The Jewish cemetery in Mszana Dolna has been formally reopened after renovation!

The renovation of the fence surrounding the Jewish cemetery in Mszana Dolna and the restoration of another 22 historic matzevot have been successfully completed.

The cost of the renovation was covered by our Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation, thanks to government funding from the monument restoration fund obtained together with the Town of Mszana Dolna. The Mszana necropolis is a 19th-century historical monument.
The work took many months and there were plenty of obstacles, including the excavation of the railway line, which made access to the cemetery practically impossible and made it difficult to carry out the work. In addition, the payment of funds from the subsidy to the contractors was subject to a binding deadline, which was fast approaching. We also had to obtain formal consent for all activities from the Provincial Conservator of Monuments, the Religious Community, the Rabbinical Commission for Cemeteries and other authorities.

And yet we succeeded! The work was carried out by the following companies: Msrek Sawicki’s KonsArt – conserveation, renovation of historic matzevot, and Piotr Krzystofiak’s Milbart – renovation of the fence.

The official formal acceptance, attended by the Office of the Conservator of Monuments in Nowy Sącz, the City Council and the contractors responsible for the renovation and restoration, took place today, 20 August 2025, and ended successfully – no one raised any doubts, on the contrary – we heard many flattering words and congratulations.

The grand opening of the cemetery after renovation took place three days earlier, during the ceremony marking the 83rd Anniversary of the Holocaust in Mszana Dolna. The cemetery is also a place of martyrdom – several dozen victims of the Holocaust are buried here, some of whom were murdered in this very place.

During Sunday's celebrations, the symbolic opening of the gate to the renovated necropolis was performed by Ms Ewa Poray-Zbrożek, Secretary of the Town of Mszana Dolna, and Marek Rekucki, Vice-President of the Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation, the person who made it all possible: he did a tremendous amount of work, overcame countless difficulties, devoted months of work and made dozens of trips to bring this important and difficult project to completion.

The new, updated information board was unveiled by young members of the Foundation who worked on the entire project, Rachela and Jakub Antosz-Rekucki.
After the official opening, the gathered participants were able to admire the truly spectacular results of the renovation and restoration. Now all that remains is to seek new funding so that the remaining historic matzevot can be restored to their former glory and saved from oblivion.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the contractors: Marek Sawicki's KonsArt conservation company, Piotr Krzysztofiak's Milbart, and the volunteers who, together with us, take care of the cemetery and prepared it for Sunday's celebrations. We are also grateful to the participants of the online auctions, through which we raised funds for additional expenses, such as restoring the access road that had been dug up during the renovation of the railway tracks, which made the work possible in the first place. We would also like to thank everyone for their individual donations to this cause.

Let us remind you that the Jewish cemetery in Mszana Dolna is a 19th-century monument. During and after World War II, it was devastated and looted. The municipality designated it for afforestation, it became overgrown with weeds, and cows grazed there. The first person to save the necropolis was Lejb Gatterer, a Holocaust survivor, who in 1991 funded the fencing, erection and gluing of fallen and broken tombstones. The traces of this work are still visible today. However, after many years, the fence began to crumble and fall apart, the metal spans fell off, and the matzevot deteriorated; urgent steps had to be taken to save this place, which is so important for the history of the town. We are extremely happy that we have managed to completely renovate the cemetery fence and restore most of the gravestones. We will try to complete this work so that all the matzevot can be restored.

Co-financed by the Government Programme for the Restoration of Monuments
Value of co-financing: PLN 488 040
Total value of the project: PLN 498 000
The Limanowa County also contributed PLN 10 000 to this project.