Wolanow Jewish Cemetery

Jewish settlement in Wolanów began to develop soon after the town was founded in 1773. 170 Jews lived in the town in 1827 (58.6% of the total population), and 313 in 1921 (60.9%). In July 1941, the Germans established a ghetto in Wolanów, where Jews displaced from Przytyk and other nearby villages were also confined. In August 1942, Jews from the Wolanów Ghetto were deported to Szydłowiec and then murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp. Until August 1943, a group of Jews were kept in a forced labour camp in Garna, 1.5 km away from Wolanów.

The cemetery is located about 800 metres south-west of the town centre, on the northern side of Spacerowa Street, and covers a plot of approximately 0.7 hectares. There is no information about the cemetery’s date of establishment, though it was probably established after 1773. At the beginning of the 20th century, the cemetery was fenced. During World War II, by order of the Germans, the tombstones were used to pave roads. The cemetery continued to be devastated and desecrated in the following decades. In a 1952 list of synagogues and cemeteries, there was an annotation regarding the Wolanów cemetery: “Stone destroyed in 90%.” In 1985, there was a garbage dump in the area of the cemetery. As a result of the destruction, all above-ground traces of the cemetery have vanished. There is no fence, no tombstones, and no information or commemorative signs. The area is overgrown with untreated vegetation (grass, shrubs, mixed trees), and the boundaries of the cemetery are imperceptible. The owner of the cemetery is the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage.