(Leschnitz [Ger], 1936-45 Bergstadt), Lesnica is a town since 1999 in Strzelce Opolskie powiat in Opole Voivodship. This city located on the SE slope of Góry Św. Anny, has nearly 3,000 people and is the seat of the municipality. The name of the very old town comes from forests that once surrounded the settlement. The first documentation is in 1217 regarding the Prince of Opole, Kazimierza. During the WWI, 165 Leśnicy inhabitants died, while in 1921 during the Silesian Uprising III, Lesnica and surrounds saw bloody fighting. During WW II in Division Leśnicy were Nazi labor camps. In 1945 when the city approached the front, many civilian residents died. Soviet soldiers killed at about a hundred patients at a medicinal plant. Leśnica Jewish cemetery was established before 1841 on Starostrzeleckiej street. The area is not closed. Several dozen gravestones are set randomly. The oldest dates from 1841, with most of the inscription on matzevot in Hebrew and German. The cemetery was not heavily damaged. In 1980, municipality cleaned and repaired the fences. photos. [May 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000522
Lesnica is in Opolskie at 50º2618º12, 44 km to Opole. Cemetery location: ul. Starostrzelecka. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Miasta i Gminy, ul. Szpitalna 8, tel. 390.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, mgr. J. Prusiewicz, 45-082 Opole, ul. Piastowska 14.
The Progressive/Reform Jewish cemetery was established before 1841; last known burial was 3 Feb 1920. The isolated wooded a crown of a hill has a sign or plaque in local language that mentions Jews. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. A fence with a non-locking gate surround. 20-100 gravestones in the cemetery, 1-20 in original locations with 25%-50% toppled or broken, date from 19th-20th century. The oldest known gravestone is Bertha Mohaver, who died 24 Sept 1841. The sandstone flat stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew and German inscriptions. No mass graves. The municipality owns site used as a Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent are agricultural. The cemetery boundaries are the same as they were before WWII. Private visitors rarely visit. The cemetery was not vandalized. Local/municipal authorities re-erected stones, cleared vegetation, and fixed gate in 1980. There is no care of the cemetery now. There are no structures. Erosion and pollution are moderate threats.
Marcin Wodzinski, ul. Jeanosci Narodowej 187/13 Wroclaw, tel. 216908 completed survey 15 March 1992. The site was not visited and no interviews.