Adamow Jewish Cemetery

Adamów was founded in 1539 as a private town. The earliest known records about the Jewish community in Adamów, apart from some mentions of individual leaseholders, dates to 1778 when a record notes that capitation tax was paid by 6 heads of families (accounting for approximately 30-40 people). By 1827, the number of Jewish inhabitants grew to 108 people (18% of the total population) and rose to 162 people by 1857 (21% of the total population). The Jews of Adamów were subordinate to the larger community in Kock, though they likely became an independent community in the second half of the 19th century. By 1939, 1055 Jews lived in Adamów. During the Holocaust, in October 1942, the Germans shot over 300 Jews in Adamów, and deported the rest to Łuków, then Treblinka.

The cemetery is located approximately 1.5 km northeast from the city centre, on Janusza Korczaka Street. On the southeast side, it is surrounded by fields. The cemetery is shaped like an irregular, highly elongated quadrilateral with an area of 0.97 hectares. The cemetery’s establishment date is unknown, though in 1924 Jews from Adamów were still buried in Kock. The considerable distance of the cemetery from the city suggests it was established later. The cemetery was destroyed during World War II, though large parts of the area have survived. There are over 20 poplar trees in the cemetery, which are planted in rows, and some wild vegetation. In 2001, at the initiative of Rubin Rosenberg, (who emigrated from Adamów to the United States), the cemetery was fenced with a concrete wall, and a monument was erected dedicated to victims of the Holocaust. Later, a stele dedicated to Rubin Rosenberg, who died in 2005, was placed next to the monument. There are no above-ground traces of the cemetery, nor detailed information about its internal organization and appearance, nor have any tombstones from the cemetery been found.