Lipnik Nad Becvou

LIPNIK NAD BECVOU (Czech. Lipník nad Bečvou; Ger. Leipnik), town in N.E. Moravia, Czech Republic. A synagogue is first mentioned there in 1540, though a Jewish settlement existed at least a century before. Most of Lipnik's Jews were engaged in textile production and in the import of livestock from Poland. In 1570 an economically injurious obligation to lend horses to the local gentry was abolished and the Jews' right of residence in perpetuity acknowledged in return for a payment. The community grew to 40 households in 1665. The rabbinate was founded in the late 16^th century. Renowned rabbis included Moses Samson *Bacharach (1632–44), who composed a selihah on the sack of the town by Swedish troops in 1643, Isaac *Eulenburg (1652–57), and Isaiah b. Shabbetai Sheftel *Horowitz (1658–73). Under the rabbinates of Baruch *Fraenkel-Teomim (1802–28), Solomon *Quetsch (1832–54), and Moses *Bloch (1856–77), the yeshivah attracted pupils from all Europe. Rabbi F. Hillel (1892–1928) wrote the history of the community. In 1567 a third cemetery was opened (a fourth in 1883). The community was constituted as one of the political communities (see *Politische Gemeinde) in 1850. Its population grew from 975 in 1794 to 1,259 in 1830, and 1,687 in 1857, but declined to 212 in 1921. In 1930 the community numbered 154 (2% of the total population). The community came to an end when its members were deported to the Nazi extermination camps in 1942. After World War II the congregation was renewed for a brief period. The synagogue equipment was sent to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague. The building was used from 1949 by the Hussite church. Lipnik was the birthplace of the industrialists David and Wilhelm *Gutmann, who established an institution for the poor in their mother's house in 1903.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.