Seroczyn Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
In 1704, Marek Ajzykowicz and his father Ajzyk Wolfowicz were tenants in Seroczyn for a year. Jewish settlement began to develop in Seroczyn at the end of the 18th century. In 1921, 179 Jews lived in the village, most of whom were murdered in 1942 by the Germans in Treblinka.
The cemetery is located about 280 metres northwest of the village centre, on Gliniana Street, and covers a square plot of land with an area of 0.7824 hectares. The cemetery was likely established in the first half of the 19th century. There is a recorded mention of a kehilla in Seroczyn in 1820 and income from funerals was recorded in 1830. At the beginning of the 20th century, the cemetery had a wooden fence with a roofed gate. During World War II, the cemetery began to deteriorate. By order of the Germans, some tombstones were used to reinforce the roads and Seroczyn residents participated in the destruction process. Almost all of the matzevot and cemetery infrastructure were removed. The boundaries of the cemetery, however, were visible thanks to a preserved trench. On December 19, 1963, the Minister of Municipal Economy—in response to the resolution of the Presidium of the Municipal National Council dated August 28, 1962—signed an order to close the cemetery. The justification states:
“The last burial took place in 1943 and the cemetery has been closed since then. The cemetery is […] neglected, unfenced, overgrown with wild vegetation. There are no brick tombs. There are no tombstones on the graves. The cemetery needs to be cleaned up.”
In 2011, local community workers recovered over 20 matzevot in the village. In 2012, at the initiative of the Bogusław Werner Club in Seroczyn, the cemetery was cleaned. In 2013, an information board was placed at the entrance and, in 2014, the cemetery was cleaned by the Nissenbaum Family Foundation. In 2015, about 20 recovered matzevot were transported to the cemetery. Damian Lewandowski, a resident of Seroczyn, is the custodian of the cemetery. The cemetery is listed in the Provincial Register of Monuments.