Czeladz Jewish Cemetery

The significant growth of the Jewish community in Czeladź began in the mid-19th century. In 1921 there were 753 Jewish residents (4.4% of the total population) in the town, the majority of whom were killed by the Germans in KL-Auschwitz-Birkenau between 1942 and 1943. The cemetery is located approximately 1.8 km northeast of the town square, on Będzińska Street, and covers a rectangular plot with its northeast corner cut, with an acreage of 15,232 square metres. The cemetery was founded in 1916 as a joint burial site for residents of Będzin and Czeladź. Members of the Jewish community from Czeladź were buried in the northwest part of the cemetery, while those from Będzin were buried in the southeast. A mortuary was erected beside the entrance. Rabbi Cwi Henoch Ha-Kogen Lewin of Będzin was buried in the cemetery in 1935 and an ohel built over his tombstone. In the 1930’s the cemetery area was expanded. During World War II, victims of the Holocaust were buried in the cemetery, among others, including around 100 Jews who were burned to death in a synagogue in Będzin in 1939, and a further (approximately) 400 who were killed during the liquidation of the ghetto.

Burials still took place in the cemetery in 1945, albeit infrequently, including that of Marian Grossman and Szlamko Gelbard, who were killed on August 17th, 1945. The last person buried at the cemetery was Dawid Siwek, who died in 1948. In the following decades, the cemetery fell into disrepair. In 1979 the remains of Rabbi Cwi Henoch Ha-Kohen Lewin were exhumed and reburied in Israel. In the 1980’s, thanks to the initiative and funding of Czeladź-born Moniek Stawski, the cemetery was fenced and underwent maintenance. The cemetery has approximately 3,200 stele tombstones in 88 rows on the male side and 91 rows on the female side (a full list is available at www.jewishcemetery.czeladz.pl), as well as the run-down ohel of Rabbi Cwi Hanoch Ha-Kohen Lewin. The mortuary beside the entrance has been adapted into living quarters. The cemetery is owned by Czeladź County. It is included in the county and voivodeship-wide registry of historical landmarks and it is not included in the Immovable Monuments Registry.