User:Marta Malina Moraczewska/The Jewish Cemetery in Oświęcim

Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim - a Jewish cemetery located in Oświęcim, Małopolska, at the intersection of Dąbrowskiego and Wysokie Brzegi Streets. The cemetery covers an area of 1.7 ha, there are over 1,000 matzevot, the oldest of which dates back to 1757. The last burial took place in 2000.

History
The Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim was established in the mid-18th century. During World War II, the Nazis devastated the cemetery. After the end of the war, despite the return to the city of a small group of Jewish survivors, no burials took place at the cemetery. Then it was tidied up and the wall surrounding it was renovated. In the 1970s and 1980s, the cemetery was devastated many times by local vandals.

In 1980 the cemetery was renovated and tidied up. Soon an ohel, funded by Asher Scharf from New York, was erected on the graves of the Sharf family. In the 1990s, the Nissenbaum Family Foundation installed a light in the ohel and provided running water at the entrance to the cemetery. In 2000, the last Jewish inhabitant of Oświęcim, Shimson Kleuger (died on May 26, 2000), was buried at the cemetery. His body was placed in a specially built ohel. In the years 2003–2004 the cemetery was re-arranged.