Alternate names: Sochocin [Pol], Sochatchin, סוכוצ'ין [Yid], Sokhatzin, Сохоцин [Rus]. 52°41' N, 20°28' E, 15 miles SSW of Ciechanów, 5 miles NE of Płońsk, and 64 km (40 mi) NW of Warsaw. 1900 Jewish population: 449. ShtetLink. Gmina Sochocin is a rural administrative district in Płońsk powiat, Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland with its seat is the village of Sochocin with a 2006 total population is 5,713. Gmina Sochocin contains the villages and settlements of Baraki, Biele, Bolęcin, Budy Gutarzewskie, Ciemniewo, Drożdżyn, Gromadzyn, Gutarzewo, Idzikowice, Jędrzejewo, Kępa, Koliszewo, Kolonia Sochocin, Kołoząb, Kondrajec, Kuchary Królewskie, Kuchary Żydowskie, Milewo, Niewikla, Podsmardzewo, Rzy, Ślepowrony, Smardzewo, Sochocin, Wierzbówiec, Wycinki and Żelechy. Napoleon in Sochochin. [July 2009]
CEMETERY:
- Cemetery fencing [June 2016]
US Commission No. POCE000375
Sochocin is located in Ciechanow at 52º41 20º28, 10km from Plonsk. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.The cemetery is located at Szkolna St. about 200m after "WKRA" chemical co-op plant about 100m into forest.
- Town: Tomasz Wiktorowicz, Urzad Gminy, 09-110 Sochocin, tel. 185-51. Local: Tomasz Wiktorowicz, Urzad Gminy, 09-110 Sochocin tel. 185-51.
- Regional: Krzysztof Kalisciak, Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, ul. Mickiewicza 4, 06-400 Ciechanow. Local: 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 is after 1775. 1921 pre-war Jewish population was 406. The cemetery was established in the 19th century with last known Orthodox, Sephardic Orthodox, Conservative, or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial in 1941. The isolated rural forest hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing public property with no wall, gate, or fence. The cemetery occupies 0.3 hectares. Fewer than 20 20th-century multi-stone monuments are visible within the cemetery, all in original positions with less than 25% toppled or broken. There are no structures or known mass graves. A regional or national govenmental agency owns property used for Jewish cemetery. Properties adjacent are agricultural. Rarely, private visitors and local residents stop. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a constant problem that disturbs stones. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II, but not in the last ten years. No maintenance or care.
Wojcieck Henrykowski, ul. Spoldzielcza 20, 06-200 Makow Mazowiecki completed survey on 02/10/1991. Documentation: Ziemia Ciechomowska-Materialy Do Ziemi Plockiej, Plock, 1985. He visited site and interviewed employees of the communal office in Sochocin in September 1991.
[UPDATE] Completion of renovation and commemoration by FODZ (Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland) [June 2018