THE GEOGRAPHIC MOBILITY OF THE JEWISH POPULATION IN BOHEMIA ACCORDING TO THE REGISTER OF JEWISH FAMILIES FROM 1793
The article analyses the geographic mobility of the Jewish population in Bohemia along to Register of Jewish Families compiled in 1793. This important source is the most complete census of Czech Jews. Jews in Bohemia were quite mobile: almost one-quarter of the Jewish population (7378 out of 38 594) was located for long periods or permanently outside their place of birth. Most often they migrated within a distance of 50 km, usually remaining in one demesne or within the limits of a region. So-called 'familiants', family heads legally permitted to practise trades and other businesses, also migrated shorter distances with their families. The farther the distance migrated, the larger the number tended to be of free Jews looking to earn a livelihood in the form of paid labour. Migration beyond the borders of Bohemia did not occur frequently. It was mainly male Jews who could be found living outside their place of birth, and those Jews who migrated beyond Bohemia's borders were almost exclusively men. From a professional perspective religious leaders and members of the intellectual class (mainly teachers) were the most mobile strata in the Jewish population.
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