Obj. ID: 52153
Jewish Funerary Art  Site of the Jewish cemetery in Wałcz, Poland

The Jewish cemetery in Wałcz was established in the first half of the 19th century at Królowej Jadwigi Street, on a plot of 0.75 ha. The necropolis was destroyed, and in the years of the People’s Republic of Poland a community centre was built in this place. Leszek Jóźwik from Wałcz describes the devastation process of the cemetery as follows: “The destruction took place basically before 1945, after Kristallnacht in 1938. In Wałcz, the synagogue and the cemetery were also destroyed after this event. Brigitte Kropp, a former resident of Wałcz, mentions it in the article: ‘Auf den Spuren der jüdischen Gemeinde von Deutsch Krone.’ The Germans built a shelter for civilians in the place of the synagogue, which probably still exists today. After the war, they were used to fortify the shores of Lake Raduń. Some of the entire slabs – probably with exhumation – were moved to the old Protestant cemetery, and today such tombstones can be found at this cemetery. It cannot be ruled out that some of the slabs were used by stonemasons from Wałcz. This was also the case in the former Protestant cemetery.”

In 2011, during the reconstruction of the shore of Lake Raduń, fragments of matzevot were found. According to the newspaper, Dziennik Pojezierze Wałeckie, the tombstones have been secured in the local museum. According to information from our correspondent, the reconstruction was dragging on and in November 2012, stones with Hebrew inscriptions could still be found on the side of the road.
On our website we present a photo of the matzevah from the Museum of the Wałcz Land. It is a tombstone from 1841. An epitaph was inscribed on it with the following text: “Here is buried respected Meir, son of Mr. Naftali, of blessed memory! He died on the 1st of the new month, tewet 602 according to small count” (trans. Renata Uszyńska).
(K. Bielawski, cmentarze-zydowskie.pl)

According to ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, there are a building of the Walcz Cultural Centre, a newspaper stand, a building of unknown ownership (all painted with graffiti), and a large car park on the site of the cemetery now. In the place where the synagogue once stood, next to the cemetery, and on the cemetery site, there is now the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Square and steps leading to the cultural centre. No traces of the former cemetery are visible, except the old cemetery masonry wall, from the north-eastern side. The wall seems to be in good shape. There are also some old trees preserved in the cemetery area. The cemetery is neither commemorated nor marked in any form.

The site of the cemetery is located at 3, Plac Zesłańców Sybiru, along Królowej Jadwigi Street, next to Wielkiej Orkiestry Świątecznej Pomocy Square. Access is from Królowej Jadwigi Street, Wielkiej Orkiestry Świątecznej Pomocy Square and next to the building at 11, Dąbrowskiego Street (ZUS Inspektorat w Wałczu).