Jewish cemetery in Częstochowa, Jewish burial ground in Częstochowa, Poland.
The Jewish cemetery in Częstochowa spreads across approximately 8.5 hectares on the southeastern edge of the city and contains roughly 4,500 preserved graves and tombstones. The grounds feature various monument types and burial areas that were created over multiple generations.
The cemetery was founded by the Jewish community at the end of the 18th century, probably in 1799, though some sources give 1780; before that, Częstochowa's Jews were buried in nearby Janów. It was rebuilt and fenced in 1907. In 1943, during the liquidation of the "small ghetto", Jews were brought here and shot, then buried in a collective grave. The last official burial took place in 1970, with secret burials continuing for three more years.
The cemetery preserves the ohel of Tzadik Pinchas Menachem Justman and his son Isaac Meir Justman, built in 1919. The 1937 tomb of Chief Rabbi Nachum Asz has four eagles carved at the corners of its lid, likely alluding to the verse "Swifter than eagles, stronger than lions" from the Second Book of Samuel. Most of the 4,000–5,000 matzevot carry Hebrew and Polish inscriptions and are now overgrown with ivy.
The cemetery lies on ul. Złota in the Dąbie district, beside the Częstochowa steelworks, and after 1950 access was difficult; even in the late 1980s entry required a pass. The gate was rebuilt and the grounds fenced in 1984. The legal status of the land is still being settled between the city of Częstochowa and the Jewish community of Katowice.
The tomb of Nachum Asz, a chief rabbi buried in 1937, has four eagles carved at the corners of its lid, probably alluding to the verse "Swifter than eagles, stronger than lions" from the Second Book of Samuel. The ohel of the tzadik Pinchas Menachem Justman and his son Isaac Meir Justman dates from 1919.
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