Wyszogrod New Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
The new Jewish cemetery in Wyszogród is located about 800 metres north-east of the market square, at the intersection of Pokoju Street and Niepodległości Street, next to the Catholic cemetery, and covers an irregular plot with an area of approximately 1.4 hectares. It was established around 1831 due to overcrowding in the old cemetery area and the cholera epidemic. During World War II, the cemetery was devastated. By order of the Germans, the matzevot were torn out and used to build curbs on the streets of Wyszogród, and some of them were taken to Bodzanów. After the war, the cemetery was taken care of by the District Jewish Committee which, in 1947, led to the unveiling of a monument commemorating the cemetery. In the following years, the cemetery fell into disrepair. In 1986, the City and Commune Office of Wyszogród, in a letter to the Committee for the Protection of Jewish Cemeteries and Monuments in Poland, informed about the plan to establish a green space at the cemetery. In 1989, thanks to the efforts of the Jews from Wyszogród living in the United States, an obelisk commemorating the local Jewish community was erected in the central part of the cemetery. On the side bordering Pokoju Street, the gate pillars were built. Until 1997, cleaning work was carried out thanks to the financial support of Marion Brzozowski from the United States. There are single tombstones within the cemetery. The area is unfenced and overgrown with wild vegetation. Several matzevot recovered from the city sidewalks are preserved in the Vistula River Museum in Wyszogród. The owner of the cemetery is the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage.
Jews lived in Wyszogród from at least the third decade of the 15th century. In the 1921 census, 2,465 Jews were registered in the town. In 1941, the Germans deported Jews from Wyszogród to Czerwińsk and Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki. Most of them were murdered a year later in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the war, until at least 1946, the Jewish Committee was active in Wyszogród.