Stopnica Old Jewish Cemetery

The first records of Jewish inhabitants in Stopnica come from 1579. The first known synagogue was built in 1616, and in 1640, a kehilla was established. Between 1754 and 1759, the Seym of the Four Lands took place in the town. In 1921, 3,226 Jews lived in Stopnica, which was 75.5% of the total population. The majority of them were murdered by the Germans in Treblinka in November 1942.

The cemetery is located approximately 800m south-east of the market square, at the intersection of Tadeusz Kościuszko Street and Road No. 757. The exact date of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown, however the cemetery was likely established in the 17th century when the Jewish community was established and was likely used until the opening of the new cemetery.

According to a report from 1930, the cemetery was in a good condition. In 1935, its value was estimated at 10,000 zlotys. According to the records prepared by the Provincial Office in Kielce in 1991, the cemetery covered a plot of 0.4026 hectares.

On July 23rd 1957, the Minister of Municipal Economy signed an order to close the cemetery. A year later, the Presidium of the Municipal National Council in Stopnica announced in the press that the cemetery would be liquidated on November 1st 1958. In the following years, a building of the Municipal Cooperative was erected there, housing a fertilizer warehouse and a shop which sold pesticides. A parking lot, national road No. 757, and a private property are currently located on a part of the cemetery.

All of the above ground traces of the cemetery have vanished. In 1991, the Provincial Office in Kielce recommended setting up an information board about the past of the area, however, the plan was not implemented.

In 2008, in a private garden at Tadeusz Kościuszko Street, a pile of broken tombstones with Hebrew inscriptions was found.

The owners of the plots of land separated from the cemetery are the Stopnica Municipality and a private person. The cemetery is listed in the Provincial Monuments Register and the Municipal Monuments Register. There is no memorial or information plaque at the site.