On November 5, 1866, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Jewish cemetery in Ústí nad Labem was founded on the site of the purchased garden plot of Johann Lumpe. A cemetery and a burial brotherhood have always been the primary foundation of any Jewish community, the burial brotherhood provided not only care for the deceased, but also social work with those in need: widows, orphans and poor people.
In the same year, the Jewish association preparing the establishment of the Ústí Jewish community purchased an old house in Malá Hradební with the intention of building a synagogue on the site. Thirty Jewish families settled in Ústí gradually managed to obtain the necessary funds and in April 1880 construction began. At the end of August, the synagogue was completed. just in time for its ceremonial dedication during the upcoming Jewish holidays.
As early as 1892, the synagogue became the target of vandalism and thieves. Unknown robbers went there for the so-called High Holidays between the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, at a time when gatherings were restricted in Ústí due to a cholera epidemic. They broke the synagogue window, tore the altar curtain, tore down the eternal light, and everything that looked like gold was stolen from the tabernacle. Three desecrated Torah scrolls lay on the ground, from which the thieves had torn off their decorative covers, torn all the money boxes from the walls, and cut off everything they thought was gold thread from all the fabrics. A silver pointer and other decorative Torah decorations for the High Holidays were also stolen. The synagogue usher's clothes were found thrown away nearby, and the Ústí press speculated that the thief had changed into them to avoid being conspicuous.
Photo from the Archives of the Regional Museum in Ústí nad Labem.