Alternate names: Jałówka [Pol], Yaluvka [Rus, Yid], Jałouka, Russian: Ялувка. יאלובקה- Hebrew. 53°01' N, 23°54' E, 40 miles ESE of Białystok, on the border with Belarus. 1900 Jewish population: 743.
Yizkor: Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 8: Vilna, Białystok, Nowogródek districts (Jerusalem, 2005).
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), III, p. 388: "Jałówka".
The first Jewish settlers arrived in 1690. A kahał was founded in 1708. In 1878, 743 Jews lived there and in 1921, 588. Of the old Jewish cemetery located north of the market, there is no trace. A new hilly cemetery founded in the 19th century and destroyed in 1941 is a luxuriant pine forest. photos. Jałówka is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dąbrowa Białostocka within Sokółka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship in NE Poland situated in a densely forested area on an old trade route from Minsk to Warsaw. The first Jews settled in Jałówka at the end of the 18th century. In 1870, the community had 400 people involved in simple commerce and various skills and many wagoners. The Jews lived in the area of the market and maintained stores and stalls there. They kept small animal pens and vegetable patches for home use; sometimes a cow, goat, or a horse. Around 1900, Jewish population peaked with about 750 people (56.7%), decreasing due to immigration departure for large cities. Initially, the Jewish community in Jałówka was subordinate to the community of Svisloch (6 miles east,: now Belarus). In the first half of the 19th century, the population increased resulted in their own kehillah (Jewish community), sanctified a cemetery outside of the town; and built a wooden synagogue with a Talmud Torah and beit midrash. Aside from a chevra kaddisha (burial society), charitable organizations existed. History. [May 2009]
CEMETERY:
- burial list [Jan 2015]
- 2007 photos, directions, and description: "53°01'N 23°54'E. "Six visits by Tomasz Wisniewski from 1989-2004 preserved images of 6-7 matzevoth, a monumental tree base and the remains of a small mausoleum. (See images on Bagnowka gallery.) In May 2007, none of these artifacts could be located." [April 2009]
JALOWKA I: US Commission No. POCE000109
Jalowka I is located in Bialystok at 53º01 23º54, 60km from Bialystok. The cemetery is in the center of village, N of market square. 1991 town population: under 1,000 people with no Jews.
- Town: Soltys, Tel:18-30-65.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, ul. Dojlidy Fabryczne 23, Bialystok, Tel: 41-23-32.
The earliest known Jewish community existed at end of the 18th century. 1921 Jewish population (census) was 588. Living here was Rabbi Icchok Podorowski. The cemetery was established at the beginning of the 19th century with last known Orthodox or Conservative Jewish burial at end of 19th century. The cemetery no longer exists. No gravestones are left. Before World War II, the cemetery occupied 0.3 hectares. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II.
Tomasz Wisniewski, ul. Bema 95/99, Bialystok, Tel: 212-46 completed survey in September 1991. Wisniewski visited the site in 1990.
JALOWKA II: US Commission No. POCE000108
The cemetery's location is at a fork in the roads to Kondratki and Gonczary. The cemetery was established in the 19th century with the last burial in 1941. Orthodox, Conservative, and Progressive/Reform communities used the cemetery. Surrounding communities of up to 10 km also used the cemetery. The isolated rural hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access to the cemetery is open to all with no wall, fence or gate. Fewer than 20 gravestones are visible with less than 25% are toppled or broken. The gravestones are from the 19th to 20th centuries. The slate rough stones have Hebrew inscriptions. The municipality owns the cemetery property. Properties adjacent are agricultural. The cemetery currently occupies 0.4 hectares, but before World War II, it occupied 1.5 hectares. The smaller size is a result of agriculture and post-war devastation. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II and frequently thereafter. No care.
Tomasz Wisniewski, ul. Bema 95/99, Bialystok, tel. 212-46 completed survey in August 1991.
[Note in Wisniewski's book Jewish Bialystok, he mentions "On the Kondratki road (200 meters north of Jawloka) ... the remains of a Jewish cemetery with several mazevas. Although nothing is left of the old cemetery in the town center..."
burial list and gravestone photos [August 2014]