Glubczyce New Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Opole Voivodeship
District
Glubzyce
Settlement
Glubzyce
Site address
Wrocławskiej Street.
GPS coordinates
50.2100733, 17.8233218
Perimeter length
358 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
There is a brick fence, 2m high. Parts of the brick fence have collapsed in several places.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery wall is overgrown and access is very difficult. The majority of the Matzevot are in fragments and the site is neglected and overgrown with grass, bushes and trees, making access is difficult. There fragments of tombstones with a cross and also there is a metal cross on one of the graves, this is most likely from the neighbouring Christian cemetery.
Number of existing gravestones
1 Matzevah. Evidence of other Matzevah as fragments was found.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
1941
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

Głubczyce was likely granted town rights in 1224. Jewish settlement in the town most likely appeared in the mid-14th century. Over the centuries, Jews were forced to leave the town several times. In 1818, the number of Jewish inhabitants was 62, in 1830 – 94, in 1850, the Jewish population increased to 300. In 1864, the building of a synagogue began. In 1890, the Jewish community in Głubczyce numbered 341 people, but in the following years the population began to decline – in 1910, it was only 174 people (1.3% of the town’s population). During the Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht), the synagogue was burned, Jewish shops and houses were plundered, and 10 Jews were arrested. In 1939, 44 Jews lived in the town. In 1942, Głubczyce Jews were deported to ghettos in the General Government.

The new Jewish Cemetery is located on Wrocławska Street, on the eastern side of the road, behind the municipal cemetery, in the direction of Krapkowice. The necropolis was established in July 1892. In 1939, it became the property of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany. In 1943, it was taken over by the Gestapo. The last burial took place in January 1941. The cemetery was devastated by the Germans and the destruction was continued after the war. In the 1960s, the funeral house was demolished, the remaining matzevot were stolen and were then probably used to pave the streets. Due to the devastation, only one whole tombstone commemorating a Max Bachrach has survived in the total area of about 0.7 hectares. There are also fragments of about 80 matzevot and numerous tombstone bases. Fragments of inscriptions in Hebrew and German can be read on the tombstones. The boundaries of the necropolis are preserved and correspond with the former boundaries of 1939. In accordance with the decision of March 26, 1990, the cemetery is listed in the Register of Monuments (No. 245/90). The owner of the cemetery is the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage.