Ostrow Mazowiecka New Jewish Cemetery

The new Jewish cemetery in Ostrów Mazowiecka is located in the southern part of the town, between Podstoczysko Street and Wołodyjowskiego Street, and occupies an irregular plot of land with an area of 2.72 hectares. The cemetery’s establishment date is unknown. Based on the available sources though, it can be assumed that the cemetery was established between 1871 and 1925. During World War II, the cemetery fell into disrepair. The area was probably forested in the period of the Polish People’s Republic. On October 9, 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy, following a resolution of the Presidium of the Municipal National Council in Ostrów Mazowiecka, signed an order to close the cemetery. The accompanying documentation states: “The area is 2.72 ha.

The cemetery has been closed since 1939. There is no fence. The area is overgrown and unattended.” There are few destroyed tombstones within the cemetery and some traces of excavated graves. The boundaries of the cemetery are partially visible. The difference in the area specified in the ordinance of 1964 and the area mentioned in the modern land register (plot no. 3706/2 with an area of 2.55 ha) may indicate that part of the area was used for different purposes. On the side bordering Podstoczysko Street, the cemetery is fenced with a metal mesh on concrete poles. The area is covered with coniferous forest. There is no form of commemoration. Dozens of tombstones have been secured in the museum warehouse in Treblinka. The owner of the cemetery is the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage. The cemetery is listed in the Municipal and Provincial Register of Monuments and the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Mazowieckie Province.

Confirmed records of Jewish settlement in Ostrów Mazowiecka date to the 18th century. From 1843, Jehoszua, son of Szlomo Jehuda Lejb from Łęczna, was the rabbi in Ostrów Mazowiecka. The Rabbis Gerszon Henoch Leiner and Bencijon Rabinowicz were also connected to the town. In 1921, 6,812 Jews lived in Ostrów Mazowiecka (50% of the population). In September 1939, the Germans killed about 300 Jews. On November 11, 1939, they shot between 300 and 800 people, and forced the remaining Jews to leave the town. After the war, there was a Jewish Committee in Ostrów Mazowiecka, in which 23 people registered in 1947.