Jewish families in Hořovice

We are publishing a chapter on the Jewish families who lived in Hořovice. You will read about merchants, doctors, printers and rabbis, and about their homes, businesses and synagogue. The chapter also records how their lives changed after 1939. The text is based on the original typescript and supplemented with corrections and recollections from three witnesses. It is available in Czech and English.

František Nedbal: Židé v Hořovicích a okolí (1986)
page 48 of the original

VI. List of families of the Israelite faith in Hořovice and surroundings :

Today it is already difficult to make an exact and complete record of the Israelite families here and in the surroundings of Hořovice. The records were destroyed and the number of old witnesses is dwindling through death. I list here at least what I was able to find out, although in this region too there used to be many Jews, poor and rich, some of them holding distinguished positions :

Hořovice:

Belas František, junior official of the ČSD (Czechoslovak State Railways), + 1937 at the age of 78, as stated on the gravestone in the urn grove.

Beštáková Hilda with her mother, wife of the pharmacist RNDr Ferdinand Bešták in Hořovice, Palackého Square No. 254, born 1910. After the German army invaded in 1939 they divorced out of fear. He then hid this wife of his, but to no avail; both had to go in 1942 on a transport and to the gas in Auschwitz. He is still alive, living with his daughter in Prague.

MUDr Bohumil Hochman, chief physician of internal medicine in Hořovice, flat No. 695[?]. Born 11 Oct. 1917, was a doctor of the Czechoslovak tank brigade in England, came with it to Prague in 1945 and then worked as a doctor in the new hospital in Hořovice. In spring 1964 he suddenly died and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Prague. His wife, the teacher Anežka, and both children Jiří and Alena were also of the Israelite faith. After the funeral they went to Prague and Israel.

Hrdinová . . née Krásová, wife of the district captain in Hořovice, was around 1939 of the Israelite faith. They had two children. Out of fear of the racial laws he had himself divorced from her. That did not save the lady; on the contrary, she too had to go in 1942 to concentration-camp suffering and death.

Gibian . . senior in Hořovice, 9. května Street No. 208[?], founder of a general store and of the sale of specially bred seeds of grasses, grain, beet and others. He also had wholesale warehouses buying grain, which he later milled in his own mill in Dušníky near Příbram. They were the first here to have a truck for transporting grain and flour. + 1939.

Two sons: Rudolf, born 1920 in Hořovice, confirmed here in the synagogue in 1934. Then to Příbram and in 1942 to a concentration camp, which he alone survived. There he could not save even his mother. Now he is retired in Prague and is chairman of the headquarters of the Jewish religious communities.

Richard was younger, born in Hořovice in 1924.

Glaser Josef founded a small general store in Hořovice, now 9. května Street No. 211 - opposite the printers.

Son Sikmund expanded the business and introduced the buying of grain from farmers, which he sold to state mills. In 1904 he was on the board of the ŽNO (Jewish Religious Community) in Hořovice and also an auditor of accounts.

His two sons :

Otto increased the grain purchasing to wholesale and had granaries built /today flats of the master tinsmith Mr Nosek/. He remembered the synagogue with considerable gifts in honour of the memory of his + mother, so that they gave him a memorial plaque there.

Robert, born 1897, married with one child. Also a merchant. He is said to have been able to procure instantly whatever anyone needed. Even a bicycle - a cycle, which after the First World War was a rarity - or a musical instrument. He himself was an outstanding violinist. They too had to go to the gas and to death.

The Körpers - were a numerous family and came from Praskolesy.

Julie Körper /1829 - + 1904/ in Praskolesy.

Children :

1. Eduard Körper, peddler, Hořovice, Dlouhá Street No. 126. Wife Gabriela née Chladová. Child Valerie, born 1 Nov. 1928 in Prague. They happily returned from Terezín.

page 49 of the original

2. Šalomoun Körper, merchant in general goods in Hořovice, Valdecká Street No. 383[?]. He was zealous for the building of the new synagogue. In the board of the ŽNO he was treasurer and accountant. He lived opposite the synagogue, where everything that happened was concentrated. Married twice. With his family, considerable gifts.

Daughter Julie Anna - Hanka, born 1909, graduate of the Business Academy in Beroun, was popular with many people; in 1928 she had a wedding in the local synagogue in Hořovice with the chemical engineer Maxmilián Goldstein, with the participation of the entire public. They had two children: Jiřinka, born 26 Dec. 1929 in Turnov, and Miroslav, born 23 May 1931 in Hořovice. In 1939, when liquidation by the German authorities arose for them, the lady with her children registered with the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Hořovice. They were baptised there, in an effort to help them, but it was of no avail. In 1942 they were taken away with the others and perished in Auschwitz.

Their house was bought after the war by the Žalud family.

3. Simon Körper was a glazier. He glazed windows and so on in his little house in Hořovice, Nerudova Street No. 114. As early as 1903 he pledged to do the glazing work on the synagogue in Hořovice free of charge.

