Alternate names: Świebodzice, Freiburg, Freiburg in Schlesien, Frybork. 50°52' N 16°20' E, 221.9 miles WSW of Warszawa. This town in SW Poland with 23,126 inhabitants in 2006 is situated in Świdnica powiat, Lower Silesian Voivodeship and from 1975-1998 in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship). [July 2009]
Jews began to settle in Świebodzice near Walbrzych in the nineteenth century with only a few dozen among 7,000 in 1880. No synagogue ever existed in this town. Founded in 1849 at the latest, the elongated rectangular 0.06 ha cemetery at ul. is surrounded on all sides by a stone wall. The last gravestone dates from 1949, that of Moshe Owsianko proving that after WWII, some Jews lived in the town. Unfortunately, neglect after WWII led to destruction of the cemetery. Most gravestones were stolen and some graves opened by thieves searching for valuables. Wild vegetation had overtaken the site. In 1998, then Mayor John Świebodzice Wysoczańskiego initiated a cleanup of the cemetery. Surviving gravestones and fragments are set in the wall of a cemetery after human bones were reburied. A sign says: "The memory of the deceased makes us human", but vandalism already occurred since. The few surviving stones bear Hebrew and German inscriptions in (1949 matzevot with Polish-Hebrew inscription. Lovely trees form a long avenue at the cemetery. Directions: Enter the Catholic cemetery main entrance and turn right through the wall; the original gate from the side of the street was walled in 1996. Normal 0 Photo. Video. [July 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000459: Called Freiburg (German); located in Walbrzych. The US Commission is not finished rechecking this file. [2000]