ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE - The history of the Jewish community in České Budějovice

The Jewish children and youth of České Budějovice, much like those of other towns, weren't allowed to visit sport grounds and swimming pools since 1939 and were banned from all leisure time societies . After September 1940, they were also barred from attending schools and educating themselves. The children from České Budějovice were lucky enough to be allowed to meet on landlord Voříšek's land. In their free time, they wrote a magazine for themselves called Klepy ("Gossip").

"... How did we get to know Klepy? It all began with our fellow countryman, Jan Freund - a person, whose elder brother attended our high school; a person, who survived concentration camps as a schoolchild. Mr. Freund now lives in Canada, but he keeps his former homeland in mind. He visited a few years ago to tell the young people of his story and the fates of his loved ones. He brought with him several issues of Klepy, with which his childhood was closely tied."

A group of students in České Budějovice worked with Jan Freud to put together "The Underground Reporters", an english-language book published in Canada. The students from České Budějovice visited Israel in 2006, where they met with students of the AWARD organization, with whom they established a long-term cooperative relationship. They recorded many interviews with eyewitnesses, which they are currently (2008) processing into coherent texts. They inspired the work of students from Světlá nad Sázavou, who also started mapping their proximate surroundings.

There is a picture of five children on the panel. Only one of them survived - Jan Freund.

Teacher supervisor:
Mgr. Jan Kojan
The history of the Jewish community in České Budějovice

České Budějovice gained municipal status in 1265. Several Jewish families lived here since the 14th century and in the 15th, the Jewish community was already quite populous. The Jewish quarter was composed of 13 houses and a Gothic synagogue. In 1505, the local Jews were accused of ritual murder and about 25 of them were burned at the stake; children were taken from their parents. The remaining Jews were shunned from the city. Only one Jewish family was allowed to live in České Budějovice until 1848.

The modern Jewish community was established in České Budějovice in 1859 and a Jewish cemetery was founded in 1866, where around a hundred gravestones were preserved. In 1880, the 969 Jews living in České Budějovice formed 6 percent of the local population. The Jewish population peaked in 1898, when 1972 Jews lived here - since then, the numbers have only dwindled. After the occupation in 1939, the Nuremberg laws were applied to the Jews of České Budějovice as well gradually ousting them from public life. The large Neo-Gothic synagogue built in 1888 was blown up by the Nazis in 1942. Most of the local Jews (909 people) were deported to Terezín and further east in transport Akb on April 18, 1942. The Terezín records tell us 578 of them died due to the Holocaust.

After the war, a synagogue choir was established in České Budějovice and was active till 1970.

The Jewish cemetery was cleaned in the early 1990's and the remainder of the wall was repaired in 2004. The cemetery building houses a permanent exhibition about the local Jews.
The Klepy (Gossips) Magazine

Once restrictions stemming from the Nuremberg laws took effect in České Budějovice and the young Jewish inhabitants were no longer allowed to attend schools, sports societies, cultural societies and other public gatherings, the local Jewish Community managed to rent the so-called "Jewish swimming place" on the Vltava riverbank from Voříšek, a local landlord. The Jewish youth first met here on June 16, 1940. Adults were only allowed to visit the swimming place on Sundays.

The first issue of Klepy - three typed pages - was brought to the swimming place by the sixteen year old Rudolf Stadler in July or August. During the one year that Klepy was made, it grew to forty pages - a single copy of an issue was made approximately every three weeks. Klepy was composed of several pages with hand-drawn illustrations and typewriter text. Starting with issue 12, the magazine contained photographs, too, and the magazine was also enhanced with new articles and reports and both the contributors and the readers grew in number. The original intent was solely to make the readers laugh, but later, more serious topics were added, such as literary experiments, educational articles about the Jewish religion and history, even reports and photographs from the parents' forced labour. Regular sections were dedicated to sports and children, for whom puzzles, crosswords and brainteasers were created. There was a group among the ten-year-olds who regularly contributed texts - Jan Freund was one of them.

The magazine was printed for a year and 22 issues were completed. It was probably discontinued following the confiscation of typewriters and cameras, half a year before the deportation of the České Budějovice Jews to Terezín. The last issue was created in October 1941.

Ilsa Stadler, Rudolf Stadler's sister, obtained the magazine after the war. She never revealed who kept the magazine through the war. Klepy is a unique phenomenon in the Czech Republic - no comparable work is known.

Questions:
- What did the Klepy magazine contain? What makes it remind you of your school magazine?
- Were the editors of the magazine in any danger? What kind?
- How did Mr. Voříšek prove his courage? In what danger was he?
- What were the fates of the children who created the Klepy magazine?

