A Jewish settlement was documented in Radenín since the beginning of the 17th century. In 1723 there were 9 Jewish families living in Radenín, in 1853 there lived 51 Jewish families (190 persons, 19% of all inhabitants of the village), in 1880 there were 93 Jews, in 1900 there were 53 Jews, and in 1930 there were only 9 Jews (2% of the town).
A small ghetto existed at the northern edge of the village, 150 meters northeast of the castle. It probably emerged in the first quarter of the 18th century and was separated from the Christian part of the village by the castle and manor court. In 1830, the ghetto consisted of a synagogue and ten houses that stood around a small village. Most of them, including the schoolhouse No. 67, have been preserved as reconstructions.
The synagogue at No. 88 was located in the ghetto on the north side of the village. The first synagogue was supposedly built at the end of the 17th century, but was replaced by a new synagogue in 1804, which was built together with a house and hospital. It served for worship until the 1930’s, then 1934 it was rebuilt into a stilloccupied residential building.
The cemetery is located on a hill 800 meters northeast of the village square. It was founded in the second half of the 17th century. After 1830 it was extended; at that time the small wooden mortuary was replaced by a larger mortuary built of quarry stone. Over an area of 1,403 square meters, there are about 300 tombstones today, and the mortuary has been reconstructed. The oldest surviving tombstones date from the 1930’s, some of them decorated with simple plant décor or symbols. The last tombstone was placed here on 3 February 1938 for the poor beggar Johanna Rind, but her monument was not preserved. This is a valuable cemetery with a number of Baroque and Classicist steles and an important landscape-forming element. The cemetery is freely accessible.
Interesting: One outstanding tombstone stele is that of Samuel Sonn from 1852, decorated with a relief of the sun. The tomb of Rabbi Frank bears a sculpted relief of a lying lion, which is either a symbol of ruling power or commemorates the blessing of the Patriarch Jacob to his son Judah, Judah being likened to a lion.