Alternate names: Szczekociny [Pol], Shtshekotshin, שטשעקאטשין [Yid], Shchekotsiny, Щекоцины [Rus], Schtschekotzin [Ger], Chekotchkin, Shchekochin, Shchekotsini, Shtekechin, Shtekishin, Shtekotchin, Shtekotshin. 50°38' N, 19°50' E, 39 miles WSW of Kielce, 20 miles ENE of Zawiercie. 1900 Jewish population: 2,305. Yizkors: Pinkas Szczekociny: Shtshekotshiner yizker-bukh; lebn un umkum fun a Yidish shtetl (Tel Aviv, 1959) and Żydzi szczekocińscy: osoby, miejsca, pamięć. Gmina Szczekociny is an urban-rural administrative district in Zawiercie powiat, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland with its seat is the town of Szczekociny, 33 km (21 mi) NE of Zawiercie and 73 km (45 mi) NEof the regional capital Katowice. The gmina 2006 total population was 8,350 (with 3,912 in the town. Beside town of Szczekociny, Gmina Szczekociny contains the villages and settlements of Bógdał, Bonowice, Brzostek, Chałupki, Drużykowa, Goleniowy, Grabiec, Gustawów, Małachów, Ołudza, Przyłęk, Rędziny, Rokitno, Siedliska, Starzyny, Szyszki, Tęgobórz, Wólka Ołudzka and Wólka Starzyńska. [July 2009]
2,532 persons out of 5,600 were Jewish before the German invasion of 1939. In 1942, 1,500 Jews were deported to Treblinka. About 10% of the Jewish residents survived. Renovation of the cemetery and synagogue, under the full support of the local mayor, was led by a survivor's son, Yossi Bernstein. See Jerusalem Post 27/07/05 "Memorial to Replace Toilets at Jewish Cemetery in Poland. restoration article. article. First Jewish Festival. [July 2009]
Restoration. [September 2010]
US Commission No. POCE000164
Szczekociny is located in Czestochowa at 50°38 19°50, 54km from Czestochowa. The cemetery is located at Lelowska St. 20/22. Present population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Miasta i Gminy,ul. Swierczewskiego 1, tel. 124.
- Regional: Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, ul. Domagalskich 2, 42-217 Czestochowa, tel. 49745.
1921 Jewish population (census) was 2532, 45.1%. The Jewish community was Orthodox. The isolated urban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission via a continuous fence and locking gate. The approximate size of cemetery before World War II was 1.00 hectares. There are no visible gravestones. There are no known mass graves or structures. Municipality owns property used for industrial or commercial use. The stores of GS (a local trade co-operative) are housed on the cemetery property. Properties adjacent are commercial or industrial and residential. The cemetery has not been vandalized within the past ten years. No threats since it no longer exists. The cemetery is completely devastated.
Jan Pawel Woronczak,Sandomierska St. 21 m.1, 02-567 Warsaw,Tel. 49-54-62 completed survey on 10/10/1991. J. Woronczak visited in 08/1986.
[UPDATE] Photos by Charles Burns [April 2016]