JEWISH CEMETERY IN NOWY SACZ
The Jewish cemetery located at the juncture of Rybacka and Tarnowska streets was located in the northern part of the city, where Kamienica river flows into Danube. It covers 3, 05 ha, and is fenced off with a foundation of matzevot and an entrance from Rybacka street. The land is flat here, near the river, well-kept, with grass and some bushes. It was established in the second half of the 19th century, expanded in 1926. Around 200 tombstones, with inscriptions mostly in Hebrew, are preserved. The tombstones face the South-East. Some inscriptions are in Yidish and in Polish, and some tombstones are decorated with bas reliefs.
"Jewish Cemetery in Nowy Sącz 02" by John marina - His own work. License CC BY-SA 3.0 pl Licensed under Wikimedia Commons.
The cemetery was a site of mass executions of both Polish and Jewish inhabitants during the German occupation. The dead were buried in mass graves. There is a monument to commemorate the victims. It was unveiled on June 18, 1959. It bore an inscription: “To the victims of the hitlerites and to the memory of the fighters for freedom of the Polish nation. 1939-1945.” During World War II, the Germans used some of the matzevot to pave the streets of Nowy Sącz. The present layout of the matzevot is post-1945.
Of the old tombs, the impressive ohel of tsadik Chaim Halberstam, located in the middle of the cemetery, is preserved. To this day, Hasidim from all over the world make pilgrimages to the site. It was renovated after the end of the Second World War. In the anteroom, there are a memorial plate and the tombstone. By the wall, in a row, there are seven matzevot made after the war. The last burials were performed in 1968-1969. There had been altogether 25 000 burial ceremonies performed in the cemetery.
Source : Sztetl.org