 years.

7.         Markus  Hartti, of Aaron's tribe, born 'locally, feathers and cloth merchant, with a family of three.

8.          Samuel Maren, born locally, with a family of three.

9.         Tomas  Lobl, of Levi's tribe, born locally, feathers merchant, with a family of four.

10.       Josef Mates, of Levi's tribe, born locally, feathers merchant.

11.       Stastny Resansky, of Benjamin's tribe, born locally, hides and cloth merchant, with a family of two.  

12.       Jacob Markus, of Moses' tribe, feathers merchant, has lived in Kasejovice 35 years.

13.       Herman Lederer, of Levi's tribe, has lived in Kasejovice 23 years, with a family of two.

14.       Herman Samuel, of Levi's tribe, born locally, feathers and wool merchant, with a family of 11.

15.       Hersl Mates, of Isaac's generation, born locally, feathers merchant, with a family of three.

16.       Elias Hersl, born locally, feathers merchant, with a family of three.

17.       Jacob Pisecky, of Jacob's generation, glazier, with a family of three, has lived in Kasejovice for 40 years.

Thus, the Jewish community totaled 79 persons: 17 family heads, and 62 family members. The list does not seem complete; those with no property appear to be omitted, since two years later Count Leopold Kunigl, in his order to the Jews of Kasejovice, refused the request of Kasejovice's Jews for an increase in the number of Jewish families allowed  24, which was already attained and, probably, secretly exceeded. In order to maintain the status quo, the count decrees in item 6 of the order:

"If a married Jewess or Jew should die, the surviving widower or widow is to be considered a complete family. However, should they have an adult son who could take their place, and should I, upon his most humble request, graciously grant permission to marry, the mother or father and his [the son's] siblings must move away from here, since this son is founding a new family."   He further adds that the son can step into the parent's place and keep them with him if he has only an old father or mother. Even if he gets [such) permission, the father or mother still has to pay the usual annual tribute of eight florints for protection.

The census of 1719 was soon followed by censuses in 1723 and 1724. The first counts 26 couples and 88 related persons. Of these, seven couples had ancestors who probably were already settled in Kasejovice (as the census says) around the year 1618, even though they could not show a permit from the land authority or the Emperor; the remaining 19 couples came later, also without permission I of the land authority or the Emperor. The second [1724] census lists 25 families[1], with the same origin and names as the one the year before. It differs from the first in not indicating the number of family members; instead it indicates the occupa­tions of all heads of households: twelve are country peddlers, 3 horse dealers, 4 tanners, two feather and hide merchants, one manufactures [pálenky), one knits hosiery, one is a glazier, and one is a house‑to‑house tradesman and glazier.

During the general expulsion of Jews from Prague and the Bohemian countryside in 1744, the Jews of Kasejovice were also affected. When the whole action failed, the Jews also stayed on in the grounds of the Lnáře castle.

When the Bohemian governor‑in‑charge ordered the separation of the Jewish residents, because of frequent complaints by the Christian residents over cohabi­tation, a ghetto was built around 1730 with 13 cottages at the start; there were 25 men living there, i.e., families with no more detail given.

After a preliminary census of the Christian population in 1754, the regional office in Pisek ordered, on November 26, 1754, the reporting of Jews. The count in Kasejovice was 118: 27 boys and 29 girls up to the age of 15; one single man and one married woman 15‑to‑20 years old; four single men, one single woman, eight married men and 11 married women aged 20‑to‑40; nine married men and six married women aged 40‑to‑50; and one single man, five single women, eight married men, and seven married women over 50 years of age. In all, there were 33 men and 35 women unmarried, and 25 of each sex married. The number of families was in accord with the number allowed at the beginning of the century, with the average family having five members.

In 1774, 169 Jews lived in Kasejovice: 79 men and 90 women; in 1786, the number was the same. Although the number of authorized families remained at 24, in reality there were 28 in 1775, according to the Kasejovice memorial. With a total population of 169, the average family had six members.

The census of 1785 is important because it lists the owners of cottages in the ghetto not only in the historic Jewish custom of using two names ‑‑ one, the person's proper name, the other, the father's ‑‑ but also in most instances by the new citizen names (i.e. surnames) which, at that time, each Jew himself had selected.[2]

The names in cottage number order:

Where two names are indicated, the cottage has two floors, of which the ground floor belongs to the owner, the second floor to the other name. The cottages are made of wood with shingles or roof tiles.

