Home - Surveys - Poland - Masovian Voivodeship

Latowicz Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Mińsk
Settlement
Latowicz
Site address
Heading from Rozstanki to Strachomin via Rozstanki street, turn onto a forest track, heading south, located 450m of No.2 Rozstanki Street. Continue down the track, through forests and fields for 390m. The cemetery area is situated 130m away from the western side of the track.
GPS coordinates
52.015135, 21.83985
Perimeter length
369 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 Latowicz is situated in the south-eastern outskirts of the village. The eastern part of the cemetery is covered by a forest (the area is overgrown with dense bushes and trees), the western part is used as a farming field. No traces of the cemetery have been preserved, nor have any tombstones and there are no memorial signs.
Number of existing gravestones
0. No tombstones have been preserved. Our field team discovered one large stone that may have marked the cemetery, however this is speculation.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The first records of a Jewish presence in Latowicz date to the second half of the 16th century, though Jewish settlement was limited by prohibitions issued by King Sigismund III Vasa in 1596. More Jews settled in Latowicz at the end of the 18th century when they were given the right to settle and build houses under the tsarist decree in 1826. One of the local rabbis was Jakow Icchak Weinberg, a grandson of Rebbe Jakow Icchak Horowitz of Lublin – a disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch and known as the ‘Seer of Lublin’ (Ha-Chozeh mi-Lublin). In 1921, 416 Jews lived in the village, most of whom were murdered in 142 by the Germans in Treblinka.

The cemetery is located about 3 km southeast of Latowicz, near the village of Rozstanki, about 400 metres south of the road to Strachomin. The cemetery covers a square plot of land, and its approximate dimensions are 49 x 37 x 58 x 37 m. There is no information about the history of the cemetery, though it was probably established in the 19th century. The destruction of the cemetery likely began during World War II and inhabitants from the surrounding villages participated in its degradation. The tombstones were used as construction material and as material for grinding wheels. On October 15, 1965, the Minister of Municipal Economy – following the resolution of the Presidium of the Municipal National Council in Latowicz dated December 15, 1962 – signed an order to close the cemetery. The documentation stated that the cemetery covered an area of 0.25 hectares, and the last burial took place in 1943.

The cemetery is located near a forest, within the larger geodetic plot no. 141210 2.0010.1886, adjacent to an arable field. As a result of the degradation, no tombstones have survived, though the boundaries are visible thanks to an embankment. The area is covered with wild vegetation and with some litter.
According to data from the National Heritage Institute, the owner of the cemetery is the Roman Catholic Parish in Latowicz. The facility does not have a cemetery card, it is not listed in the Municipal and Provincial Register of Monuments nor the Register of Immovable Monuments, and there is no form of commemoration.

Back to the map