Jewish cemetery in Svitavy

The Jewish cemetery in Svitavy is a modest but historically rich burial ground located on Olomoucká street, roughly 2 km from the town center on its eastern edge. Enclosed by a solid brick wall and originally accompanied by a small mortuary, the cemetery was established in 1892 and served the local Jewish community until the devastating years of the Second World War.

How far back does Jewish life in Svitavy go?

Jewish presence in the wider Svitavy region can be traced to as early as the 14th century, though the first documented Jewish resident of the town itself, Jakob Donath, is recorded only in 1715. Over the following two centuries the community grew gradually, and a formal religious congregation was organized relatively late by Moravian standards. It was not until 1888 that an independent Jewish Religious Community was established in Svitavy — one of the youngest such communities in Moravia. Initially subordinate to the rabbinate in Boskovice, it gained full administrative independence in 1890. By 1930 the town's Jewish population had reached approximately 168 people.

What did the community achieve before the war?

As the congregation grew, it built its own synagogue, designed by the Viennese architect Ernst von Gotthilf and completed in 1902. The building stood as a visible marker of Jewish life in the town. The cemetery on Olomoucká, founded a decade earlier, served as the main burial site for Jewish residents of Svitavy and its surroundings until the Nazi occupation brought this chapter to an abrupt end.

What happened to the cemetery during and after the war?

Like many Jewish communities across Moravia, the one in Svitavy was violently destroyed by Nazi persecution. Von Gotthilf's synagogue was destroyed during Kristallnacht in November 1938. The cemetery suffered a parallel fate: abandoned, stripped of its assets, and left to decay for decades, with communal property confiscated and dismantled. Throughout the postwar communist era, the site remained neglected and largely forgotten, with no organized care.

When was the cemetery restored?

Change came only after the political transformation of the 1990s. Following years of negotiations, the cemetery grounds were transferred free of charge in 2000 to the Jewish Community of Prague, which took over formal responsibility for the site. Between 2001 and 2002, extensive cleanup work was carried out — clearing overgrowth and debris to reveal the surviving gravestones and restore a measure of dignity to the place.

Why is this site worth visiting?

Today the Jewish cemetery in Svitavy stands primarily as a quiet historical testimony — a place that records nearly two centuries of Jewish presence in this part of Moravia, from its slow beginnings through its brief institutional flourishing around 1900, to its tragic destruction during the Second World War. The brick perimeter wall, the surviving tombstones, and the cemetery's location along an old road on the edge of town make it a small but meaningful stop for anyone tracing the Jewish heritage of the Svitavy region, complementing the memory of the demolished synagogue and the community that once thrived here.

Frequently asked questions

When was the Jewish cemetery in Svitavy established? In 1892, on Olomoucká street.

What happened to it during World War II? It was abandoned and vandalized, following the destruction of the community's synagogue during Kristallnacht in 1938.

Who maintains the cemetery today? Since 2000 it has been under the care of the Jewish Community of Prague, which carried out a major cleanup in 2001-2002.