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Courtesy IAJGS: Originally Triesch, the town in the Vysočina Region was founded around the turn of the 13th century and now has around 6,000 inhabitants. In the heart of Czech-Moravian Highland via the hill pass nearly halfway between Prague and Vienna, the town of Třešť is surrounded by three hills; Špičák (734 m), Čeřínek (761 m) and Javořice (837 m), the highest peak of the Czech-Moravian Highland. This 13th century crossroads of two historical trade routes, Lovětínská and Humpolecká, is first documented in 1349. Many crafts developed as guilds flourished. 187 craft masters and 19 journeymen lived in Třešť in...
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Courtesy IAJGS: Originally Triesch, the town in the Vysočina Region was founded around the turn of the 13th century and now has around 6,000 inhabitants. In the heart of Czech-Moravian Highland via the hill pass nearly halfway between Prague and Vienna, the town of Třešť is surrounded by three hills; Špičák (734 m), Čeřínek (761 m) and Javořice (837 m), the highest peak of the Czech-Moravian Highland. This 13th century crossroads of two historical trade routes, Lovětínská and Humpolecká, is first documented in 1349. Many crafts developed as guilds flourished. 187 craft masters and 19 journeymen lived in Třešť in 1753, one hundred of them cloth makers. In 19th century, cloth factories, furniture factories (especially carved clock cabinets exported all around Europe) and match factories emerged around 1868. Local Jewish industrialists played a most important role in this development. The Jewish community appeared quite early in Třešť with some references to a Rabbi Jakub from Třešť in the second half of 13th century. The Jewish quarter, part of the town center, was established as a ghetto in the second half of the 17th century. The former Empire synagogue rebuilt in 1825 after the fire in 1824 has a Classical portal and a vaulted sanctuary with stucco decorations. The Jewish population in Třešť was 621 people in 1845 but in 1930, only 64, later victims of the Holocaust as seen in memorial plaques with names of those tortured to death during the WW II (on the front of the Town Hall and at the Prison Courtyard) or 33 victunes shot to death during the May Uprising in 1945. Franz Kafka visited his uncle in Triesch and was the subject of Kafka's story "A Country Doctor." Some believe that Triesch castle inspired Kafka's novel The Castle. [February 2009]
map and photos: "The small town lies about 15 km north of the town Telč in the SW part of the Českomoravská Vrchovina (Czech-Moravian Uplands) on the Třešťský Potok (Třešť Stream). Třešť was probably founded in the first half of the 14th century near the places of finding silver. The first mention originates from 1350. In the second half of the 14th and in the 15th centuries, the village was owned by the Šternberks. In 1463 it became known for its creches, many preserved and exhibited in nearby Roštejn Castle. This Renaissance chateau was built at the end of the 16th century and is surrounded with a large English park. The Church of St. Catherine of Siena in the surroundings of the chateau was founded in the 16th century as a German Lutheran church. Romanesque-Gothic St. Martin's Church is situated on the square. On 7th May 1945, the SS attacked the sleeping town. Thirty four citizens were executed in the local prison that day. The monument dedicated in the place of this execution commemorates this event." [February 2009]
US Commission No. CZCE000190
Alternate names: Třešť [Cz], Triesch [Ger].Trest is located in Moravia-Jihlava at 49°18' N, 15°29' E, 52 miles W of Brno (Brünn), 8 miles SSW of Jihlava (Iglau). Cemetery: 1.5 km South. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
Town: Magistrate Josef Patry, Mestsky Urad, Revolucni 20, 589 14 Trest; tel. 866/915330.
Regional: Engineer arch. Milena Nikiforova, Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, Tolsteho ulica [Street], 586 01 Jihlava; tel. 866/23191.
Interested: Muzeum, Vysociny, dir. RNDr. Ortwin Tauber, Masarykovo namesti 57/58, 586 01 Jihlava; tel. 866/20091. Josef Kubu, Vancurova 1032, 589 14 Trest; tel. 866/915790.
Key holder: Lubomir Mikes, Palackeho 30/476, 589 14 Trest; tel. 0.
Earliest known Jewish community was after 1426. Jewish population: 750 (in 1830), 64 (in 1930). A big fire in 1824 destroyed the Jewish quarter. Wolf ben Loew Lichtenstadt, +1827, rabbi; Josef Frankfurter, 1801-80 (buried here), rabbi; Maxmilian Stern, 1844-1908, rabbi all lived here. The landmarked (Nr. 7109 S.M.) Jewish cemetery originated in 1650 with last known Conservative Jewish burial before 1942. No other towns or villages used this cemetery Samuel de Majo, factory owner, is buried here. The isolated suburban hillside has a Czech sign or plaque mentioning the Jewish community. Reached by crossing public swimming pool, access is open to all via a continuous masonry wall and locking gate. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.3499 ha.
500-5000 stones, all in original location, date from 1705-20th century. The marble and granite flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones or obelisks have Hebrew and German inscriptions. Some tombstones have traces of painting on their surfaces, with bronze decorations or lettering and/or metal fences around graves. The cemetery contains no special memorial monuments or known mass graves. Within the limits of the site is a pre-burial house with Hebrew and German inscriptions and a wall. Brno Jewish community owns the Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are recreational and agricultural. Occasionally, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred 1945-1981. Local non-Jewish residents, local/municipal authorities and Jewish groups within country did restoration in 1983-4 and 1990. Brno Jewish congregation pays the regular caretaker. Moderate threat: vegetation. Slight threatd: uncontrolled access, weather erosion, pollution, vandalism and existing nearby development.
Engineer arch. Jaroslav Klenovsky, Zebetinska 13, 623 00 Brno; tel. 0 completed survey on 1.3.1992. Documentation: Gold, Herman. Other exisiting documentation was not used. No site visits or interviews occurred. |
