Alternate names: Bełżyce [Pol], Belzhitza [Yid], Belzhytze [Rus], Belzhitse, Belzhyce, Belzhits, Russian: Белжыце. בלז'יצה-Hebrew. 51°11' N, 22°17' E, 13 miles WSW of Lublin. 1764 Jewish population: 949. 1900 Jewish population: about 1,500. 1921 Jewish census: 1882 (50.9%). During WWII, 3500 residents of the city were killed or disappeared, 60% of the population. Ghetto: 1940-May 1943 with about 4,500 imprisoned with some from Krakow and Szczecin. During the liquidation of the ghetto, about 800 people were shot. Jewish and other victims of Majdanek concentration and extermination camp also are buried at the Bełżyce cemetery. [March 2009]
CEMETERY: Jews settled in Bełżycach in the 16th century. Before WWII, more than 2,000 Jews lived here, the peak of the Jewish population. In 1940, the Nazis created a ghetto and also imprisoned JEws from Szczecin, Krakow and Lublin. Liquidated in 1942, the Jews were transported to Majdanek concentration camp. The old cemetery located near the synagogue dated from Jewish settlement with the new cemetery established in the nineteenth century. The cemetery was devasted. Cemetery photos [January 2006]
BELZYCE I: US Commission No. POCE000637
"The New Cemetery" is about 500 meters S of the market square by Przemystowa Street. 1993 town population is 5,000-25,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
- Town: Urzad Miasta i Gminy, ulica Lubelska 3, tel. 27-20.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow Lublin, ulica Archidiakonska 4, tel.259-37.
The earliest Jewish community dates from the 16th century. 1921 Jewish population was 1,882 Jews or 51%. The unlandmarked "New" Jewish cemetery was established in 1825. Yacov of Belzyce lived in the community in the 4th quarter of the 15th century. (He was buried in the "Old Cemetery" in Belzyce.) The last known Orthodox Jewish burial in the "New Cemetery" was 1943. The isolated suburban flat land has signs or markers in Polish, Yiddish and Hebrew and Hebrew inscriptions on the gate or wall mentioning Jews, the Holocaust, the Jewish community, and a family. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission via a continuous masonry wall and locking gate. Prior to World War II, the size of the cemetery was about 0.8 hectares. The current size is about 0.75 hectares. 1-20 gravestones, none in original positions with less than 25% toppled or broken, date from the 19th and 20th century. The location of removed stones is unknown. There was an area for Jewish soldiers of World War I. The sandstone flat stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew inscriptions. The cemetery contains special monuments to Holocaust victims and unmarked mass graves. The municipality owns the cemetery property used only as a Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are commercial, industrial, and residential properties. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose a smaller area due to commercial or industrial development. Organized Jewish group tours or pilgrimage groups and Jewish or non-Jewish private visitors stop occasionally. The cemetery has not been vandalized in the last 10 years. In October 1990, Jewish individuals abroad cleared vegetation and fixed the wall and gate. Now occasionally, authorities clean or clear. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Slight threats: security, weather erosion, vandalism, and existing and proposed incompatible development. There are moderate threats from pollution and vegetation. In December 1993, Pawel Sygowski, ulica Kalinowszczyzna 64/59, 20-201 Lublin, tel. 77-20-78 completed survey. He visited the site in 1992 and conducted interviews. Other documentation is a "documentation card."
BELZYCE II: US Commission No. POCE000638
"The Old Cemetery" by the synagogue about 50 meters S of the market square. The unlandmarked Orthodox "Old" Jewish cemetery was established in the 4th quarter of the 16th century with last known Jewish burial in the first quarter of the 19th century. The isolated urban flat land has no signs or markers. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is [sic] with no walls, fences or gates. The pre- and post-WWII size is 0.04 hectares. No gravestones are visible. The location of removed stones is unknown. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims and no known mass graves. The municipality owns the property now used for recreation. Adjacent properties are commercial, industrial, and residential. Organized Jewish group tours or pilgrimage groups and Jewish or non-Jewish private visitors stop rarely. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II. There is no maintenance or care. Within the limits of the cemetery is a structure "Dom Kultury." Slight threats: weather erosion and vandalism. Moderate threat: existing and proposed incompatible development. In December 1993, Pawel Sygowski, ulica Kalinowsczyzna 64/59, 20-201 Lublin, tel. 77-20-78 completed survey. He visited site in 1992 and conducted interviews. Other documentation is a documentation card.