Szydlowiec Old 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 new Jewish cemetery is located about 300 metres northeast of the Rynek Wielki market square, between Kościuszki Street and Radomska Street. In the past, there was a synagogue next to it. The cemetery was established in the first half of the 18th century along with the establishment of the Jewish community in Szydłowiec. At the beginning of the 19th century, owing to the gradual development of the town nearing the cemetery, and the fact that it was overcrowded, it became necessary to find a new burial site. In 1811, the Jewish community obtained a permit to purchase a plot of land located approximately 140 metres east of the synagogue. In 1825, both cemeteries were fenced, and a funeral house was built between the two plots. In 1938, a road from Kielce to Warsaw was built between the old and the new cemetery, on Kościuszki Street.

There is no detailed information about the degradation of the cemetery during the war. After the war, the area was gradually built over. In 1957, the Minister of Municipal Economy issued an order to close the cemetery, and the Presidium of the City National Council in Szydłowiec decided to allocate part of the cemetery plot to build a timber yard, department store, and office building. In the following years, part of the cemetery was taken over by the “Samopomoc Chłopska” District Cooperative. After 1959, a Cooperative Department Store, an apartment block, two pavilions for agricultural tools, and a school playground were built in the cemetery. All above-ground traces of the cemetery have vanished, and its borders are imperceptible. There is no form of commemoration of any kind nor any information on its ownership status. The facility is not listed in either the Municipal and Provincial Register of Monuments or the Register of Immovable Monuments.