Individual Jewish families settled sporadically in the town from the first half of the 18th century. Jews moved to Slavonice in larger numbers only after 1848, when they were granted partial equality. Censuses show that there were 27 Jews (1.1% of all inhabitants) living in Slavonice in 1848, and 63 Jews (2.5% of all inhabitants) in 1869. The highest population was at the end of the 19th century: in 1880, there were 75 Jews (2.9% of all inhabitants), in 1910 there were 85 Jews (3.1% of the total population), and in 1930 there were 50 Jews (2.3% of all inhabitants). By the end of the 19th century, Jews had set up a synagogue on Dlouhá Street, although the prayer room was undoubtedly here earlier – it was probably located in a private house already before 1880. In 1895, it was replaced by a larger hall in the new Jewish community house No. 494 on Dlouhá Street, located in the northeast part of the town center by the walls. The Jewish community house with prayer hall was built in 1895 by the local factory owner and merchant Lazar Stukhart, who donated five thousand crowns towards his construction.
The prayer hall was opened on 25 June 1895 by a ceremonial worship service led by the Rabbi Dr. Nathan Frankl of Písečné and Dr. A. Morgenstern of Jemnice. We know very little about the prayer hall, save that it contained a beautiful tabernacle and a female gallery. The ground floor of the house contained the common room for the religious community as well as a room for the Slavonice association for the poor and sick. The upper floor held a teacher’s apartment.
Services were held in the synagogue until 1938. After the Second World War, the building served as a church house for the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, then after 1967 it was adapted into apartments. At that time, the prayer hall on the upper floor was divided into two stories by a ceiling.
Interesting: There was never a Jewish Cemetery in Slavonice – the Jews were buried in Dolní Bolíkov, Staré Město pod Landštejnem, or in Písečné.