Alternate names: Konin [Pol, Yid, Rus]. Конин [Rus], קונין-Yiddish. 52°13' N, 18°16' E, 33 miles NNE of Kalisz, 55 miles WNW of Łódź. 1900 Jewish population: 2,482. Yizkors: Kehilat Konin be-ferihata u-ve-hurbana and Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 1: The communities of Lodz and its region (Jerusalem, 1976). This town on the Warta river in central Poland with 81,233 inhabitants in 2006 is the capital of Konin County. Since 1999, it has been in the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999 and was in Konin Voivodeship (1975-1998). Konin Region: The Rememberance Foundation of Poland convinced regional authorities to make bronze plaques with the inscription in Polish stating that a Jewish Cemetery had existed and place them in 12 locations. Jews represented 30% of Konin's population prior to WWII. A descendant of Konin Jews, Theo Richmond an extensive history of Konin Jewish life. The majority of Konin Jews were Mitnagdim, although small communities of Gerer and Aleksander Hasidim lived within Konin. Source: U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. Map. synagogue sketch. synagogue photo. one gravestone photo. MUSEUM: Muzeum Okręgowe w Koninie. 62-505 Konin ul. Muzealna 6. Poland. Tel: +48 63 2427599 Fax: +48 63 2427431. [June 2009]
BOOK:Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 76
BOOK: Richmond,Theo. Konin: One Man's Quest for a Vanished Jewish Community. Vintage Books. 1996.
BOOK: Aaronson, Rabbi Yehoshua Moshe. Alei Merorot (Leaves of Bitterness). Self-published, B'nei Brak, Israel, 1996.
Ada Holtzman website 1 and website 2.
MASS GRAVE: Mass grave of Jews within the Catholic cemetery, victims of the CZARKOW (Konin) Forced Labour Nazi Camp (victims list and photo of proposed memorial with details about its creation). [June 2009]
US Commission No. POCE0000693
Konin is located in voievodship of Konin, 100 km from Poznan, 200 km from Warszawa at Lat 52.2167 Long 18.2667. Cemetery: on ul. Nadrzeczna. Present population is 25,00-100,00 with no Jews.
- Local: (Mayor) Marek Paszkowiak, Urzad Miasta, ul. Przyjazni, tel. 42 39 99. Irena Sobierajska, PSOZ Konin.
- Interested: The Museum Okreagowe and Panstwowe Archives, Konin.
The earliest Jewish community was end of the 17th century. 1931 Jewish population was 2,800. Living here were the families Leszcsynski and Lipszyc. Leopold Infeld taught in the Jewish high school for some years. The cemetery was established in 1831 with the last Orthodox (Sephardic) or Reform burial in 1939. The isolated suburban crown of a hill has no sign or marker, no wall or fence. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. The size is 1.2 hectares. It was 1.5 hectares before WWII. No gravestones are visible. The stones removed were most probably used for paving Buczka Street. [Street name may have been changed.] The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. Near the cemetery is the wooden house of the cemetery guard. A monument to Holocaust victims was established in 1959. Municipality owns property used for recreation. Adjacent properties are recreational. Private visitors visit it. Security and weather erosion are moderate threats. Incompatible nearby development is a serious threat. Within cemetery land are multistory residential buildings and the entrance to the city park.
Lucja Pawlicka-Nowak, 11 Listopada St 15/76, 62 510 Konin, tel. 434356 completed this survey on August 21, and visited 21 August 1992 and October 12, 1992. Literature, maps in the archives, interviews and documentation at the PSOZ were used to complete the survey. Piotr Rybczynski, Konin Archive, was interviewed on September 20, 1992.