Alternate names: Gostynin [Pol, Rus], Gostinin [Yid], Russian: Гостынин. גאסטינין- Yiddish. 52°26' N, 19°29' E, 65 miles WNW of Warszawa, 12 miles SW of Płock. 1900 Jewish population: 1,831. Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), II, pp. 749-751: "Gostynin". Yizkor: Pinkes Gostynin; yisker-bukh. (New York, 1960). A town in Central Poland with 19,414 inhabitants in 2004, Gostynin is in the Masovian Voivodship since 1999 and was previously in the Płock Voivodship from 1975 to 1998. It is the capital of Gostynin gmina. We Remember Jewish GOSTYNIN! The Jewish Communitydates from about 1765al though in 1626 Jews may have owned the town brewery and a malt factory. In 1779, a wooden synagogue was built near the Rynek (marketplace) that burned down in 1899. By the end of the 18th century, Jews were trademen, innkeepers, tailors, furriers, and butchers. Jewish population: 157 in 1765, 634 in 1856, 1,849 in 1897, and 1,831 (27.5%) in 1921. Between 1823 and 1862, a Jewish quarter was mandated. The old synagogue, destroyed by fire, was rebuilt in 1899 in the former Jewish lane and a side alley known as the "alley of the dead," recalling the location of the old Jewish cemetery. Cḥasidic leader and rabbi Jehiel Meir Lipschuetz lived in Gostynin in the 19th century. 2,269 Jews lived in Gostynin on the eve of WWII. In September 1939, mass arrests and attacks on Jews, looting of Jewish property commenced. Jews were ordered to cut up the old wooden synagogue into pieces and to carry them to German inhabitants for fuel. The synagogue and beit midrash were north of the Rynek where the train station now stands. The ghetto set up in Gostynin subsequently was surrounded by barbed wire. Forced labor was their occupation. In August 1941 transports of men and women were sent to labor camps in the Warthegau. The ghetto was liquidated on April 16-17, 1942; almost 2,000 Jews were sent toChelmno. By the end of the war, the cemetery had been destroyed. [May 2009]
The first records of the Jewish communitiy in Gostynin come from 1626 regarding the local Jewish brewery. In the second half of the 16th century is a record of Jews accused of ritual murder. According to Pawel Fijalkowski, well-known researcher of the Jewish region, in 1765, the town had 157Jews and in 1793, 110 Jews (26%). Over the years, their numbers steadily increased until 1862 when 785 Jews lived there and in 1897 - 1,849. The majority engaged in trade, tailoring, other occupations, and crafts. From 1823 to- 1862, a separate Jewish quarter existed. Synagogues and prayer houses were near the market where later, in the place, the bus station was built. In the 19th century, Gostynin become quite an important center of Chasidism with Jehiel Meir Lipszyc, rabbi and leader of the Hassidic community lived. After Nazi troops seized Gostyni, mass arrests of Jews and the looting of property followed. The synagogue was demolished, subject to high "contributions" demanded by the Nazis. In January 1941, between the streets Płock, Buczka, and Wojska Polskiego Bagnistą, the Nazis created a ghetto for about 3,500 Jews from Gostynin and nearby.The first deportation to a concentration camp took place in August 1941. The ghetto was liquidated in July and August (according to some sources - April) 1942. Most of its inhabitants were killed in the camp at Chelmno nad Nerem. [May 2009]
OLD CEMETERY: The first Jewish cemetery was established in the first half of the 18th century and was located in the NE of the city, probably near today's train station on a side street called "The Lane of the Dead". The cemetery did not survive to the present time. [May 2009]
NEW CEMETERY: The new Jewish cemetery was founded in Gostynin near the road leading to Kutno. During WWII, the Nazis devastated it and used the gravestones for constructing sidewalks. After the war, they disappeared from the sidewalks with their further fate unknown. The remains of the cemetery were destroyed completely in the 1970s during the construction of housing "Common". was located on Goscinna Street. No traces of either cemetery exist today, having been destroyed by the Nazis. The site on Goscinna Street is now owned by the Gostynin municipality and is occasionally cleared of grass and tree saplings. No burials have taken place WWII. Yizkor: Jewish Gostynin remembered has photos prior to the destruction of the cemetery. photos. [May 2009]
http://www.zchor.org/GOSTYNIN.HTM [June 2005]
US Commission No. POCE000617
Gostynin is located in region Plockie at 19º29 52º25. The address of the cemetery is Ulica Goscinna. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 people with no Jews.
- Local: Urzad Miasta, Plac Wolnosci 26, tel. 3076.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, 09-400 Plock Ulica Kolegialna 15.
The earliest known Jewish community was around 1765. 1921 Jewish population was 1831. The Orthodox or Conservative last burial was between 1939 and 1945. The unlandmarked isolated suburban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall or gate. The approximate size of the cemetery both before WWII and today is 83 ha. No mass graves. The municipality owns property used for the Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are recreational and residential. Rarely, private visitors or local residents visit. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II with no maintenance. Today, occasionally municipal authorities clear or clean. There are no structures within the cemetery. No threats.
Pawel Fijalkowski, 96-500, Sochaczew, Ulica Ziemowita 11, Tel.#: 227-91 completed this survey on November 11, 1991 using official register of Jewish Cemeteries of 1981. He visited in July 1991.
[UPDATE] Facebook page showing site of cemetery; no matzevot visible [March 2018]