Alternate names: Lublin [Pol, Yid, Rus]. לובלין-Yiddish. Люблін [Ukr], Люблин [Rus]. 51°15' N, 22°34' E, 96 miles SE of Warszawa. The ninth largest city in Poland and capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 355,954 in 2004. Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river. 1900 Jewish population: 23,586. 1921 Jewish population: 37,337.
Yizkors:
- Dos bukh fun Lublin: zikhroynes, gvies-eydes un materyaln ibern lebn, kamf un martirertum fun Lubliner Yidishn yishev
(Paris, 1952) - Lublin - Shtot Fun Torah, Rabanut und chassidut
(Toronto, 1951) - Encycolpedia Shel Galuyot: Lublin
(Jerusalem, 1957) - Mekhkarim L'Toldot Yehude Lublin
(Tel Aviv, 1965) - Pinkas ha-kehilot; entsiklopediya shel ha-yishuvim le-min hivasdam ve-ad le-aher shoat milhemet ha-olam ha-sheniya: Poland vol. 7: Kielce and Lublin
(Jerusalem, 1999) - Di Yidn-shtot Lublin (Translation of: Die Judenstadt von Lublin)
(Buenos Aires, 1947)
synagogue photo. [August 2005]
BOOK: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 26, 55-57
BOOK: Temunot fotografiot shel tsiyunei batei hakvarot hayashan vehechadash ba'ir lublin mehame'a hashesh esre ad hatesha esre (Photographs of inscriptions from the old and the new cemeteries in Lublin from the 16th century till the 19th), by Sz. B. Nuessenbaum. Lublin, 1913. 31 pages, illustrated, Hebrew title page & inscriptions and Polish & Russian added title page. 29V4844. Notes: 24 tombstone photographs, 1541-1907, chronology, inscription summaries in Russian. Source: Tragger, Mathilde. Printed Books on Jewish cemeteries in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem: an annotated bibliography. Jerusalem: The Israel Genealogical Society, 1997.
THE OLD CEMETERY:
LUBLIN: (I) US Commission No. AS 150
The old cemetery is located NE of city center, between Sienna, Kalinowszczyzna and Podmiejska Streets. Population is over 100,000 with 10-100 Jews.
- Town: Urzad Miasta, pl. Lokietka 1, Lublin, tel. 210-11, 236-56, 248-45.
- Local: Urzad (Office) Wojewodzki, Lublin, ul. Spokojma 4.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytlow, ul. Archidiakonska 4, tel. 259-37/226-04, Lublin.
- Interested: Andrzej Trzcinski, ul. Zana 13/11, Lublin, tel. 541-598 and Robert Kuwalek, ul. Lwowska 4/25, Lublin. The cemetery is locked. Jozef Honighas the key, tel. 77-86-76.
Living nearby were Szalom Szachna, Szlomo Luria, Jakow Icchak Horowic, and Meir Szapiro. The Jewish cemetery was established in the second half of the 15th century. Buried in the cemetery include Jakow Icchak Horowic, Szalom Szachna, Szlomo Luria, Hailpern and others. The last known Orthodox Jewish burial was around 1830. Two suburban communities also used the landmarked cemetery: Piasek and Kalinowszczyzna, 1-2 km away. The isolated urban hillside has a sign in Polish and Hebrew mentioning Jews. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission. An almost continuous masonry wall with a locking gate surrounds the cemetery. The cemetery, both before and after World War II is 1.5 ha. 100 and 500 gravestones, 20-100 not in original locations with than 25% toppled or broken, date from 1541-19th century. The granite, sandstone and other materials rough stones or flat stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew inscriptions. Some stones have traces of painting on their surfaces. A plaque commemorates 1,300 Poles who were shot at the cemetery. The cemetery contains unmarked mass graves. The national Jewish community and the municipality own the property used as Jewish cemetery with some waste dumping. Adjacent property is residential and a cloister. Frequently, organized Jewish tours, organized individual tours, private visitors and local residents stop. The cemetery was vandalized both during World War II and in the last ten years frequently. Local non-Jewish residents, Jewish individuals in the country, and the Committee for the Protection of Cemeteries and Monuments of Jewish Culture re-erected stones, patched broken stones, cleaned stones, cleared vegetation, fixed the wall, and fixed the gate in 1988-1989. No care now. Within the cemetery is an abandoned post-war barrack. Security and vandalism are very serious threats, pollution and vegetation are serious threats, and weather erosion, and incompatible development are slight threats. Sometimes the site is used as a children's playground; and they destroy the gravestones.
Pawel Sygowski, Kalinowszczyzna 64/59, 20-20A Lublin, tel. 77-20-73 completed survey in May 1994, using his own information along with A. Trzcinski. Other documentation was too old and too general. He visits site several times every year since 1982.
