Alternate names: Łowicz [Pol], Lovitsh, לאָװיטש [Yid], Lovich, Лович [Rus], Lowitsch [Ger], Loviche [Lat], Loyvitch, Luyvich. 52°07' N, 19°56' E, 46 miles W of Warszawa (Warsaw), 32 miles NE of Łódź. 1900 Jewish population: 3,552. Yizkor: Lowicz; ir be-Mazovia u-seviva, sefer zikaron (Tel Aviv, 1966). This town in central Poland with 30,383 inhabitants in 2004 in Łódź Voivodeship since 1999 and previously in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975-1998) together with Bednary is a major rail junction of central Poland (line from Warsaw splits into two directions - towards Poznan, and Lodz). Near the town is the first welded road bridge in the world built across the river Słudwia Maurzyce in 1929. An open air 17-hectare museum outside of town displays historical structures depicting traditional Polish village life. 
Powiat łowicki is a unit of territorial administration and local government with ten gminas in Łódź Voivodeship since January 1, 1999 with its administrative seat and only town in Łowicz with a 2006 total population is 82,338, out of which the population of Łowicz is 30,204.
łowicz Jews initially buried their dead in the cemeteries of Sobocie and Sochaczew (about 1829). In 1797, they acquired the legal right to settle in the city that incurred three talarów for establishment of the cemetery. Perhaps due to kahal requirements, they continued to bury their dead in Sochaczew. The Jewish cemetery was established in Lowicz in 1829 or 1830 on one "morgi" near the village of Zagórze given by Grand Duke Constantine. The Germans occupied the town on September 13, 1939. A Judenrat was established in October or November 1939. In 1940, about 3,500 Jews from other towns in Lodz district were resettled in Lowicz. In April 1940, two ghettos were created in the town. By early 1941, over 7,000 Jews lived in the ghettos. In February 1941, 300 Jews were shipped daily to the Warsaw ghetto. The Nazis destroyed the cemetery, using the gravestones to shore up the Bzury riverbanks. The PRL placed a monument in gratitude to the Soviet soldiers from Lowicz in the Old Market. In 1993, restoration work in cemetery included cleaning and setting remaining gravestones in a row. Today, on the approximately two hectares, a few hundred artistic matzevot are visible. They display characteristic Jewish sepulchral art symbols: books, candles, broken tree crowns, lions and deer. The Jewish Historical Institute contains a document that described the cemetery as gray sandstone traditional shaped gravestones. Symbolic graves commemorate Jews murdered during the occupation. The highest and northwestern part of the cemetery has obelisks, rocks, and tree trunk gravestones from the late 19th and early 20th century. The few post-war gravestones are made of cement and synthetics. Of special artistic merit on traditional gravestones from the third quarter of the 19th century are those richly decorated with floral motifs and architectural elements placed in the top of the panel with symbols and baroque decorative forms. On the sides of the site are matzevot with the Soviet five-star and military coats and belts. At the gate is a small brick building, once for the beit tahara (preburia housel). The cemetery is located three km from the city center on ul. Łęczyckiej. Katarzyna Guzek, caretaker, residing nearby at ulica Łęczyckiej 98 (tel. 664-416-773) has the key. The site is immaculate. In the city, a few buildings owned by Jews before the war still remain. In the local museum are a few Jewish items: an 18th century kiddush cup and menorah, all that remains of the pre-war 4,500 Jews. Photos. [May 2009] photo. synagogue photo. [August 2005]
US Commission No. POCE000216
Located in Skiernierskie at 19º57E 52º06N, 49 km from Lodz and 74 km from Warsaw. The cemetery is located at Ulica Lscrycka (or Lsaycka). Present town population is 25,000-100,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Town: Urzad Miasta, Rynek Koscuiszki 1, Tel 3542.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, 96-100 Skierniewice, ul. Pomalogicrna 10
The earliest known Jewish community was 1829. 1921 population was 4517. Lowicz principality was annexed by Prussia. The Orthodox, Conservative and Progressive/ Reform cemetery was established in 1829 with last Jewish burial 1970. Landmarked: Rejesdr cemetery zydowskich Ungku ds. Wyznan 2 1981r. The isolated suburban hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. A broken masonry wall with a non-locking gate surrounds. Approximate size of cemetery is 1.86 ha. 100-500 gravestones, 1-20 gravestones in original location with 25%-50% toppled or broken, date from 19th-20th centuries. The cemetery is divided into men and women's sections. The marble, granite, sandstone and concrete rough stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew and Polish inscriptions. Some tombstones have bronze decorations or lettering. There are special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims but no known mass graves. The municipality owns property used as a Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent are agricultural and residential. Occasionally, organized individual tours and private visitors stop. It was vandalized during WW II, but not in the past ten years. There is no maintenance. Between 1945 and 1950, tombstones were recreated by Jewish individuals within the country. There is a pre-burial home with wall inscriptions. Security and vandalism are slight threats.
Pawel Fijatkowski, 96-500 Sochacrew, ul. Ziemowita 11, Tel. 22791 completed survey on June 26, 1991. His private collection archive was used to complete the survey. Visited site July 1990.
Nathalie Wolf, of the US and Israel, was born here and restored the cemetery at her own expense. Despite being listed as a landmark, it was in a sad state. Bushes were cut and new trees planted. Source: U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad,
REFERENCE: They Lived Among Us: Polish Judaica, a travel brochure: Arline Sachs, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. extracted names of townstaht supposedly having Jewish cemeteries. These generally have names only; sometimes a description of famous people who lived there, but no page number.)
BOOK: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 76
[UPDATE] Photos by Charles Burns [March 2016]