Úsov

Úsov (German: Mährisch Aussee, Yiddish: Asyva) is a small town located in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic.

History

There was a castle since the 13th century. In 1487 the lords of Vlasim modified the castle, which was later in the possession of the lords of Boskovice. In 1622 Emperor Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor presented the town to Prince Karl I of Liechtenstein, on condition that none but Catholics should be permitted to reside there; and as late as 1834, out of a population of 4,534, only 24 were Protestants. In 1860 there were 245 houses in Aussee with 2662 inhabitants, of whom 950 were Jewish ^[1]. Since the 17th century until 1945 the castle was in the possession of the princes of Liechtenstein. The main pieces of the museum in the castle nowadays are the trophies of the hunting expeditions of the princes of Liechtenstein.

In 1852 the Mährisch-schlesische Forstlehranstalt (moravian-silesian silviculture school) was founded in Úsov, but in 1867 transferred to Eulenberg.

Jewish Asyva (Aussee)

It had a Jewish community in the 17th century. In 1688 the dean of Müglitz gave orders for the erection of a synagogue at Aussee. This building was destroyed in 1722 under the following circumstances: During the services on the eve of Yom Kippur a Catholic priest entered the synagogue and began to preach a missionary sermon to the people assembled for worship. The officers of the congregation asked him to withdraw; but he persistently refused to do so, and they were compelled to eject him. When the Jews brought charges against the priest for disturbance of the peace, he claimed that they had assaulted him. After a protracted lawsuit a decision was rendered to the effect that the synagogue be destroyed and that no other be built. Of those charged by the priest with assault 3 men were branded with a hot iron and exiled; while the fourth, a man 74 years old, was sentenced to work upon a Catholic church then in course of construction. 32 years elapsed before permission was granted the Jews to establish a House of Worship, a lesser establishment than a synagogue. (Abraham Ha-levi, "M‘gilath S‘darim") It was not until 1783 that permission was given to build a regular synagogue; and when this was dedicated Abraham Prostiz was chosen rabbi.

Other rabbis were:

• Israel Fuchs, brother of R. Manli Fuchs, of Kromau
• Loeb Pollak
• M. Duschak
• David ben Jacob Szczebrszyn, author of notes on the Targumim, is said to have occupied the rabbinate in the 17th century.

Under the law of March 21, 1890, relating to the legal conditions of the Jewish congregations in Austria, the community of Aussee was amalgamated with the neighboring communities; and, through personal and local considerations, Mährisch-Schönberg became the seat of the Jewish communal district.

Even today (2000s) the former synagogue is there.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:  Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906.  ([1]) Bibliographies of Jewish Encyclopedia:

• Wolny, Die Markgrafschaft Mähren, vol. v. Brünn, 1839
• N. Brüll, Zur Geschichte der Juden in Mähren, in Wiener Jahrbuch für Israeliten, 1867

External links

• Official website (Czech)
• Úsov Castle
• M'gilath S'darim
• John Kerry´s ancestry from Aussee