SOBEDRUHY

SOBEDRUHY (Czech Sobědruhy; Ger. Soborten), town in N. Bohemia, Czech Republic. Jews are first recorded there in 1334. In 1500 the wooden synagogue was replaced by a stone structure; a lamp there is inscribed with the year 1553. The earliest tombstone inscription dates from 1669; the cemetery served many communities, including Dresden (until 1751). At times Sobedruhy was exclusively inhabited by Jews. In 1750 Empress maria Theresa donated a tower clock for the synagogue. There were anti-Jewish riots in Sobedruhy in 1744. The burial of a Frankist from Sobedruhy in Prague in 1800 caused communal disturbances there. In the 19th century Sobedruhy remained an Orthodox community, in contrast to the nearby community of Teplice which was liberal. A community building was opened in Sobedruhy in 1900. There were 120 Jewish families living in Sobedruhy in 1724, 245 persons in 1842, and 393 in 1893. The community numbered 376 persons living in 17 localities in 1902, and 51 in 1930 (3.2% of the total population). Most of the Jews left Sobedruhy at the time of the Sudeten crisis (1938), and the community was dissolved. The congregation was not reestablished after World War II. The synagogue building was demolished and the clock placed in the custody of the municipality. The cemetery, damaged under Nazi rule, continued to exist. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Herzl, in: H. Gold (ed.), Die Juden und Judengemeinden Boehmens in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart (1934), 601–7; JE, 11 (1895), 418 S.V. Soborten. (Jan Herman)