The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland

Krzysztof Bielawski is a historian, Jewish-cemetery researcher, and genealogist. He is a graduate of the Institute of History at the University of Warsaw, specializing in Jewish Studies, and is currently a PhD student at University of Warsaw. From 2009 to 2024 Bielawski served as the Jewish heritage specialist at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. He’s currently Project Coordinator at the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage. He started the website Jewish Cemeteries in Poland (www.cmentarze-zydowskie.pl) in 2005 and has authored various articles on Jewish cemeteries and funeral customs and Jewish life in Poland after 1944.

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations




Chapter 1: Introduction




Chapter 2: The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries




Chapter 3: Jewish Cemeteries in Poland before 1939




Chapter 4: The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in the Territory of Current-Day Poland, 1933-1945

4.1 Cemeteries during the Third Reich

4.2 Destruction, Desecration, and Administration of Property in Areas Conquered by the Third Reich

4.3 Destruction as a Result of Military Operations

4.4 Participation by Local Populations in the Destruction of Cemeteries, 1939–1945




Chapter 5: The Destruction of Cemeteries after 1945

5.1. The Role of the Polish State as Legislator

5.2. Practical Actions by the State Related to the Destruction of Cemeteries

5.3. State Policy regarding Jewish Cemeteries after 1989

5.4. Participation of the Local Population in the Destruction of Cemeteries after 1945

5.5. Archeological Operations in Jewish Cemeteries




Chapter 6: The Destruction of Cemeteries as Perceived by the Jews




Chapter 7: The Reactions of Poles to the Destruction of Cemeteries




Chapter 8: Jewish Initiatives to Protect Cemeteries







Summary

Sources

Index of Towns

Index of Names