The first Jews settled in Chełmża (German: Culmsee, Kulmsee) probably around 1772. The significant development of settlement of Jews in this town took place in the first half of 19th century. In 1885 six hundred sixty four Jews lived in Chełmża. Due to historical turbulences, in the turn of 19th and 20th centuries a number of Jewish inhabitants decreased - in 1921 only 72 Jews lived in the town. In autumn 1939 the last Chełmża Jews were deported by the Nazis to the Generalgouvernement..

The Jewish cemetery in Chełmża was founded in 1792 on a small hill by present 3 Maja Street. It is known that its area was surrounded by a wall, there was a preburial house at the entrance, in the years of the 1st World War the area of the cemetery covered half a hectare. In 1939 the necropolis was devastated by the Nazis. After the liberation the cemetery area was taken over by the State Treasury. In 2004 the plot was returned to the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland. Currently, there are not any gravestones in the cemetery area. Making a suitable information board would be recommended.

text: K. Bielawski
translation: Joanna Kołdras
photo: Aleksander W±sowicz

We look forward to receiving any information about Chełmża Jews and their cemetery.
We are also awaiting more information from people
who remember the cemetery from before World War II.