Ilza Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Radom
Settlement
Iłza
Site address
At the intersection of Kampanii Wrześniowej, Staromiejska and Podzamcze Streets turn onto a country road right after a building materials shop (No.60 Podzamcze Street). Continue south for 110m until you reach the cemetery. The entrance to the cemetery area will be on the left side of the road.
GPS coordinates
51.1637837, 21.2466359
Perimeter length
438 meters
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
There is a concrete brick and masonry wall (1.5-1.7m high) with two metal entrance gates. The fencing was erected by FODZ with the support from the Association of the Jews from Iłża.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery is situated in a forested area on the north-eastern outskirts of the town. The cemetery area was demolished during WW2 and recently restored. In May 2006, FODŻ completed maintenance work in the cemetery: the area was fenced and a Holocaust memorial to commemorate the Jews from Iłża was unveiled. The initiative was supported by FODZ and the Association of the Jews from Iłża. No tombstones have preserved on their original places.
Number of existing gravestones
There is one big fragment of the tombstone, leaning to the Holocaust Memorial, and several very small pieces of stones that can also be parts of matzevot.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

The first records of Jews in Iłża date to the second half of the 18th century. In 1765, there was a kehilla in the city, and the synagogue supervision was established in 1850. In 1921, 1,545 Jews lived in the town (33.9% of the total population), most of whom were murdered in October 1942 by the Germans in Treblinka.

The cemetery is located about 600 metres north-east of the city, and about 80 metres south of Kampanii Wrześniowej Street, on a hill, in the geodesic plot No. 18.3568 – an irregularly shaped plot of land with an area of approximately 1.5 hectares (ha). Initially, the Jews from Iłża were buried in Sienna, about 21 km away. In 1837, during the cholera pandemic, the Jewish community established an epidemic cemetery, and on March 9, 1840, the state authorities granted permission to bury all the dead from Iłża there. The cemetery was fenced no later than in 1839. The destruction of the cemetery likely began during World War II. All tombstones were removed, and the fence was pulled down. In 1985, only two matzevot fragments were found in the cemetery. On June 26, 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy – following a resolution by the Presidium of the Municipal National Council of Iłża dated October 18, 1962 – signed an order to close the cemetery. The documentation stated that the cemetery covered an area of 1.5 ha, and the last burial took place in 1943. On October 30, 1962, Iłża authorities adopted a resolution to liquidate the cemetery and establish a park in its place. There is no order approving the resolution in the files of the Ministry of Municipal Economy stored in the Central Archives of Modern Records. In 2006, at the initiative of Jews from Iłża, the cemetery was fenced and cleaned up. A monument dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust was erected there, and an information board was placed at the entrance. There is no information about the ownership status of the plot. The cemetery is listed in the Provincial Register of Monuments.