At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, many small factories were established in the town, such as mills, sawmills, iron foundries, factories producing files, nails, whetstones, roof tiles, paints, as well as bent furniture and barrels. The most numerous craftsmen were shoemakers, stocking makers, and tailors. Jews owned most grocery and clothing stores. The census from 1921 showed that 1,590 followers of Judaism lived here.

The town received city rights in 1923, and 5 years later it changed its name to Skarżysko-Kamienna. In 1935, the Jewish community built a brick and stone synagogue on the site of the earlier wooden synagogue located at Fabryczna 17/19. The complex also included a mikvah and the rabbi's house.

After the outbreak of World War II, the city found itself under German occupation. In 1941, the Germans established a ghetto. It was liquidated in 1942, when most of the prisoners were transported to the German Nazi extermination camp in Treblinka, and the rest were sent to the Hasag forced labor camp, next to the Hugo Schneider A.G. munitions factory.

The Description

The Jewish cemetery in Skarżysko-Kamienna on what is now Głogowa street was probably founded in 1891. In 1934, it was fenced with a wall and a house for the caretaker was built. During World War II, it was devastated by the Germans, and the tombstones were used for construction works. In 1964, the municipal authorities officially closed the cemetery, and part of the area was then taken over by the nearby Roman Catholic cemetery. In 1982, the area was fenced again.

Nowadays, the Jewish cemetery in Skarżysko-Kamienna has preserved several dozen tombstones made of sandstone with typical Jewish ornaments and inscriptions in Hebrew. Among the unusual shapes, the tombstones include ones shaped like a sarcophagus or a broken tree. Most of the graves date back to the interwar period. There are also individual graves of Holocaust victims here, including: Warszauer family members murdered in the Hasag camp. The youngest tombstone belongs to the family of Dr. Zundel Kahan and Dr. Bina Kahan; Bina Kahan died in 1982.

Author of the note: Magda Lucima

Właściciel praw autorskich do opisu: Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN.