To understand the significance of this new resource, it is important to be familiar with the main Warsaw Cemetery project launched in December 1999.

Warsaw Cemetery Manager, Mr. Bolek Szenicer, like his father Pinkus before him, has been working diligently to reconstruct the Warsaw Cemetery records destroyed by the Nazis. After 20 years of work, more than 50,000 gravestones have been fully or partially indexed but another 200,000 remain to be done. If you have visited the immense Warsaw cemetery and have seen the jumble of stones and overgrowth, you can begin to appreciate the scale of the project. At present there are more than 30,000 indices in the JRI-Poland database and more are added each month.

These additional 3832 indices are from an unusual source. In the late 1960s, the City of Warsaw drew up plans to extend Anielewicza street (formerly Gesia street) to connect with Mlynarska Street through the southern section of the cemetery. Gravesites in sections 1, 2, 3, 3a, 4b, 91, 92, 97, 99 and 99a were to have been removed and in preparation the stones were photographed, and inscriptions were deciphered and recorded. This work was carried out by Warsaw University students.

However Pinkus Szenicer, then manager of the cemetery, expressed strong opposition to the plans and successfully campaigned to have them cancelled. Ultimately, the photos and documentation were turned over to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

Indexing the photograph collection

In late 2001, the JRI-Poland / JGSNY project at the Jewish Historical Institute, in cooperation with the Ronald S. Lauder Genealogy Project, completed the laborious task of examining and indexing each photo and extracting key information. Each entry includes the surname and given name, date of death and grave location. Many entries also include father's name. During the data entry process, files of photographs were arranged for future easy access. There are more than 2700 different family names in this collection. To view the surname list, click here.

Contributing to the Warsaw Cemetery Records and Photographs project

The fundraising target for this initiative is $1,800. Contributions should be made to Jewish Records Indexing – Poland. Please specify "For the Warsaw Cemetery Photograph Indexing project at the JHI" on your check or other correspondence.

Click on the following logo for instructions on how to make a contribution.

How to obtain copies of photographs

If you have found a name or names of interest in the Supplemental Cemetery List, you can obtain photocopies of photographs by contacting the Ronald S. Lauder Genealogy Project at the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw. Please make sure that the names for which you are seeking information are on the Supplemental Cemetery List, rather than on the list of the main Warsaw Cemetery Project, for which there is a different ordering procedure. To ensure proper handling of your request, please use the request form below.

To obtain information about the current condition of a gravestone or to arrange for permanent care of a grave site, see the main Warsaw Cemetery page.

REQUEST FORM

Date: 

To:  The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation Genealogy Project 
       at the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
       ul. Tlomackie 3/5
       00-090 Warsaw 
       Poland

Subject:  Copies of Warsaw Cemetery Photographs  

A search of the Jewish Records Indexing - Poland database
has turned up the following graves from the supplemental
Warsaw cemetery indices that are of interest to me. Please
send me a photocopy of the photograph for each of the
gravestones (five maximum, please).
 

Please mail the above copies to:

Name:

Address:

City:

State/Province:

Country:

Zip/Postal Code:

Email Address:

Contributions should be by US$ money order, US$ bank draft, or US$ personal check drawn on a U.S. bank.
(To eliminate bank charges, all payments will be deposited in the U.S.) Contributions should be made payable
to: "The Javne Fund" and should be earmarked "for the archives." (For U.S. contributors, such donations are
tax-deductible.) Please enclose your contribution with your order.

  Return to JHI project page.