Goldap New Jewish Cemetery

In Gołdap, as in most Prussian towns, the beginnings of Jewish settlement are associated with the issuance of an edict in 1812 allowing the free settlement of Jews. Nevertheless, it is known that Jewish merchants appeared here earlier, who by competing with local Christian traders, according to the presented complaints, were to harm their interests. An example of this is a complaint submitted in 1670 by the Prussian states that traders, among others, in Gołdap, but also in other cities, Jews bring significant losses to local merchants. According to statistical data, 60 Jews lived here in 1843, 84 in 1880, 58 in 1905, 48 in 1933, and 19115 in May 1939. At the beginning of the 1820s, Jews owned a synagogue in the town at the then Schulstraße (now Szkolna Street) and a cemetery at the then Darkehmer Chaussee (today's Cmentarna Street). With time, the cemetery ran out of space for new burials. There were about 70 graves in 8 rows with about 9 graves each. In the first decade of the 20th century, about 200 meters from the old cemetery, between Darkehmer Chaussee and the railway track, a plot of land was separated for a new cemetery. The plot, almost 0.1 ha, was adjacent to the cement factory to the south, and to the Evangelical cemetery to the west. The cemetery was surrounded by a wall made of concrete blocks. Despite the damage in November 1938, the relics of the cemeteries are still quite visible. The "old cemetery" is particularly well kept [...]. In the area of ​​the "new cemetery" at Cmentarna Street, only single tombs and the bases of about twenty matzevot have survived. From the original concrete wall, there are small traces in the form of the foundations of the fence, posts and relics of the top of the gate posts. (“Żydowskie domy modlitwy oraz cmentarze na Warmii i Mazurach – stan obecny” book by Seweryn Szczepański, 2017; doi.org/10.26774/rzz.165) The new Jewish cemetery in Gołdap was most probably established in the 10's of the 20th century, when the existing necropolis located directly on the Darkiejmska Highway (Darkehmer Chaussee, today's Cmentarna Street) was full. An area of ​​0.1 ha was designated for new burials, located on the edge of a small hill north of the old cemetery, between the Darkiejmska Road and the railway track. From the south, it was adjacent to the cement factory, at the same time adjacent to the new Evangelical cemetery from the west. In the interwar period, the new cemetery was surrounded by a massive wall made of concrete blocks. The necropolis was devastated during World War II and after 1945. Most likely, at the end of the war, a trench was dug in the southern corner of the cemetery for the artillery position. All the matzevot were taken away. To this day, only single tombs and the bases of about 20 matzevot have survived. The relics of the cemetery wall are also legible - the foundations of the fence, posts and individual concrete blocks and, most likely, the tops of the gate posts. Nowadays, the bushes surrounding and covering the necropolis have been cut out, making its location in the area easier to read. Almost the entire area is covered with a dense "carpet" of ivy. (sztetl.org.pl)