UPDATE: ulica Sienna, 100 tombstones. The oldest: Jakub Kopelman died 1541), which is also the oldest tombstone in Poland that remained in its original place. Tombs of Rabbi Shalom Shachna (died 1558), Salomon Luria (died 1573), Tzaddik Jakub Izaak called the Seer (died 1815). [source? date?]
"Old" Jewish Cemetery in Lublin photos and photos. -- the city once known as the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Polish Jewish Oxford -- is one of the most valuable Jewish cemeteries across Europe. Despite years of devastation, the tombstones have great religious, historical and artistic value, often with severe archaic inscriptions typical of a medieval Jewish cemetery. The resting place of famous rabbis and prominent representatives of the Jewish community, Sienna, is inside the fortress built in the early Middle Ages. The beginning of the cemetery is unknown, but the oldest preserved tombstone is from 1541. Written document of the cemetery comes from 1555, when the prefect of Lublin, Stanislaw Tęczyński confirmed deliverery by King Sigismund Augustus of the privilege, which ensures Jewish burials. In those times, floodwater surrounded the hill. In 1829, another Jewish cemetery was built in Lublin, the "old" cemetery, occasionally was used still into the early 20th century. An earthen wall surrounds the cemetery. In 1918, Majer Balaban described the situation: "A small door opened into the cemetery. A path between burials shaded by trees and thickets, climbs more steeply towards the top. At the beginning, we cannot see any graves, but the higher the climb, the more I found. Some are simple; others falsely; and most are simply covered with earth in the middle of dust and earth. The higher, the more thick the forest and scrub becomes...You will shortly reach ridge, along the entire cemetery. Hence, there is before our eyes a magnificent view... You can see houses in the northern suburbs Kalinowszczyzna, rising up from the south tower of the Old City and the mighty castle...In addition to rectors, rabbis, kahal elders etc., also buried at the cemetery are famous doctors, ministers of the royal court, great merchants, and all those who have played a role in the life of the municipality and Jewish community. Now, the earth hides their ashes, and the time and winds scatter or even completely destroy tombstones (... ). gradually blurred, and the rich ornaments on the stones, lions and leopards, and crown, candlesticks, fallen tree and open book and allegoric figures, and in most cases, the completely illegible inscriptions." Entering the cemetery from ulica Kalinowszczyzna, narrow stairs lead to the gravestones of the well-known rabbi and talmudist, Jacob ben Jehuda ha-Levi Kopelman, who died in 1541, the oldest Polish Jewish gravestone standing in its place. Near a pillar with bows is the tomb of Abraham ben Uszaja Cantor, who died May 25, 1543. The matzevot before the tomb of Abraham Cantor commemorates a woman named Chana, who died probably in 1552. Nearby is the barred tomb of the rabbi Jakoowa Icchak Hurwicza (Horowitz), called the "Eye of Lublin" born in 1745 in Józefowie Biłgorajskim. His manor house in Lublin at ulica Szeroka 28 attracted hundreds of Chasidim. Today, his grave attracts pious pilgrims from all over the world. The next group of gravestones, powerful, almost two-meters with inscriptions without decorations, re-forged in the nineteenth century for the tomb of Joseph ben Shalom Szachny - outstanding talmudist and the last rabbi of Lublin Małopolskie, who was born about 1510. His father was a banker, Josko, to the Polish king and collector of the royal tenant taxes in Lvov, Lublin and Chelm, Lublin and the only Jew having the privilege of dwelling in the Christian area. After a lengthy study, Szachna founded in Lublin yeshiva, in which the famous Moses Isserles studied. Of merit in the field of education Zygmunt II August Szachnie lowered taxes. In addition, a small matzevot with unicorns is the Tewela tombstone of David ben Josef. The narrow path leads from the right side to the top of the hill where matzevot stand among a dozen or so stele reconstructed in the nineteenth century for Szlomo (Solomon) Lurii called Maharszalem, who died in 1573. Szlomo Luria was a well-known rabbi, rector in Lublin, a great authority on the Jewish right and the author of "Solomon Sea", "Pillars of Solomon", and "Wisdom of Solomon." One of the Lublin synagogues (Maharszal-Szul Maharszala or synagogue) was named for him. Other outstanding personalities rest here, even Esther - a woman with a vast rabbinical knowledge, her tomb is decorated with lions and a crown, symbols commonly affixed to the male scholars' matzevot. Also here are Marszałkach of the Jewish Sejm of Four Lands (in Hebrew: Waad Arba Aracot) Abraham Parnasie and Abraham Abele. WWI and WWII contributed to significant destruction of the cemetery. During World War II, Germany used matzevot to pave roads. To this day, some tombstones bear the marks of bullets and missiles. Sadly, the well-known keeper of the cemetery, Mr. Joseph Honig died in June 2003 at the age of 86 . The key to the gate of the cemetery is kept in the Memorial Chamber, ulica Walecznych. In this area of Lublin are three Jewish cemeteries operational today: the "new" cemetery" and the destroyed cemeteries in the districts and Wieniawa and Głusk. [May 2009]
