Alternate names: Lubliniec [Pol], Lublinitz [Ger], Loben [Ger, 1941-45], Lublinek, לובלינייץ [Yid]. 50°40' N, 18°41' E, in Upper Silesia, 78 miles ESE of Wrocław (Breslau), 25 miles NNW of Bytom, 21 miles WSW of Częstochowa. Jewish population: 432 (in 1861). A town in S Poland with 29,359 inhabitants in 2004 is the capital of Lubliniec powiat in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999 and previously in Częstochowa Voivodeship (1975-1998). Lubliniec is an important rail hu, with two major lines: east-west (from Częstochowa to Opole) and south-north (from Katowice to Poznań). Jewish settlement began in the 18th century. In 1845, the Jewish community paid 20 talarów for a plot of land for a cemetery that was 15 x 12 rods (1 rod = approximately 3.5 m) separated from the urban forest. In 1865, they paid 38 talarów silver and 20 talarów for another 118 square rods area. In the cemetery, a still existing building was built to house the chapel, mortuary, ritual room, a room for equipment and housing for the gravedigger. By 1861, the city had 432 Jews. An independent Jewish community [kahal] created about 1899 soon built a synagogue and a cemetery. Immigration resulting from the bad economic situation and WW I caused the Jewish population to decline. After the outbreak of WWII, the Jewish community dissolved; its members were murdered.[June 2009]
The red brick wall with two gates still surrounds the cemetery. The cemetery is divided into three sections: children, Jews, VIPs. Over 100 years ago, 1,117 Jews were buried here including the grandparents Edith Stein: Adelaide D. Courant from Buchard (d. 1883) and Solomon Courant (d, 1898), her older brothers Emst (b. 1890 in Gliwice, d. 1892) and Richard (d. 1887, age 7). Edith Stein, the Jewess who converted to Catholicism and later joined a nunnery as Sister Teresa Benedict of the Cross, was born here and died in Auschwitz. On May 1, 1987, she was sainted. After WWII, the cemetery gradually fell into neglect. The land was leased to the National Defense League for driving lessons. In the early 1970s, the Jews waived their rights to the land; and the authorities removed it from the cemetery records. Residents note that in 1972, a man with three tractors trailers removed most tombstones made of marble and granite. In the late 1980s, a small monument with a Mogen David at the top was constructed of surviving gravestone fragments. The chapel and Koenigsberg family grave were refurbished. Beginning in the 1990s, the cemetery again became a media matte until in 2007, the cemetery was reorganized: Jaroslaw Sobkowskiego article "Cars will cease to be used between the graves." Video. photos. [May 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000167
Alternate name: Lublinitz in German. It is in Czestochowa region at 50º40 18º 41, 34 km from Czestochowa and 58 km from Opole. The cemetery address is 11 Listropado, formerly was 22 Lipca 18. Present town population is 25,000-100,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad (Office) Mieski (Town), ul. Paderewskiego 7, tel. 2145.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, Aleksander Broda, 47-217 Czestochowa, ul. Domagalskich 2, Tel. 49-745.
The earliest known Jewish community is the first half of the 19th century when the unlandmarked Orthodox cemetery was established. The isolated urban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission through a continuous fence with a locking gate. The present size of the cemetery is 0.15 ha. 20 to 100 sandstone finely smoothed and Hebrew and German inscribed gravestones, none in original locations with 75% toppled or broken, date from the 19th-20th century. There are no known mass graves. The municipality owns property used for industrial or commercial use. Properties adjacent are residential. Frequently, local residents visit. The cemetery has not been vandalized in the last ten years. Vandalism is a very serious threat. There is continuous desecration of the whole cemetery by the user.
Jan Pawel Woronczak completed the survey. Jan Pawel Woronizak and Jeny Woronczak visited the site in 1987. No interviews were conducted.