The Jewish community must have disappeared over time, because around 1653 the owner of Ujazdów Anna Julianna Kochcicka allowed Jews to resettle in the town. The settlers competed in trade and liquor selling with the townspeople, who complained to the bishop's estate administration in Nysa. The bishopric, having considered the case, ordered the removal of the Jews from Ujazd, and also banned them from living and buying property in the town.

The revival of Jewish settlement in Ujazd was linked to the Treaty of Breslau signed on 1742, as a consequence of which most of Silesia became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1787, there were 40 Jews living in the town, when the Emancipation Edict was issued, 36 Jewish families lived in Ujazd.

In 1827, there were 87 Jews living in Ujazd. In the same year, a synagogue was built. In 1843, Jews made up 6.7% of the town's total population.

The commune in Ujazd was a victim of mass migration to larger centers at the turn of the 20th century. In 1907, the local Synagogue Community was dissolved and its assets were taken over by the community in Strzelce Opolskie. In 1908, the synagogue was sold and the new owner adapted it for industrial purposes. By 1924, there was no longer a single Jew left in Ujazd.

After the end of World War II, Ujazd became part of Poland. The Jewish community was unable to resurge during this period.

The Description

The exact year in which the Jewish cemetery in Ujazd was established is not known, although there is hardly any doubt today that it was founded shortly after the publication of the royal rescript of May 1814. The necropolis was located on a rectangular plot of approximately 750 square metres, located south of the town, behind the Kłodnica River and Kłodnica Canal, deep in the area between the roads to Blachownia and Niezdrowice (today's Bolesława Chrobrego and Wiejska Streets). Contrary to popular belief, the cemetery is not located in Niezdrowice, but in the town area right on the border with this village.

The oldest identified and tombstone-marked grave holds the remains of Judel Fränkel, who died on 15 April 1818. However, it is not the oldest surviving tombstone, as the grave is topped with a secondary stele that was made – presumably in the 1880s – at Max Pick's stone workshop in Gliwice. The earliest burial documented today in this cemetery was that of the eight-month-old Markus Roth, who died on 9 April 1818 in Bycina.

Due to the gradual fading since the second half of the 19th century of the Jewish community affiliated with the Ujazd municipality, the cemetery – where a total of around 200 people are believed to have been buried – was in use until the early years of the 20th century. The tombstone on the youngest grave identified today commemorates Frometta Friedmann, who died on 12 July 1886 at the age of 51. However, she was not the last person buried there, as tombstones from later graves were stolen in the post-WWII period.

The cemetery was enclosed by a wooden picket fence. No building ever existed on its grounds and all the equipment necessary to prepare the deceased and bury them was stored in the town in the buildings of the Jewish community on what was then Gleiwitzerstrasse. In 1907, due to the dissolution of the Ujazd community, all its assets, including the cemetery, became the property of the community in Strzelce Opolskie which did all within its capabilities to keep it in good condition on an ongoing basis.

There are reports from November 1917 of repeated devastation of the cemetery fence by school youth. In the only known pre-WWII photograph of the necropolis, taken in the 1930s, it can be seen that its grounds – already surrounded by dense forest – remained in good condition, and all visible grave steles stood in proper position and in even rows. In June 1940, two gravestones were overturned and three were damaged. The fence was also destroyed in some places. However, it is not known whether this was the result of vandalism or the natural deterioration of the necropolis. In this condition, the cemetery undoubtedly survived until 1945.

On 4 July 1939, the Ujazd necropolis became the property of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany (German: Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland) which was represented in this area by the local office in Gliwice. On 10 June 1943, the cemetery was seized by the Gestapo and placed under the administration of the district tax office.

Left unattended after the end of World War II, the cemetery gradually degraded, although it survived to this day in relatively good condition thanks to its peripheral location in the centre of the forest. There is no doubt that around 80% of the pre-war tombstones have been preserved. Although several tombstones have been stolen from its grounds, the greatest damage has been caused by natural factors. In recent years, the cemetery has undergone clean-up work that has greatly improved its condition.

Author of the note: Sławomir Pastuszka

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