Alternate names: Mordy [Pol, Rus, Yid], Mord. Морды [Rus]. מורדי-Yiddish. 52°13' N, 22°31' E, 20 miles NW of Międzyrzec Podlaski, 10 miles ENE of Siedlce. 1900 Jewish population: 1,532. 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). Mordy is a town in Siedlce County, Masovian Voivodeship with 1,831 inhabitants in 2004.
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The date of settlement of the first Jews is unknown, but they were well represented in the 19th century with 531 in 1827 to 1,206 in 1857 (65%). The majority of Jews were engaged in trade and crafts. In Mordach, two synagogues existed, one Hassidic. After WW I, the Bund acquired considerable influence. In 1921, 1,746 Jews (50%+) lived here. In 1940, the Nazis organized a mass murder near a labor camp for Jews and in 1941, the ghetto. In 1942, they liquidated the ghetto and sent the Jews to Treblinka. After liberation in 1945, guerrillas killed two Jewish survivors. [June 2009]
CEMETERY: Located at ulica 11 Listopada about 800 meters E of the village center, the 1-hectare site now has several dozen matzevot, mostly damaged. The cemetery was destroyed during WWII, part matzevot used to build ramps at railway stations. The Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw has the original Chevra Kaddisha book, one of the few documents of this type that survived the war. [June 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000576
Mordy is located in Siedlechie province at 52º13 22º31, 16 km from Siedlce. The cemetery is located by Losnice road, 800 meters from town center. Present population is 5,000- 25,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Interested: Wojwodzki Konserwator Zabytkow Siedlce, ul. Zbrojna 3, tel. No. 394-58 and Jerzy Dziedzie, ul. Ks. Skorupki, Mordy and Edward Kopowka, ul. Kazimierzowska 24, Siedlce.
1927 Jewish population was 1746. The isolated suburban hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with a broken fence and non-locking gate. The size today and before WWII was 1.0 hectare. 20- 100 stones, 1-20 in original location with fewer than 25% toppled or broken, date from second half of the 19th century- 20th century. Stones removed from the cemetery are in a museum. The granite and sandstone rough stones/boulders, flat-shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, or flat stones with carved relief decoration have Yiddish inscriptions. No known mass graves. Municipality owns property used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are agricultural. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. Private visitors stop rarely. No structures. No care. Weather erosion is a moderate threat; and vandalism is a slight threat. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access.
Cezary Ostas, Siedlce, ul. Pomorska 1/68, tel. 290-95 visited the site and completed this survey on 9 Oct 1992. He interviewed Edward Kopowka, Siedlce on 10 Sep 1992.
UPDATE: Cemetery photos at http://www.kirkuty.xip.pl/mordy.htm [January 2006]