Bodzanow Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Płock
Settlement
Bodzanów
Site address
Heading north-west from Bodzanów via road 2952W, turn onto the road to Kanigowo village. The path to the Jewish cemetery starts a couple of meters after the road sign by the right hand side of the road. The cemetery is 40m west of Nadrzeczna Street.
GPS coordinates
52.50433, 20.02352
Perimeter length
217 metres.
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fenced.
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery of Bodzanów is situated in the northern part of the village. The area is densely overgrown with tall wild grasses, bushes and trees. A few traces of the cemetery have been preserved: remnants of the broken fence and one returned tombstone. An information post and a Holocaust memorial are present.
Number of existing gravestones
There are 2 tombstones not in-situ: one intact standing tombstone, returned to the cemetery in the 1960s, and one modern tombstone of Rafael ha-Cohen, which was placed by the side of Holocaust memorial and made by the association, Ohalei Zaddikim.
Date of oldest tombstone
1934
Date of newest tombstone
1938
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
There is a memorial, unveiled in 2004 and dedicated to the Jewish community of Bodzanów, who were deported to the ghetto in Nowy Dwor and then taken to the death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The Bodzanów Jewish cemetery was most likely established at the end of the 18th century. It covered an area of about 0.18 hectares and was located north of the town, on the road to the village of Garwacz. The cemetery was likely closed in 1938 when the Jews of Bodzanów established a new cemetery in Chodków. The cemetery was completely destroyed during World War II, and the tombstones were used to pave the streets and for construction purposes.

After the war, the cemetery remained undeveloped. It is surrounded by a low concrete fence with no mesh and no entrance gate. The cemetery was closed for burials in 1964. In 2004, at the initiative of the Social Committee for the Construction of the Obelisk in cooperation with the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, a monument commemorating the local Jewish community was erected. It was designed by Jolanta Leszczyńska. Cleaning work in the cemetery was carried out by students at the Public Junior High School in Bodzanów. Next to the monument, there are currently two matzevot from 1923 and 1937 that were brought back to the cemetery.

Bodzanów was granted town rights in 1351 under Chełmno law. The development of the town was halted following the wars and fires in the 17th century. Larger groups of Jews began to settle there in the 18th century. Initially, Jews from the town were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Wyszogród. In the 19th century, Jews constituted about 38% of the total population. In 1830, they formed an independent Jewish community (kehilla). In 1922, Jews were incorrectly accused of causing a great fire in the town. In 1939, around 1,300 Jews lived there. On March 3, 1941, some Jews from Bodzanów were transported to Działdowo, and then to the ghettos in Szydłów and Częstochowa. Some of them ended up in the ghetto in Nowy Dwór and other towns in the Ciechanów district. Most of the Jews from Bodzanów died in the extermination camps in Treblinka and Auschwitz.

Bodzanów Jewish Cemetery
Bodzanów Jewish Cemetery
Bodzanów Jewish Cemetery
Bodzanów Jewish Cemetery
Bodzanów Jewish Cemetery
Bodzanów Jewish Cemetery
Bodzanów Jewish Cemetery