Jewish cemetery in Kasejovice

The Jewish cemetery in Kasejovice sits on a hill known as "Na stráži," overlooking the small town in the Plzeň-jih district of the Czech Republic. It ranks among the better-preserved traces of Jewish life in southwestern Bohemia and bears witness to a community that first appears in local records in the second half of the 16th century.

How old is the cemetery?

The earliest written mention of the burial ground dates to 1669, though the oldest legible tombstone found on site carries a Hebrew date corresponding to August 26, 1710. Jewish settlement in the area, however, predates the cemetery itself: a single Jewish family is recorded in Kasejovice as early as 1570, and by the 17th century a modest but organized community had taken root.

How did the cemetery grow over time?

The burial ground was enlarged several times during the 18th century. A turning point came in 1808, when the cemetery was opened to Jews from surrounding villages — an extension previously blocked both by the Kasejovice community itself and by the local nobility of Lnáře. The site reached its present-day size, just under 31 ares, following a final expansion in 1885. This physical growth mirrored the community's own trajectory: 24 Jewish families lived in the town by 1721, and the population peaked around the mid-19th century at roughly 230 people. Despite this growth, a synagogue was not built until 1818, while a Jewish ghetto had already been established earlier, around 1727.

What survives on the site today?

A building that once served as a ceremonial mortuary still stands within the cemetery grounds, with a stone bearing the 1710 Hebrew date built into its structure. In 1931, a caretaker's house was added, funded from the estate of Moritz Adelberg, a Jewish philanthropist who had emigrated to the United States from the nearby village of Metly, about 6 kilometers northeast of Kasejovice, and left money to support his native region. The gravestones themselves span the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with inscriptions carved in both Hebrew and Czech — a detail that traces the gradual linguistic and cultural shift within the local Jewish community over two hundred years. From the 18th century onward, burials were tended by a voluntary burial brotherhood, an institution typical of Central European Jewish communities responsible for the ritual duties surrounding death and interment.

What happened to the Jewish community?

The Jewish population of Kasejovice declined steadily from the mid-19th century onward, falling to just 28 residents by 1930. The community's history came to a tragic end in 1942, when its remaining members were deported to Nazi extermination camps. The furnishings of the local synagogue were subsequently transferred to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague. The last recorded burial in the cemetery took place before 1943, marking the symbolic close of centuries of Jewish presence in the town.

Why is this site worth visiting?

Perched on high ground, the cemetery offers sweeping views over the surrounding countryside, adding a contemplative, scenic quality to a visit. Today it stands as one of the most significant surviving monuments of Jewish heritage in the Plzeň region — a place of interest for anyone drawn to local history, genealogy, or the funerary architecture of Central Europe.