Parysow Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Garwolin
Settlement
Słup
Site address
The cemetery is situated in a forest area at the intersection of the forest road between Starowola - Słup Drugi and railway tracks. The cemetery is located north of the crossroads.
GPS coordinates
51.9631228, 21.7126322
Perimeter length
621 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery area is fenced with a concrete wall (2m high) and has a metal gate. The cemetery area was fenced by ESJF in cooperation with FODZ in 2016.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery is situated in a forest area of the village of Slup (rural gmina Parysów). The cemetery area is a mixed forest area, accessible, buy some parts of the cemetery area overgrown with bushes and tall grasses. Some tombstones have been preserved.
Number of existing gravestones
11. 1 intact and 10 fragments (pieces and pedestals) were located by the survey team. One intact tombstone was found leaning on the interior side of the cemetery wall near the entrance.
Date of oldest tombstone
1854
Date of newest tombstone
1910
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
Ohel. There is a modern ohel dedicated to Yehoshua Asher Rabinovitch of Parysów (died in 1862). The ohel consists of a roof, placed on 4 concrete posts, and one concrete wall. Inside the ohel there are 3 modern gravestones.
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The Jewish cemetery in Parysów is located approximately 2.7 km south-east of the town centre, approximately 800 metres south of the village of Starowola, at the junction of the road from Starowola to Słup Drugi and a railway line, within the geodesic plot no. 240 with an area of about 1.6 hectares. The cemetery was probably established in the 19th century, though the exact date is unknown. In 1862, Tzadik Jehoszua Asher Rabinowicz was buried in the cemetery. At the beginning of the 20th century, the cemetery was surrounded by a brick and wooden fence. There was an ohel over the graves of the tzadikim from the local Hasidic dynasty.

During World War II, the bodies of people who died in the ghetto and of those murdered during the deportation of Jews from Stoczek Łukowski were buried in the cemetery. The cemetery was devasted around this time. Some tombstones were taken away by the Germans, but most were used by local residents in the surrounding villages for construction work, including the construction of three barns in Starowola. The cemetery fell into further disrepair in the post-war years. The graves were dug up by people searching for gold dental crowns. The cemetery has become a sand mine and an illegal landfill. The boundaries and all above-ground traces of the cemetery have disappeared. In 2009, there was one matzevah in the cemetery. In 2012-2013, thanks to the efforts of Duvid Singer from New York and the funds of an anonymous donor from Poland, the ohel of tzadik Jehoszua Asher Rabinowicz was erected. In 2015, the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in cooperation with ESJF Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung und zum Schutz Jüdischer Friedhöfe in Europa fenced the cemetery with a wall. The cemetery is owned by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage.

Jewish settlement in Parysów began to develop in the 19th century. In 1921, 1906 Jews lived in the village (56% of the total population), most of whom were murdered by the Germans in September 1942 in Treblinka.