Poland: Rabbinical Cemetery Commission protests construction of road through Jewish cemetery in Jasło

Poland’s Rabbinical Commission on Cemetery Affairs decried what it called the “conscious and merciless destruction of the Jewish cemetery” in the southern town of  Jasło, by the construction of a road through the cemetery territory. It said at least eight burials had so far been uncovered during the works, which began in September 2019.

In a statement date February 19, the Commission said it had been appealing to the parties involved to halt the construction of Provincial Road 992, and warning of the danger of violating burials, to no avail.

However, the work was not suspended, neither as a result of the appeal or even in the face of the fact that other graves were found in situ at the cemetery. The graves of Jews from Jasło have been desecrated, but the works are still being continued.

The statement noted that the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has an “ongoing system project to protect Jewish cemeteries in Poland under the name Marking Jewish Cemeteries in Poland.” 

The Ministry’s project, it said, “draws attention to the need to exercise extreme caution in the process of issuing decisions regarding cemetery and cemetery sites,” and the Ministry urges consultation with the Rabbinical Commission in determining the boundaries of cemeteries.

“In the case of the Jasło cemetery, both [Ministry] recommendations were ignored,” the Rabbinical Commission statement said.

According to the Commission, the first two graves were found during the preparation of the area for road construction last year. This caused the work to be temporarily suspended. A survey conducted at the time did not reveal further graves, but “clusters of bone fragments” were found. Work on the road, nonetheless, was permitted to go forward.

The Commission said it had informed a list of local and regional authorities, offices, and construction bodies involved in the road work about their concerns — including the fact that human remains were discovered in the course of the road work.

As a result of the continuation of works, another at least six graves have been discovered. None of the parties with whom the Rabbinical Commission conducted correspondence from October 2019 informed the Jewish community. The commission learned about the destruction of burials from an anonymous inhabitant of Jasło. At least six burials are currently uncovered and their future is unknown. The destruction of the rest of the cemetery is progressing and we will never know how many human remains were removed from the cemetery. 

The Jewish cemetery in Jasło was established in the 19th century and enlarged in the 20th century. It was devastated by the Nazis during World War II, and around 2,000 people — Christians and Jews — were executed there.

Under communism, authorities built a veterinary clinic atop part of the newer section of the cemetery in the 1950s, despite Jewish protests.

The older part of the cemetery has around 100 surviving gravestones — most of them broken or toppled. It is walled, with a gate that locks, and there is a monument to Holocaust victims. But the remaining newer part, where the road is being built, is not protected.

“The fact that cemeteries were destroyed or built on during World War II and the People’s Republic of Poland is not a reason for their further desecration in democratic Poland,” the Rabbinical Commission statement said.

See Virtual Shtetl’s description of the cemetery

See photos of the older part of the cemetery