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Kolbiel Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Otwock
Settlement
Kołbiel
Site address
Heading north from Kołbiel via Franciska Stefczkya Street, near the local bakery (No.2 Franciszka Stefczyka Street) on the right hand side there is a forest track, which goes west to the cemetery area.
GPS coordinates
52.0691792, 21.4764369
Perimeter length
264 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery of Kołbiel is situated in a forest in the north-western part of the village. The cemetery area is overgrown with bushes and trees, but accessible. The boundary of the cemetery appears to be delineated by raised banks on two sides. There is evidence of heavy fighting that took place in the cemetery area in WW2: trenches and soldiers 'foxholes' run through the cemetery. There are some small fragments of tombstones remaining, lying on the ground.
Number of existing gravestones
0
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Forestry
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

Jews began to settle in Kołbiel at the end of the 18th century. In 1909, 2,077 Jews (89% of the total population) lived in the village, and in 1921 – 1,130 (65.3%), most of whom were murdered in September 1942 by the Germans in Treblinka.

The cemetery is located approximately 500 m north of the market square, near the forest, and approximately 200 m north of Zamoyskiego Street, within the area of the geodesic plot no. 1164.
The cemetery’s establishment date is unknown. Its existence was first mentioned May 27, 1853, in correspondence regarding the creation of the synagogue district in Kołbiel, and the independence of local Jews from the synagogue district in Karczew. However, the cemetery was in operation earlier, as evidenced by problems described in the above correspondence related to the registration of the deceased at the Registry Office in Karczewo and the delays in burials in Kołbiel. During World War II, the Germans carried out executions at the cemetery. In January 1943, gendarmes from the police station in Nowa Wieś shot a family of eight (parents and six children), and in December 1943, they murdered an additional five people. In 1944, the cemetery was used a bridgehead for the Red Army. The destruction of the cemetery likely started during the war and some residents contributed to its destruction. The tombstones were used, among other things, for construction projects and for reinforcing ditches and bridges.

Only three damaged and displaced sandstone stelae (including one commemorating Icchak, son of Awraham Dawid ha-Lewi, who died on July 22, 1938) and about 20 fragments of broken tombstones have survived in the cemetery. Remains of the trenches from 1944 are visible, there is no fence, and the cemetery borders are imperceptible. The area is covered with coniferous forest. There is no form of commemoration. The manager of the cemetery plot is the Mińsk Mazowiecki Forest District. The cemetery is listed in the Provincial Register of Monuments, but not in the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Mazowieckie Province.

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