International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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Coat of arms of Kętrzyn

Alternate names: Kętrzyn [Pol], Rastenburg [Ger], Rastembork [Pol, before 1950]. 54°05' N, 21°23' E, in East Prussia, NE Poland, 56 miles SE of Kaliningrad (Königsberg), 63 miles W of Suwałki (Suvalk). Jewish population: 141 (in 1880), 117 (in 1933). a town in NE Poland with 28,351 inhabitants in 2004 situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999, Kętrzyn was previously in Olsztyn Voivodeship (1975-1998). The city named after Wojciech Kętrzyński (German: Adalbert von Winkler) in 1950 is the seat of Kętrzyn County. Map. One of Adolf Hitler's military headquarters, the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) was located in the forest 5 km E of Rastenburg and site of the failed July 20 th plot against Hitler. In 1945 the area was devastated by both the retreating Germans and the advancing Russians during the Vistula-Oder campaign. The ruins of the Wolfsschanze, blown up by the retreating Germans, are a tourist attraction. [June 2009]

US Commission No. POCE000643   
(Alternate name: Rastenburg in German) Ketrzyn is located in region Olsztynskie at 54°05 21°23, 88 km from Olsztyn, 127.6 miles N of Warsaw. Cemetery location: Cinentarna St., at the communal cemetery. Present population is 25,000-100,000 with no Jews.

  • Town: Urzad Miasta, Plac Grunwadski 1, 11-400 Ketrzyn, tel. 32-22.
  • Local: Urzad Miasta, Pl Granwaldrla 1, 110400 katrzyn tel. 33-22.
  • Regional: Urzad Miasti chki? w Olsztynie, Wydzial Gospodarki Terenowej, ul. Pilsudskiego 7/9, 10-959 Olsztyn, tel. 232-216. 10-959 Olsztyn and Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony, Zabytkow Oddzial w Olsztynie, ul. Podwale 1, 10-076 Olsztyn, tel. 27-21-36.
  • Interested: mgr. inz Elzbieta Szygula-Zielinska, 10-435 Olsztyn, ul. Switeziaski 6/3, tel. 33-29-22. Urzad Woj. and mgr. Wiktor Knercer, Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow Oddzial w Olsztynie.

Earliest known Jewish community was 1816. 1933 Jewish population was 117. The Jewish cemetery was established in 1st half of the 19th century with last Orthodox or Progressive/Reform Jews burial 1939The urban, on flat land, part of a municipal cemetery, has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall or gate. There are no gravestones or mass graves. The cemetery was liquidated. The Municipality owns site. Property adjacent is the communal cemetery. Private and local visitors rarely visit. The cemetery has not been vandalized in the last ten years. New graves are placed over the old Jewish graves.

Wiktor Knercer, 10-685, ul. Barcza 33 m 16, tel. 33-86-07 completed survey in 1991. Documentation: Frederichs Deutsches Stadtebuch... Stuttgart 1939. Wiktor Knercer visited site in Aug. 1991.