The Jewish community of Bolimów was steadily growing in size throughout the first half of the 19^th century. The development was fostered by the policy of the authorities of the Duchy of Warsaw and the Kingdom of Poland (Congress Poland), aimed at forcing Jews to move from villages to towns. The town became the seat of a synagogue district which also had jurisdiction over Jews from Nieborów and Kompina. In 1827, a Jewish quarter was established in Bolimów. At that time, it had 233 Jewish residents (24% of the total population). In 1857, there were as many as 339 Jews living in the town (30%). In 1878, the Bolimów synagogue district had a total of 505 members, with the number falling to 339 in 1897. The turn of the century marked a gradual outflow of Jews to larger urban centres, especially Warsaw. The community was also shrinking due to the emigration to America and Palestine.

During World War I, heavy battles between the German and Russian armies took place in the vicinity of Bolimów. At that time, many local Jews abandoned their homes and moved to Łowicz and Warsaw. Most of them returned after the end of warfare. During the interwar period, the Jewish population continued to mostly make a living from trade and crafts: in 1925, Jews ran 16 shops and 12 artisan workshops in Bolimów (e.g. butcheries, bakeries, cobbler’s and stonemason’s workshops, stores selling colonial items, shoemaking equipment, or clothing accessories). The Jewish craftsmen of Bolimów belonged to the Association of Jewish Craftsmen in Łowicz. In their hometown itself, they established the ”Gemilut Chesed” Interest-Free Loans Fund. The capital of the institution consisted of membership fees which were used to pay out loans.

In the interwar period, no serious Polish-Jewish conflicts arose in Bolimów. Many Jews actively participated in the social life of the town and enjoyed respect among other inhabitants. The representatives of the Jewish community also sat on the Municipality Council. A Jewish library existed in the town. Bolimów boasted cells of many political parties, the most popular of which were the Orthodox Agudath and Zionist groups. In 1939, the town had 235 Jewish residents. Some of the largest local Jewish families were the Mans, Sztyfermans, Jakubowiczs, Rotsteins, Rozners, and Hermans.

In March 1940, several months after the outbreak of World War II, the German occupation authorities established a Judenrat (Jewish Council) in Bolimów. It had 12 members, including president Berek Mordka Man. In May of the same year, the district office in Łowicz ordered the local governor to establish a ghetto in Bolimów. A unit of the Jewish police and the Sanitary Commission operated in the district. Covering the area of the Market Square and Farna Street, the ghetto was initially open, but it was fenced off and closed as early as June. From then on, the only Jews authorised to go to the so-called “Aryan side” had to hold special passes issued by the local governor. In the period when the ghetto was still open, 120 Jewish refugees from Łowicz arrived in Bolimów. The population of the Jewish district also included several hundred people displaced from Stryków and Łódź. It is estimated that a total of ca. 1,500 people resided at some point in the Bolimów Ghetto. Various establishments operated inside the district – a post office, a health care fund, an ambulance service, and a shop. The ghetto prisoners worked in the local forest and on the farm in Wola Szydłowiecka. They would take advantage of working outside the ghetto and illegally bought food from the local peasants, later smuggling it back inside the Jewish quarter. In March 1941, all Jews of Bolimów were deported to the Warsaw Ghetto and shared the tragic fate of its prisoners. The few who avoided deportation during the liquidation action took refuge outside the settlement. Eleven of them were shot in the Bolimów forests by the German military police in March 1944.

Both the Jewish cemetery and the Bolimów synagogue have survived to the present day. The latter was devastated by the Germans during World War II and stood abandoned for many years after the armed conflict. Under the Polish People’s Republic, the building was reconstructed and housed a militia post (now a police station). Several wooden Jewish houses have been preserved in Farna Street.

The Jewish cemetery in Bolimów was probably established in the first half of the 19^th century. It was located outside the built-up area, ca. 600 metres south-east of the Market Square, directly adjacent to the local Catholic necropolis. Its boundaries have remained partly visible to this day and are marked by an earth embankment. The square-shaped cemetery plot covers an area of 0.3 hectares. During the German occupation, the cemetery was desecrated and some of the matzevot were pulled out. The site continued to fall into decline after the war.

In 2020, cleaning and maintenance works were carried out in the cemetery at the initiative of the “Zróbmy To” Association for Social Initiatives (Polish: Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Społecznych „Zróbmy To”) and the Cultural Heritage Foundation (Polish: Fundacja Dziedzictwa Kulturowego). A total of ca. 50 volunteers helped tidy up the premises and remove the blackthorn thicket overgrowing the site. As a result, 59 matzevot in various states of preservation were uncovered at the cemetery.

In 2021, a commemorative matzeva-shaped plaque was placed at the cemetery as part of the programme of signposting Jewish cemeteries in Poland, carried out by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

The cemetery was entered into the register of monuments under the number 898 on 18 December 1992.

Description copyright owner: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews