Alternate names: Majdan Królewski [Pol], Maidan, Meidan, Majdan Kolbuszowa [Yid], Majdan Kolbasur, Majdan Kolbishor, Majdan Krowlewski. 50°12' N 21°53' E, 146.6 miles SSE of Warszawa. ShtetLink. 9.2 miles N of Kolbuszowa, 25.5 miles NNW of Rzeszó. Polish: Majdan Krowlewski located in the Rzeszow region 10 km N of 50º15 21º46. The cemetery is in a patch of woods approximately two km SE of the town's mail square. Powiat: Kolbuszowa; Gmina: Majdan Królewski. The Nazis arrived in Majdan on September 12, 1939 and forced the Jewish residents to pour kerosene on the synagogue and then dance around it as it burned. Within weeks Majdan Jews were sent to the ghetto in Rzeszow, but most later were shot in Glogow Forest or gassed at Belzec. Majdan became one of the first towns known as "Judenrein." Hitler sent a personal letter to the local Nazi operator, Twardon, commemorating this "achievement". A monument in Glogow Forest marking the place where the Jews of Rzeszow and neighboring towns including Majdan were shot. A synagogue still stands. Photos. 3 matzevot are visible in the cemetery. [June 2009]
1999 total town population: approximately 1,000.
- Interested: Dr. Gregory Zamoyski, Historian for Rzeszow State Archives. Tel. 011-48-17-32684, fax: 011-48-17-38304: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, 35 Rzeszow, ul. Mickiewicza 7. City Building with all government offices is located in middle of Majdan Kolbuszowa town square.
- Interested: Michael Dean Huttner of Denver, Colorado and David H. Lui of San Francisco, California.
The earliest known Jewish community dates from the early 18th century. Jewish population as of the last census before World War II was approximately 1,500. 80% of Majdan Kolbuszowa was Jewish. Rzeszow Archive [above] possibly has a 1938 census of Majdan. On Sept. 12, 1939, Nazis arrived into Majdan Kolbuszowa. According to two child survivors in the book Children of Zion, within days of the Nazi arrival into Majdan Kolbuszowa, Nazis forced Jewish residents to gather in town square and pour gasoline over their own synagogue. As the synagogue burned, Nazis forced Jews to dance around it. Days later, they decided not to set up a ghetto in Majdan Kolbuszowa and forced all Jews to pack and travel through Kolbuszowa to the Rzeszow ghetto. Thus, Herr Landskommissar Twardon, the SS Gestapo in charge of the area, received personal praise from Hitler as Majdan Kolbuszowa became known among the Nazi SS as one of the first town to become "Judenrein", empty of Jews. The Rzeszow ghetto Jews, including those from Majdan, were ultimately liquidated, half in Glogow forest just N of Rzeszow, the rest gassed at Belzec extermination camp. The date of this cemetery is unknown but the cemetery in neighboring Kolbuszowa was established in 1830s. Burials ceased after 1939. The Orthodox community resided within a two km. area. The Synagogue, before burning, was located in the NE corner of the town square in Majdan Kolbuszowa. The wooded border of rural woods but only 2 km. from center of town, just inside an island of isolated woods/forest flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road onto a path crossing public property until reaching the edge of the forest. The unregulated access is open to all. The cemetery without caretaker, gate, or lock has a broken masonry wall. The original size was approximately 300 square meters. Six gravestones are in the cemetery in original location. The missing stones are rumored incorporated into foundation of City Building in middle of Town Square of Majdan Kolbuszowa. The vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a constant problem, disturbing the granite stones. The cemetery has 1-2 tombstones with traces of painting on their surfaces and 1-2 with portraits on stones but no known mass graves. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose the same area. No care or maintenance.
Michael Dean Huttner, 7000 E Quincy Ave., #F-218, Denver, CO 80237, USA Telephone 303-721-8966, and 303-831-1584 completed survey on July 2, 1999. He visited cemetery on May 26, 1999 and used a 1920 Topographical Map of Majdan Kolbuszowa and a description of Kolbuszowa cemetery. Documentation: Children of Zion by Henryk Greenberg and its translation summary of two Jewish child witnesses from Majdan Kolbuszowa who recorded what happened to their shtetl. A copy of their original eyewitness accounts, in Polish, are located in the Hoover Institution on War and Peace at Stanford University in California. Norman Salsitz's book on Kolbuszowa entitled Against All Odds references fate of Majdan Kolbuszowa Jews. Rzeszow archives said they may have 1938 census of Majdan Kolbuszowa but not yet seen/obtained.