The cemetery functioned from 1821 and the last burial took place in 1936. Preserved matzevot are interesting examples of Jewish sepulchral art.

History of the structure

The first mention of Jews living in Głogówek dates back to 1349, and further historical documents mention the presence of Jews in the town in 1534. In the 14th-17th centuries Jews were repeatedly expelled from the town. It was not until 1627 that Emperor Ferdinand, striving to improve the finances of the state, eased the policy towards Jews and issued an edict allowing them to resettle in towns. The imperial edict allowed the Oppersdorffs, the then owners of Głogówek, to grant leases and trade permits to Jews in Głogówek. This policy of the counts of Głogówek attracted Jewish families to the town. The Jewish community revived only in the second half of the 18th century, when a Jewish community was established again in Głogówek. The most intensive development of the history of Głogówek Jews took place in the second half of the 19th century. In 1840, 133 Jews lived in Głogówek (4.3% of the total population), and in 1858 there were 158 Jews, who constituted 4% of the total population. In 1880, there were 170 members of the local Jewish community. From 1845 there was a Jewish school attended by 23 children. From 1851 there was already a synagogue in the town, but in 1864 a new, progressive-reform synagogue was built at what was then Schulstrasse (now 1 Szkolna Street). In the second half of the 19th century the Jews of Głogówek became more and more assimilated with the German surroundings, and their richest representatives belonged to the town’s elite. After the end of World War I, economic changes lasting since the beginning of the 20th century also affected the inhabitants of Głogówek, including Jews. There was a gradual decline in local trade, crafts and agricultural producers. This caused the majority of the local Jewish community to emigrate. Many Jews from Głogówek decided to move to the West, usually to big urban centres in Germany, so that in 1932 there were only 50 Jews living in Głogówek (0.7% of the total population). The community ceased to exist in the 1940s, when the last Jews were deported to the ghetto in Theresienstadt (Terezin - Czech Republic).

Probably in 1821, a Jewish cemetery was established outside the town limits. The cemetery is located about 1.5 kilometres north of its centre, on the high terrace of the Osobłoga River, on Olszynka Street, in a forest area. It covers an area of about 40 acres (the cemetery and its surroundings). Currently it is the administrative area of Rzepcze village (land plot no. 319) On the southern side of the cemetery, on an artificially made plane at the edge of a terrace, a pre-burial house and a mikvah building were built (now non-existent).

In 2010, teachers of the Public Lower Secondary School No. 2 in Racławice Śląskie, Małgorzata Ćwięczek and Ewa Rosowiecka, in cooperation with a teacher of the Public Lower Secondary School No. 1 in Głogówek - Aleksandra Zienkiewicz, carried out an educational project entitled To save from oblivion - the history of Jews in Głogówek. During the realization of the project, from April to June 2010, the students searched for information about Głogówek Jews in various sources, created art works using the frottage method of tombstones in the Jewish cemetery in Głogówek, and made photographic documentation of the remnants of Jewish culture during outdoor trips.

Description of the structure

The cemetery, which is the necropolis of the Jewish community in Głogówek, is located outside the town borders, in Rzepcze village. It is located in the forest, north of the town, on the western side of the road to Krapkowice. It covers an area of about 40 acres. The cemetery was established in 1821 and the last known burial took place on 15 March 1936. In 1939 it became the property of the Association of Jews in Germany (Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland). During World War II, the cemetery was not seriously damaged. It was not until the post-war years, the 1960s and 1970s, that it was devastated: some of the matzevot, especially the marble ones, were taken away by local stonemasons. In this way the western part of the cemetery was devastated, only the bases of the graves remained.

