Zagan Jewish Cemetery

The location of the medieval Jewish cemetery is unknown. The modern one was established in 1813 by the newly emerging kehilla. In 1813 a new Jewish cemetery was opened, located in the western part of the town on the so-called heather hill (German: Heideberg). Later on it was reached by Lessingstraße, currently Berka Joselewicza Street. In 1825 Hülse widow financed construction of the cemetery wall. [see Żagań plan No. 1 and 2] In 1838 the town established a cemetery for the prisoners of the women’s prison in direct vicinity of the Jewish cemetery. Some time later the cemetery was moved near today Nocznickiego Street. In 1857 the kehilla extended the cemetery buying a piece of land measuring 150.42 rods. [see History] In 1862 another piece of land was bought, measuring 7 ares and 90 m², on which a small funeral house was built. During War World II the cemetery was supposed to be devastated. The cemetery gate was taken away, and the fiscal senior president of Lower Silesia, Mr Wapenhausen during his visit to the cemetery on 2 November 1943 stated that the Jewish cemetery is a picture of devastation. All monuments are overturned, and most tombstones are broken into pieces. The devastation is still continued by the local youth. What is interesting, local historians from Żagań, Marian R. Świątek and Zbigniew K. Popiel, present a completely different view, claiming that the cemetery survived World War II with no serious damage, and its devastation was to begin at the turn of the 1970s