The greatest merit with regard to the Klepy magazine goes to Rudolf Stadler, also known as "Bagr" ("Excavator"). Rudolf, Karel Hirsch ("Karli", "Hajžumé", "Žaluzí" or "Ramona"), Josef Friš ("Dlouhej Petr", meaning "Long Peter") and Rudolf Fürth ("Fulín", the magazine's illustrator) led the magazine till the 20th issue. Rudolf Stadler and Rudolf Fürth were born in 1924, Josef Friš in 1919. The eldest was Karel Hirsch, who was 37 years old in 1940. Not one of them survived the war. They were all deported to Terezín on April 18, 1942, along with most of the city's Jews. In the same year, Karel Hirsch and Josef Friš were deported to Zamość, Rudolf Fürth to Auschwitz in 1944. Rudolf Stadler was deported to Auschwitz on September 28, 1944 and from there, later on to Dachau. Here, he volunteered for a construction of a road to Litoměřice, in order to be closer to his sister Ilsa, who remained in Terezín. The overseer clubbed him to death with a pickaxe in spring, 1945. Miloš König picked Klepy up after Rudolf Stadler and managed to issue two more - 21 and 22.

Opening words of Rudy Stadler for the 10th and 20th issues of Klepy:

"We are to prove that we still possess a sound mind and a sense of humour, that we aren't ruined by the difficulty of the times to the state of not being able to spend our respite with that of higher value, though be it only jokes and humour at times."

Of the "history" of Klepy:

"One beautiful afternoon in the year 1940, I brought to the Jewish swimming place three pages of typed text. I handed these papers, entitled 'Gossip from the Jewish swimming place' ('Klepy ze židovského koupaliště'), to the group seated around the table, and they eyed me with surprise. Someone picked the papers up and began reading: 'In order to use the full potential of the Jewish swimming place, I decided to write...' etc., as the first issue of Klepy began."

For Klepy: Ruda "Bagr"

From the contents of Klepy:

Klepy No. 8

In the morn of January four
the Jews were given their chore
earlier than others would show
there they were shovelling snow.
Two groups the square
and Sternack's street share
some of whom still shy,
that others his work spy
Have at it, keep moving
all your strength proving.

Reflections and expressions

The world is ugly, rotten and wrought with power.
We have one lifetime only, a single shard of eternity and that we have to struggle against the world. R. D. O. H.

Serious contributions

We don't deceive ourselves thinking that enlightenment and humanity could ever be a radical cure to the ills of our nation. As our homeland is without borders, so is our suffering without borders.

Pinsker

There are people who judge their neighbours on their persuasions and opinions. I only distinguish between two kinds of people: good people and bad people.

Faughton

The human race, and we with it, is on an immeasurably long journey to perfect humanism. This is why we must let go of the false idea that through our dispersal we are fulfilling a clear-sighted vocation, a honorary office which we would rather give up if only the world could be rid of the insult, "Jew...".

Decree:

Jews are not allowed to use electric street railways in České Budějovice. Only in such trains that have a towed car besides the motor car, Jews may use the rear platform of the towed car. In such cases, however, Arian people are not allowed to stay on the rear platform of towed cars.

The management of the electric street railway in České Budějovice shall place on all motor cars well in sight signs saying "Juden Eintritt verbotten" - "No Jews allowed". Such signs shall also be placed in the front platforms and the interior of towed cars; rear platforms of towed cars shall bear the signs "Nur für Juden - Personen arischer Abstammung der Aufenhalt verboten" - "Jews only - No Arian persons allowed".
Der kommissarische Polizeidirektor: The commissarial police director.

The following citation of the diary of Jiří Orten is similar to the diary entries of young Jews of the time, regardless of where they lived - be it in Prague, České Budějovice or other Czech or Moravian towns:

"Prohibitions
I had trouble falling asleep last night - I was thinking about all the prohibitions that somehow affect my life, no matter how much. It is Sunday afternoon, it has been snowing for two days in a row now and I still have several hours before I am to go to Košíře, I will write down all the prohibitions I can remember, and when I do, I will leave a large blank space for all those that are yet to come.
I must not leave my house after 8 pm.
I must not find an apartment just for myself.
I must not move anywhere besides Prague 1 or 5, and that only as a tenant.
I must not visit wine bars, cafés, restaurants, cinemas or concerts, with the exception of a few cafés that have been set aside for me.

Decree:

Decree dated September 9, 1940. Jews are only allowed entry to Hotel Arida in the local administrative district, owned by Josef Kypta, and in České Budějovice, Lannova No. 360. Jews are strictly forbidden entry into the remaining accommodations in the administrative district of the České Budějovice police department.
"In April 1942, almost a thousand Jewish citizens were deported to Terezín in a passenger train. Here, in the northern Bohemian town, we were crammed into large halls in barracks - most of us only for a week or two, as we were taken into livestock vans. We were given no food and very little air and shipped to poland. Those who survived the transport were forced off the train and shot in pits dug specially for this purpose. Only a handful of Jews from České Budějovice remained in Terezín - some were also deported to Auschwitz … around 35 survived the war."