Alternate names: Mława [Pol], Mlave, מלאווע [Yid], Mlava, Млава [Rus], Mielau [Ger, 1939-45]. 53°07' N, 20°23' E, 65 miles NNW of Warszawa, 48 miles NE of Płock (Plotsk). 1900 Jewish population: 4,854. Yizkors: Mlawa ha-yehudit; koroteha, hitpathuta, kilayona---Di yidishe Mlawe; geshikte, oyfshtand , unkum (Tel Aviv, 1984). Pinkas Mlave (New York, 1950). Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 4: Warsaw and its region (Jerusalem, 1989). This town in north-central Poland with 30,623 inhabitants in 2004 is the capital of Mława powiat in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999 and previously part of the Ciechanów Voivodeship since 1975. See: We Remember Jewish Mlawa! [June 2009]
OLD CEMETERY: The first cemetery was established in 1775 in Mława near the Jewish settlement of Zabrodach on the current ul. Krucze. website www.mlawa.um.gov.pl about the development of Mlawa cemeteries in 1884 for Jewish military was forced to close the cemetery and create of a new cemetery. [June 2009]
NEW CEMETERY: The new Jewish cemetery was established a few hundred meters further on a hill on ulica Warszawskiej, now Warsaw University of Technology. Before the outbreak of WWII, a red brick wall surrounded the cemetery. The German authorities stole gravestones for construction of Nowego Berlina between the villages and Krzywonos Nosarzewo. At the cemetery, the Nazis forced Jews to smash was used to mine gravel. After the liberation, the few survivors moved burials in the city into the cemetery. The mass grave monuments were soon stolen. Photographic documentation of these events can be found at www.tachna.com. In 1992, leaders of the Association of Friends of Mlawa President Kazimierz Tańskim in consultation with city authorities and representatives of Jewish communities cleaned the cemetery and in its highest point installed a monument made from recovered matzevot and designed by artist-sculptor, Andrej Borcz commissioned by the Nissenbaum Family Association and Mławskich Jews in Israel. In 1994, the cemetery was landmarked as No. 369. This cemetery is fenced with a high metal fence from ulica Warszawskiej to Warsaw University of Technology with a gate. The gate has no key, only a latch accessed by reaching inside. No gravestones are visible. A nearby resident says that the last matzevot was taken in 2008. photos and text. [June 2009]
MLAWA (I): US Commission No. POCE000370
Alternate name: Mielau (German), Mlawa is located in Ciechanow at 53º07 20º23, 21 km from Dzialdowo. The cemetery is located at Krucza St. Present population is 25,000-100,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Major Adam Chmielinski, Urzad Miejski, ul. Stary Rynek 14, 06-500 Mlawa.
- Local: Major Adam Chmielinski, Urzad Miejski, ul. Stary Rynek 14, 06-500 Mlawa
- Regional: Krzysztof Kalisciak Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, 06-400 Ciechanow, Tel, fax: 49-52. Marian Konrad Klubinski, Pelnomocnik Wojewody d.s. Kontaktow z Koscidlami i Wyznaniami, (Province's Plenipotentiary for Contacts with Churches and Denominations), Urzad Wojewodzki, ul. 17 Stylznia 7, 06-400 Ciechanow, Tel. (823) 22-55, 20-51 w 238, Fax. 2665.
The earliest known Jewish community in Mlawa was 1543. 1939 Jewish population (census) was 6500. In 1890, the Zionist Organization was founded. Living here were Joseph Opatoszu (a writer), Jakir Warszawski, and Wiktor Acter (the leader of the "Bund" party in Poland). The Orthodox, Sephardic Orthodox, Conservative, and Progressive/Reform Jewish cemetery was established during the 18th century with last known Jewish burial at the beginning of the 20th century. The isolated suburban hillside and crown of a hill has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access to the cemetery is open to all without wall or fence. The size of cemetery before WWII and now is 1.00 hectares. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a seasonal problem that prevents access. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II, but not in the last ten years. No maintenance or care. Municipality owns property used for Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent the cemeteries are agricultural and residential. High-tension electric poles running through the cemetery to the housing. Rarely, private visitors and by local residents stop. Fewer than 20 gravestones with less than 25% = broken or toppled date from the 19th century. The granite, limestone, sandstone, and other materials flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew and Yiddish inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves or structures.
Wojcieck Henrykowski, ul. Spoldzielcza 20, 06-200 Makow Mazowiecki completed survey on 07/10/1991. Documentation: collection of Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow w Ciechanowie nr 24/85. The employees of the communal office in Mlawa were interviewed. He visiteded on 7 September, 1991.
MLAWA (II): US Commission No. POCE000371
The Orthodox, Sephardic Orthodox, Conservative, and Progressive/Reform cemetery is located at Warszawka St. The cemetery was probably established during the 1930's with last known Jewish burial in 1942. The isolated hillside and crown of a hill has a sign in Polish: "A Cemetery of Jewish Faith." Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall or fence. The size of cemetery before WWII and now is 1.50 hectares. Fewer than 20 gravestones with less than 25% broken or toppled date from the 20th century. Some are multistone monuments. There are no structures or known mass graves. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a seasonal problem that prevents access. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II, but not in the last ten years. Authorities occasionally clean or clear the cemetery. The municipality owns the cemetery used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are commercial or industrial, agricultural, and residential. Occasionally, private visitors and local residents visit.
Wojcieck Henrykowski, ul. Spoldzielcza 20, 06-200 Makow Mazowiecki completed survey on 07/10/1991. Documentation: collection of Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow w Ciechanowie nr 24/85 The text Infomuaya O Cmentarzalk Zylowsluch Na Tererue region Ciechanowskiego [Information on the Jewish Cemeteries in the Province of Ciechanow] by M. Klubinislu (Published by Urgol Wojewodzki, Cichanow, 1990) was also used. The employees of the communal office in Mlawa were also interviewed. He visited the site on 7 September 1991.
http://www.zchor.org/INDMLAWA.HTM [June 2005]
UPDATE: http://www.polishjews.org/cemet/mlawa.htm has photo. [August 2005]