From 1664, they had the privilege of free residence, which encouraged them to settle in the town destroyed by the Cossacks. However, this privilege did not result in significant numerical growth of the Jewish community. It is known that in 1674, 3 of the 47 people who paid the tax were Jewish. They came under the authority of the Jewish Community Co-operative in Lubartów. They did not have their synagogue or burial place. The situation did not change at the end of the 18th century or at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1819 the Jewish community numbered no more than 7 people.

The Description

It was not until the second half of the 19th century that the number of Jews living in Firlej started to increase. In 1861, there were 101 Jews (11.5% of the total population). At the turn of the 20th century, the Jewish community reached its most significant number (197). It already had a house of prayer and a bathhouse. A plot of land for a cemetery was purchased in the early 20th century. However, it was not founded; the outbreak of World War I thwarted perhaps plans. Although after its end, in the 1920s, the number of Jews in Firlej and surrounding villages grew to 343, local Jews continued to bury their dead in Lubartow. By the end of the 1930s, the number of Jews in Firlej increased to nearly 400.

After the outbreak of war in 1939, when it became difficult to transport the dead to another town, the issue of establishing a cemetery on the site was revisited. The necropolis was built about 1.5 km east of the market square. No more than a dozen people were buried there until 1942. Wooden or concrete plaques were placed on the graves.

In April 1942, the local Jews were placed in a ghetto, which was liquidated in the autumn of the same year. The Germans then resettled all prisoners to the ghetto in Lubartów, from where they were taken to extermination camps.

After the war, the plaques from the cemetery were stolen. The area was dug up and then overgrown with forest. Today, no material trace of the cemetery is visible. Nor do we have any archival evidence to help establish the course of its boundaries. Only through information obtained from residents can its approximate location be determined. According to these indications, we assume the cemetery is located approximately at the property's height at 63 Cmentarna Street (Polish: ul. Cmentarna 63), approximately 100m north of the road.

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