The graves are clearly visible against the landscape of the cemetery. They are partly overgrown with trees and their self-seeders, shrubs, ivy and periwinkle. Some of the preserved matzevot are overturned and broken. The western part of the cemetery is destroyed: only the bases of the graves and the pedestals of the matzevot remain, while the matzevot (or their fragments) have been preserved in the eastern part. The preserved matzevot are made mainly of sandstone and granite, a few of marble. The area of the cemetery is surrounded by a fence, now in a very bad, residual condition. The foundation wall is rubble, and the brick columns are partially knocked down, and several are tilted from the vertical. On the western, northern and eastern sides, on a foundation of marl stone reinforced with bricks, there are clinker-brick pillars, originally connected with metal (forged?) spans. On the southern side in the western part, the boundary was originally a pre-burial house and mikvah, and in the eastern part there was a fence made of concrete posts connected with metal spans. Only the posts are preserved. The entrance was located on the southern side of the cemetery, on the eastern side of the no longer existing pre-burial house. On the western side of the house stood the mikvah building. Foundations of both buildings have probably survived. Two original concrete pillars of the entrance gate are preserved. Probably in the 1980s, the cemetery was fenced with a wire mesh, which is only partially preserved.

The graves, arranged along the W-E line, occupied the entire area of the cemetery; they are arranged in a dozen or so rows situated north-south. A cemetery road (not very clear nowadays) led through its centre from the gate posts. It may have divided the cemetery into two parts, western and eastern, according to an unknown designation (possibly for the burial of women and men). Graves grouped in the western part of the cemetery have only survived in the form of bases and pedestals of matzevot, while in the eastern part matzevot (or their fragments) have been preserved During a site visit in 2018 it was found that: about 100 matzevot and obelisks (or their fragments) made of sandstone, granite and marble were preserved. Some matzevot are overturned and lying on the ground (often in fragments). The burials are overgrown with vegetation and some of the matzevot (or fragments of matzevot and grave frames) are difficult to verify. It seems that the original Jewish cemetery could have had about 200 graves. On the matzevot there are inscriptions in Hebrew and German. On decoratively topped matzevot the inscriptions are accompanied by symbols characteristic of Judaism (e.g. the Star of David, a bouquet of flowers, palm, crown, broken candle).

No current information board. Among the bushes and leaves, by the entrance posts, lies an old tin information board with an illegible inscription.

A 2018 inspection found the cemetery unattended: neglected, overgrown with trees, mostly self-sown, and lush low vegetation: grass, shrubs, and periwinkle. Probably occasional vegetation clearing work is conducted.

The cemetery was originally planted with trees (about 10 lindens). They are mostly preserved on the northern and western side of the cemetery. They were probably planted simultaneously with the beginning of the cemetery.

The site requires immediate care and inventory: removal of bushes, arranging the burials, and marking the site with a board. It requires systematic pruning of vegetation and protection (or reconstruction) of fencing. A professional inventory of graves and gravestones is needed, as well as research related to the pre-burial house and mikvah.

Visitor access: the monument is open to the public.

Author: Krzysztof Spychała, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Opole, 22-06-2018

Bibliography

• Burchard P., Pamiątki i zabytki kultury żydowskiej w Polsce, Warsaw 1990, p. 196; Borkowski M., Kirmiel A., Włodarczyk T., Śladami Żydów. Dolny Śląsk, Opolszczyzna, Ziemia Lubuska, Warsaw 2008, pp. 114 -115;
• Walerjański D., Z dziejów Żydów na Górnym Śląsku do 1812 roku, “Orbis Interior. Pismo Muzealno-Humanistyczne” 2005, vol. 5;
• https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/g/75-glogowek/114-cmentarze/12930-cmentarz-zydowski-w-glogowku-ul-olszynka (17.05.2023)
• https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/g/75-glogowek/99-historia-spolecznosci/137300-historia-spolecznosci (17.05.2023)
• https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/g/75-glogowek/122-projekty-spoleczne-i-edukacyjne/20197-ocalic-od-zapomnienia-czyli-o-historii-zydow-w-glogowku (17.05.2023)
• Archive of the Voivodeship Monuments Heritage Office in Opole, file no. 242/90 and cemetery card from 2018.