External Links for Records and Restoration of Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery in Bialystok, Poland

Organizations involved in current restoration efforts:

Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Project. (English) US-based organization with ancestral ties of Board Member, Amy Halpern Degen, to Bialystok. In 2016, the BJCP began its restoration efforts, distinguishing itself in the use of large mechanized equipment in this cemetery’s restoration. Volunteers hail from the US, Poland, Germany and Israel. Since 2016, over 1400 matzevoth have been restored and their vital data returned to the historic record, making the total extant number of records close to 3400. Work will continue in 2020.

Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej Polska-Izrael im Bialymstoku. (Polish, English). Bialystok-based organization that spearheaded restoration efforts on Bagnowka in the mid-2000s through its president Lucy Lisowska, who also serves as representative to the Warsaw Jewish Community. Centrum also initiates and oversees a variety of Jewish-related events each year and continues to host student groups to assist in cemetery care, especially the German-based, Aktion Suchnezeichen Friedendienste.

Online Documentation of Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery. All, at present, offer a partial database of documented records on Bagnowka.

Bagnowka.pl Formerly Bagnowka.com, this website holds nearly 1700 records from Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery, some are duplicates, with translations and images, though some images are no longer linked. In addition, thousands of images and translations from other Jewish cemeteries are also documented. A more concise list of these records is also found online. Entries are section by section, with a map provided.

FODZ. Foundation for the Documentation of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland. Nearly 1000 records from Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery are recorded here, some with images in low resolution. Note: no map is offered to indicate the location of a burial site.

Jewishepitaphs.org. Developed initially by scholar, Dr. Heidi Szpek, to disseminate information about Jewish epitaphs and tombstones from Bagnowka Cemetery, this website now shares the most up-to-date database of records from this cemetery, including images of each stone. At present, nearly 3400 cemetery records are documented as well as additional information about the history of this cemetery. This database is updated late each fall after the August Summercamp of restoration. The objective is to eventually have all records permanently sustained by the most appropriate online organization.

JOWBR. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry. Nearly 2400 records from Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery are documented here, drawn from an earlier project by Dr. Tomasz Wisniewski, Dr. Heidi M. Szpek and Sara Mages.

Online sources of history, people, events related to Jewish Bialystok.

BIALYGen Homepage. The webpage for the Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group, moderated by ancestor Mark Halpern. Links are provided to a variety of resources, including the Grodno Gubernya Imaging Project-A Survey of the cemeteries in the Podlasie region including Bagnowka, conducted by Dr. Heidi M. Szpek in 2007; the translation projects of significant Yiddish volumes on Jewish Bialystok, especially historian A.S. Hershberg’s two volume, Pinkos Bialystok; and links to online databases for genealogy study.

Białystok. Virtual Shtetl. Museum of the History of the Jews in Poland. POLIN. (Polish, English). This website offers information about numerous aspects of Jewish Bialystok. Some of the cemetery-related data, however, is inaccurate/not updated or in need of documentation.

Museum of the Jews of Bialystok and the Region. (Polish, English) Offers a wealth of information, images and documents related to Jewish Bialystok. Current information about recent discoveries, events or publications is regularly added. Links are also provided to select sites related to Bagnowka Cemetery.

We Remember Jewish Bialystok! – Ada Holzman. (Hebrew, English). This website offers extensive sources related to the community of Jewish Bialystok, survivors and the community of Kiriat Bialystok by ancestor Ada Holzman, z”l, 2015.

Additional resources will be added when needed. Please feel free to email any recommendations to hszpek@gmail.com.