Secemin Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship
District
Włoszczowa
Settlement
Secemin
Site address
77, Kościuszki Street.
GPS coordinates
50.75558, 19.83518
Perimeter length
Approximately 700 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
There is a metal mesh fence about 1,5 metres high around the private property that occupies the site today.
Preservation condition
Demolished and overbuilt Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is completely demolished, there are no signs of former the Jewish cemetery. Today the site appears to be private property. After the war, the area was developed by the Agricultural Cooperative (SKR). Today there are farm buildings on the site.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved
Date of oldest tombstone
Date of newest tombstone
Urgency of erecting a fence
Low
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The first recorded mention of Secemin dates to the end of the 13th century. Secemin was granted town rights prior to 1370 and it developed as a trade and agricultural centre. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, it was an important centre of the Reformation. Jewish settlement began in the town in the 16th century. In 1649, a trial took place for an alleged ritual murder (blood libel). In 1739, Jews owned about a quarter of all plots in the town. In 1790, they constituted about 12% of the town’s population. Certainly, an independent kehilla was active in Secemin by 1765.

The Jewish cemetery was established earlier, at the beginning of the 18th or the end of the 17th century. The cemetery was located south of the town, on the road to Psary and Kraków. It was in use no later than 1920. After the establishment of a kehilla in the nearby Włoszczowa in 1860 and the incorporation of Secemin into the Włoszczowa poviat in 1867, local Jews became subordinate to the Włoszczowa kehilla. In 1921, 224 Jews lived in Secemin, constituting 13.9% of the total population. During the war, no ghetto was established in the city. The Jewish inhabitants were deported to the Włoszczowa Ghetto in the summer of 1942. According to Jan Lochmann’s testimony, in the interwar period, there were about 20 matzevot in the now-closed Jewish cemetery. During the war, the cemetery was used for carrying out executions. After the war, the area was developed by a local agricultural cooperative. Until now, there are two outbuildings. The cemetery is unmarked, and no tombstones have survived.