A new memorial plaque commemorates the victims of the Holocaust in Luhačovice

The plaque placed in the entrance to the library bears the motto No name must be forgotten and less than fifty names of Luhačovice residents or local natives who were murdered because of their origins and religion during the dark times of the Holocaust. The names of these victims were also read out during the meeting.

"I am glad that we unveiled this memorial plaque to the victims of the Holocaust and also recalled the importance of the Jewish community in the development of the town. Luhačovice has not forgotten, does not forget and will not forget that this legacy is here," noted Mayor Marian Ležák, who unveiled the memorial plaque together with the library director. The creation of the memorial plaque was financed by the town of Luhačovice together with the Pramen Luhačovice Foundation.

Information about the history of the Jewish community in the spa town has been collected for years by Blanka Petráková, a historian and head of the Museum of the Luhačovice Woods. "Luhačovice's Jewish community does not seem large compared to other towns, from about the middle of the 19th century it had about 25 to 35 permanent residents. During the spa season, however, four hundred Orthodox Jews from the East used to come here. We started searching for information about the local Jewish community and the victims of the Holocaust in the archives 10 years ago. We have managed to trace many stories of the Jewish families of Luhačovice, the oldest of which were the Sonnenscheins, and the four most important of which are the Donát family, the Jelínek family and the Bock family," Petráková said. She is the one who knows the fate of the local Jewish community best, as she has compiled an extensive exhibition about them, which is being installed in the local museum until 14 June. Like the exhibition, it presents the individual fates of the Jewish inhabitants of the spa town, who unfortunately suffered a similarly terrible fate during the Nazi occupation. "In 1941, all the Jewish inhabitants of Luhačovice were evicted to the ghetto in Uherský Brod and their unfortunate fate was then sealed in the concentration camps," Petráková said. She added that it was very difficult for her to read the names of the people listed on the plaque at the meeting, precisely because she saw behind them the specific fates of the local Holocaust victims.

The fact that the town of Luhačovice and the local public decided to draw attention to the fate of the Jewish inhabitants was also appreciated by one of the official guests at the meeting in the library, Jiří Arje Klimeš, a representative of the Jewish Community of Olomouc.

"As a Jewish community, we perceive such undertakings very positively. This indifference to the fate of the minority gives us hope that we and our children will be able to integrate into society and feel safe in it," Klimeš said.

In addition to him, the meeting was addressed by, for example, Zlín Regional Councillor Michaela

Categories: Uncategorized, Luhačovice, Spa Luhačovice, Luhačovice Zálesí, City of Luhačovice