Drama New Jewish Cemetery

Benjamin of Tudela noted the presence of 140 Jews in Drama in the 12th century. In the 17th century, a small community existed and by the end of the 19th century, it numbered 150 Jews. The Jewish population in 1912 was 600. Although a Jewish school already existed, a new school replaced it in 1925. By then a number of welfare and Zionist organizations operated. When the Bulgarians arrived in spring 1941, the Jewish population stood at 1,200. On 4th March 1943, all the Jews were arrested and transferred to a transit camp in Bulgaria. Afterwards they passed into German hands and were loaded onto ships. From Vienna, the Jews were transferred to the Treblinka death camp. Of 780 Jews, only a few survived the Holocaust.

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown, but it can be assumed that itwas founded in either the 17th or 19th centuries.