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Popowo Koscielne Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Masovian Voivodeship
District
Wyszków
Settlement
Popowo Kościelne
Site address
Leaving Popowo Kościelne via Malownicza street, turn left onto a country road before the Catholic cemetery. Continue north for 250m and then the cemetery will be in a forest area on the right hand side of the road.
GPS coordinates
52.5373824, 21.1956954
Perimeter length
276 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The Jewish cemetery in Popowo Kościelne is located on a small hill, overgrown with tall grass, dense bushes and trees, about 100m north from the Roman Catholic graveyard. The cemetery was destroyed during World War II and in the post-war period. A few gravestones can still be found in the thicket up the hill.
Number of existing gravestones
9 tombstones, both standing intact and lying fragments were located.
Date of oldest tombstone
1844
Date of newest tombstone
1930
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The Jewish cemetery in Popowo Kościelne is located on a hill in the eastern part of the village, north of Malownicza Street, about 70 metres north-east of the cemetery of the Roman Catholic parish and covers a square plot with an area of about 0.40 hectares. The cemetery’s establishment date is unknown. In the report of the Popowo parish from 1781, the inspector of the Płock diocese wrote the following about the local Jews: “They have the cemetery in Radzymin where they bury their dead relatives”. The cemetery was established no later than in the third decade of the 19th century, which is confirmed by the preserved tombstones, including one commemorating Jehuda, Son of Aharon, who died in 1825. Before 1939, the cemetery was divided by alleys, there were no trees or shrubs, and there were tombstones throughout the area.

The cemetery has suffered extensive damage over the years. According to unconfirmed reports, during World War II, by order of the Germans, some matzevot were used to build a field airport near Nasielsk. The cemetery fell into further disrepair in the post-war years. The sand was taken from the cemetery. Following the excavation of the hill, a steep slope was created, dividing the cemetery into an upper part and a lower part. There is no fence, though the boundaries of the cemetery are partially visible because of the trench and embankments. A dozen or so tombstones made of field granite stones have been preserved in the cemetery. The area is covered with self-seeding vegetation, including blackthorn and hawthorn bushes, maples, oaks, and aspen. In 2009-2012, at the initiative of the priest from Popowo Kościelne—Remigiusz Stacherski—cleaning work was carried out in the cemetery. There is no data on its ownership status. The cemetery is listed in the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Masovian Voivodeship.

The first records of Jews living in Popowo Kościelne date to 1781. In 1921, 109 Jews lived in the village. During World War II, the Jews of Popowo were deported to the Maków Mazowiecki Ghetto and later murdered.

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