Honouring the Jews of Hořovice, Czechia

Solel is proud to be the custodian of one of the 1,600 Torah scrolls rescued by the Memorial Scrolls Trust from an abandoned warehouse in the Czech Republic. These scrolls were looted by the Nazis from synagogues across Bohemia and Moravia during the Second World War. These scrolls have been distributed to Jewish communities all around the globe as a symbol of the resilience of the Jewish people. The scroll held by Solel Congregation of Mississauga (#683) was originally used in the synagogue in the Czech town of Hořovice.

This town in Bohemia is about 50 kilometres southwest of Prague was chartered in the 14th century CE. Jews settled in Hořovice as early as the 15th century, but were not permitted to reside in the town during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the mid-1800s six Jewish families lived in Hořovice. Later, other families came from the surrounding villages. A religious congregation was established in 1875. Fifty Jews lived in Hořovice in 1930.

Horovice Torah Scroll MST #683

Horovice Synagogue

The synagogue of Hořovice was built in 1903 in Valdecká Street, near the town square. Services were held there until the Nazi occupation. Only some members of three Jewish families survived the Shoah to return to Hořovice and the synagogue was not re-established after the war. Since 1947 the synagogue has been used by the Czech Brethren’s Protestant Church. There is a memorial tablet from 1903 and a showcase in the building displaying documents about the Jewish community of Hořovice. The current congregation’s website describes some of the history of the building and the Jewish congregation who built it.

These Jews of Hořovice are known not to have survived the Shoah. By safeguarding their Torah scroll, Solel honours the memory of these victims of genocide.
 

Klára Benešová
Hilda Beštáková
Karel Fischmann
Josef Fuchs
Arnoštka Fuchsová
Robert Glaser
Marta Glaserová
Max Goldstein
Mirek Goldstein
Jiřina Goldsteinová
Julie A. Goldsteinová
Marie Hrdinová
Eduard Kőrper
Vilém Kőrper
Julie Kőrperová
Vilemína Kőrperová
Olga Krausová
Oskar Lederer
Marie Ledererová
Ida Poláková
Arnošt Roubíček
Karel Roubíček
Leo Roubíček
Rudolf Roubíček
Viktor Roubíček
Gréta Roubíčeková
Helena Roubíčeková
Marta Roubíčeková-Spitzer
Hanuš Schlesinger
Heřman Schwarz
Luisa Schwarzová
Žofie Steinová
Oskar Witz
Milada Witzová
Anna Žaludová