Janow Lubelski Old Jewish Cemetery

Janów Lubelski was founded as a private town in 1640 under the Magdeburg Law. In 1652, the owner of Janów Lubelski issued a privilege allowing Jews to settle in the town. A Jewish district with a synagogue complex and residential houses was established in the northeastern part of the city. In 1661, 60 Jews lived among 901 inhabitants in the town. In 1904 Jews accounted for 3,385 of the town’s 6,496 inhabitants (52% of the total population, and in 1939 3,400 (35%) Jews were among the town’s 9,720 inhabitants. In 1942, during “Operation Reinhardt,” the Germans murdered about 300 Jews in Janów Lubelski and the rest were deported to the death camp in Bełżec.

The cemetery was established between 1654 (when permission was granted to purchase the land) and 1661 (when the first recorded information on the use of the cemetery appears). It was located approximately 440 m north-east of the market square, in the northern part of the Jewish quarter. It was in use until 1826 when a new cemetery was established. It covered an area of 0.52 hectares and was shaped like the letter “L” (two adjacent quadrilaterals). It was completely destroyed during World War II. In the 1950’s, the land was divided into several plots. A water treatment plant, warehouses for building materials, and single-family houses were built there. During a construction project, human remains were found and buried in the Catholic cemetery (the subsequent place of burial is not marked). There are currently no traces of the cemetery, and no tombstones have been found.