In the year 1789, there were 31 Jewish families, which included 26 married men and 34 single men, and 84 women; altogether, 144 Jews. The census adds that they paid 376 florints in contribution. The higher [than the official maximum of 24] number of 31 families was preceded by an official assurance that the allowed number of Jewish families of 8,600 for the Kingdom of Bohemia was not attained, and there was a deficiency of 942 families. Since up to that time only first‑borns were allowed to marry [i.e., familiants] the government in Prague also gave permission for the erection of wedding canopies for second‑borns: 300 in Prague and 642 in the countryside. It adds that no authority can be forced to issue wedding permits.

On the occasion of the general census of Kasejovice in 1796, owners of Jewish houses were again enumerated with their occupations:

According to the census of 1804, there were 136 Jews, composed of 29 married men, 39 single men, and 68 women.

An 1825 list only showed names of the owners of the cottages:

A further document concerning the condition of Jews is an extract from records of building lots in Kasejovice in 1838, which mentions the owners of houses, with their occupation, and whether they are "familiants", i.e., they could get married to fill a vacant family spot indicated by a number [note: no numbers are shown], and finally, where it was co‑owned cottage, which part belonged to each:

The 1848 census of Kasejovice lists 29 families, who were registered in the Lnáře castle; Jewish families/familiants were assigned numbers 1‑24, 44‑51, 53‑94. Families which did not fulfill the requirements were recruited from the villages near the castle and they were given numbers 24‑26, the numbers of families that had died out; however, no one acquired a house in the ghetto.

Moreover, the dual‑ownership home, # X (307) was the Jewish community, and Simon Rudinger was the owner of # 349. Jewish homes, which were always marked with Roman numerals, were then changed to regular Arabic numerals starting with the number 300 and gave to adjourning homes the former number III.

The last list, indicating 39 Jews registered to vote in 1882 for the town council of Kasejovice, shows that a substantial number of them had left the ghetto and acquired homes all over Kasejovice, and that six registered voters lived outside of Kasejovice:

To the extent that known population data are accurate, the Jewish element in Kasejovice during its 400 years of existence reached its peak in the second half of the 18th century, when in 1774 and 1786, the count was 169 persons. Just three years later, in 1789, there was a substantial reduction to 144, and in 1804 to 136 persons; this can be explained by the more liberal era of Emperor Josef II, allowing freedom of movement to the Jews. The reduction also occurred follow­ing the acquisition of citizenship rights in 1848; their rights to acquire residential and business properties among the Christian shopkeepers of Kasejovice were not adequate for Jewish enterprise. Like other people, they had a strong desire to get wealthy, and the United States of America became their dream. However, the ebb stops and consideration turns to the wider homeland the former Austria  which offers a guarantee of a more stable existence. Once again, the number grows, to 147 in 1903, only to be followed the next year to 115 persons, and this never ceased. During the census of 1921 in the new "free" Czechoslovakia, 45 Jews were counted, of which 36 announced their Jewish nation­ality. In the year 1922, only one Jewish boy and two girls went to school in Kasejovice; their religious education was provided by Rabbi Arnold Flaschner of Strakonice.

The total population of Kasejovice declined, as it did throughout southern Bohemia. However, the proportionate loss among Jews was much higher than among Christians. The decline of the Jewish element is substantiated by the fact that in the years 1922‑1931, there wasn't a single Jewish wedding in Kasejovice, only one Jewish child was born, and a substantial number of Jews died. Because its membership was inadequate, the congregation was disbanded and merged with the Nepomuk congregation; it later merged with the congregation in Breznice, where it formed an independent section.

In the catastrophic German occupation of Czechoslovakia, many were taken away from Kasejovice (from the Jewish population between Breznice and Kasejovice). On 26 November 1942, 42 persons were transported to Terezin from Kasejovice, of whom 36 lived in, or around, the community. Upon their departure from the town on 11 November, they were bade a friendly farewell by Karel Bayer, head of an insurance company in Prague.

Most of them died in Terezin. The rest (but for one woman) perished in the extermination camp of Auschwitz (Birkenau), probably on March 7, 1944, the day of Masaryk's birthday, when nearly 3,800 Jews were gassed.