Jewish Cemetery in Krzykawka (Sławków)

On the road from Sławków to Krzykawka, about 2.5 km from Sławków's market square, lies a Jewish cemetery where, according to the county authorities, more than 300 gravestones survive. It formally belonged to the Jewish community of Sławków but has always stood on land of the neighbouring municipality of Bolesław. It is a quiet place of remembrance for the Jews of Sławków and Strzemieszyce, including those murdered in the first days of the Second World War.

History of the cemetery

The Jewish communities of Sławków and Strzemieszyce bought the plot from Karol Gaszyński, owner of the Krzykawka estate; the purchase was formally completed in 1907. Burials took place here even earlier, though: the oldest gravestones date from 1904–1906. The oldest identified matzevah (Jewish headstone) belongs to Rywka, daughter of Avraham Helpner, who died in 1904. The cemetery was enclosed by a stone wall, and a pre-burial house was built.

In 1928 Szulim, the first rabbi of Sławków, was buried here, and an ohel, a small tomb chapel, was built over his grave. As early as 1939 the bodies of Jews killed by the Germans near the bridge over the Biała Przemsza river were brought here, and more victims followed in the war years. The cemetery came through the war in fairly good condition and was restored in the 1960s thanks to Daniel Landsmann. The last burial took place in 1971.

What survives today

• More than 300 gravestones (matzevot).
• The ohel over Rabbi Szulim's grave.
• The partly ruined pre-burial house.
• Fragments of the pre-war stone wall.

In 1991–1992 the cemetery was surveyed under the direction of Professor Jan Samek, and the results were published in studies of the region's Jewish cemeteries.

Tripto tip

This is above all a place of remembrance, not a tourist attraction: there is no ticket office, no information boards and no fixed hours. Allow 20–30 minutes for a quiet walk around. Keep your voice down, do not step on graves or lean on the headstones; following Jewish custom, you can leave a small stone on a grave instead of flowers. The cemetery lies outside the built-up area, close to the E94 road (coordinates given by the county: 50°18′21″ N, 19°24′21″ E). Combine the visit with a walk around Sławków's market square.