Prestice, Czech Republic
Alternate names: Prestitz, Przestitz, Pschestitz 49°34' N 13°19' E


Translation by Eugen Singer of the entry on Prestice [written by Vaclav Sedlacek - director (probably a school principal) in Prestice] in the 1934 book by Hugo Gold: "Die Juden und Judengemeinden Bohmens in Vergangheit und Gegenwart"

The Jews were and are distributed throughout the whole district of Prestice. In the district there lived up to 800 souls. During the enumeration of 1862 there lived in the district 751 souls, in the year 1900 only 431 and at the last enumeration of 1930 only 300 souls, out of which were only 80 adults. The prevailing occupation of the Jews in the district was in small business, mainly in grocery, dry goods and haberdashery and, in the villages surrounding Prestice, cattle business. After the year 1890, there were still counted in Prestice 303 and in Nepomuk 152 souls. They were already moving from the country to the towns and cities as small businessmen, mainly to Plzen (Pilzen) and to Prestice. The highest number of Jews was always in Prestice; up to 20 families then in Merklin, in Dnesice 80 souls, and in Malinec 146 souls. This was in the years before they began moving to the towns and cities. Relatively, most of the Jewish families lived in Malinec - 6 families owned their own housesA. Most Jewish families in Malinec, Vlci, Luzany and Borovy were farmers; the next largest group were in the cattle business. Although there were a fair number of Jews in the district, there were no exceptional individuals, as the families very rarely sent the young men away for studies. Before 1848, some Jewish families were already protected under the law B. However, it was not until after 1848 that Jews in the district were allowed to buy real estate, which is the most likely reason for low immigration of Jews into the district previous to that time. The ratio of Jews to the rest of the population consistently averaged about 1%. Jewish communities were established by the March 21, 1890 law in the district of Prestice, and the division and borders were established on September 1, 1893. Established at that time were:

  1. a community in Prestice with a synagogue and Rabbi,
  2. a community in Nepomuk with a synagogue and Rabbi,
  3. in Dolni Luzice, a synagogue and cemetery only,
  4. in Luzany, a synagogue only,
  5. in Merklin, a synagogue and religious teacher (cantor ?),
  6. in Malinec, a synagogue and religious teacher (cantor ?),
  7. in Dnesince, a shul.

The oldest jewish graveyard dates from the 15th century, in Dolni Lukavice. This cemetery was used by the whole district and the neighboring areas. Later, in 1880, a cemetery was established in Merklin in the forest, on Barak hill, and the last cemetery in Prestice was established in the year 1890.

All seven independent communities in the district were united into a single one with the seat in Prestice and, today [1934], the united communities have only 80 members, out of which only 30 are supporting membersC. The total yearly budget of the jewish community of Prestic is approximately 4000 czech crownsD.

Old Jewish Settlements. In the district town of Prestice, reminders of the old Jewish settlements are the street called the "Jewish Street" and Komensky St. [lower blue arrow], where there was a Jewish shul. Today on the Husova St. [upper blue arrow] is a nice new synagogueE. The Lewith family owned an old spirit distillery on the "Jewish island."


In Prestice were settled the old Jewish families of Lewith, Braun, Hanak, later Eisenshiml and Hartman, and as many as 20 families temporarily. In the 20th century, the number of families decreased and today, in 1933, there only 13 families remain, mainly small businessmen plus one physician and one veterinarian. Butchers comprised another especially Jewish profession. There are no records listing, nor a contemporary individual who would remember, a local Jew who was an exceptional writer, artist, scientist, economist, etc. As I already mentioned, there was in the district the rich family of Braun, mainly the very respected Markus Braun, a real patriarch. Eisenshiml was another rich family. In Merklin there was the highly esteemed family of Schulhof; in Dnesice, the Vogel and Shancr families; in Mecine and in Malinec, the Hartman, Veis, Ledr and Rederer families.

From the booklet 'Jahrbuch für die Israel. Cultusgemeinden Böhmens - Prag 1893' - courtesy of Eytan Lederer.

In the 1880s, the Jews of Prestice had a special, religious school conducted in the German language. Later, they attempted to change this school into a public German-Jewish school. These attempts were supported even by some Austrian Christian citizens, however the school inspector Arn. Kirschner was opposed to the idea and completely buried (dismissed) this idea. He even dissolved the Jewish religious school. Since 1894, Jewish religious teaching was conducted under the state supervision in the public school building.

As it was mentioned before, in the 19th century a significant number of Jews lived in Prestice and the district, and many of these Jews had influence in the town of Prestice and the district. However, the only Czech family was the family Hanak.

Today [1934] in Prestice, theJewish family Freud operates a large malt house, where they produce up to 1 million metric cents of malt a year ( 1 metric cent = 100 kg = 120 lb. ). Otto Bloch owns a small plant for the production of liqueurs and soda water (club soda); R. Kraus has a small knitting factory; and, Karel Hanak operates a paint factory. Today, the Jewish citizens are loyal to the state, the Czech language and other inhabitants. They all speak Czech, and they send their children to Czech schools only, where they are educated in the Jewish religion at the state expense. More mature children are sent to higher and professional schools in Plzen and Klatovy. Some Jews are active in many Czech associations and unions, and a few are even active members of "SOKOL"F. The Jews have practically no political, community or economic influence in the town or the district of Prestice.

Eugen Singer Comments

  1. Before 1848 the Jews in many European countries (Bohemia included) were allowed to own real estate (incl. family homes) only on rare occasions with the special permission of the ruler ( called "privilege").
  2. Some Jews (or families) were under special protection of the ruler (again, "privilege")
  3. Not all adult members of the community were wealthy enough to support the community. It was usually the head of the family who paid the religious tax.
  4. 4000 crowns seems today like a pittance. I think it was no fortune in 1934, but it might be an error and the author may have mixed Austrian-Hungarian crowns with Czech crowns., in which case it would be a substantial sum to support synagogue, rabbi, graveyard and the whole community.
  5. The Prestice synagogue was wrecked by the communist regime in 1974.
  6. "SOKOL" is a famous Czech patriotic sport association with branches all over the world, where there are Czech communities.