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Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Podlaskie Voivodeship
District
Bielsk Podlaski
Settlement
Bielsk Podlaski
Site address
Brańska Street, 128, by the exit road from Bielsk towards Brańsk. Cadastral parcel no. 200301_1.0003.228/1, 200301_1.0003.228/2, 200301_1.0003.230.
GPS coordinates
52.763352, 23.164844
Perimeter length
793 meters
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
No fenced.
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
This is an unfenced Jewish cemetery. Part of it is well-maintained, with the area clean and with mowed grass, but part is overgrown and littered. Many graves are preserved, but only a few matzevot, mostly concrete “sarcophaguses” or concrete lining of graves. The cemetery is quite distant from the road, but has a short dirt road access and a parking lot.
Number of existing gravestones
ESJF surveyors found about 180 tombstones, including four matzevot in the wall-lapidarium. There are likely more, since some are hidden in the grass, or under the soil, and some in the bushes in the overgrown part of the cemetery. The matzevot are made of marble, sandstone and concrete. Tombstone inscriptions in Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish have survived. There is also a wall-lapidarium with the remains of matzevot, which served as quarries in the post-war period. On the mass graves of the Holocaust victims there is a monument with the inscription: "Place of execution of Polish citizens of Jewish nationality, shot in the years 1941–1944 by the gendarmerie and the Gestapo of Nazi Germany. Over 200 people are buried in the common grave. Honor their memory". There are also two commemorative monuments: one commemorating the family of Rachel Brener (murdered in Treblinka); and one commemorating Dr. Lew Naum. (sztetl.org.pl).
Date of oldest tombstone
1882
Date of newest tombstone
1942
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The first records of Jews in Bielsk Podlaski date back to the 15th and 16th centuries, but significant development of the Jewish settlement began only after 1802. In 1860, 1,123 Jews lived in the town, and in 1921, there were 2,392. Most of them were murdered at Treblinka in 1942. The Bielsk Podlaski Jewish cemetery is located about 2.1 kilometers southwest of the town center on the northern side of Brańska Street, and covers a plot of land shaped like an elongated rectangle. It has an area of approximately 2.49 hectares. The date of its establishment is unknown.

The cemetery was probably founded not earlier than the mid-19th century when the religious community was established. Prior to that time, Jews from Bielsk Podlaski were buried in Orla. The destruction process probably began during the Second World War. At that time, the Germans carried out executions on-site. In 1945-1946, survivors moved the remains of Holocaust victims exhumed from graves in and around the town to the cemetery. The cemetery was still used in the immediate postwar. In 1947, Ajzyk Blumental was buried there. On November 16, 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy, following the passed resolution of the Presidium of the City National Council in Bielsk Podlaski of May 22, 1963, signed an order to officially close the cemetery.

In 1967, a monument commemorating Holocaust victims was unveiled at the cemetery. At the initiative of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Heritage of the Bielsko Region, a wall was built which featured three found destroyed matzevot (sacred pillar or tombstone) in 2019. Currently, there are about 70 concrete tombstones in the cemetery. Several matzevot were converted into grinding discs and individual tombstones for other Catholic burials in postwar period. The mass grave of the Holocaust victims is surrounded by a low wall and marked with a monument from 1967. Lists of preserved tombstones are available at https://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/list/c_67, https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Bielsk_Podlaski/ vcemetery.htm. The cemetery’s area of 1.57 hectares is partially fenced with metal mesh. The facility is listed in the M

List and Photos of All Legible Tombstones in the Bielsk Podlaski Cemetery:
https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Bielsk_Podlaski/vcemetery.htm
https://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/list/c_67

Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
Bielsk Podlaski Jewish Cemetery
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