Alternate names: Dobre Miasto, Guttstadt [Ger], 53°59' N 20°24' E, 122.2 miles NNW of Warszawa, 26 km from Olsztyn in Olsztyn County in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship with a 2004 population of 10,579. The town is located in NW Masurian Lake District in the center of the historical region Warmia and is the seat of Dobre Miasto Commune with 16,014 total inhabitants. During WWII, Guttstadt was 65% destroyed during its capture by the Soviet Red Army and the NKVD. [April 2009]
US Commission No. POCE0000260
The cemetery is located at Olsztynska St. opposite the Roman Catholic cemetery [error: see updates below]. 1991 town population: 5,000-25,000; no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Gminy i Miasta ul. Warszawska 14 11-040 Dobre Miasto.
- Regional: Urzad Wojwodzki Wydrial Gospodarlei Tevenove, ul Pilsudsluego 7/9, 10 959 Olsztyn, tel. 232 276. and Panstwowa Stuzba Ochrony Zabytkow ul. Podvale 1, tel. 27-21-36, 10-076 Olsztyn.
- Interested: mgr. inz Elzbieta Szyyula Zielinska, 10-435 Olztyn ul Switezianlei 6/3, tel 33-25-22 and Wiktor Knercer (see end)
The earliest known Jewish community was 1824. 1938 Orthodox and Progressive/Reform Jewish population was 48. The cemetery was established in the second half of the 19th century. The last known burial was late 1930s. No other communities used this cemetery unlandmarked suburban, flat land near other cemeteries with no sign or marker. Reached by turning off a public road, access is open to all with is no wall, fence, or gate. The cemetery was about.20 hectares before WWII; no change. No gravestones remain. No known mass graves. The municipality owns the property used for a recreational area surrounded by residential land. Few visitors stop. Maintenance or care is some clearing of vegetation by the municipality. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. No threats.
Wiktor Krercer 10-685 Olsztyn, ul. Barcza 33m16, tel. 33-86-07 completed survey in Oct. 1991 based on a site visit. Documentation: Frederichs, Deutsches Studtebuch... Stuttgart 1939. Interviews were conducted.
UPDATE: I noticed that the description of the cemetery is totally wrong. The remains are from the Protestant cemetery. The Jewish cemetery was at another location. I was told that the Polish authorities built houses on it. I will try to get information. Bianca Perle-Ferone This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [11 December 2000]
The German Catholic cemetery, now Polish, is still active. The former German Protestant cemetery, across the street, was only a green meadow without care and no remains of the wall or the graves, when I visited it 1993. The Jewish cemetery, northeast of the city, is not on the road to Allenstein (Olsztyn.) There is a small book: Geschichte der jüdischen Gemeinde in Guttstadt by Fritz Halpern Guttstadt, 1927. After the foundation of the community 20 May 1814, the Jews bought a small area for the cemetery on May 24, 1814. It was about 40 m x38 m. In the small book, there are three not very good pictures, one of the interior of the synygogue and two of some graves, which I can send. Since I plan to visit my birthtown this year, I will find out more information. Source: Joachim Perle This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . [17 Jan 2001]
UPDATE: I was born in Dobre Miasto after WWII. I recall childhood memories of remnants of the Jewish cemetery that was not to far from the forest line near the small local sandy road that lead to a place inside of the forest called "Wachmile". (I don't know if it is a correct spelling of that place in the forest, perhaps it was just pronunciation of German name.) On the right side of that sandy road walking toward Dobre Miasto were a few stones on a place covered with grass close to that sandy road. That was about 40 years ago. On that area were built houses so I think that small cemetery does not exist anymore. Bozena Sitkowska, New York. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [April 2007]
UPDATE: Solders of Red Army destroyed 65% of all buildings in Dobre Miasto. My son went to Poland in April 2007 and brought many pictures of Dobre Miasto. Next to a newly built gymnasium and close to the sandy road I remember from my childhood, (now paved) is a new small Catholic church, probably built on the old synagogue foundation. The small Jewish cemetery and synagogue were reached by walking from "Wachmile" along a sandy glade, across a spring with little bridge in the forest toward Dobre Miasto. On the right was the cemetery and on the left side was the synagogue. Bozena Sitkowska. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The address is unknown. [June 2007]
UPDATE: Please correct my information about location of the Synagogue in Dobre Miasto: I found correct information about location of the Synagogue in Dobre Miasto: It was located in the center of the city on its Marketplace. Bozena Sitkowska, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [April 2009]