Pajeczno Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Lodzkie Voivodeship
District
Pajęczno
Settlement
Pajęczno
Site address
Adjacent to 4, 700-lecia Street.
GPS coordinates
51.1542626, 19.0010476
Perimeter length
552 meters
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
The site is very overgrown. No historical traces of the existence of the cemetery have survived.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

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.