Mogielnica Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Grójec
Settlement
Mogielnica
Site address
Cemetery doesn’t have an address.
GPS coordinates
51.7000126, 20.7280254
Perimeter length
715 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
There is a concrete wall, 2m high, installed by FODZ and HFPJC Avoyseinu.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery of Mogielnica is situated in a forest area on the northern outskirts of the town. The cemetery area is fenced and tombstones have been preserved. Our field team was unable to gain access to the cemetery area.
Number of existing gravestones
53. According to sources there are 32 standing, 21 lying and some fragments of tombstones in the cemetery. Some tombstones were returned from the yard in front of the former gendarmerie building and placed in the ohallim.
Date of oldest tombstone
1881
Date of newest tombstone
1938
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
Two Ohallim.
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

Jewish settlement in Mogielnica began to develop after 1779. In the next century, a Hasidic dynasty was established in the town (Mogelnitz Hasidim). In 1921, 2,722 Jews lived in Mogielnica (51.2% of the entire population), most of whom were murdered in 1942 by the Germans in Treblinka. The cemetery is located about 700 metres (m) north-east of the town centre, and about 100 m north-east of Armii Krajowej Street, on a vast hill, and covers a plot measuring 1.24 hectares. The cemetery was established at the end of the 18th century. It had a wooden fence, which was repaired in 1848. A year later, Rebbe Chaim Meir Jechiel Szapira, the founder of the local Hasidic dynasty, was buried in the cemetery. Around 1862, the area of the cemetery was enlarged.

The devastation of the cemetery began during World War II when the Germans used some matzevot to harden the yard of the gendarmerie building. Numerous tombstones were also stolen by locals and used as construction material. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were individual destroyed matzevot within the cemetery. Around 2002, thanks to the efforts of Hasidic communities, two ohels were built. The larger ohel was built over the supposed graves of Rebbe Chaim Meir Jechiel Szapira, his father Zelig, mother Lea Perel, and wife Gitel. The smaller ohel commemorates Rebbe Jakow of Mogielnica, son of Elimelech from Leżajsk. In 2012, as a result of an open-pit archaeological excavation, the proper burial places of members of the Hasidic dynasty and several matzevot with preserved polychromes were found. The area is surrounded by a fence made of prefabricated concrete elements. The preservation work on the cemetery was conducted by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage and The Heritage Foundation for Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries Avoyseinu. Matzevot taken from the yard in front of the former gendarmerie building were placed in the ohel. In the following years, a monitoring system was installed in the cemetery.
The owner of the cemetery is the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage. The facility is listed in the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Masovian Voivodeship (entry No. 526 / A / 92, April 8, 1992).