Alternate names: Komarów [Pol], Komarov, קומארוב [Yid], Komaruv, Комарув [Rus], Komarove, Komarów Osada. 50°38' N, 23°29' E, 12 miles SE of Zamość, 13 miles NNE of Tomaszów Lubelski. Yizkor: Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 7: Kielce and Lublin (Jerusalem, 1999). 1900 Jewish population: 1,568. Gmina Komarów-Osada is a rural administrative district in Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship in E Poland. Its seat is the village of Komarów-Osada 19 kilometres (12 mi) SE of Zamość and 94 km (58 mi) SE of the regional capital Lublin with the villages and settlements of Antoniówka, Huta Komarowska, Janówka Wschodnia, Janówka Zachodnia, Kadłubiska, Komarów Dolny, Komarów Górny, Komarów-Osada, Komarów-Wieś, Kraczew, Krzywystok, Krzywystok-Kolonia, Księżostany, Księżostany-Kolonia, Ruszczyzna, Śniatycze, Sosnowa-Dębowa, Swaryczów, Tomaszówka, Tuczapy, Wolica Brzozowa, Wolica Brzozowa-Kolonia, Wolica Śniatycka, Zubowice and Zubowice-Kolonia. The 47.4 sq mi gmina had a 2006 population is 5,552. [June 2009]
On August 31, 1920, Europe's largest and last horse battle of 20th-century occurred near Komarów. Jewish settlement in the small village began early in the 18th century, probably due to the horse fairs. In 1766, 247 Jews lived in Komarow with a cemetery, a synagogue, and a beit midrash. In the mid-19th century, the Kock tzaddik founded his shtibl here with Jehuda Aron Klugier, whose son Szlomo later was a famous preacher in Brodach; Jehiel Moshe, author of Likutim Chadaszim and Niflaot Chadaszot; Itzhak David Szulewicz, Jehiel Engelsberg, and Jehoszua Alterman. In 1823, Russian authorities restricted Jewish settlement in Komarow. After the official abolition of that ban in 1862, the Jewish community began rapid growth with population increasing from 905 in 1861 to 1,568 (59.9%) in 1897 and 1,752 in 1921. On August 28, 1920, soldiers of General Stanislaw Bulak-Bałachowicza held a pogrom against Jews Komarowie in which sixteen were killed, sixty injured, and several dozen women raped. Many houses were plundered and destroyed. On September 13, 1939 the Germans occupied, after which on September 28, 1939, the Red army retook it after several days. Many Jewish residents fled Komarów with the retreating Red Army. Nevertheless, Germans brought several hundred Jews in two rounds from Lodz, Sierpc, Koła, Wloclawek, Zamosc, and Czechoslovakia to the town ghetto created in Summer 1941. Liquidation began in May 1942 and lasted until autumn. Most perished in Belzec, but part of shot in Komarow. [May 2009]
CEMETERY: Komarow Jewish Cemetery established in the first half of the 18th century or in the 17th century is located on the main road leading into town from Zamość to Tomaszów Lubelski, a few hundred meters before the market on the western side of the village. The cemetery was destroyed during WWII and after liberation. For many years, some residents used the gravestones as paving slabs or thresholds. One matzevot was used as a base in a Catholic chapel. In 1998, the cemetery was restored thanks Moritz Trost, now in Frankfurt am Main. The area was surrounded with a solid metal fence, fallen gravestones reset, and gravestones recovered in a nearby farm. A modern lapordarium was built. About 40 gravestones are in different states of preservation. In the center of the cemetery is the mass grave of 248 Jews murdered in 1942 in the ghetto, including about 70 Siemnicach victims whom Trost transferred to the cemetery. The key to the gate nearby at house No 23, but entry by the unlocked entranceiis possible. Photos. Photos. [May 2009]
US Commission No. AS 137
Komarow-Osada is located in Zamosc at 50°38 23°29, 18 km W from Zamosc. Cemetery location: at the road Zamosc-Wolka Labunska, facing house nr 23. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Gminy. (City Council)
- Local: Urzad Wojewodzki, Zamosc, ul. Partyzantow 3, Sejmik Samorzadowy Wojewodztwa Zamojskiego, Zamosc, ul. Partyzantow 3, tel. 31-34.
- Regional: Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow, Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, Zamosc, ul. Staszica 29, tel. 59-71. Organizations: Regionalny Osrodek Studiow i Ochrony Krajobrazu Kulturowego Lublin, ul. Archidiakonska 4, tel. 73-62-24.
- Keys to cemetery: House #23A.
- Interested: Urzad Wojewodzki Geodezji, Kartografii i Gospodarki Gruntami, Zamosc, ul. Przemyslowa 4, tel. 26-57. Wojewodzkie Archiwum Panstwowe, Lublin, 4 Przemyslowa St.
Earliest known Jewish community was 17th century. 1921 Jewish population (census) was 1752. The Jewish cemetery was established in 1st half of 17th century with last Orthodox burial in 1942. Landmarked: local Holocaust Monument. The isolated rural (agricultural) hillside has a sign or plaque in Polish and Hebrew, mentioning the Holocaust and the Jewish community. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission. There is a fence with locking gate (key at house #23A.) The size of the cemetery before WWII and now is 0.96 hectares. 20-100 tombstones, less than 25% are toppled or broken, date from 1898-20th century. The granite and sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones or flat stones with carved relief decorations have Hebrew inscriptions. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims. No mass graves. Municipality owns site used as a Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent are agricultural. Private visitors visit rarely. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. Jewish individuals abroad erected fence and gate in 1988at the expense of Moritz Trost from Frankfurt a/Main. There has also been re-erecting of stones. Jewish survivors pay a regular caretaker. There are no structures or threats.
Slawomir Parfianowicz, Jasielska 50a/2, 02-18 Warszawa completed survey 25 Aug 1995. Documentation: PSOZ-Karta Cmentarza. Komarow. Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne, elaborated by Studzinski, Pastuszak, Lublin 1991, msc. Parfianowicz visited the site 25 Aug 1995. Interviewed: Officers at Preservation Authorities and residents of housing nearby to cemetery.
[UPDATE] Photos by Charles Burns [March 2016]