Alternate names: שעברעשין, Shebreshin [Yid], Szczebrzeszyn, Shchebreshin, Shebreshin, Shevershin, Szebrzeszyn. 50°42' N, 22°58' E. Yizkors: 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) and Sefer zikaron le-kehilat Shebreshin (Haifa, 1984. 1900 Jewish population: 2,518. This city in SE Poland in Lublin Voivodeship in Zamość powiat about 20 km W of Zamość and from 1975-1999 part of the Zamość Voivodeship is the seat of Gmina Szczebrzeszyn with a 2004 population of 5,357. synagogue sketch. [August 2005]. Cemetery photos. The Foundation for the Preservation of the Jewish Heritage in Poland in Warsaw supervises the Szczebrzeszyn Jewish Cemetery Project regarding restoration information of the 16th century, 1.8-hectare cemetery first documented in 1507. The oldest gravestone dates from 1545. Normal 0 Located on a hill at Cmentarna Street with about 400 visible gravestones, many broken, collapsed or toppled and covered with grass. Many multiples remain to be excavated. For the last three years a group of German students from the Society of Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Dresden has been conducting clean-up as a part of the Signs of Penitence Project - Service for Peace. [July 2009]]
US Commission No. AS 187
The town is located in Zamosc region at 50°42 22°59, 20 km SW to W of Zamosc. Cemetery: Cmentarna Street in NE part of town. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Local: Urzad Gminy [City Council] and the Urzad Wojewodzki [Woivodship Office], Zamosc, ul. Partyzantow 3, Sejmik Samorzadowy Wojewodztwa Zamojsiego [Local Governments' Committee of Woivodship Zamosc], Zamosc, ul. Partyzantow 3, tel. 31 34.
- Regional: Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow, Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, [State Preservation Authority, Conservation Officer for the Woiwodship], Zamosc, ul. Staszica 29, tel. 59 71.
- Interested: Regionalny Osrodek Studiow I Ochrony Krajobrazu Kulturowego [Regional Center for the Study and Preservation of Cultural Landscape], Lublin, Ul. Archidiakonska 4, tel. 73 62 24. Urzad Wojewodzki 'Wydzial Geodezji, Kartograffi I Gospodarki Gruntami [Woivodship Office'Dept. of Land Survey, Cartography and Land Use], Zamosc, ul. Przemyslowa 4, tel. 26 57. Wojewodzkie Archiwum Panstwowe [State Archive for the Woivodship], Lublin, 4 Przemyslowa St.
The earliest known Jewish community dates from 1507. 1921 Jewish population was 2,644. Since the second half of the 16th century, the Jewish community possessed a synagogue. In 1702, the so-called "Council of Four Lands" met in the town. In 19th century, Szczebrzeszyn was a Hasidic center. In 1942, the Nazis deported these Jews to Belzec Concentration Camp. Tzadik Elimechel Hurwitz (ca. 1880) lived here. The Orthodox-Hasidic Jewish cemetery was surveyed and established in 1593. Landmark: #A/333/85. The isolated suburban hillside has a sign or marker in Polish mentioning landmark. Reached by crossing private property, access is open to all with a broken fence and non-locking gate. The pre-and post-WWII cemetery size is 1.801 ha. 100 to 500 stones, 1 to 20 not in original location with 25 to 50% broken or toppled, date from the 16th-20th century. Removed stones are incorporated into roads or the foundation of the new structure of the local grammar school. The cemetery is not divided into special sections. The sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones or flat shaped stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew inscriptions. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims. There are known but unmarked mass graves. The municipality owns the property used only as a Jewish cemetery. Adjacent property is agricultural. Rarely, private visitors stop. It was vandalized during World War II. No maintenance or care. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures except a monument erected in 1991. Vegetation is a constant problem, damaging stones and disturbing graves. Security and vegetation are very serious threats. Vandalism is a moderate threat. "The cemetery is in very bad condition and demands immediate action."
Slawomir Parfianowicz, Jasielska 50a/2, 02-18 Warsawa completed survey on 25 Aug 1995 using PSOZ [Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabykow (State Preservation Authority, Conservation Officer for Woiwodship) Zamosc'"Karta cmentarza (cemetery record charat) #2087 filled out by Twardowshi in 1985. He visited on 25 August 1995 and interviewed officers of the Preservation Authorities and residents of the housing near the cemetery.
"300 tombstones. The oldest from 17th century." [Source?]
BOOK: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 63-64