Elblag Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish cemetery in Elbląg was established in 1811/1813 at the intersection of today's Browarna and Brzeska Streets, when the city was already inhabited by 33 Jewish families. There was also a funeral home next to the cemetery. Before the cemetery was established in the town, Jews living in Elbląg buried their dead in the Jewish cemetery in Powodowo (Powuden), which had already existed in the 17th century. The tradition of the presence of Jews in the city, however, dates back to at least the 17th century, as the decision of the city council of Elbląg from 1677 was known, pursuant to which, after considering the complaint, Jews were forbidden to trade. We also have information about Jews temporarily residing in the city from the years 1773–1790. In 1812, the community numbered 33 families, in 1818 255 Jews lived in the town, which constituted 1.3% of the total population, in 1852, 476 Jews lived in Elbląg, the largest number recorded in 1871 - 549 people. With time, this number began to decrease, to decrease to 445 people in 1905, and to slightly increase to 462 in 1928. During the Nazi period, out of 367 Jewish citizens living in the city in 1933, only 53 remained in 1939, all of them either managed to emigrate in the following months or were deported to camps. In November 1942, only seven Jews are mentioned, who were most likely married to the so-called Aryans. The persecution of local Jews took place here before 1933, on the night of July 31 to August 1, 1932, and was generally associated with the persecution of socialists and communists. The cemetery was destroyed during the "Kristallnacht", however, in its form it remained until the post-war period. The matzevot, which survived after 1945, were, without the knowledge of the city authorities, used in the 1960s and 1970s to pave the square in front of the Hydroster building on the eastern side of the cemetery. They were rediscovered in 1990, some of the broken pieces of matzevot were found in the warehouses of the Elbląg Forest District in the suburban “Bażantarnia”. Currently, the cemetery is a park with no traces of tombstones. On the other hand, its former purpose is indicated by a commemorative plaque with Polish and Hebrew inscriptions placed in 2011. (“Żydowskie domy modlitwy oraz cmentarze na Warmii i Mazurach – stan obecny” book by Seweryn Szczepański, 2017; doi.org/10.26774/rzz.165)