Wiskitki Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Żyrardów
Settlement
Wiskitki
Site address
1, Spółdzielcza Street.
GPS coordinates
52.08708, 20.37098
Perimeter length
353 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is fenced with a modern concrete fence (2m high), there is an iron entrance gate with a star of David. The fence was installed by ESJF in cooperation with FODZ in 2016.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery of Wiskitki is situated on the north-western outskirts of the village. The area is a meadow, covered in wild grasses. The eastern part of the cemetery is overgrown with dense bushes. Tombstones have been preserved and an information board is attached to the interior cemetery wall near the entrance.
Number of existing gravestones
60
Date of oldest tombstone
1847
Date of newest tombstone
1883, 1937
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

Jewish settlement in Wiskitki began to develop after 1793. In 1921, 951 Jews lived in the town, constituting 34.14% of the entire population. In February 1941, the Germans deported the local Jews to the Warsaw Ghetto, most of whom were later murdered in Treblinka in 1942. The Jewish cemetery is located at Spółdzielcza Street, about 850 metres north-west of the town centre, and covers geodetic plot no. 569 shaped like a rectangle, with an area of 0.63 hectares. The cemetery was established in the first half of the 19th century. In 1841, the synagogue supervision leased a plot of land intended for a cemetery. Until the 1870’s, the cemetery also served as the burial place for Jews from the nearby Żyrardów.

Most probably, during World War II, cemetery was devasted, and continued to degrade in the following decades. Most of the tombstones were removed and the fence was torn down (its remains were recorded in the 1991 Cemetery Chart). At the beginning of the 21st century, the area was overgrown with dense, wild vegetation (shrubs and trees), making the cemetery difficult to access. About 70 tombstones have survived within the cemetery in various conditions, mostly in the form of sandstone stelae and granite fieldstones. The oldest identified tombstones are dated 1852. When comparing the number of tombstones noted in the record books with the actual number of preserved matzevot, the latter constitutes only about 4% of all the matzevot. The list of tombstones is available at http://cmentarza-zydowskie.pl/wiskitki.htm. In 2016, the cemetery was cleaned and fenced with a concrete wall. A plaque commemorating the Jews of Wiskitki was placed at the entrance. The project was implemented by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in cooperation with the ESJF – European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative. The owner of the cemetery is the Wiskitki Commune. The cemetery is listed in the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Masovian Voivodeship.