Alternate names: Rawa Mazowiecka [Pol], Rava Mazovietzk, ראווה מאזובייצקה [Yid], Rava Mazovyetska, Рава-Мазовецка [Rus], Rawa, Rava. 51°46' N, 20°15' E, 46 miles SW of Warszawa, 33 miles E of Łódź, 35 miles NE of Piotrków Trybunalski. 1900 Jewish population: 2,774. Yizkor: Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 1: The communities of Lodz and its region (Jerusalem, 1976). Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), IX, pp. 550-560: "Rawa". This town in central Poland with 17,765 inhabitants in 2004 in the Łódź Voivodeship is the seat of Rawa powiat. [June 2009]
Shtetlink [February 2010]
Jews lived in Rawa Mazowiecka probably since 1448. They were listed in the 1507 taxes for the coronation of Sigismund I. In the 16th century, many cities experienced a wave of Jewish ritual murder accusations. In 1547, two years Rawa Jews were accused of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering a Christian boy. The accused were burned at the stake and the Jewish population expelled. Jews returned to Rawy in the mid-18th century, resettling in a town on isolated land near the river in the village Wola Rylke, today's ul. Jerozolimska. Success of Jewish merchants and craftsmen became a threat rather quickly to Christian competitors. In 1861, a fire consumed the Jewish quarter in Wola Rylke. The Jewish population began to move to the city. Jewish population: 1808 - 808; 1857 - 1,547; 1897 - 2,774 (49%); and 1921 - 3018. Anti-Semitism was stirred by difficult economic conditions of the interwar years. On September 4, 1934 a riot broke out with attacks on Jews and pillaging of their shops. Rioters later were sentenced to prison. A boycott of Jewish stores in 1937 brought no further escalation of the conflict. After the outbreak of WWII, many Jews from Rawy Mazowiecka sought refuge in other cities, including in Skierniewice. In the first days of occupation, September 10, 1939, the Nazis arrived in Rawy Mazowieckiej. Jews and Poles died from bombing. After the Nazi random shootings, they demanded money from the Jews and turned the market into a slaughterhouse. A ghetto was created at the beginning of 1941 for Jews local Jews and those from Białej Rawskiej, Skierniewic, and Nowego Miasta nad Pilicą, about 4,000 people. Jews died as a result of disease, starvation, and execution at the castle. Liquidation of the ghetto began on October 27, 1942. The day before 4,000 Jews from Rawskiej Biala spent the night outdoors. In the morning, the Germans surrounded the ghetto and forced the Jews to leave their homes to go to Treblinka. After liberation, a few survivors returned. In October 1945, 33 Jew were there, but soon left. [June 2009]
CEMETERY: Located on a hill Sójczym between ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego and ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego and ul Żydomicką, the cemetery was established in the second half of the 18th century. The Nazis destroyed the cemetery in 1943, cutting the fencing and using the matzevot in sidewalks in the city. They sold the bricks and stones to residents of Rawy and the surrounding area. After WWII, those walkways were demolished, but some gravestones probablay remain in pavements. In the 1960s many interesting matzevot remains. In 1978, the plan for land use reserved the land for the construction of housing, but the plan was abandoned. The city never protected the site that today holds only fragments of destroyed gravestones. Photos. Video. [June 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000224The town is located in Skierniewickie region at 51º46E 20º16N, 55 km. from Lodz and 75 km. from Warsaw. Cemetery: ulica Zydomicka. Present population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
- Local: Urzad Miasta, ul., Swierczewskiego 5, tel. 2180.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, 96-100, Skierniewice, ul. Pandogiczna 10.
The earliest known Jewish community dates from 1507; 1765 after renewed foundation [sic: ? Po ponownym zatozeniu]. 1921 Jewish population was 3,018. Historical events were described only in Polish: "1547-oskarieme o mard rytualny I wygnanie Zydow; 1862-rawnonprawmeme ludnosci Zydowskiej." The cemetery was established in 18th Century with last Jewish burial date 1939-45. No other towns or villages used this Orthodox and Conservative cemetery. The cemetery is listed in Rejestr cmentary zydowskich Uns? du ds. Wyznan z 1981. The isolated urban hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no fence, wall, or gate. The current size is 2.93 ha. 1-20 stones are visible, none in original location with less than 25% toppled or broken. The present size of the cemetery is 2.93 ha. The 19th and 20th century sandstone tombstones inscribed with Hebrew are flat stones with carved relief decoration or finely smoothed. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. The municipality owns property used for ["nie wzytkswany"]. Adjacent property is residential. Organized individual tours visit rarely. It was vandalized during to World War II and frequently since. No maintenance. There are no structures. Properties adjacent are residential. Vandalism is a slight threat.
Pawel Fijatkowski, 96-500, Sochacrew, Zieinowita 11, tel. 227-91 on completed survey on July 8, 1991 and visited site in July 1991. Documentation: private photographs.