Wyszogrod Old Jewish Cemetery

The old Jewish cemetery in Wyszogród is located about 200 metres north-east of the market square, on the Vistula embankment, at Kilińskiego Street. According to various sources, it was either founded in the 15th, 16th, or 17th centuries (the independent Jewish community in Wyszogród was not established until 1753). The cemetery served as a burial place for Jews from Wyszogród and other towns, including Chociszewo and Czerwińska. By the beginning of the 19th century, it was becoming overcrowded. In 1831, due to an increasing number of victims from the cholera epidemic, the local synagogue supervision established a new cemetery. During World War II, the cemetery fell into disrepair. In the period of the People’s Republic of Poland, a fruit and vegetable processing plant (“Zakład Wyszogród”) was built in the cemetery. In 1963, the slope on which part of the cemetery was located collapsed. Archaeological work was carried out in 1971 and 1973. During the excavations, 49 graves were uncovered. No matzevot were found during the work, and there were no traces of the tombstones in the form of mounds or brickwork. Since the liquidation and partial demolition of the fruit and vegetable processing plant, the cemetery plot is no longer in use. The area is partially covered with concrete and functions as rubble. It is partially covered with wild vegetation. There is a risk that the plot will be designated for development in the future. There is no form of commemoration. Padlocks and a clasp for clothes found in graves during archaeological excavations are exhibited in the Vistula Museum in Wyszogród.

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.