Karviná is a medium sized spa town in the NE corner of the Czech Republic near the border with Poland. Town website with pictures: on the Olza River. It is administrative center of Karviná District. Karviná lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and is one of the most important coal mining centers in the Czech Republic. Together with neighboring towns it forms industrial Ostrava-Karviná Coal Basin. Near the important town of Fryštát, discovery of coal led to rapid development of Karviná and surrounding villages and a railroad. After the split of Silesia in 1920. Karvina became a part of Czechoslovakia and in 1923 gained city rights. In October 1938 Poland annexed it with whole region known as Zaolzie. After WWII, it again became part of Czechoslovakia. In 1948 a merger of Karviná, Fryštát and surrounding villages of Darkov, Ráj and Staré Město to the one city named Karviná. Coat of arms of Fryštát was chosen as the coat of arms of Karviná. Fryštát became a historical center of this industrial city. The period after war is characterized by economic orientation on heavy industry. Currently the town ranks among the ones with the dense heavy industry but slow restructuralization of heavy industry influence and the development of othee spheres of economic acitivites. At the same time Karviná is the center of education in this region with its wide range of specialized secondary schools and, especially, the Faculty of Commerce and Business of Silesian University. Since 1995 Karviná became the member of the national network of statutary towns in the Czech Republic. Karviná is also an important cultural and educational center of the Polish minority in the Czech Republic.[February 2009]
US Commission No. CZCE000102
Alternate name: Freistadt (German) and Frystat (Hungarian), Karwina, Karviná-Fryštát. It is located in Silesia-Karvina at 49º52 18º33, 15 km E of Ostrava. Cemetery: 0.3 km NE in Postovni Street. Present population is 25,000-100,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Town: Mayor JUDr. Jaroslav Wienczek, Mestsky Urad, Masarykovo namesti 1, 733 24 Karvina; tel. 06993/41040. Local government offices responsible for site: Vladtimila Raszikova, Mestsky Urad-Referat Kultury, Masarykovo namesti 1, 722 24 Karvina; tel. 06993/41041.
- Regional: Denisa Klapsiova, Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, Zakladatelska 974, 733 00 Karvina-Nove mesto; tel. 06993/45641.
- Interested: Okresni Vlastivedne Muzeum, dir. PhDr. Vera Tomolova, Hlavni tr. 13, 737 00 Cesky Tesin; tel. 0659/55060.
A known Jewish community existed in town in the second half of the 19th century. 1930 Jewish population was 322. The unlandmarked cemetery originated at the end of the 19th century with last known Conservative Jewish burial before 1942. The isolated flat urban site has no sign. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via no wall, fence, or gate. Size of cemetery before and after WWII: 50 sq. m.
No stones visible but several stones removed from the cemetery are in another cemetery in Orlova. The municipality owns the property used for recreation. Adjacent properties are commercial or industrial and residential. Rarely, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred during World War II. No maintenance or structures but current care is occasional clearing or cleaning by authorities. Pollution, Vandalism and proposed incompatible development are minor threats.
Engineer arch. Jaroslav Klenovsky, Zebetinska 13, 623 00 Brno; tel. 0 completed survey on 1 March 1992 using F. Slachta: Dejiny hornickeho mesta Karvine, Cesky Tesin 1937 as documentation. Other documentation exists was too old. Klenovsky visited site in 1989 and 1991. No interviews.