Milejczyce Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
The Jewish cemetery in Milejczyce is located approximately 450 metres south of the village centre, at Magazynowa Street, and covers plot no. 1795 (shaped like a trapezoid), with an area of 0.46 hectares. The cemetery was established in 1865 and was in use until World War II. The cemetery fell into disrepair during and after the war. The State Treasury became the owner of the cemetery. On November 16, 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy, following the resolution of the Presidium of the District National Councils in Milejczyce dated March 23, 1964, signed an order to close the cemetery. In the list of Jewish cemeteries prepared by the Office for Religious Affairs in 1981, the following was stated in the case of Milejczyce: “The cemetery is very damaged, there are no visible traces of the cemetery.” Towards the beginning of the 1990s, the cemetery was fenced. In 2010, the “Ę” Association for Creative Initiatives initiated the “Instrukcja powrotu macewy” (“Instruction for the Return of the Matzevah”) project, encouraging residents to return stolen tombstones. In 2020, matzevot used during the war to build the stables were recovered.
In the cemetery, there are several dozen tombstones in various states of preservation, found in recent years in various parts of the village and the surrounding villages. The tombstones are secured in a lapidarium and are single concrete tombstones. The cemetery is fenced with a metal mesh. At the entrance, there is a plaque with the names of some inhabitants of Milejczyce who were killed in the Holocaust. The cemetery is partly covered with forest. The cemetery is listed in the Municipal and Provincial Register of Monuments and the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Podlaskie Voivodeship.
The first records of Jews in Milejczyce date to the end of the 16th century. The Jewish community developed significantly in the 18th century. In 1921, 648 Jews lived in the village (54.9% of the population), most of whom were murdered by the Germans at the end of 1942 in Treblinka.
