Jewish Cemetery in Józefów

On a hillside off Kamienna Street, on the way to the old quarries, lies the Jewish cemetery – the kirkut – of Józefów in the Biłgoraj district. On about 1 ha nearly 400 matzevot (tombstones) or their fragments survive, carved from the same limestone that was quarried right next door for centuries. It is one of the most important places of remembrance of a community that for more than a hundred years made up most of the town's population.

A town of stonemasons and printers

Józefów was founded on 3 December 1725 by Tomasz Józef Zamoyski, lord of the Zamość estate – the town is named after his second name. Jews settled here soon after the founding. In 1830 there were 849 of them, 73% of the population, and in 1905 still 72%. From 1820 until the 1850s the Wax family ran a Hebrew printing house here that was known throughout the country; at its peak it employed over half the town's residents.

History of the cemetery

Sources disagree on the founding date and the oldest stones. Some sources give 1762; the survey by the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative (ESJF) lists the oldest readable tombstone as 1786; and the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODŻ) regards a joint matzevah of a father and son, Shaul and Aryeh Leib, from 1743 as the oldest. The newest surviving stone dates from 1939, and the last burial was recorded in 1943. In October 2015 ESJF enclosed the site with a metal fence about 1.8 m high; the cemetery is well kept.

What to see

• Matzevot of local limestone – usually rectangular with a rounded top, with Hebrew inscriptions giving the date of death, praise of the deceased and the formula "may his soul be bound in the bond of life". Many still show traces of paint.
• Symbols on the later stones: hands raised in blessing (a descendant of priests, Kohanim), a jug (a Levite), a candle (a woman), a broken tree (death at a young age), a bookcase (a scholar), a hand with a coin and a charity box (a philanthropist).
• The layout: according to FODŻ, two rows of men's graves alternate with two rows of women's, and there is an entire row of children's graves – a rarity, since, as FODŻ notes, burials of children were uncommon for financial reasons.

Remembering the Holocaust

The Jewish community of Józefów was destroyed during the war. On 11 May 1942 three Germans shot about 120 Jews in the streets and in the nearby quarry. On 13 July 1942 German policemen shot between 1,300 and 1,500 people, mostly women, children and the elderly, on Winiarczykowa Góra hill. In early November 1942 the last inhabitants of the ghetto were deported to the Bełżec extermination camp.

Tripto tip

Entry is free; this is a cemetery and a place of remembrance, so keep quiet, do not step on graves or move stones, and men traditionally cover their heads. The site is on a grassy slope – wear comfortable shoes; it is hard going with a pushchair. Allow 30–45 minutes. Combine the visit with the 2011 viewing tower above the quarry (platform at 11.8 m) and the former synagogue from the 1870s on Plac Wolności, built of local limestone and now home to the library.