Alternate names: Barczewo, Wartenbork, Wartenburg in Ostpreussen [Ger], Vartėnai [Lith]. 53°50' N 20°42' E, 110.0 miles N of Warszawa, 10 km from Olsztyn in Olsztyn, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland.. See OLSZTYN. The former synagogue now houses a local museum. Part of Poland since 1945, on December 4, 1946 the town renamed itself after Walenty Barczewski (1865-1928).[March 2009]
BOOK: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe . New York: John Wiley &Sons, Inc., 1992. page 73.
CEMETERY: Located on Warminska Street, the cemetery dates from the 19th century. No matzevot are visible in the cemetery but about twenty are kept in the Barczewo museum. The cemetery area is circa about 0,1 ha.[March 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000267
Cemetery location: ulica Warminska. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
Town: Urzad Miasta i Gminy, ulica 5 Grednia 1, 11- 010 Barczewo, tel.14-347.
Regional: (1) Urzad Wojewodski w Olsztynie, Wydrial Gospodarki Terenovej, ulica Pilsudskiego 7/9, 10-959 Olsztyr, tel. 232-276; and (2) Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony, Zabytkow Oddrial w Olsztynie, ulica Podwale 1, 10-076 Olsztyr, tel. 27-21-36.
Others: (1) mgr inz. Elzbieta Szygula-Tielinska, 0-435 Olsztyr, ulica Switezianki 6/3, tel. 33-29-22; (2) Urzad Wojewodzki, Wydzial Gosp. Terenowej, tel.232-276; and (3) mgr Wiktor Knercer, Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow, Oddzial w Olsztynie, ulica Podwale 1, tel. 27-21-36.
The earliest Jewish community dates from 1825 with a few Jews to 1937 with 40 Jews. The Jewish cemetery was established in the mid-19th century with last known Orthodox or Progressive/ Reform Jewish burial in the late 1930's. The isolated surburban flat land has no signs or markers. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no walls, fences, or gates. The pre- and post-WWII size is about 0.10 hectares. No gravestones are visible. 1-20 surviving gravestones are stored in the museum at Barczewo. Less than 25% broken, the 19th and 20th century tombstones have Hebrew and German inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. The municipality owns the property used only as a Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural and residential. Rarely, Jewish and non-Jewish private visitors and local residents visit. In 1990, local authorities cleared vegetation. Local authorities occasionally clear or clean the cemetery. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Slight threats: vandalism and existing incompatible development. Wiktor Knercer completed this survey in November 1991. He visited the site in 1991. Documentation: Frederichs. Deutsches Staedtebuch...Stuttgurt 1939.