Pajeczno Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
Pajęczno was founded in 1265, and Jewish settlement in the town dates to the 18th century. 112 Jews lived there in 1820 (about 10% of the total population), 618 in 1918, and 1,042 in 1939 (11.5%). During World War II, on November 21, 1940, the Germans established a ghetto in Pajęczno, where they gathered about 1,000 Jews from Pajęczno and the surrounding areas. On August 19, 1942, the ghetto was liquidated. The Jews who remained in the ghetto were transported to the extermination camp in Chełmno nad Nerem.
The Jewish cemetery in Pajęczno is located in the north of the city, about 1 km away from the town centre, near 700-Lecia Street. When it was established, it was located outside the town limits. The cemetery’s exact establishment date is unknown, though it was most probably established in the first half of the 19th century. During World War II and the following years, the cemetery fell into disrepair. The matzevot were used to harden roads and pavements, and to pave the road of the current-day Mickiewicza Street (the excavated matzevot were destroyed during the construction of the new pavement). After the war, the authorities decided to create a gravel pit on the site of the cemetery. Local residents remember human bones scattered throughout its territory. Currently, no traces of the cemetery have survived. The area is covered with trees, and it is not marked in any way. In 2014, an initiative was launched to commemorate the Pajęczno cemetery, but—so far—these plans have not yet been implemented.