The Description

The Jewish community of Darłowo was not numerous. In the 19th century, it reached its highest population in 1861. - it was 68 people, 1.3% of all inhabitants. Nevertheless, the Jews of Darłowo were well organised. Already in the first half of the 19th century, perhaps around 1830-1840, they built their synagogue and maintained a bathhouse. They also established a cemetery in the early 19th century. The plot of land with an area of approx. 0.12 ha was selected as its location. 3 km south of Darłowo centre, at the entrance to Rusko village, on the right side of the road, running towards Karwica. It is known that in 1853, on the occasion of the expansion of the synagogue in Darłowo, the cemetery was fenced off.

After World War I, a plaque was placed in the cemetery to commemorate the Jewish residents of Darłowo who died during World War I: Max Baruch, Siegmund Cohn, Arthur Freundlich and Georg Müllerheim. The plaque also mentions Louis Leopold, who served in an elite unit of the Imperial Marines in the German colony of Kiauczou (China), and Leo Meyersohn, who was awarded the Iron Cross as a frontline soldier.

During the Kristallnacht of 9-10 November 1938, the cemetery was devastated, tombstones overturned, and a plaque commemorating World War I was damaged. The cemetery gate was then locked with a chain. After the war, the process of devastation continued. On 25 November 1970, the cemetery was officially closed by a decision of the Minister of Municipal Economy. A few years later, in 1974, the plot as arable land was sold into private hands. Its new owner intended to build a house and workshop on it.

In 1987, the cemetery was entered into the register of monuments with decision no. 1205 dated 04 May 1987. At the time, the layout of the plots and graves was still legible, and there were seven tombstones in their entirety and about 10 in pieces. The Provincial Conservator's decision meant the private owner could not develop his plot as he had initially been intended. However, the owners rejected the replacement plots proposed by the authorities. In 2011, the case was brought to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. On 25 October 2010, the cemetery was re-listed in the register of monuments under the number A-744.

In 2018, only three surviving sandstone gravestones in their entirety, and a few in fragments, were recorded. Fragments of tombstone bases are also visible. The cemetery is covered with old oak trees. The historical boundaries of the necropolis from the side of road 37 are marked by the remains of a concrete retaining wall. Several posts have been driven in today, but a grid has not connected them.

At present, the plot of land on which the cemetery is located is still in private hands. One of the matzevot from the cemetery in Rusko, commemorating Chana, Jakow's daughter, who died in 1888, has been placed in a lapidarium at the Church of the Mother of God of Częstochowa in Darłowo.

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