Frampol Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Lublin Voivodeship
District
Biłgoraj
Settlement
Frampol
Site address
The cemetery is located at the intersection of Cmentarna and Ogrodowa streets.
GPS coordinates
50.67354, 22.66625
Perimeter length
313 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
Fenced by ESJF in October 2015.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
This is a fenced and well-maintained Jewish cemetery.
Number of existing gravestones
46 tombstones have survived, half of them are badly damaged, barely visible from ground level, some overturned.
Date of oldest tombstone
1862
Date of newest tombstone
1930
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

Frampol was founded as a private town before 1736 (the location of privilege record is unknown). Jews settled in Frampol from the beginning of the town’s formation. The Jewish community received a plot of land to build a synagogue and a beit midrash behind the south-west corner of the market square. In 1765, 125 Jews lived in Frampol. In around 1880, there were 1,189 Jews accounting for 2,154 inhabitants (55% of the total population). Before 1939, there were nearly 2,000 Jews living in the town (approximately 40% of the total population). During World War II, the Germans destroyed all the buildings in the synagogue complex. In 1942, about 1,000 Jews were murdered in Frampol and the rest were deported to the death camp in Bełżec.

The cemetery was established just after the city’s founding and is located approximately 300 metres north-west of the market square. In 1897, it was expanded at the south end of the plot, and the land was shaped like an irregular polygon with an area of 0.74 hectares (ha). According to a description from 1910, the older part of the cemetery was fenced with a stone wall with a gate on the eastern side, and the newer part with a wooden fence. The area was covered with tall pine trees. In 1942, about 1,000 Jews who were murdered during “Operation Reinhardt” were buried in three mass graves in the cemetery. The cemetery survived the War almost intact. After the War, the local non-Jewish population used the stone fence and most of the tombstones for construction purposes. After 1946, the cemetery was narrowed on the west side, and the edge was incorporated into the town. Over time, the cemetery became overgrown with poplars and robins. In 1985, the cemetery was fenced, a memorial for the victims of the Holocaust was erected, and the mass graves were marked. In 2006 and 2016, the cemetery was cleaned again, trees were cut down, the fence was completed, and a new monument was erected next to the mass graves. Currently, the cemetery covers an area of 0.61 ha. There are over 160 matzevot in the cemetery, most of which are fragmented and the oldest of which dates to 1735 or 1736. All of them are made of local limestone. In recent years, matzevot found in the town and its vicinity have been brought to the cemetery.