Tradition has it that the local synagogue was erected in 1788 at the very initiative of the monks. The first Jewish cemetery was established around the same time. Located in today’s Zawadzkiego Street, it was completely devastated by the Germans during World War II and no trace of the necropolis has survived to the present day.

The Jewish community kept growing and by the mid-19th century, it already accounted for 72% of the total population of the town.

The Description

In the first half of the 19th century, the community needed to find a new burial site. The new cemetery was established in 1830 on a rectangular plot of land located outside the town limits, about 1.2 kilometres south of the synagogue, on a small hill on the western side of the road towards Augustów. The necropolis covers an area of 1.37 hectare. It is currently located on the border between Sejny and the village of Marynowo, at 1 Maja Street.

The cemetery remained in use until World War II. It was destroyed by the Germans during the occupation and continued to fall into decline after the war. The original layout of the graves cannot be discerned, and many of the matzevot have been stolen. In addition, a 15-metre-wide strip of the cemetery plot on the side of the road and its south-eastern corner were levelled during the construction of a water pipeline. It is now impossible to determine the exact original borders of the cemetery.

Around a dozen tombstones have survived at the cemetery, mainly from the second half of the 19th century, as well as numerous fragments of destroyed matzevot (ca. 30 relics in total). The site is not fenced. Its surface is overgrown with tall grass, and with bushes and pine trees in the western part.

In 2002, the “Pogranicze” Foundation erected a monument at the cemetery to commemorate the Jews of Sejny. The Foundation also takes care of the matzevot which are periodically discovered in various sites in Sejny. They are kept in the White Synagogue.

The cemetery was entered into the register of monuments under the number A-975, dated 2 December 1993.

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