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ID: dok-000921-P

Slonim cemetery

Słonim | Belarus
biał. Słonim (Слонім)
ID: dok-000921-P

Slonim cemetery

Słonim | Belarus
biał. Słonim (Слонім)
Catholic cemetery with Polish gravestone monuments. Documentation (96 sheets) and a plan (stored in the ICDNS) have been produced for the cemetery. Information about the cemetery has been published (see bibliography).

According to Anna Lewkowska, Jacek Lewkowski and Wojciech Walczak, the Catholic cemetery has a trapezoidal plan and an area of 1 ha. It borders the Orthodox cemetery to the north. It was established at the beginning of the 19th century. Most of the gravestones are from the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. There are also three tombstones from the first half of the 19th century. The oldest one, from 1832, has an illegible inscription. However, a readable inscription can be found on the tombstone of Antal Garnysz. The inscription reads: "Here rests ANTAL / GARNYSZ / LIVED FORTY TWO YEARS / DIED IN 1839 MIS. JUNII ON THE 30TH DAY / AND YOU / PASSERS-BY REMEMBER / TODAY ME TOMORROW YOU / ASK FOR AN ANGELIC GREETING". In the cemetery is Father Barnabo Blazevich, guardian of the former Bernardian convent in Slonim. There is also a plot of German and Russian soldiers who died during the First World War. The inscription from it reads: "HIER RUHEN SOLDATEN OPFER DES ERSTEN / WELTKRIEGES ZDJES POKOITSJA SOŁDATY / ŻERTWY PIERWOJ MIOROWOJ WOJNY". The cemetery also has a dilapidated quarter of Polish soldiers killed in 1920. Only three names are possible to read: "ANTONI BOUSIAK / KP. STAFF", "WŁADYSŁAW KULESZA / SZER.", "POSPIESZYŃSKI (...) SIERŻ."

According to Lewkowski and Walczak, there is also a second Catholic cemetery in Slonim, called "the cemetery in Slobodka" or "the cemetery in Zamosc". It has an irregular polygonal plan and an area of 1.5 ha. It was created in the first half of the 19th century and only one tombstone has survived from that time. Most burials here are from the 2nd half of the 19th century and the 1st half of the 20th century. The oldest, from 1844, commemorates Teresa Kostecka. Its inscription reads: "TERESA KOSTECKA UMARŁA ROKU / 1844 (...)". The cemetery is maintained in good condition. Also noteworthy are the inscriptions: "HERE LIE / THE REMAINS OF THE S. P. DOCTOR OF MEDICINE / AND HIS PARENT / STANISLAW BIELSKI / LIVED 72 YEARS OF AGE DIED. 14 JANUARY / 1923 / honour their memory / this memorial is laid to rest by the landowners, the MAGISTRAT'S COLLEAGUES, the fire brigade and all the residents of the town of SŁONIMIA (signed: "B. Dobrzyński, Włocławek 1926")" and "TU SPOCZYWA / FELD. FEB. 118 SZUJSK. PUŁ. / PAWEŁ ŻUK / DIED. 23 FEBRUARY 1908. / OT TOARISZCZIEJ".

According to the aforementioned authors, another Catholic cemetery is located in the south-eastern part of the town and is called the "cemetery on Albertine". It has a rectangular plan and a 1.2 ha area surrounded by a wooden fence. It was established in the first half of the 19th century and has the largest number of gravestones from the first half of the 20th century. There are also a lot of burials from the 2nd half of the 19th century, many of them made in the Albertyn Iron Foundry, founded by Wojciech Pusłowski. The oldest gravestone, from 1853, belongs to Tadeusz Sokolowski. Its inscription reads: "TU LEŻY S. P. TADEUSZ SOKOŁOWSKI / LIVED 30. UMARŁ R. 1853". In the cemetery there is also a quarter of Soviet soldiers who died during World War II. Noteworthy is the inscription from Edmun Brennek's gravestone: "ETERNAL RESTING PLACE / EDMUND BRENNEK / LIVED 53 YEARS / DIED FROM HARD EXPERIENCES / OF THE WAR OF 1920". As the aforementioned authors write: "The cemetery in Albertina is one of the most beautiful and better preserved cemeteries in Novogrudok region. However, an increasing number of modern, styleless Orthodox tombstones are appearing there, causing the old burials to be eroded, which disturbs the old character of the cemetery.

Lewkowski and Walczak also describe the Tatar cemetery. It has a rectangular plan and an area of 0.45 ha surrounded by a wooden fence. It was created in the first half of the 19th century.The oldest gravestone dates from 1832.To quote the aforementioned authors: "in its [the cemetery's] old part, several hundred granite boulders with inscriptions in Arabic have been preserved. (...) The newer part is dominated by tombstones from the interwar period, mainly in the form of vertical granite slabs with inscriptions in Polish or Arabic. (...) Many tombstones of famous people [such as the Russian Lieutenant Colonel Tamerlan Kryczyński, who died in 1908] have not survived, having been destroyed after 1939." However, tombstones of, among others, Imam Mustafa Radkiewicz (died 1929) and Colonel Ali Bajrashewski (died 1936) have survived. Noteworthy is the following inscription: "IN MEMORY OF MY FAMILY / MUSTAFA SZCZĘSNOWICZ / DIED 12. 1922 - AT 38 YEARS / MIERIEMA SZCZĘSNOWICZ / DIED IN RUSSIA - AT 38 YEARS / AT THE TIME OF THE I WORLD WAR / CURKA ZUJLA".

The cited researchers also write about the Jewish cemetery. It has an area of 0.25 hectares and the plan of an irregular quadrangle. To quote, "The cemetery was completely destroyed during World War II by the Germans, and not a single gravestone has survived. In 1994, Jews living in Israel and originating from Slonim cleaned up the area and funded several marble symbolic slabs with inscriptions in Yiddish and Russian, thus commemorating the 35,000 Jews of Slonim and the surrounding area who were exterminated during World War II."

Bibliography:
  • „Cmentarze polskie poza granicami kraju” , raport, oprac. B. Gutowski, Warszawa 2022 (maszynopis).
  • Lewkowska Anna, Lewkowski Jacek, Walczak Wojciech, „Zabytkowe cmentarze na Kresach Wschodnich Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej. Wschodnie powiaty dawnego województwa białostockiego (obecnie na terenie Białorusi), Warszawa 2007.
Author:
Bartłomiej Gutowski, Dawid Mendrek
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