Alternate names: Lubartów [Pol], Levertov and לעווערטאוו [Yid], Lyubartov and Любартув [Rus], Levertev, Lubartov, Lewartów at 51°28' N, 22°38' E, 15 miles N of Lublin. Jewish population: 2,623 (in 1897), 3,269 (in 1921) The town's original Polish name was Lewartów (pronounced [lɛ'vartuf]) until 1744, when it was changed to Lubartów. Yiddish language, however, retains the original name Lewartów to this day (but pronounced ['lɛvatof]).
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- Khurbn Levartov
(Paris, 1947) - Yehudei Lubartow Ve'Hasviva
(Tel Aviv, 1987) - Museum of the History of Polish Jews
- Jewish Records Indexing Poland Town Page
- Shtetl Finder (1989), pp. 50-51: "Lubartov, Levertov".
- Pinkas HaKehilot, Poland, Vol. 7 (1999), p. 269-273: "Lubartow"
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), pp. 750-751: "Lubartow".
- Wikipedia: "From its foundation until World War II, the town also had a large Jewish community, numbering nearly half of the population in the 1930s. However nearly the entire community was destroyed during the Holocaust. Lubartów was a bilingual town for most of its history, Polish and Yiddish being both widely used. Polish was used among non-Jews as well as for most communication between Jewish and non-Jewish townspeople, while Yiddish was the everyday language of the town's Jewish inhabitants." [Jan 2015]
- JOWBR: Jewish Cemetery
- Khurbn Levartov
Jews are first documented in Lubartow in 1567. By the end of the 16th century, a Jewish kahal existed. In 1600, Jews owned all houses in the market. The Jewish population gradually increased. In 1892, 1,736 Jews living were 59% of the total population. Only forty survived the Holocaust. Lubartow had two Jewish cemeteries. The first, located in present day ulica Żabiej, was established in the 16th century. Damaged during WWII, no gravestones are visible. The second Jewish cemetery was established before 1819. The Nazis, who used the gravestones to pave a tract, also destroyed this cemetery. Today, only few gravestones remain, the oldest, that of Rabbi Arie ben Shmuel, dates from 1848. In 1988 portions of the gravestones was made into a lapidarium. By report, unfortunately, respect for the dead seems foreign to Lubartow residents, who used the cemetery as an outdoor "water closet", for discarding dead dogs, and as a place to drink alcohol." At various points of the city, damaged gravestones from the cemeteries remain. After the last deportation, the Germans destroyed the town's synagogues and Jewish cemeteries. Jewish tombstones were used for the pavement of the courtyard of the school on Cicha Street, where Wehrmacht soldiers were stationed. In September 2008 or 2009, dozens of gravestones from the Jewish cemetery were for sale in an online auction at the site called Allegro. The media and people working to protect historic buildings intervened. The would-be vendor agreed to provide gravestones free to Jewish parties who built them into the Lapidarium wall in the Jewish cemetery on ul. Cichej, a street whose name means "quiet." Photos. Holocaust and ghetto information. [May 2009]
MASS GRAVE:
300 Jews were executed in the cemetery in October 1942. A few Jews who worked for the German gendarmerie and remained in Lubartow after the deportation were executed in the cemetery on January 29, 1943. [May 2009]
CEMETERY:
burial list [Jan 2015]
LUBARTOW I: US Commission No. POCE000181
Located in Lublin province. The cemetery location is 26 km from Lublin at 22.37 E º51.27 N. The old cemetery is located at 25 Pazdziernika between the streets Armii Krajowej and Lubelska. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with no Jews.
Town: Urzad Miasta I Gminy, ul. Stowaskiego 8, Tel. 2273. Regional: Mgr. H. Landecke, Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, pl. Litewski 1, Lublin, Tel. 290-35.
The Jewish community and the unlandmarked cemetery were established in the second half of the 16th century. 1921 Jewish population was 3209 (53.6%). The last Orthodox Jewish burial was the beginning of the 19th century. The isolated urban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with a continuous fence with no gate. The cemetery was.77 ha. before WW II and is approximately.5 ha. after due to housing development. There are no visible stones or known mass graves. The municipality owns property used as a park and playground. Properties adjacent are residential. The cemetery is not visited at all. It was vandalized during WW II. There is no maintenance. Within the limits of the cemetery is a kindergarten. Security is a slight threat.
Pawel Sygowski, ul. Kalinowszyzna 64/59, 20-201 Lublin, Tel 772078 visited site October 1991 and completed survey in Dec. 1991. Skowronek was interviewed in October 1991
LUBARTOW II: US Commission No. POCE000182
See Lubartow (I) for general information about the city. The new cemetery is located on Cicha St. about 500 meters from the center. The last Jewish burial was 1943. Landmark: official register of monuments 997/88. The isolated urban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with a continuous fence with no gate.
The cemetery is approximately.77 ha. today but is smaller than in 1939 due to housing development. There are 32 gravestones, none in original location with 25%-50% toppled or broken and a dozen fragments buried after construction of a monument. The oldest gravestone is from 1848. The sandstone flat stones have carved relief decorations, Hebrew inscriptions, and traces of painting on their surfaces. There are unmarked mass graves. The municipality owns property used for dumping waste. The western part has a lawn in front of the blocks. Properties adjacent are residential and a school. Occasionally, private visitors stop. It was vandalized during WW II, after the war, and after construction of the monument. Local authorities and Jewish groups from within and outside the country patched stones, cleared vegetation, erected fencing, and planted trees in the 1960s and constructed a monument in 1988. Authorities do occasional maintenance. Within the limits of the cemetery are two ohels and a little guard's house. Threats: Security and vandalism are serious threats. Pupils from the local school are coloring the tombstones. The area behind the monument serves as a toilet and a place for smoking and drinking. Inhabitants destroy the monument.
Pawel Sygowski, ul. Kalinowszyzna 64/59, 20-201 Lublin, Tel 772078 visited site and completed survey in October and November 1991.
Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 76