NEW CEMETERY: WALECZNYCH STREET CEMETERY 2:
LUBLIN (III): AS 152
The cemetery is N of the center by Walecznych Ulica. This cemetery is locked. Josef Honig, tel. 77-86-76 has a key as does the guard at the site. Buried in the cemetery was Meir Szapiro (transferred to Israel) and the Eiger family. The last Orthodox or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial in the cemetery was 1893. The urban flat land, separate but near other cemeteries, has a sign in Polish, Yiddish and Hebrew. The sign mentions the Jews and the Holocaust. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission. A continuous masonry wall surrounds the cemetery; the modern part has a continuous fence, a partial symbolic fence, and a locking gate. Before World War II, the cemetery was about 3 ha, now it is about 2.5 ha. 100-500 gravestones, 20-100 not in original location with less than 25% broken or toppled, date from 1860's-20th century. Some removed stones are incorporated into the roads in Majdanek. The cemetery was divided into sections, now impossible to determine. The marble, sandstone, or concrete flat stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew or Polish inscriptions. There is special monument to Holocaust victims. The cemetery contains both marked and unmarked mass graves. The local Jewish community and the municipality own site. The road crosses the area. Adjacent to the cemetery are garages and the Roman Catholic cemetery. Frequently, organized Jewish group tours, organized individual tours, private visitors and local residents stop. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II and after the war, but not in the last ten years. Jewish individuals both did the work in Poland and elsewhere between 1989-1991 and again in 1993. They cleared vegetation, fixed the wall, and fixed the gate. Sara Frenkiel is the regular caretaker paid by the government. Within the cemetery is more than one ohel and a memorial building with the prayer hall and room for the guard. Pollution, vegetation and vandalism are slight threats.
Pawel Sygowski, Kalinowszczyzna 64/159, 20-201 Lublin, completed this survey in May 1994. He has visited the cemetery several times every year since 1982.
WALECZNYCH STREET CEMETERY 1 (Now part of New Cemetery): LUBLIN (II): US Commission No. AS 151
The cemetery is on Walecznych Street, now part of the New Jewish cemetery. This cemetery was established in 1916 with last known Jewish burial 1918 and also 1939. Jewish soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army used this unlandmarked cemetery. The urban flat land is now part of the new Jewish cemetery. The cemetery has a sign in the local language and Hebrew: Martyrology of the Lublin Jews but no sign about the character of the site. [sic] Reached by turning directly off a private road across from the new Jewish cemetery area, access is open with permission via a continuous fence with a locking gate. The cemetery is approximately 0.1 ha. There are no gravestones visible. They would be 19th-20th century limestone, sandstone, and concrete and flat stones with carved relief decoration and pieces of matserot. The cemetery contains a special memorial monument to the victims of the ghetto of Majdan Tatarskij. A fragment of the wall was built; a composition was made of the matserot and their pieces. The remains of the victims of the execution at Majdan Tatarski were transferred. The local Jewish community owns property. Adjacent to the cemetery are garages and Jewish cemetery. Occasionally, organized Jewish groups, organized individual tours, private visitors and local residents stop. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II. In 1993, Jewish individuals within the country re-erected some stones from the new Jewish cemetery. Occasionally, individuals clear or clean. Vegetation and vandalism and proposed development are slight threats; existing incompatible development is a serious threat. The monument to the victims of the ghetto at Majdan Tatarski was erected in the World War I military cemetery.
Pawel Sygowski, ul. Kalinowszczyzna 64/59, 20-201 Lublin, tel. 77-20-78 completed survey in April 1994, using documentation from Meir Bataban, Die Judenstadt von Lublin, Berlin 1919 with a translation in Lublin in 1991. He visited site, but no interviews were done.
Burial list [Jan 2015]
WIENIAWA:
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LUBLIN (IV): AS 153
Located in Lublin-Wieniawa, NW of the center, on Krola Stanistawa Leszczynskieg St. This cemetery was established in the 18th century. Wieniawa was incorporated into Lublin during World War I. The last known Orthodox Jewish burial in the unlandmarked cemetery was 1942. The isolated urban flat land at the crown of a hill has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall, fence, or gate. The cemetery size was 1 ha before WWII-(cannot read current size.) No stones are visible. There are no known mass graves. Municipality owns site used for a stadium in one part and a grass field. Properties adjacent are recreational, commercial, agricultural and residential. The cemetery is rarely visited. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II. No threats.
