Miastko Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Pomeranian Voivodeship
District
Bytów
Settlement
Miastko
Site address
The cemetery is located on a steep hill between Młodzieżowa, Dworcowa and Koszalińska streets, next to the buildings of the General and Technical School Complex (Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących i Technicznych at 3-5, Młodzieżowa Street). Cadastral parcel no. 220106_4.0003.38/6
GPS coordinates
54.00058, 16.97327
Perimeter length
365 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fenced.
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
Demolished, unfenced cemetery located on a steep hill. No tombstones or any other physical evidence of graves have been preserved. Parts of the area are densely overgrown and extremely littered. The necropolis is not marked in any form.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved. There are no tombstones on site.
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
Yes

Historical overview

According to the “Encyclopedia of Jewish Life before and during the Holocaust”, the first mentions of individual Jews in Miastko (Rummelsburg) come from the beginning of the 18th century. One Jewish family lived here in 1728. A significant development of the Jewish settlement took place in the first half of the next century, as evidenced by the erection of a synagogue in 1818, as well as the establishment of its own cemetery in 1820.
When Hitler came to power, about sixty people of Jewish origin lived in Miastko. Nazi repressions forced many town Jews to leave their hometown. In 1937, the synagogue building was sold. By 1939, only seven Jews remained in the city. We do not have information about their fate during the Shoah.
The Jewish cemetery in Miastko is located on Koszalińska Street, next to the secondary school complex. The necropolis was destroyed by the Nazis, and the devastation process continued after liberation. The tombs were dug up and there were libations in the cemetery. Editor Mateusz Węsierski in an article published in “Dziennik Bałtycki” writes about the post-war practice: “There was a rumour among the inhabitants of Miastko for years that the square by the school is a cemetery. The commune, however, was able to extract sand from here to sprinkle the streets without any problems. Digging has stopped here. Even representatives of the Jewish community came and buried the human remains in a wooden box under the scarp. This place was not marked at all “.
Perhaps soon the burial place of the town’s Jews will be tidied up and fenced. The willingness to undertake such an initiative is declared by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage and Eugeniusz Włodarczyk, deputy director of the Secondary School Complex.
(K. Bielawski, cmentarze-zydowskie.pl)
The events of Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938) did not spare the cemetery in Miastko. At the behest of the head of the local NSDAP branch, the Nazis destroyed the matzevot, and their remains began to gradually disappear from the cemetery. After 1945, the necropolis was still devastated – tombs were dug up and libations were organized. As a result, the cemetery looked increasingly like a neglected park. Nevertheless, in 1996 it was possible to determine the location of the cemetery, mainly due to the surrounding buildings.
(sztetl.org.pl)
“The Jewish Hill in Miastko will be cleaned up. There will also be a board and a map. The fence may be in two years” – 2020 article about plans of cleaning and commemorating the Jewish Cemetery in Miastko:
https://bytow.naszemiasto.pl/gorka-zydowska-w-miastku-bedzie-wysprzatana-pojawi-sie-tez/ar/c15-7836862

Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery
Miastko Jewish Cemetery