Alternate names: Swarzędz [Pol], Schwersenz [Ger], Schwaningen [Ger, 1940-43], Swarzendz. 52°25' N, 17°05' E, 5 miles E of Poznań (Posen). Jewish population: 574 (in 1880). Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), XI, pp. 630-631: "Swarzędz" #1. Swarzędz is a town (miasto) in central Poland with 29,766 inhabitants in a mixed urban-rural commune (gmina miejsko-wiejska) of 40,166 in 2006 in Swardez gmina, Poznań metropolitan area, in the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999 and previously in Poznań Voivodeship (1975-1998). Beside the town of Swarzędz, Gmina Swarzędz contains the villages and settlements of Bogucin, Garby, Gortatowo, Gruszczyn, Janikowo, Jasin, Karłowice, Katarzynki, Kobylnica, Kruszewnia, Ligowiec, Łowęcin, Mechowo, Paczkowo, Puszczykowo-Zaborze, Rabowice, Sarbinowo, Sokolniki Gwiazdowskie, Święcinek, Uzarzewo, Wierzenica, Wierzonka and Zalasewo. [July 2009]
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Overcrowding in the Jewish kahal resulted in Poznan elders of the various municipalities resolving the problem in the early 1720s. They signed a contract with Sigmund Grudziński, the owner of Swarzdez, on 3 June 1621 to settle Jews in Swarzedz. Jews constituted the majority of inhabitants until WWII. In 1704 of 2,767 residents, 1,501 were Jews; and in 1834, 1,665 out of 2,829. [July 2009]
OLD CEMETERY: The privilege included a right to have a cemetery of location and size of their choosing and also the right to build a wooden fence on which the owner agreed to donate from wood in his forest. Probably, the first Jewish cemetery was located near the synagogue on the eastern edge of parcel Jewish, near but outside the city possibly accessible by ul Bramkowa, still existing in this part of Swarzędz. Some assert that the original cemetery was located on the west side of the synagogue. [July 2009]
NEW CEMETERY: The cemetery existing during WWII was on the way to Poznan on the western slope of the valley called Mielcuch and moved after 1650 for health reasons. Its exact boundaries changed a number of times resulting in an irregularly shaped, extended quadrilateral finally reach 2.6341 ha (26,341 m2) or as much as five acres. The fencing was mismatched. The Jewish, Evangelical, and Catholic burial places were situated on the hill due to good drainage on hilly terrain. A wooden bridge led to the iron gate entry, where matzevot with fading inscriptions abounded. The long wooden bridge no longer exists. The cemetery was walled; and nearby, industrial buildings rise. On the portal a marble plaque named the founders (family of Solomon Herzog). The cemetery is divided into old and new sections. The site was surrounded by a brick wall. The old portion is located on the right of the entrance and the new on the left side of the entrance. The oldest part buried women, men and children in separate sections. A. Herzberg and J. Heppner, the kahal scholars, were buried there. After the destruction of the cemetery by the Nazis, no gravestones remained. From the oldest were the field stones used as gravestone that time and nature wiped clean of inscriptions. Late 19th century matzevot had only carved inscriptions, while some also had carved decorations. A grave-digger's house, tool shed, and beit tahara existed. The chevra kadisha supervised the funeral. One of the last funerals was held on October 25, 1934, when Elias Berwina was buried. Probably at the beginning of World War II, the cemetery on ul Poznańskiej was destroyed by the Nazis during the occupation. Gravestones were used in construction of roads and streets, and maybe also to set the railway line Warsaw-Poznan. The buildings and the cemetery wall were demolished and made into a park only for German by Polish children, who cleaned and placed the bricks in piles. Today, no trace of the original purpose remains. Long ignored as a place for damaged Soviet tanks, in 1952, Furniture Factory Swarzędzkiej asked the City Council for permission to build a childcare center. On 26.11.1952 the National Municipal Council, after discussion, unanimously agreed to the SFM built nursery. In early 1954, a committee of the MRN proposed a dairy near the park, including the former cemetery site, called Stanislaw Staszica, but the proposal failed. During construction of Route E-8, the cemetery building in the northern part of the former building converted into a residence closed access to the adjoining cemetery so a new access was built on Harcerska Street with residential buildings. Photos. July 2009]US Commission No. POCE000459
Alternate Yiddish name: Schwersenz. The town is located in region Poznanskie at 52°25 17°05, 13 km from Poznan. Cemetery: by main road EB, Poznan-Warszawa. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
- Local: Urzad Miasta I Gminy, ul. Rynek 1, tel. 172411.
- Regional: region Konserwator Zabytkow, 61-716 Poznan, ul. Kosciuszki 93, tel. 69 64 64.
1921 Jewish population was 61 (1.8%.) The unlandmarked Conservative Jewish cemetery was about 0.5 km from the congregation. The isolated suburban hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall, fence or gate. No stones are visible. The municipality owns the property used as a nursery. It was vandalized during World War II. Within the limits of the cemetery are a nursery house, a scout house, and a water collector pipe.
Stawomir Pniewski, Poznan, ul. Prybyszewskiego 37/4 completed survey in August 1991 using a 1940 German map. He visited in 1990 but conducted no interviews. [possible error below: same number repeated several times]