Krynica-Zdroj Jewish Cemetery

Jews first settled in Krynica- Zdrój (a spa town) at the end of the 18th century. Jewish settlement in the region later intensified with the Partitions of Poland.

The Jewish cemetery in Krynica- Zdrój was established in the mid-19th century in the lower part of the town, on Polna Street. The cemetery covers a plot of land measuring 30×50 metres and contains about 120 matzevot. While most of the tombstones are made of sandstone, throughout the cemetery there are some marble and granite matzevot and concrete tombstones, which were popular styles before World War II. There is moreover an ohel in the cemetery with a compartment for a kvitel (little notes with petitionary prayers, especially in the Hasidic tradition). During the Nazi occupation, mass executions of Jews took place in the cemetery. After the war, the cemetery fell into ruin and was used as a garbage dump. In the 1980’s, communist authorities planned to liquidate the cemetery (they wanted to build a sanatorium in its place), but it never happened.

Despite the passing years and the difficult history, the Jewish cemetery in Krynica Zdrój is currently well-kept thanks to numerous renovations carried out at the end of the 20th century, when the cemetery was fenced and enclosed with a stone wall. It is maintained by the Krynica Zdrój Office and tourists wishing to visit the cemetery can request a key at Town Hall. The cemetery area is administered by the Jewish Religious Community in Kraków.