Szydlowiec New Jewish Cemetery

Jewish settlement in Szydłowiec began to develop in the 18th century. In 1921, 5,501 Jews lived in the town (76% of the entire population), most of whom were murdered in 1942 by the Germans in Treblinka. In 1945, the Jewish Committee operated in Szydłowiec with 106 registered members. In the following months, they all left the town. The cemetery is located about 400 metres northeast of the Rynek Wielki market square, between Kościuszki Street, Wschodnia Street, and Staszica Street. The cemetery was established around 1811 near the old cemetery which had existed since the 18th century. In 1825, both the cemeteries were fenced, and a funeral house was built between the two plots. In 1831, an epidemic cemetery was established on a plot of land east of the new cemetery. In 1852, the cemetery was fenced with a wall. In the interwar period, further land purchases were made, including the epidemic section of the cemetery. The complex of the three cemeteries—old, new, and for the cholera epidemic – stretched over about 600 metres. In 1938, a road from Kielce to Warsaw was built between the old and the new cemetery, on Kościuszki Street.

During World War II, the cemetery was used for carrying out executions and for burying the Holocaust victims. After 1945, some individual burials took place in the cemetery. There is no detailed information about the devastation the cemetery suffered during the war. After the end of the war, the area was gradually built over. The part of the cemetery on Wschodnia Street was fenced and planted with trees. In 1967, a monument commemorating the victims of the Holocaust was erected in the cemetery. The undeveloped part of the cemetery stretches from Wschodnia Street towards the east, along Staszica Street. It is enclosed with a low wall and a fence made of iron bars. There are over 2,000 tombstones (the list is available at https://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/list/c_3), the ohel of the Rabinowicz tzaddikim, rebuilt in 2002, the foundations of the second ohel, the monument commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, and the epidemic quarters. The property is listed in the Register of Immovable Monuments.