Resko Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
West Pomeranian Voivodeship
District
Łobez
Settlement
Resko
Site address
The cemetery is located on a hill at the junction of Jedności Narodowej and Żeromskiego streets. From the south, the cemetery is adjacent to a large IKEA factory (IKEA Industry Poland sp.z o.o., branch in Resko). Access is from both sides - from Jedności Narodowej Street and from Żeromskiego Street. There are many paths leading to the cemetery hill.
GPS coordinates
53.76798, 15.40277
Perimeter length
329 meters
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fenced.
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
This is a permanently transformed Jewish cemetery with no tombstones preserved. Currently serves as a city park. The cemetery is commemorated from the side of Żeromskiego Street. There is a symbolic matzevah with a carved menorah and a plaque with information about the cemetery and the Jewish community of Resko. The board also features illustrative maps and photos taken at the cemetery in 2017. A number of old trees have been preserved in the cemetery, mainly linden, maples and ash trees.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved. Demolished cemetery with no tombstones on it.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The Jewish cemetery in Resko was established in the first half of the 19th century, south of the town, at today’s Zachodnia Street. It had an area of ​​0.8 ha and was surrounded by a stone wall. Although the first Jews settled in Resko at the end of the 17th century, until the beginning of the 19th century they never constituted a group larger than 40 people. After the 1812 emancipation edict of the Prussian king Frederick William III, the number of Jews here increased to reach the highest level in 1861 – 148 people. In the decades of the nineteenth century, many Jews left the city, moving to larger cities or emigrating from Prussia. In 1905, the local community consisted of 85 people, twenty years later only 50. The cemetery was devastated during Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938), but, like the synagogue, it survived World War II. Currently, the cemetery area is unfenced and neglected, it has been included in the urban green areas.
(West Pomeranian Encyclopedia; http://encyklopedia.szczecin.pl)

In the post-war period, there were still a number of tombstones within it, the area was surrounded by a partially destroyed wall. At the beginning of the 1960s, the cemetery was leveled.
In 1996 the area of ​​the cemetery was completely overgrown and unfenced. Only the relics of matzevot with illegible inscriptions from the period after 1882 could be found there. No measures are taken to protect and maintain this place.
In November 2012, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews was informed about the discovery of the matzevot used to strengthen the area of the left bank of the Rega River, near Parkowa Street.
(sztetl.org.pl)

Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery
Resko Jewish Cemetery