Family : There is no news of his wife, only of two sons :

Bobík, who worked as sexton /cleaning and preparations/ in the synagogue in Hořovice.

Vilém, who in the imperial and royal army under Austria reached a high rank: sergeant.

The glazier's workshop continued to be run here, and after the Second World War the little house and the workshop were bought by Mr Jaroslav Šlapák, master glazier.

Kraus Zikmund, with family, local rabbi in 1904. Later he was transferred to Vodňany.

Lederer Oskar - had a shop selling haberdashery in Hořovice, Pražská Street No. 363, today the shop "KNIHA" ("Book"). He continued the trade after Ondřej Skíd[?]. He gave himself an alluring firm name "U MĚSTA PAŘÍŽE" ("At the City of Paris"). Born in Radotín on 18 April 1903. He came to Hořovice in 1935. At the beginning he did well here, and so did his wife. They had no children. Together with the vocational teacher Ferdinand Habětín he worked zealously in the Sokol as an assistant educator. He could write interesting verses about the work of the Sokol, also for print. But after 1939 he and his wife were expelled from the Sokol. He was entrusted with the inventory of Jewish property in Hořovice and surroundings; about a year later they had to go on the transport via Plzeň and Terezín to Auschwitz, where both also perished.

MUDr Levý Rudolf, long-time general practitioner in Hořovice. He occupied the entire house in Slavíkova Street No. 77 with a frontage on Palackého Square, which is today a photo studio. Downstairs he had surgeries and on the first floor a flat. At that time hospitals were only in Prague or Plzeň, so he was both an internist and a surgeon. He did both well and people respected him and liked him. He died in Prague - Podolí on 7 January 1939. His wife came from Cheznovice : Neumannová.? They had two daughters :

Zdenka, married in the Catholic fashion, Firýtová, moved to Hradec Králové. Because her husband did not divorce her in 1939 out of fear of the Germans, she was protected and did not have to go on a transport to the concentration camps.
All were of the Israelite faith and so they too had to go to concentration camps, where they perished.

Valerie studied in Hořovice and was a teacher. She married the doctor MUDr Oskar [added by hand] Diamant, who had a surgery in the château in Hořovice and later in Zbiroh, at the square No. 123 [number added by hand].
[additional corrections] MUDr Oskar Diamant of Zbiroh, already after internment, managed in a mysterious way to escape and make it as far as Sweden with his children, and so save himself. His wife Valerie née Levá went through the concentration camps to the very end. After the liberation she happily returned to Hořovice. Then she lived in Prague, learned the address of her husband and children and went to them, found them all, but it turned out badly. They had grown so estranged that they parted again and she returned to her solitude in Prague.

Löwy Alois was an Israelite priest - rabbi in Hořovice after the First World War and lived in 9. května Street No. 333. It is the house with an upper floor, on the left side as seen from the bridge over the Červený potok. The windows of the flat faced north, towards the factory. He was married and had children. Apparently he had a small salary, so he taught German at home to support his family. On weekdays some children came to him, except on Saturday, for private lessons. In 1921 he thus taught German also Anička, the little daughter of the builder Alois Hrdlička. She was 11 years old. Also Pavel Bouša, the son of the manager of the distillery, and others.

Münz Simon - senior, founder of the first printing house in Hořovice, Palackého Square No. 99, next to the former burgher school. Today the owner of the house is Mr Ant. Kebert, school headmaster vv.

Son Josef with his wife Karilina improved and expanded the printing house. In 1904 they donated to the ŽNO in Hořovice a valuable and extensive Memorial Book [page 50 of the original] bound in leather, on the occasion of the consecration of the new synagogue in Hořovice on 3 March 1904. A pity that there are so few entries in it.

In this printing house the printers from Hořovice Mr Truxa and Mr Vinkler were trained. Son Otto Münz + 1907 and his father Josef Münz + 1913. All are buried in the Jewish cemetery in Praskolesy, where they rest in the Lord. But their peace was disturbed by a disrespectful hand, which tore off the metal cover of their family tomb, probably with the intent not only of desecration but also of theft and plunder.

The surviving printing house was then bought by the printer Mr František Hrdlička and merged into his business at another location. And in house No. 99 a stationery shop and bookshop was set up for Mrs Hrdličková, married name Karásková.

Polák, or Pollak was the surname in many Jewish families who lived in Lochovice, Podluhy, Praskolesy and Hořovice and elsewhere.

Polák Simen is listed as chairman of the ŽNO in Hořovice, and that still in the old prayer room until 1899 - before Julius Bondy.

Polák Heřman and Sikmund were on the board of the ŽNO in Hořovice.

Polák Leopold + 1918 with his wife Marie née Steinbach - had children : Julie, married name Ermangová, + 1923 . Josef and Hugo Polák .

