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Wislica Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Poland
Region
Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship
District
Busko Zdrój
Settlement
Wiślica
Site address
The cemetery is adjacent to 17, Złota Street. It covers the north-western part of Złota Street and both sides of national road No.776.
GPS coordinates
50.35077, 20.6708
Perimeter length
465 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery has a fenced section between the national road and Złota Street. It is fenced with a metal fence about 2 metres high. There are also the remains of the historical fence in the cemetery. The eastern (preserved) part of the cemetery was fenced by the Nissenbaum foundation in 2016 and the western part is today privately owned land. The preserved part has a fence along the national road and Zlota street, but the eastern section, adjacent to the private land plots, remains unfenced.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is located in the north-western outskirts of Wislica. The territory of the cemetery is divided into two parts by national road No.776. The eastern part of the cemetery is fenced and preserved as a Jewish Cemetery. The western part of the cemetery has been overbuilt with private properties. The eastern part of the cemetery is overgrown with trees and bushes. The remnants of the former cemetery wall and fragments of tombstones have been preserved.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved. There are 11 fragments of tombstones (fallen intacts, broken pieces and foundations) preserved in various parts of the cemetery.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
Low
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The first record of the Jewish inhabitants of Wiślica comes from 1514. In 1921, 1,314 Jews lived in the town, which was 63% of all inhabitants. The majority of them were killed by the Germans in Treblinka in 1942.

The cemetery is located approximately 150m north-west of the market square, on a hill at Złota Street. The cemetery was likely established in the second half of the 17th century. In the interwar period, it covered a square plot of land. At the entrance, there was a funeral or gravedigger’s house. In 1928, due to the overcrowding of the cemetery area, the Jewish community acquired new land, however it was given up in 1931.

During World War II, the cemetery became the place of execution and burial for many Holocaust victims, including a woman named Federman who was shot by the gendarmes from Nowy Korczyn in the fall of 1942. In 1942, the Germans forced Polish workers to use some of the tombstones to pave the road to the railway station.

The facility has undergone extensive destruction. In the era of the Polish People’s Republic, the area was covered with trees and a transformer was built on it. On June 26th 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy signed an order to close the cemetery, and on March 31st 1970, to liquidate the cemetery. The resolution on the liquidation was adopted by the Presidium of the Municipal National Council in Wiślica, which planned to turn the cemetery into a park and health center. The attached documentation states that the cemetery covers a plot of 13,070 m², and that the last burial took place in 1936. In 1984, provincial road No.776 was led through the cemetery. At that time a few of the remaining tombstones were destroyed.

In 2016, the Nissenbaum Family Foundation fenced the part of the cemetery located to the east of road No.776 and erected a monument commemorating the cemetery and the local Jewish community. The works were co-financed by the Shpilski, Topel, and Land families from Wiślica.

The plots of land separated from the cemetery are the property of the Wiślica Municipality and the State Treasury. The cemetery is listed in the Provincial Register of Monuments (E-1987-02-28).

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