History

The cemetery was created in 1915 by German authorities in the area of the commune. It was the burial place of soldiers exhumed from battlefields near the villages of Psary, Prydacza (currently Grabowo), Śniadka, Św. Katarzyna. 34 German, 18 Austro-Hungarian, and 19 Russian soldiers, fallen in October and November 1914 and May and June 1915 in the nearby battles, are buried here. In that time, plots were allotted, cast iron and birch crosses erected, and a mass grave was placed in the centre. At first, the cemetery was surrounded by a cast iron fence on a small stone wall, then by a wooden fence. In 1927, the cemetery was renovated: graves were built up, gaps in the fence and stairs repaired, and a wooden gate was set up. In the times of the Polish People's Republic, the cemetery decayed, overgrew with wild vegetation, the crosses were vandalised. Only in 1998, thank to the German Bosh Foundation, funds were leveraged, and renovation and reconstruction of the cemetery started.  The comprehensive cemetery cleaning programme was awarded in 2000 by Bundestag. At present, the cemetery remains under care of the authorities of Bodzetyn commune.

Description

The cemetery is located in the western part of the town, at a small terrace south to the town exit road towards Suchedniów. It was created on a rectangular plan and fenced with a stone wall, interrupted to allow entry from the road running below. On the wall, there is steel mesh in a frame of angle brackets from three sides, and from the front façade, a wooden fence. The whole fencing encloses four rows of graves of various sizes and two large plots at the side and back fence. On the graves and plots, 41 cast iron Latin crosses and 18 Orthodox crosses have survived. Currently, the whole cemetery is covered with grass, with traces of paths and slight elevations marking graves.

Access to the cemetery is limited. It is located next to the street; access through the gate is possible upon consent of the Commune Office.

Compiled by Dariusz Kalina, 22.12.2014.

Bibliography

• Oettingen U., Cmentarze I wojny światowej w województwie kieleckim, Warszawa-Kraków 1988.