International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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Coat of arms of Darłowo54°25' N 16°25' E, 240.9 miles NW of Warszawa. Alternate names: Darłowo, Dyrłów, Rügenwalde, Ruegenwald, Dartowo, on the Baltic Sea and west of Konigsberg. During the Napoleonic Wars some, particularly ship owners and businessmen, smuggled British goods to the continent. In 1871 the town, along with Prussia, became a part of the newly constituted German Empire. A railway reached the town in 1878. 289 inhabitants died throughout WWI. Before WWI, the town had about 6,000 inhabitants and about 8000 at the start of WWII with only 36 Jews. As a town in the middle of Farther Pomerania, it had a German speaking population. In 1935, the Germans tested weapons here. Adolf Hitler accompanied by Benito Mussolini visited the resort. [April 2009]

CEMETERY: used cemetery at nearby Rusko at 54°24' N 16°25' E. Memorial stone photo. Established in the 19th century, damage from Kristallnacht left individual tombs dating from the mid-19th century. Today, scouts care for the cemetery. When St Mary's Church was dedicated as the Assumption of Our Lady, they gathered the remains of graves from cemeteries of different faiths - Catholic, Protestants, Orthodox, and Jewish - into a lapidarium. [April 2009]