In 1640, the townspeople started to refuse to sell houses or plots of land to Jewish people, and anyone employed by Jews was expelled from Radoszyce. These measures were later approved by King Władysław IV in 1647 and by Stanisław August Poniatowski in 1766. This naturally resulted in an exodus of Jewish people from the town. In 1660, there were only two Jews living in Radoszyce. In the mid-18th century, the entire Jewish community resided outside the town limits.

The situation started to change in the 1880s and the 1890s. At the time, Jews slowly began to settle in houses within the boundaries of the town. In 1789, the Jewish community in Radoszyce already had its own synagogue.

Sometime before that year, they most likely had been granted permission to establish a cemetery from the municipal authorities and the Church.

The description

The plot selected for the burial site was situated ca. 1.5–2 km away from the town, on the so-called Królowa Góra, in the area belonging to the village of Wisy.

The Jewish population of Radoszyce grew after the Third Partition of Poland, when the area came under Austrian rule. In 1827, the town was inhabited by 476 Jews. At the beginning of the 19th century, Radoszyce became an important Hasidic centre. This was thanks to the charismatic tzaddik Yissachar Dov Ber, a disciple of Yaakov Yitzhak Horowitz of Lublin and Yaakov Yitzchak ben Asher of Peshischa (Przysucha). He settled in the town and was buried in the Radoszyce cemetery after his death in 1843.

The turn of the 20th century saw a significant drop in the number of Jews living in Radoszyce. This was due to increased emigration, mainly to the United States.

With the growth of the Jewish population in the second half of the 19th century, it became necessary to enlarge the exiting cemetery. In the years 1886–1905, the Jewish community renovated the necropolis and expanded its area. The cemetery currently covers ca. 1.5 hectare.

Under the occupation during World War II, it was forbidden to organise religious burials at the cemetery. Each funeral was attended by a Jewish policeman and later by two Jewish undertakers and a Polish coachman. The Germans used the necropolis as a site of executions of the Jewish population. The victims were buried to the right of the entrance. The cemetery was destroyed after 1943. The matzevot were smashed and used to pave the local road and build stairs.

The cemetery continued to fall into decline after the war. Its area was overgrown with thick vegetation. The necropolis was officially closed in 1964. In 1983, it was renovated on the initiative of Arnold Abraham Finkler, a descendant of the Radoszyce tzaddikim. The works were carried out with the support of the World Congress of Orthodox Jews. The ohel of Tzaddik Yissachar Dov Ber was rebuilt.

In 2011, the plot was purchased by the Nachlas Kedimim-Radoszyce Foundation, which cleaned up and fenced the cemetery (the fence was built on the foundations of the old stone wall). An access road to the site was constructed in cooperation with the Forest Inspectorate of Ruda Maleniecka.

In 2016, the ohel in the centre of the cemetery was reconstructed in its original form. It stands over the graves of Tzaddik Yissachar Dov Ber, known as Saba Kadisha (Holy Elder; died in 1843) and one of the Radoszyce rabbis, Israel Finkler (d. 1937). The entire cemetery area holds relics of several dozen tombstones, some adorned with very elaborate decorations. The original layout of the graves cannot be discerned, though it has been possible to determine that the tombs used to be placed in rows (and were oriented).

In 2018, the cemetery was entered in the register of monuments under the number A-938, dated 16 August 2018 (and 15 October 2019).

Właściciel praw autorskich do opisu: Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN.