Alternate names: Rhein, Rhein in Ostpreußen [Ger] until 1946. 53°36' N 20°00' E, 102.1 miles NNW of Warszawa. Ryn is a town in Poland located 19 km SW of Giżycko in Ryn Gmina, an admistrative unit, in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999 and previously in Suwałki Voivodeship with a 2004 population of 3,062. Ryn is located between Lake Ryn and Lake Ołów. [June 2009]
CEMETERY: Normal 0 A Jewish cemetery located near old Nikolaikenstrasse, now Świerczewskiego Street was situated on the margin of a slope by Ryńskie Lake on the south end of the city. Established in the second half of the 19th century, from the street a small road leads to the cemetery. Not landmarked, 14 burials are still visible including 4 matzevot. The neglected Jewish cemetery is overgrown with bushes and forgotten eventhough after 1990 local authorities cleaned cemetery and refused the suggestion of the former "owner" of the area to liquidate the cemetery. In November 1995 workers from one of the companies in Ryn, preparing a big building excavation, devastated the area of the cemetery, destroying the remaining graves. An investor explained that he did not know that the area was a cemetery. The matzevot probably were thrown to the lake. Today, the area is closed as a window factory on 38 Świerczewskiego Street. The location of the cemetery is a bunch of old trees growing at the margin of the slope of the lake. [June 2009]
Ryn is 20 kilometers from Gizycko. The cemetery is on the bank of a lake. He has 1995 and 1998 photos. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Custodian of the Social Archives Mazurian in Gizycko.
US Commission No. AS 181
Alternate German name: Rhein. Ryn is in region Suwalskie at 53º56' N, 21º32' E, 21 km from Gizycko. The address of the cemetery is Ryn, ul. Swierczewskiego (nad Jez. Rynskim). Present population is 1000-5000 with no Jews.
- Town: Jozef Naruszewicz-Burmistrz (mayor), Urzad Miasta i Gminy w Rynie, 11-520 Ryn, PL. Wolnosci 2, tel. 0878-18-021.
- Regional: Jak W. Poz.9 and Stanislaw Tumidajewicz-Wojewodzki, Konserwator Zabytkow, 16-400 Suwalki, ul. Kosciuszki 7, tel. 663741.
The date of earliest known Jewish community was 19th century. The unlandmarked Jewish cemetery was established at that time with last known Jewish burial in 1931[?]. The isolated suburban site by the water has no signs or marker. Reached by crossing over public property (d.zaklad "Las", former plant, now liquidated), cemetery is open to all with no walls, fence, or gate. The approximate size of the cemetery is about 0.04 with no change since WWII. 1 to 20 granite and sandstone, finely smoothed and Hebrew and German inscribed gravestones, more than 75% toppled or broken, date from the 19th-20th century. There are no known mass graves. Properties adjacent are commercial and industrial and body of water, Rynskie Lake. Rarely, local residents visit. The cemetery was vandalized, but not in the last ten years. There is no maintenance. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. The overgrown vegetation is bushes and wild trees. Vegetation is a constant problem, disturbing stones.
Dr. Janusz Mackiewicz, 16-400 Suwalki, ul. 1 Maja 27a/47, tel.s1.663741; tel.d 663756 completed survey on September 26, 1994.