Zakopane Jewish Cemetery

Jews began to settle in Zakopane in the 19th century. In 1921, 533 Jews lived in the city (6.5% of the total population), most of whom were killed by the Germans in 1942 in Bełżec. The cemetery is located about 2.5 km northeast of the city centre, on the slope of Bachledzki Wierch, 90 m south of the property at 31B Bachledy Street. The land for the cemetery was purchased in 1926, however, because of protests from local inhabitants and city authorities, the cemetery was only opened on December 27, 1931. The area was fenced with a wooden fence. A wooden building, intended for a funeral home, utility room, and caretaker’s apartment, was erected next to it. The demolition of the cemetery began during the war when, by order of the Germans, the funeral house was demolished. The tombstones were subsequently torn out and taken away. On November 4, 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy signed an order to close the cemetery. The last burial took place in 1939, and the cemetery covers plots no. 3708/12 and 3708/13 with an area of 0.49 hectares (ha). In 2004, at the initiative of Ronald and Ellen Weiser, the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland cleaned up and fenced a section of the cemetery with an area of about 0.14 ha with a fence made of steel spans. In the cemetery, there is a monument stylized as a tombstone with the following inscription:

“Crumbs of memory remain after them. In memory of Jews buried here who were inhabitants of Zakopane. Out of 3000 members of the Jewish community in Zakopane, only a few managed to survive the Holocaust. The Jewish cemetery in Zakopane, established in 1931, was destroyed by the Germans in 1942. It was restored by the efforts of Ambassador Ronald Weiser and Ellen Weiser and the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland. Zakopane, October 13, 2014.”

In the cemetery, a few destroyed sandstone and granite stelae and concrete tombstones have been preserved. There is no data on the cemetery’s ownership status. The cemetery is not listed in the Municipal and Provincial Register of Monuments and the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Małopolskie Voivodeship.