MUSZYNA: Małopolskie

Alternate names: Muszyna [Pol], Mushina [Yid]. 49°21' N, 20°55' E, 22 miles SSE of Nowy Sącz, near the Slovak border. Jewish population: 265 (in 1880), 423 (in 1921). Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), VI, pp. 817-818: "Muszyna" #1. This town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship southern Poland with a 2006 population of 4,989 is a railroad junction near the border with Slovakia, with trains going toward Nowy Sacz, Krynica and southwards, to Slovakia. Normal 0 Jews first settled in Muszyna in the second half of the 19th century, many of them from Nowy Sacz. Chassidism was popular. In 1921, 423 Jews lived there. In the early years of WW II, all Jews were deported and slaughtered in the ghettos and Grybów Bobowa. [June 2009]

CEMETERY: In the SE of the village near Smarkatym Potoczku. In the center of the village gardens and the street Ogrodowe, following the path leading to Stadła in the pinewoods on ul Ogrodowe is the 0.3 ha, 19^th century cemetery. In the 1990, the cemetery was fenced. On the west are remains of the original flat stone wall. On one is a Mogen David and an inscription "The Jewish Cemetery. Land legally protected. Respect the resting place of the dead. Renovation was made in eternal memory by the Foundation. Muszyna 1995." Of the remaining 84 matzevot only a few graves are restored. The rest are partially damaged or broken. Graves are in rows with the older portion to the left of the gate. Professor Leszek Hondo from Jagiellonian University inventoried those gravestones. Some matzevot have partial English inscriptions. Although tidy, the city has no information about the location and cemetery. [June 2009]

"vandalized after WWII." Source: Cohen, Chester G. "Jewish Cemeteries in Southern Poland" from `An Epilogue' in Shtetl Finder. 1980.

US Commission No. POCE000749

Muszyna is located in Nowy Sacz at 49º2120º55, 50 km from Nowy Sacz and 154 km from Krakow. Cemetery location: Ogrodowa St. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 without Jews.

• Town: Urzad Miasta i Gminy Uzdrowiskowej, Rynek 31, 33-370 Muszyna, tel. 57.
  
• Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, mgr inz Zygmunt Lewczuk, al. Kilinokiego 68, 33-300 Nowy Sacz, tel. 238-38 wew 234 (also see Bobowa).

The earliest known Jewish community was end of 18th century. 1921 Jewish population was 330. The Orthodox Jewish cemetery was established in the second half of the 19th century. The isolated suburban hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all without wall or gate. The size of the cemetery before WWII and now is 0.3 hectares. 20-100 gravestones, less than 25% toppled or broken, date from 1892-20th century. The sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones and flat stones with carved relief decorations have Hebrew and Polish inscriptions. No mass graves. The unknown owner uses site as a Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent are agricultural and residential. Private visitors rarely visit it. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII, but not in the last 10 years. No maintenance, care, or structures. Security and vandalism are serious threats; erosion and vegetation are very serious threats. The cemetery is neglected and overgrown.
Piotr Antoniak, ul. Dobra 5 m 36, 05-800 Pruszkow completed survey 10 Sept 1992. The site was visited 2 Aug 1992.

Source: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 77

UPDATE: 84 tombstones are in Muszyna cemetery. See http://www.eturystyka.com.pl/miasta/malopolskie/muszyna/muszyna.php [August 2003]