Obj. ID: 50219
Jewish Funerary Art  Jewish cemetery in Niepołomice, Poland

According to ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, the cemetery’s establishment date is unknown, though it was likely established in the 19th century. During World War I, War Cemetery No. 328 was established within the cemetery. Josef Austerweil, a Jewish soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army in the 32nd Landsturm Infantry Regiment, was buried there. In 1936, local rabbi Josef Teitelbaum was buried at the cemetery as well. Prior to 1939, the cemetery covered a plot of land measuring 30 acres which was surrounded by a stone wall and had a funeral house at the entrance. During World War II, the Germans carried out executions in the cemetery. The devastation of the facility began around this time. In 1946, about half of the tombstones were destroyed, and the funeral house was demolished, though the wall on the south side has survived. As Jewish Holocaust survivors from Niepołomice emigrated from the city, the Jewish community attempted to form an agreement with city authorities regarding the supervision and maintenance of the cemetery. In the following years, at least half of the plot was built over with single-family houses. On November 4, 1964, the Minister of Municipal Economy signed an order to close the cemetery. The accompanying documentation stated that the cemetery covered plot of land no. 2254/6 with an area of 0.16 hectares. In the cemetery, there are currently about 140 tombstones in the form of stelae, tomb walls, and pedestals. Epitaphs—or parts of them—are preserved on about 30 tombstones that date between 1916-1942 (the list is available at http://cmentarza-zydowskie.pl/niepolomice.htm). After 2014, an ohel was erected over the tombstone of Rabbi Josef Teitelbaum. In a more recent area of the cemetery, the fencing consists of a pre-war concrete wall, a metal mesh, and a wooden fence on a concrete plinth. The cemetery is clean, and its borders are at least partially visible. The owner of the cemetery is the Town of Niepołomice. The cemetery is listed in the Provincial Register of Monuments, and it is not listed in the Register of Immovable Monuments of the Małopolskie Voivodeship.

From the south side, the original brick wall about 2 m high still exists. On the other sides, the cemetery is surrounded by a metal fence about 2 m high. There are 37 tombstones in their original places, and 107 fragments of tombstones have been preserved.