Old Jewish Cemetery in Bytom

The Old Jewish Cemetery in Bytom no longer exists as a burial ground in its traditional form: there are no gravestones on the site of the former necropolis, and it is commemorated by a plaque at ulica Piastów Bytomskich 3. The cemetery was entered in the heritage register in 2019.

Founding and enlargement

The cemetery was founded in 1720 by the town walls, near the Gliwice Gate. Count Lazarus Henckel von Donnersmarck handed over the land in a document of 1732, and the community received about 1750 square metres. In 1810 the area was enlarged and surrounded by a stone wall, and in 1848 a further 2600 square metres were bought. Residents of fourteen surrounding localities were also buried here, and the people buried included four rabbis of Bytom.

Closure and remembrance

After 1938 the town took over the cemetery. It survived the war, but in 1965 it was closed down and the matzevot were moved to the municipal cemetery. A survey in 1990 recorded at least 14 matzevot and about 50 fragments, the oldest of which dates from 1757. A lapidarium of the former matzevot was unveiled in 1995 at the cemetery on ulica Piekarska.

Practical information

• Place: the interior of the block between ulica Piastów Bytomskich, ulica Józefczaka, ulica Katowicka and plac Kościuszki; the site is not fenced.
• What there is to see is mainly the commemorative plaque and the empty plot. The lapidarium is on ulica Piekarska.