Pawel Sygowski, Kalinowszczyzna 64/59, 20-201 Lublin, tel. 77-20-78 completed survey 2 May 1994. Documentation: a field survey. He visited the site in 1990 and 1992. Interviews were conducted.
A former western suburb of Lublin with its own cemetery.Wieniawa as a town no longer exists on maps. Today, the Wieniawa is now part of the administrative limits of Lublin. In 1856, 90% were Jewish. During WW I, of 227 houses in Wieniawam 131 belonged to Jews. For a time, a famous tzaddik, Jakoow Itzhak Hurwicz called the Eye of Lublin, lived here. The Jewish cemetery was established on Wieniawie together with the local kahał in the second half of the 18th century on ulica Leszczynski. Probably the only photo archives depicting the cemetery can be seen in the publication of the Album lubelski. Wędrówki the former and the modern city. Courtesy of the publisher, the photograph on its website posted the "Gazeta Wyborcza . The Germans destroyed the cemetery in 1940. The sports stadium KS Lublinianka was built in its place with gravestones used for construction. After WWII, some gravestones were recovered and returned to the Jewish cemetery on ul. Walecznych. More information, maps, photos, and history: The Lost Town of Wieniawa. Photos. [May 2009]
UPDATE: "The current owners of the sports ground, which includes the former cemetery, are considering offers to develop the whole site as a modern sports and leisure centre. This being Poland, particularly Poland 'B', such plans come and go with some frequency without anything ever happening - but sometimes things do. As the cemetery is unknown to almost all the residents of the city (most having moved here since 1945), no one seems to be objecting to the proposed new use of the cemetery from this end. At the present, the majority of the cemetery area is weed covered and used almost solely by local drunks. No signs of former use can be seen. The best way to get into the area (preferably not alone as drunks can be unpredictable) is to start at the top of the hill opposite the Cinema. Walk down Leszczynskiego Street. On your left are the railings of the sports ground. You will pass an entrance to one of the stadiums. Soon after, some houses appear on your left. Between the stadium railings and the first house rise a set of steep steps that lead you right past the house and then onto the former cemetery area.
"I have written a website for Wieniawa, on which the cemetery is shown (just!) on a photo and marked on a map. Most of the pictures show Wieniawa now, plus there are a few old ones such as one showing the synagogue. Source: Trevor Butcher at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [January 2002]
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New Jewish Cemetery: from 1829. Of course, no tombstones date back to the early part of this century. Located to the N of the city, outside municipal limits at the time. 3.66 hectares in size. Nazis forced Jews to grind the tombstones into gravel with which to strengthen the paths in Majdanek. Monuments to those murdered stand there. In the Christian cemetery in Lublin on Lipowa Street, a wall commemorates the men who were murdered by the Nazis in the Zamek (Castle) Lubelski on the 22 July 1944, just hours before the Russians came through the other end of town. The 300+ murdered men were buried in a mass grave outside the castle. Some years ago, the bones were exhumed, transferred to the cemetery, and buried under the wall. [May 2009]
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burial List [Jan 2015]
Głusku Jewish Cemetery: Jews lived in Głusku by the 17th century. In 1689, the local Jewish community received the privilege, allowing the creation of their own kahal. In 1787, 118 Jews lived Głusku, representing approximately 29% of all residents. The size of the Jewish community increased with the growth of the city, up to 394 (56.3%) in 1857. In 1921, 390 Jews lived there. Most głuskich Jews perished in the Shoah. Since 1988, Głusk is in the administrative limits of Lublin. When the cemetery was established is unknown, but probably a cemetery was set up when the kahal formed. Gradually, the cemetery size was enlarged. During WW II, the Nazis devastated cemetery and used gravestones for roadwork. The cemetery was the site of many executions of Jews. One killed Abram Zajfsztajn and his family. Leon Pomorski, who lived near the cemetery, informed "Kurier Lubelski" about the execution: "Germany murdered them all, shot naked, one after another. 28 bodies... Jews were commanded to clean up after the execution. They had to dig down - the grave" Over forty years later, in 1995, thanks to the efforts of Abraham Zajfsztajna, Doby Nechy Zajfsztajn-Cukierman, surviving daughters came to the Jewish cemetery and erected a monument dedicated to their family and other victims of the Holocaust. Photos. [May 2009]
Jewish Military Cemetery: In 1981, most probably created adjoining the community cemetery in the S. Bodies from battles between the Russians and Austro-Hungarian armies as well as the Polish legions of J. Pilsudski which were engaged near Krasnik and Lublin during July and August 1915. Bodies were exhumed from battlefield and reburied here. Today it is difficult to even determine the place where it was located.