Gabin Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Płock
Settlement
Gąbin
Site address
62, Kilińskiego Street.
GPS coordinates
52.4048669, 19.7417665
Perimeter length
957 metres. The square section at the eastern border is a WWI necropolis and not a part of the Jewish cemetery.
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
There is a metal fence (1.7-2m high), with a brick and metal entrance gate.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery of Gąbin is situated in the north-eastern part of the town. The southern part of the cemetery area is a meadow, while the northern part is an overgrown wood. The Jewish cemetery adjoins Catholic and WW1 cemeteries from the north-east. The territory is fenced and maintained. Tombstones are preserved in a lapidarium.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones have preserved in situ. 63 fragments of tombstones were returned to the cemetery area in 1999 and placed in a lapidarium at the edge of the forest. Some tombstones have been installed vertically on a concrete pedestal, some are embedded into the concrete lapidarium wall and some fragments have been placed on the ground near the lapidarium. A list of the tombstones is available at: http://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/list/c_7.
Date of oldest tombstone
1836 (photo by cemetery.jewish.org.pl), 1885 (photo by ESJF).
Date of newest tombstone
1935 (photo by ESJF), 1938 (photo by cemetery.jewish.org.pl/).
Urgency of erecting a fence
Low
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

Gąbin was a royal town founded under the Chełmno law in 1322. The first mention of the Jewish community dates back to 1507. In 1637, Awraham Abele Gombiner, a Talmudist, author of Magen Awraham, was born there. The winner of the Itzik Manger award – Rejzel Żychlińska also came from Gąbin. In 1658, the town was almost completely destroyed by a fire.

The Jewish community began to revive in the 18th century, especially after 1765, although already in 1710 it owned a wooden synagogue. In 1939, 2,312 Jews lived in the town, which constituted over 40% of the town’s population. During World War II, in August 1941, a ghetto was established in the town, and around 2,100 people were confined there. In April 1942, the Jews concentrated in the ghetto were transported to the extermination camp in Chełmno. The Jewish cemetery was established in 1768. It was located north of the town center and its area was 1.5 ha.

It was devastated during the Nazi occupation. Only a dozen (often broken) tombstones remained in the necropolis, and the rest were used to harden roads and a bridge and to build curbs at Browarna Street and Moniuszki Street. In 1944, an anti-tank ditch was led through the necropolis. After the war, the cemetery was left unattended, serving as an illegal dumping ground and a makeshift football pitch. In 1993, heavy rains revealed the tombstones used to strengthen the bridge over the Nida River.

Thanks to the cooperation of the descendants of the Gąbin Jews, the Nissenbaum Family Foundation, the Wiecznej Pamięci Foundation, the town authorities, and the Association of Gąbin Enthusiasts, the cemetery was fenced in 1999, and a lapidarium was built from the recovered matzevot. The oldest tombstones identified at that time comes from 1836, and the youngest one – from 1938. The cemetery was rededicated on August 16, 1999. In 2011, repair works on the monument and the lapidarium were carried out. Until now, about 60 tombstones or fragments of matzevot have been preserved at the Jewish cemetery in Gąbin. On June 9, 2021, a plaque commemorating the Jewish community of the city was unveiled in the Old Market Square.

Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery
Gąbin Jewish Cemetery