The Descriptrion

At that point, the community was already well-organised and opened its own cemetery in 1687. It was located about 150 metres north-east of the Market Square, at today’s Kochanowskiego Street. The site was open for burials until 1853. It is known that before World War II, the cemetery grounds were surrounded with a tight wooden fence.

The Germans devastated the cemetery during the occupation and used the matzevot in road construction. The post-war municipal authorities issued a permit to erect storage buildings at the site. Before 2001, one of these buildings was turned into an ohel, with two new matzevot placed inside. They commemorate Tzaddik Elimelech of Rudnik and his son Eleazar of Rzeszów.

In the 18th century, the number of Jews living in Sokołów Małopolski increased to 754 (as of 1765). The local Jewish community founded a second cemetery in 1776. It was located northeast of the Market Square, outside the town limits, at the intersection of today’s Tysiąclecia Street and Okulickiego Street.

The new cemetery was also vandalised during the German occupation. In the 1960s, its area was reduced from the south by a ten-metre wide section where a petrol station was built. The remaining area of 0.58 hectare holds around 300 preserved matzevot, mostly dating back to the early 20th century, some standing and some overturned. The majority of the tombstones are made of sandstone, only several are concrete. Some of them bear inscriptions painted in white or silver on a black background. The grave copings are made of bricks or concrete. The oldest matzeva at the site dates back to 1881.

After the war, the unfenced cemetery area was used for grazing cows by the local residents. The site was entered into the register of monuments in 1983 under the number A-952.

In 2010, the Society of Lovers of Sokołów Land (Polish: Towarzystwo Miłośników Ziemi Sokołowskiej) carried out cleaning works at the cemetery. Over the course of May and July, the thicket overgrowing the site and rubbish were removed. In 2013, the premises were fenced by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage. In 2016, thanks to the support of the descendants of Sokołów Jews, an information board was placed on the entrance gate.

Description copyright owner: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews