Lazne Kynzvart

LAZNE KYNZVART (Czech Lázně Kynžvart; Ger. Bad Koenigswart), health resort in W. Bohemia, Czech Republic. Jews lived in Lazne Kynzvart as early as the beginning of the 14^th century; the cemetery dates from 1405. In 1430, after the community had absorbed Jews expelled from *Cheb (Eger), it consisted of 180 families. The synagogue was renovated in 1608, according to tradition by Jesuits whom the Lazne Kynzvart Jews had helped to cross the frontier when they were being persecuted by the *Hussites during the Reformation period. In 1724 there were nine Jewish families in the town. From the end of the 17^th century and for about 200 years afterward, Lazne Kynzvart was the seat of the district rabbinate. At the beginning of the 19^th century the Jewish community was under the protection of Prince Metternich. The community rapidly dwindled toward the end of the 19^th century and many settled in *Marienbad. In 1902 it numbered 51 persons, including those living in neighboring villages, and in 1933 only four families. The synagogue was desecrated in 1938, and the Nazis used the gravestones, placed face up, to pave the road. After World War II the Czechs removed them, using them to build a burial mound. The banking family of *Koenigswarter originated in Lazne Kynzvart.

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