Alternate names: Świdwin [Pol], Schivelbein [Ger], Swibowina. 53°46' N, 15°47' E, 55 miles ENE of Szczecin (Stettin), in Middle Pomerania. Jewish population: ~400 (in 1890), 148 (in 1933). Świdwin is a town in Middle Pomerania, NW Poland with 15,486 inhabitants in 2007 snf capital of Świdwin powiat in West Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999 and previously in Koszalin Voivodeship (1950-1998). [July 2009]
CEMETERY: In 2007, vandals desecrated the small Jewish cemetery in western Poland, knocking over about half of the 20 gravestones and smashing many of them in the third time since 2003. They already had painted graffiti and broke the fence. The 0.5-hectare Jewish cemetery on Dobra Rycerskie Street (today Drawska Street) on the so-called Jewish Hill (Juden Berg) was founded at the beginning of the 19th century and destroyed during the Nazi occupation. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Pentecostal church led by Pastor Adam Ciućka restored the cemetery. On September 25, 2001, an official unveiling ceremony took place at the landmarked cemetery (#1216), attended by Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Father Michał Czajkowski, Dawid Kulinicz (the bishop of the Pilska diocese of the Pentecostal Church), as well as two Jewish pre-war residents of Świdwin - Gisela Miessner and Heinz Wandelt. Photos. [July 2009]
US Commission No. POCE00327
Alternate Yiddish name: Schivilbein. Cemetery: ul. Dobra Rycerskie. The town is located in Koszlin region at 53°46 15°46, 50 km from Koszalin. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
- Local: Urzad Miasta I Gminy w Swidwinie and mgr. Andrej Fijalkowski, Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, 75-950 Koszalin, ul. Lampego 34, tel. 28-322.
- Regional: Panistwowa Slurba Ochrony Zabythow, Oddriat w Koszalinie., mgr. Szazyna Salamon, address as above, tel. 28-313.
The Progressive/Reform Jewish cemetery was established around 1890. The Slawoborze Jewish community, about 6 km away, also used the cemetery. Landmark: Register of Monuments of Koszalin voivodship no. 1216/89 of 12 May 1989 [Rejestr Zabytkow region Koszalinskiego]. The isolated suburban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with a broken masonry wall without gate. The pre-and post-WWII cemetery size is 0.41 ha. 20 to 100 stones, 1-20 in original location with less than 25% broken or toppled, date from 1897-20th century. The granite or sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with card relief decoration, double tombstones, or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew and/or German inscriptions. There are no known mass graves. The municipality owns the property used for Jewish cemetery. Adjacent property is forest. Rarely, local residents stop. It was vandalized during World War II. No maintenance or structures. Vandalism and security are a moderate threat. Weather erosion and vegetation are slight threats.
Henryk Grecki, 70-534 Szczecin, ul. Soktypsia 3/13, tel. 377-41 completed survey on 16 Aug. 1991. He visited the site on 29 July 1991.
Alternate name: Schovelblein. The city is in Pomerania. The cemetery is 3 km from the city on Bukowiec Lake. Overgrown with trees, about dozen or so graves with German and Hebrew inscriptions are visible, surrounded by a fieldstone wall. Source: Jan Sekta, custodian of the Mazurian Social Archives in Gizycko. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. [date?]