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LUBAWA    

Under the rule of Chełmno-based bishops, the Jewish settlement in Lubawa was forbidden. Documents from the mid of the eighteenth century mention only one Jewish family with a trading permit. It changed after the first and second Poland's partition. Lubawa was annexed by Prussia and it was easier for the Jews to obtain a permit to settle down. According to the documentation at the State Archive in Gdańsk, there was a Jewish citizen, a pharmacy's owner, living in the neighbouring village of Fijewo in 1788. The local authorities' documents mention 116 souls of Judaism believers inhabiting Lubawa in 1792. A local synagogue was opened in 1847 at the place where previously a house of prayer and a private school established in 1833 were located. In 1867, Lubawa was home to 532 Jews. In 1910, 211 out of 4,451 inhabitants were Jews.

There were two Jewish cemeteries in Lubawa. The older one was probably opened in the end of the eighteenth century at Polna Street on the Fijewska Mount, a hill between Lubawa and Fijewo. Surrounded by wall, it was accessible through the iron gate. In 1882, it was home to nearly fifty graves with matzevot as well as three tombs surrounded by the iron fence. Nowadays, it is difficult to trace the cemetery.

Lubawa - macewa na cmentarzu żydowskim Lubawa - cmentarz żydowski nagrobek na cmentarzu żydowskim w Lubawie Lubawa - żydowski nagrobek

During our site-visit on the 24 th and 27 th of March 2007, seven graves were found. Five of them were topped with granite matzevot. Unfortunately, only three of them have remained at their original places: one is smashed, the other two are overturned, one with the inscriptions facing the ground. The matzevot are simple in terms of form. They bear only Hebrew inscriptions and are short of embellishments. There are signs of destruction done in September 1939 after Lubawa was invaded by German troops. In subsequent years, the town was a site of further destruction. The wall surrounding the cemetery was demolished. At present, the cemetery's area is ca. 0.2ha.

The second cemetery in Lubawa, at present Kupnera Street, on the way to D±brówko, was opened on 27 th April 1860. Originally, it covered 0.15ha. The plot was purchased for 300 marks. It was expanded in 1869 and was home to graves with splendid matzevot bearing Hebrew and German inscriptions. Nowadays, there are hardly any traces of the cemetery as the area is dotted with houses and other facilities.

text & photos: Seweryn Szczepański
translation: Małgorzata Ławer

Bibliography:
M. Aschkewitz, Zur Geschichte der Juden in Westpreussen , Marburg 1967.
G. Lieck, Die Stadt Löbau in Westpreussen mit Berücksichtigung des Landes Löbau , Marienwerder 1892.

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