In 1681, the growing Jewish community of Markuszów received permission to build a synagogue. However, the first confirmation of its existence can only be found in documents dating back to 1799. There are also some discrepancies concerning the date of the establishment of a kehilla in the town. Some sources suggest that it was founded in 1686, while others – as late as 1766. Nonetheless, it is most likely that an official community was established in Markuszów in the late 17th century.

The cemetery was established ca. 150 metres away from the Market Square, next to the synagogue complex, in today’s Strażacka Street. It covered a rectangular plot with an area of ca. 0.03 hectare. Burials were held at the site until the mid-19th century. The necropolis was destroyed by the Germans during World War II. After 1945, a fire station was erected on the former cemetery grounds. No matzevot or even traces of graves have survived to the present day.

The Description

The 18th and the 19th century saw dynamic growth of the Jewish community of Markuszów. In 1861, there were 826 Jews living in the town, and in 1885 – as many as 1,256. The need for a new burial site arose as early as the 18th century. The new cemetery was founded in Łachy, a newly established suburb of Markuszów inhabited predominantly by Jewish people. The necropolis was located ca. 0.5 kilometre from the Market Square, in the fields. Nowadays, it is situated at Lubelska Street.

In the interwar period, a wooden building stood on the cemetery grounds. It may have served as a pre-burial house or the residential quarters of the caretaker. The necropolis was surrounded with a wooden fence, with the entrance gate located on the western side. In 1937, the cemetery was enlarged to 0.56 hectare. Before the outbreak of World War II, there were reportedly 2,500 matzevot at the site.

The cemetery was vandalised by the Germans during World War II. The matzevot were pulled out and used to pave roads and built pavements. Many surviving tombstones were plundered by local residents after the war. At the end of the 1980s, the cemetery was overgrown with trees and held 56 surviving tombstones, some of them overturned. Most of them dated back to the mid-19th century. The oldest recorded matzeva bore the date 1849. The slabs were made of sandstone and still bore traces of polychrome paintings which once adorned them. During the field inspection carried out in 2018, 19 matzevot were recorded at the site, though there are probably 20–30 stones in total.

In 2016, the cemetery was rededicated on the initiative of Professor Dan Oren from the USA, whose great-grandmother was buried in the Markuszów cemetery. He received the support of the Matzeva Foundation, the “Studnia Pamięci” Association, and the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage. The ceremony was accompanied by the unveiling of a monument commemorating the Jews buried at the cemetery. A year later, once again on the initiative of Dan Oren, cleaning works were organised at the site with the participation of the local youth.

Inventory has been taken of the tombstones preserved at the cemetery. Their list is available on the website of the Foundation for Documentation of Jewish Cemeteries: https://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/list/c_47 [accessed: 20 September 2020].

The cemetery is listed in the register of monuments under the number A-1000, dated 30 December 1989.

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