During the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, a group of several dozen Jews lived in the suburbs of Radom. After the Third Partition of Poland, the believers of Judaism were allowed to move to the town and settle in a designated district on the estate controlled by the alderman. After 1814, they were free to reside in any part of Radom.

The first synagogue in the town was erected in the 1820s. In the second half of the century, the Orthodox community started to lose influence to the Hasidim, who soon gained a prominent position in Radom. A number of stiebelekh existed in the town, attended by the followers of tzaddikim from Góra Kalwaria (Ger), Aleksandrów (Aleksander), and Kozienice (Kozhnitz). In the 19th century, the community experienced a period of increased economic development, especially after all restrictions on Jewish economic activity were lifted in 1841. In the 1890s, Radom had 11,000 Jewish residents, accounting for almost 40% of the total population.

In the interwar period, the Jews of Radom constituted 32% of the town’s inhabitants (1931) and formed one of the largest religious communities in the central part of the Second Republic of Poland. Apart from the synagogue, situated at the corner of Podwalna and Bożnicza Streets, the town also boasted several private houses of prayer. In the 1920s and the 1930s, Jews were the dominant force in the local crafts and services industry. They owned almost 90% of all small artisan workshops and service points in Radom and ran two thirds of all warehouses and shops. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, 58% of the local Jewish population earned their living from crafts and services, 18% were labourers, 12% worked in commerce, and 2.5% held free professions.

The beginning of the 20th century saw the emergence of numerous political groups, social organisations, and cultural institutions in Radom. In the early 1920s, Orthodox and socialist organisations enjoyed greatest popularity in the town, but with time they started to give way to the Zionists. Radom was a vibrant centre of Jewish culture, boasting numerous educational institutions and Jewish sports clubs. The community could choose from a wide variety of newspapers and magazines published in the town, most of them in Yiddish. In the 1930s, a significant number of Jews migrated from Radom due to the exacerbating conflicts along the national and ethnic lines, as well as the worsening economic conditions and the growing popularity of the Zionist ideology.

In the autumn of 1939, Radom experienced an influx of Jews displaced from the territories incorporated into the Third Reich, especially from Reichsgau Wartheland. The local Judenrat (Jewish Council) headed by Josef Diamant was established in December. In the beginning of 1940, the Germans opened forced labour camps for Jews in the vicinity of the town.

In April 1941, two separate closed ghettos were established in Radom. The larger ghetto was located in the city centre and included the area of the traditional Jewish quarter (Wałowa and adjacent streets), while the small ghetto was situated in the poor suburb of Glinice. A total of 32,000 people were held in the two quarters. They were liquidated in August 1942 in three stages. Ca. 28,000 prisoners were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp, hundreds were killed in executions in Radom. The remaining 3,000 Jews were moved to the labour camp in Szwarlikowska Street, where they worked in crafts workshops manufacturing products for the Third Reich. The camp was liquidated in November 1944, with some of its prisoners moved to a new camp in Szkolna Street. In July 1944, ca. 2,500 Jews held in the camp in Szkolna were sent on foot to Tomaszów Mazowiecki and then transported to Auschwitz and other concentration camps.

After the war, in May 1945, about 400 people of Jewish origin resided in Radom, but the vast majority left Poland in the subsequent years. The Jewish Religious Community in Radom operated until 1951.

The Description

In 1831, a cemetery for Jewish victims of the cholera epidemic was established in Radom. It was located outside the town, near the village of Dzierzków (today one of the districts of Radom). In 1837, the necropolis was transformed into a Jewish communal cemetery. It was the resting place of Jewish soldiers fallen in the two world wars. During the German occupation, the site was used to bury Jews who died or were killed in the two Radom ghettos. The remains of Jews who died at work in industrial plants in Radom and Pionki were moved to the cemetery after 1945. The last burial in the necropolis was held in 1950.

During World War II, the Germans destroyed the necropolis and tore out almost all tombstones, using them in construction works in the city. The site continued to dilapidate after the war. The cemetery was only entered in the register of monuments on 3 April 1989, under the number 400/A/89. August of the same year saw the foundation of the Social Committee for Renovating the Jewish Cemetery in Radom (Polish: Społeczny Komitet Rewaloryzacji Cmentarza Żydowskiego w Radomiu). In the following years, the organisation fenced the necropolis, erected an ohel, and recovered many stolen matzevot.

The necropolis occupies a rectangular plot with an area of 5.0318 hectares. The entrance gate is located on the side of Towarowa Street. The cemetery is surrounded with a wall – fragments of recovered matzevot are attached to its inner side. To the left of the entrance there are several dozen tombstones found around Radom in the recent years. During the restoration works, ca. 100 tombstones were placed in two rows in front of the gate, thus forming a modern main alley. The cemetery holds a total of ca. 300 matzevot.

A monument dedicated to the Jews who perished defending the Republic of Poland – insurgents in the January Uprising and soldiers fighting in the Polish-Bolshevik War – was unveiled in 2001 at the end of the main alley. An ohel was built several dozen metres to the left of the monument, on a small hill. It holds a tombstone and plaques commemorating several dozen Jewish communities from the Radom region annihilated by the Germans during the Holocaust. In November 2010, a monument-lapidarium in the form of a semi-circular wall was officially unveiled at the cemetery. It holds preserved matzevot found in various parts of the city. All works at the cemetery were carried out by prisoners from the detention centre in Kozia Góra. The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage was a partner in the project.

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