First of all we have to mention Jiří Leopold Weisel. He is one of the oldest writers from our district. Weisel was born in 1804 in Přeštice and his original name was Jachim Löbl Weisel. His father's name was Šimon Weisel; his mother was Marie, née Haberkornová. His father was a travelling cloth salesman. Weisel spent his youth in Preštice. Later he moved to Prague to study. At that time he lived in the Prague Jewish Ghetto, which he liked very much and was inspired by it in his later works.
Weisel did not publish his works in their entirety; rather he published them in calendars or magazines. This meant that he receded into oblivion soon. Only later Josef Blau from Nýrsko published Weisel's biography and Weisel's work in Beiträge zur sudetendeutschen Volkskunde, volume XVII. That book is the source for this account of Weisel's life. In 1926 it was published under the name Georg Leopold Weisel, Aus dem Neumarker Landestor.
Weisel's life can be divided into two main parts -- his first 36 years during which he was a relative unknown and the next 36 years, when he worked as a doctor and obstetrician in Všeruby. Here he met Anna, the daughter of customs official Karel Pavlovský, and fell in love with her. He took a big step, quite unheard of at that time, and converted to the Catholic faith to please his bride. He was baptized on November 27, 1843 in the St. Anne church in Tannaberg by Vicar Jan Faster. Following that he used the name Jiří Leopold Weisel.
His first works appeared in 1836. In that year he published a novella My First Practice in "Bohemia" journal. Collected works Panorama des Universum contain his Stories of Prague Jews. He also contributed to Pascheles's Sippurim between 1846 and 1858 and published Jewish Stories, Fairy Tales and Chronicles. In 1844 he published Schnorrer or Jewish Peddlars, and in 1845 Jezibot or Jewish University. In 1850 he published a bigger work How Do the Prague Jews Live? Here he describes Jewish merchants, tradesmen, liberal artists, scientists, servants, bureaucrats and the work of various charitable institutions, inns and public kitchens.
His works often touch on the topic of love between a Jew and a Christian. In the legend Rabbi Ammen Weisel puts a terrible curse on a convert, even though he was one such himself. In his works Graveyards and Loisa's Cure he voices his disagreement with a marriage between a Jew and a Christian. It is therefore safe to conclude that he probably was not very happy in his own marriage. In 1850 a daughter Marie Magdalena was born, later two more children Anna and Karel.
His manuscripts revealed other works, not previously published. These include Rabbi Jontev Purim, a 1844 article Suspicion, and Yayin Kiddush (or False Accusation) in 1858, where Weisel describes a ritual murder. Despite the fact that he had been baptized, Weisel remained faithful to the faith of his forefathers.
As a medical doctor Weisel was widely known and respected. He was often called to Bavaria, although he was not allowed to go there. Weisel found life in blinkered Všeruby difficult and stifling.
In 1848 the Czech writer Božena Němcová arrived in Všeruby. She moved into the house next to Weisel's and they became acquainted. Němcová strongly influenced his political and literary progress. Weisel was however jealous of Němcová's literary successes and openly criticized her. Němcová introduced Weisel to the Choden people and their struggles. In 1848 Weisel wrote the Choden Process, published in Volume XV of Panorama. In 1873 he published excerpts from the Choden Process in Politika under the title Forgotten Tales. This, his last work, inspired Alois Jirásek to write his well-known novel Psohlavci.
The stormy year of 1848 revealed Weisel as an ardent supporter of freedom of nations. While Němcová's husband was active in the anti-dynastic movement, Weisel was more active educationally. He wrote numerous articles for the papers and educated people on various topical issues. He also wrote about his medical experiences, about smugglers and about poachers in the area. It is interesting to note that when the first railway in our district was being built from Prague to Domažlice, Weisel was against it and predicted it would be short-lived. During the war of France and Germany in 1870-71 he sided with the Germans but warned them that one day soon they too will get their just desserts for their pride.
Weisel was acquainted with the writers Josef Randa, Max Schmidt and Hippolyt Randa. The latter described Weisel as a prolific and talented writer. Alois Jirásek also spoke favourably about Weisel, as did Jindřich Šimon Baar.
Weisel's works contain an educational aspect. He urges people to be moral, speaks against superstitions, and while describing customs of both Czechs and Germans, he views them both equally. Weisel did not look for company. He was a loner and remained loyal to his principles for his entire life. He died on March 31, 1873, of the first illness that ever struck him. He was being cared for by his relative, Dr. Josef Weisl from Kdyně. Weisel was 69 years old when he died.
At times he wrote under pseudonyms -- Lesiv, W….l, G.L.W., M.B.K., Asmodi or Veradico.
The other well-known Jew from Všeruby was Ing. Antonín Rudolf Fleischl, a building inspector. He was born in 1862 in Všeruby, studied in Pilsen, and later continued at the German Technical Institute in Prague, where he earned an engineering degree. He founded a building company in Lvov, where he built military barracks, military laundry, as well as other important government buildings. He died on April 8, 1821 in Vienna, and is buried at the central cemetery there.