The ‘Mound Matzevoth’ – Jewish Epitaphs

Vital Details recorded on the Mound Matzevoth. The following documents record the vital details recorded in the 19th Century Mound Matzevoth extracted from the mound on Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery in Bialystok, Poland in August 2022 and from the mound near the Opera House on Bialystok’s Central Park in August 2023 by the BCRF. The latter mound is located on Bialystok’s Central Park beneath which is what remains of the Rabbinic Cemetery (d. 1760-1900). Following these two documents are the textual epitaphs preserved in a late 19th Century letter (possibly) from Avraham Shmuel Hershberg to Simon Dubnov, preserved in the YIVO archives (Edward Blank Collection Online, R87/945), as well as in Hershberg’s Pinkus Bialystok and in the New York Public Library online: Volume 1 and Volume 2 .

Bialystok, Poland, August 2022. Members of the BCRP extract early 19th Century Jewish matzevoth from a mound on the unused land of Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery.

Opera Mound Matzevoth on display on Central Park, Bialystok. The Opera can be seen in the background. These 19th Century Jewish matzevoth and one 18th Century Orthodox tombstone were extracted by the BCRF, August 2023.

Press Release. August 18, 2022.

Video: “Righting a Wrong” BRCF Chair Josh Degen’s comments at the press conference on August 23, 2022 about the recovery of the Mound Matzevoth. (28) Righting a wrong – Bialystok – Josh Degen – YouTube

NOTE: For translation to English of these Polish articles, please click TRANSLATE button when prompted on computer and smartphone.

“Bialystok. Sensational discovery from the early 19th Century in a mound next to the Jewish Cemetery on Wschodnia Street.” August 23, 2022 Białystok. Sensacyjne odkrycie z początku XIX w. w kopcu obok cmentarza żydowskiego przy Wschodniej (wyborcza.pl) English Translation

“Discovery in a neighborhood square. 100 valuable tombstones unearthed” August 19, 2022. https://www.bialystokonline.pl/odkrycie-na-osiedlowym-skwerze-odkopano-100-cennych-macew,artykul,131709,1,2.html

“A lapidarium of the Jewish Cemetery will be built on Central Park.” August 23, 2022. https://www.bialystokonline.pl/w-parku-centralnym-powstanie-lapidarium-cmentarza-zydowskiego,artykul,131775,1,1.html

“Bialystok. Matzevoth from the Jewish Cemetery will return to their place.” August 23, 2022. https://poranny.pl/bialystok-macewy-z-cmentarza-zydowskiego-wroca-na-swoje-miejsce-do-parku-centralnego/ar/c1-16789949