International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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Alternate names: Nowy Wiśnicz [Pol], Wiśnicz Nowy, Vishnitsa, ווישניצא [Yid], Wischnitz [Ger], Vishnitz, Vizhnitz, Vishnich Novy. 49°55' N, 20°28' E, 27 miles ESE of Kraków, 4 miles S of Bochnia. Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), XIII, pp. 608-609: "Wiśnicz" #1. Jewish population: 2,278 (in 1890). This small town in Bochnia County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship with 2,724 inhabitants in 2004 is 4 mi S of Bochnia. Apart from the town of Nowy Wiśnicz, Gmina Nowy Wiśnicz contains the villages and settlements of Chronów, Kobyle, Kopaliny, Królówka, Leksandrowa, Łomna, Muchówka, Olchawa, Połom Duży, Stary Wiśnicz and Wiśnicz Mały. photo of two ghetto policemen. [July 2009]

US Commission No. POCE000028. In Tarnow. The US Commission is not finished rechecking this file. [2000]

The cemetery is about 5 km S of the outskirts of Bochnia. As you approach the village, a large pink, castle/mansion (seems to be completely restored) is in the fields on the left on the E side of the village. The main road runs through the village, down a slight hill, and towards the end of the village. At a small crossroads, the road then goes up a short hill before bening to the left and then to the right. Just as the short hill begins, on the right opposite a large stone barn-type building is the cemetery behind a 2-metre high wire fence. From this point, only the tops of a couple of headstones can be seen, as the grass is very tall. At the top of the little hill just as the road straightens after the right bend is a driveway leading to 2 or 3 houses. On the right of the driveway is a large metal gate, the entrance to a scientific institute of some kind. Inside their compound is the main entrance padlocked gate to the cemetery. A small, white, enamelled sign inside on the wall of a small concrete shed, telling where the keys are found. Just inside the gate is a brick/concrete monument faced with several headstones. This seems to have been erected since WWII. We climbed the gate. The cemetery is very large, with perhaps 200 or more graves (much too large to have served only Wisnicz Nowy). 95% of the stones are standing, but many are weather-eroded and either can't be read or are very faint. Sweat and blackberry briars were our constant companions as we peered at hundreds of gravestones. They are all pre-Holocaust, in Hebrew and weatherworn. We feel sure that this must have been the burial place for Jews in all the surrounding towns and villages. I did not note names/details from gravestones, except: 1. Dates were all in Hebrew form (letter) at the very bottom of the stones. Therefore, many were unreadable, eroded by ground water, covered by grass etc, or sunk into the ground. 2. A large number did not show family names, merely ben or bat someone. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Also Source: Gary Luke This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; fax +61-2-9519.9907 [date? after 2000]

BOOK: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe . New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. p. 77

 

Photos courtesy This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [Photos taken 2012]