The oldest surviving written mention of Jews in Osek dates back to the end of the 17th century. A noble wine distillery was documented in Osek in the 1780’s, as was a noble potash refinery and a Jewish house. In 1793, there were three Jewish families living in the Osek estate. During the 1880’s (possibly already in 1884), the Jewish community ceased to exist due to the decline in its members. The 1910 census registered no one from the Jewish population.
Jewish houses were concentrated in the northern part of the village north of the pond from the beginning of the 19th century. They were not closed ghettos, however, as Christian houses were among them. This Jewish settlement area consisted of twelve houses in Jewish ownership; in other homes the Jews were permitted to live as tenants. Most of them have been preserved as reconstructions.
The synagogue was built after 1811 at the Koupavý pond. We know that it was a tall building with a saddle roof and a circular window in the middle of the eastern gable. Worship services were probably held in the synagogue until the end of the 19th century, after which it served as an ice warehouse, then after the First World War as a barn and warehouse. In the 1970’s, the main synagogue building was demolished. When the Jewish cemetery in Osek was precisely established is not known, but it happened sometime between 1838-1853.
The cemetery is located 800 meters southwest of the village in the forest on the way to the pilgrimage church in Radomyšl and previously served Osek as well as for the surrounding communities. The cemetery has recently been repaired; the quarry stone wall was completely reconstructed in 2010, and all tombstones were restored in 2011. A total of around 50 tombstones have survived from since the first half of the 19th century over an area of 250 square meters. The cemetery is freely accessible.
Interesting: Osek was the birthplace of Hermann Kafka, the father of Franz Kafka. The cemetery is also the burial site of the writer’s grandparents Jakub Kafka (his tombstone has survived) and Františka Kafková née Platowská.