Alternate names: Gródek [Pol], Horodok [Yid], Grudki [Pol], Horodok al-yad Bialystok [Heb], Grudek [Rus], Gródek Sokolski, Gródek Białostocki, Russian: Грудек. הורודוק-Yiddish. 53°06' N, 23°40' E, 22 miles E of Białystok, 41 miles S of Grodno, 23 miles SSE of Sokółka on the Supraśl River.
- Yizkor: Sefer zikaron le-kehilat Horodok a. y. Byalistok. (Tel Aviv [Buenos Aires], 1963).
- Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), II, p. 817: "Gródek" #1. Gródek is a village in Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in NE Poland, near the border with Belarus and the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Gródek. [May 2009]
- ShtetLink. 2007 photos, description, and directions: No gravestones; 20 supports, 3 bases, 2 sarcophagi. "The cemetery rests in a pine forest, with a simple wooden fence delineating the boundaries. No matzevot remain just supports and a few bases. A memorial, established in 1965, stands outside the cemetery." Jews first settled in 1614. Their number has grown rapidly to 1897 when as much as 78% percent of the city's inhabitants were Jews. Of these, nothing remains. The Nazis destroyed the five synagogues. The 19th century gravestones were used for construction. Today in the cemetery are a few individual graves and a mass grave of Poles murdered by the Nazis in 1943. Located in a forest in northwest of the village near the Catholic cemetery. The area was fenced in recent years. photos. [April 2009]
- KehilaLink [Oct 2013]
US Commission No. POCE000132
Alternate name: Horodok (Yiddish and Russian). Grodek is located in Bialystok at 53º08 23º09, 55km from Bialystok. The cemetery is located in NW part of town. Present population is 1,000 - 5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Gminy, Bialostocka 9, Grodek, Tel: 64.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, ul. Dojlidy Fabryczne 23, Bialystok, Tel: 41-23-32.
- Interested: Nadzieja Dudzik, Michalowska 48, Grodek.
The earliest known Jewish community was 17th century. 1931 Jewish population was 1385. Living here were Rabbi Bernard Rozenblat, Nisan Brojde and Abram Zelig Syjon. The cemetery was established in the early 19th century with last Kobryn & Slonim Orthodox, Conservative or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial was 1943. Communities in Michalowo and other local villages up to 15 km away also used the cemetery. The rural forest hillside, separate but near other cemeteries, has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no fence or gate. Before WWII, the cemetery occupied 0.85 hectares. It currently occupies 0.4 hectares as a result of agriculture. 1 and 20 gravestones visible with less than 25% toppled or broken. Some removed tombstones were incorporated into parts of Smierczewkiego and Michalowska Streets. The oldest known gravestone dates from end of the 19th century. Remaining tombstones date from 19th and 20th centuries. The concrete tombstones have no inscriptions. The municipality owns the cemetery property. Adjacent properties are agricultural. No caretaker. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a constant problem disturbing graves. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II, but not in the last ten years.
Tomasz Wisniewski, ul. Bema 95/99, Bialystok, Tel: 212-46 completed survey 10/08/1991. He visited in 1984, 1985, and 1989. Persons interviewed were Nadzieja Dudzik in 1988 at Michalowska 48, Grodek and Siemion Michael of Noah 4, Ramat Aviv, 69050, Israel in 1989.
[Note: In his book Jewish Bialystok on p. 74, Wisniewski states: "... only a few relics of the Jewish cemetery can be found in the northest part of the town, near a Christian cemetery. These include several concrete gravesones as well as the mazevas built into Grodek's roads and sidewalks."]