Slawkow Krzykawka Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
The Jewish cemetery in Sławków is located about 1.4 km northwest of the market square in Sławków, within the administrative boundaries of the Krzykawka village, at Francesco Nullo Street, and covers a plot of 0.39 hectares. The first burials in the cemetery took place in 1904. In 1907, the Jewish communities of Sławków and Strzemieszyce formalized the purchase of the land. The cemetery was fenced with a stone wall, and there was funeral home with the caretaker’s apartment. In 1928, Szulim Zając, the first rabbi of the Sławków community, was buried in the cemetery and an ohel was erected over his grave.
The cemetery survived World War II in relatively good condition. On November 4, 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy signed an order to close the cemetery. The accompanying documentation states that the last burial took place in 1942. In the 1960s, thanks to the efforts of Daniel Ladnsmann, restoration work was carried out at the cemetery. The last burial took place in 1971. In 1991-1992 a team led by Jan Samek created an inventory of the cemetery. In 1999, the book “Jewish Cemeteries of the Olkusz Region” by D. Rozmus was published. In 2004, the book “Jewish Cemeteries in Sławków and Dąbrowa Górnicza” by M. Cyankiewicz, L. Hońdo, D. Rozmus, M. Rozmus, and W. Starościak was published.
There are about 300 tombstones in the cemetery, the oldest of which dates to 1904. There is also a dilapidated ohel, remains of the pre-war wall, a funeral house, and a room formerly used for tool storage. The ownership status of the cemetery is unregulated and there is no mortgage register. In the mortgage, a non-existent Jewish Community in Krzykawka is mentioned. The Bolesław Commune takes care of the cemetery. The facility is listed in the Municipal and Provincial Register of Monuments and in the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Małopolskie Voivodeship.
Jewish settlement in Sławków began to develop in the first decades of the 19th century. In 1921, 610 Jews lived in the town (16% of the total population), most of whom were murdered in 1942 by the Germans in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau.
