Tarnobrzeg Old Jewish Cemetery

Tarnobrzeg was founded in 1593 under Magdeburg Law as a private town. During the establishment of the city, Jews were given an area east of the market square, where Jewish communal facilities were built (including a synagogue, beth midrash, rabbi’s house, and cemetery). In 1748, 233 Jews lived in Tarnobrzeg. In the 1840’s, Rabbi Eliezer Horowitz (died in 1860) settled there. He was the progenitor of the Hasidic Dzików dynasty, which was active in the city until World War I. In 1890, Jews comprised 2,840 of 3,517 inhabitants (about 81% of the total population), and, before the start of World War II, there were about 3,800 Jews (69%) among 5,463 inhabitants.

The cemetery is located within the Jewish community complex, approximately 200 m east of the market, and was likely established at the beginning of the city’s formation. In 1820, the area of the cemetery was 0.2 hectares (ha), and was later enlarged to 0.3 ha. The shape of the cemetery was square-like and was surrounded by communal and residential buildings. Before 1860, it was closed when a new cemetery was established. In the interwar period, it was fenced with a low stone wall with a gateway and overgrown with old trees. The oldest wooden and stone tombstones were heavily eroded and illegible.

In 1940, the Germans destroyed the cemetery. The tombstones were used for construction purposes and the land was leveled. After World War II, the cemetery was used as a trading square. Later the area was used for the construction of public buildings.