This Hugo Polák had a shop where he sold textiles, linen and ready-made clothes for old and young, men and women, in Hořovice, Pražská Street No. 514, in an old house opposite the shop of Mr Laštovka.

He was popular in the town and surroundings. He reportedly stood in front of his shop and called out and offered his goods also on credit and instalments. And people bought. Two shop assistants had their hands full. But he did not get along with money, so that he went bankrupt and in 1938 hanged himself.

[additional corrections] Hugo Polák in Hořovice, that he had only a textile shop, not a tailoring workshop. He is buried in Prague in Olšany in the new Jewish cemetery

He left behind a wife and two daughters, Marta and Olga. They then, together with their children, had to go to their death in the concentration camp in Terezín and Auschwitz.

Rabbis in Hořovice :

How many Jewish priests there were in Hořovice and when they were here can probably no longer be established. But they were mostly priests married, with a wife and their children. I list four :

Krause Zikmund in 1904, later transferred to the ŽNO in Vodňany.

Schulhof Eduard in Hořovice in 1904 .

Urbach Adolf from Hořovice, transferred to Nová Kdyně near Domažlice. And

Löwy Alois in Hořovice around 1921 .

The Roubíčeks were also a numerous family, rooted in Praskolesy. They moved after 1849 to Hořovice, where they managed to settle between the new château and the school in Víska, in three houses next to each other.

Roubíček Sikmund a Barbora were the first. + 1886 .

Sons :

Roubíček Bernard /1853-1909/ 56 years. He had a machine workshop, was on the board of the ŽNO in Hořovice in 1904. Lived at what is now No. 933 . He moved with his family to Beroun, where he bought and ran a mill.

Roubíček Bohumil had a farm, Hořovice Víska, now No. 934 . During the building of the synagogue in Hořovice in 1903, free transport and gifts .

Roubíček Bedřich had a shop of general goods, brandy, oils, petroleum and wholesale purchasing and sale of grain to state mills and warehouses. He died in 1939 before the arrival of the Germans. His house stood on the corner, No. 36, and has been demolished.

Grandsons :

Roubíček Karel - commission agent at the stock exchange in Prague.

JUDr Roubíček Leo, lawyer in Hořovice, office and flat the whole first floor, Palackého Square No. 252. In 1939 the Germans closed the office and prepared the register of Jews and the transport for extermination by gas. Also his wife Markéta née Zuvolchtová, who returned home.

Roubíček Viktor took over the shop at No. 36 from his father, but perished in Auschwitz together with his family. Also

Arnošt and Rudolf and Marta, married and heavily pregnant, gave birth somewhere on the transport, which confirms the terrible cruelty that the Germans inflicted on the Jews. She and the child perished in the greatest pain and wickedness of human malice.

page 51 of the original

Steinreich Berthold from Praskolesy + 1907 was the founder of a wholesale business - purchase and sale - of hides, domestic and industrial, and of bred, high-quality and expensive furs processed here. Also wholesale in Plzeň and Prague. Also export to the USA and the whole world.

By their diligence and industriousness, but also by the luck they had in business and trade, they were millionaires already under the First Czechoslovak Republic. They had their wealth in dollars deposited in banks in Switzerland and elsewhere .

In the Israelite faith they were zealous and self-sacrificing patrons of the ŽNO in Hořovice, and especially already during the building of the new synagogue in 1903 they donated many gifts. Also transport and other services free of charge. Also in the membership of the board.

daughter : Emilie /1866 - 1934/ lived to the age of 68.

Grandchildren: Matylda + 1937 .

Emil and Hanuš in 1939 stayed in the USA because of Hitler .

Arnoštka, born 1891, poisoned herself on 15 March 1939. And

Helena and Pavla were taken away and perished in the gas in Auschwitz in Poland in 1943 as victims of Germanic persecution.

In Hořovice, in Smetanova Street, they had two houses, Nos. 251 and 248. They are still there to this day and probably belong to the MěNV (Municipal National Committee) .

Weinerová Anna from Hořovice

On 3[?] June 1932 she founded at the new synagogue in Hořovice, Valdecká Street, a prayer endowment of 100 zlatých .

Witz Hynek + 1934, peddler, and his wife Karla née Sösslard .

Son Witz Otta, also a peddler, went around the villages and sold all sorts of things, feathers, hides for Steinreich and his business. His wife Milena née Steinová ran a little shop with piece goods in Hořovice, Anýžova Street No. 450. It used to be a small and poor little house on a corner. They lived, however, on Palackého Square /on the upper side/ No. 78.

They had two children :

Otta perished in a concentration camp, probably in Auschwitz in Poland.

Hana. She was granted the chance to return from the aforementioned suffering and already in 1948 she married in Prague a Czechoslovak officer.

Zuckermann Šalomoun in the old days was deputy chairman of the ŽNO in Hořovice after 1899, in the time of Julius Bondy .