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CURRENT CZECH NAME: Břeclav OTHER NAMES/SPELLINGS: Lundenburg LOCATION: Břeclav
is a small town in Moravia, located at 48.45
longitude and 16.50 latitude, 50 km SE of Brno, 7 km
SSE of Podivin HISTORY:
The earliest record of the Jewish community of
Břeclav dates from 1414, although the community may
have existed since the founding of the town in
1030. In the 16th century the community was
large enough to have a temple. In 1572 Yehuda ben
Bezalel Löw-Liva was chairman of the synod of
Moravian rabbis in Břeclav. As in other
Moravian cities, in 1574 the Jews of Břeclav
suffered a brutal pogrom until Kaiser Maximillian II
took them under his protection. GENEALOGICAL RESOURCES: Birth, Death and Marriage record books for Břeclav dating from 1784 may be located at the Czech State Archives in Prague, Statni istredni archiv, tr. Milady Horokove 133, CZ-166 21 Praha 6, Czech Republic, tel/fax: +42 (2) 333-20274. Search JewishGen/Internet resources for Břeclav. NOTABLE RESIDENTS
AND DESCENDANTS: Břeclav is the native town of
the opera singer Julius Lieban (b. 1857 Břeclav, d.
1940 Berlin). The factory owner Ignac Kuffner
and Rabbi Dr. Heinrich Schwenger are buried in the
cemetery. CEMETERIES: The cemetery location is suburban, on flat land, and isolated with no sign but with inscriptions on the pre-burial house. The cemetery is reached by turning directly off a public road. Access to the cemetery is open. The cemetery is surrounded by a continuous masonry wall with a gate that locks. The size of cemetery is 0.8534 hectares, unchanged since before WWII. Most of the 500-1,000 gravestones in the cemetery are in their original location, with 20-100 not in their original locations and 50-75% of the surviving stones toppled or broken. The oldest known gravestone is 1709. Tombstones in the cemetery are datable from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Tombstones and memorial markers made of marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone. Tombstones are flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, multi-stone monuments, and obelisks, some with traces of painting on their surfaces, iron decorations or lettering, bronze decorations or lettering, and/or metal fences around graves. Inscriptions are in Hebrew, German, and/or Czech. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. The present owner of the cemetery property is the municipality. The property is now used for Jewish cemetery purposes and recreational use (park, playground, sports field.) Properties adjacent to the cemetery are residential. Private individuals visit the cemetery occasionally. The cemetery is known to have been vandalized during World War II, and repeatedly since then. Care of the cemetery consists of re-erection of stones and clearing of vegetation by local non-Jewish residents, local or municipal authorities, regional or national authorities, and Jewish groups within the country. Restoration work was carried out in the 1980s. Care now consists of occasional clearing or cleaning authorized by local/regional authorities and performed by a caretaker paid by a local contribution. A pre-burial house with wall inscriptions and a custodian's house are located within the boundaries of the cemetery. Security (uncontrolled access), weather erosion, pollution, vandalism, and vegetation are moderate threats. Incompatible nearby development (existing, planned or proposed) is a serious threat. The vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a constant problem, disturbing stones. Water drainage at the cemetery is a seasonal problem. The cemetery survey was conducted on 8 March 1992 by: ing. Arch. Jaroslav Kelovsky, Zebetinska 13, 623 00 Brno. WEB REFERENCES: CONTACTS: Town officials: magistrate ing. Jan Stejskal, Mestsky urad, Masarykovo nam. 1, 690 02 Břeclav, tel. 0627/22935. Regional political authorities: ing. Arch. Lydie Filipova, Okresni urad -referat kultury, address as above, tel. 0627/414. Also interested in the site: 1. Regionalni muzeum, dir. Dr. Dobromila Brichtova, zamek, 692 01 Mikulov, tel. 0625/2255; and 2. Ing. Jaroslav Zika, Postorenske ul., 690 02 Břeclav, tel. 0; and 3. Otto Pisk, Sovadinova 5, 690 02 Břeclav, tel. 0627/23144. The key to the cemetery is held by the caretaker: Metsky urad Brechlav, ing. Kostrhun. SOURCES: Gedenkbuch der Untergegangenen Judengemeinden Mährens, Hugo Gold ed. (1974), pp. 79-80; Die Juden und JudengemeindenMährens in Vergangenheit unde Gegenwart, Hugo Gold ed. (1929), pp: 321-329 (pictures); Jiri Fiedler, Jewish Sights of Bohemia and Moravia (1991), p. 136; International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Cemetery Project, Czech Republic, Břeclav.
Compiled by E. Randol Schoenberg Jewish
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