The Jewish settlement in Mirovice was documented since the second half of the 16th century until the Nazi occupation. In 1721 there were 12 Jewish families, from the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century there were 5 to 9 families, and the strongest Jewish settlement existed around 1890, when 50 Jews lived in the town. Their numbers later decreased; in 1910 there were 44 Jews, and in 1930 only 34 Jews.
Jewish houses Jews owned or rented homes scattered around the town from the 16th century. In 1721, there were 8 Jewish families living in the noble “Gynther” house No. 75 on the southern side of the square, while another 4 families lived in the “Bořitov” house No. 81 in the street leading to the bridge. From the 18th century, Jewish houses were concentrated on the eastern side of today’s Nádražní Street. In the first half of the 19th century, there were five houses here belong-ing to Jews. Most of them were demolished or radically rebuilt; the Rabbi’s house with classroom was demolished after 1950. The synagogue No. 141-142 located on Nádražní Street was built at the end of the 18th or early 19th century as a replacement for the older prayer room from the early 18th century. It was a stone building with a shingle roof, segmented windows, and a wooden women’s gallery. It served for worship until World War II. After 1972, it was radi-cally reconstructed into a residential family home.
The cemetery is located 1 km north of the town, on a hillside above the Skalice River. It was founded before 1724, probably at the end of the 17th century, and was extended in 1731 and again in the middle of the 19th century. Today, over 200 tombstones dating from 1764-1965 are preserved over an area of 4,139 square meters. The 19th century mortuary was repaired in the second half of the 1990’s. The cemetery is freely accessible.
Interesting: One tombstone bears a relief of columns which are marked as Jachin and Boaz (First Book of Kings, 7:21). This motif is a direct reference to the actual bronze pillars supporting the first Jerusalem Temple that were broken during the destruction of the Temple of the Babylonians.