Nowy Dwor Mazowiecki Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
The first records of Jews living in Nowy Dwór date back to the 16th century, though the Jewish community only significantly developed in the post-partition period. In 1921, 3,916 Jews lived in the town (50% of the entire population), most of whom were killed by the Germans in 1942.
The cemetery is located about 600 metres south of the city centre, on a sandy hill between Przytorowa Street and Akacjowa Street. An Evangelical cemetery is adjacent to it from the west. According to Ignacy Schiper, the cemetery was established before 1780. However, considering demographic and cartographic sources, it is uncertain if the cemetery truly dates to the 18th century. The first confirmed record of the cemetery is in the 1829 Register of Synagogue Districts in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. The cemetery served as a burial place for Jews from Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki and the surrounding villages, including Jabłonna, Nieporęt, Wieliszew, and Zegrze.
At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a funeral house at the entrance, and there was at least one ohel among the tombstones. During World War II, victims of the Holocaust were buried in the cemetery, and the Germans also carried out executions in the cemetery. The devastation of the cemetery began around this time, and it continued to suffer further damage the following decades. On May 24, 1962, the Minister of Municipal Economy signed an order to close the cemetery (which then had an area of 0.96 hectares).
In the following years, sand was mined from the cemetery, and tombstones were taken away. In 1994, part of the hill was leveled and designated for development. In 2010-2011, Jews from Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki fenced off the cemetery and arranged a lapidary consisting of tombstones found in the town. The list of preserved matzevot is available at https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/n/588-nowy-dwor-mazowiecki/115-pamiec-w-kamieniu. The owner of the cemetery is the State Treasury, and the Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki Commune. The cemetery is listed in the Municipal and Provincial Register of Monuments.
