Nowy Targ
In November 2021, stone tablets bearing the names of Holocaust victims were unveiled at the Jewish cemetery in Nowy Targ. Between 700 and 1,000 people were shot at the cemetery.
The project
The project provided for two memorials: a central memorial with the names of the victims, like those in Krościenko, Grybów and Czarny Dunajec, in the form of a broken matzevah, and a “Matzevah of Remembrance” at the mass grave. Between 700 and 1,000 people are known to have been executed at the cemetery. Educational panels complete the site.
Education
The foundation wants to reach both students and residents of the town: lessons about the murder of their neighbours, a visit of around 100 students to Bełżec, work at the cemetery and schools’ patronage of the memorial site. A memorial should not simply appear out of nowhere. It should open a conversation and help residents identify with the work done for the victims.
Dr Karolina Panz’s list of names
Dr Karolina Panz compiled the list of the Jews of Nowy Targ from the pre-war registration records, the registers of residents of the town’s streets, the wartime “Card Index of Jews from Nowy Targ” and the census of Jewish residents of 1941-1942.
The most frequent entry, “murdered in August or September 1942”, refers to people on the occupation-era census for whom no death, escape or departure was recorded. Among them are victims of the executions at the Jewish cemetery and of the Bełżec extermination camp.
“In creating this list of the Jews of Nowy Targ, I wanted to stand against what happened during the Holocaust. (…) And I would like Nowy Targ to remember its residents.” (Dr Karolina Panz)
Guardians of memory
- Dariusz Popiela, Łukasz Połomski and Artur Franczak
They initiated the idea of the memorial, which was born during their joint commemoration of Jakub Miller in 2013. Every commemoration and anniversary since then led us towards the dream that became the project in Nowy Sącz.
- Łukasz Połomski
The project’s lead historian, responsible for the list of victims and contact with descendants. For years he has been restoring the memory of the Jews of the Sącz region and has initiated many commemorations there.
- Artur Franczak
For years involved in restoring memory and uncovering little-known threads of the history of the Jews of the Sącz region. Voluntary site manager during construction, he documented the progress of the work.
Timeline
From the pre-war community to the present day.
The registration records
The pre-war registers of residents of the streets of Nowy Targ are one of the sources of the list of names.
Bronia Lieblich and Abraham Hochner
They were killed in front of the synagogue in Nowy Targ.
The murder of the Jews of Nowy Targ
Executions at the Jewish cemetery and deportations to Bełżec.
Survey of the cemetery
The reading of 2,866 names
A ceremony at the cemetery on ul. Jana Pawła II.
Young people remember
Students of the Private Secondary School in Nowy Targ marked the 81st anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The final version of the list
The list of the Jewish residents of Nowy Targ compiled by Dr Karolina Panz was published.
A walk through the site
2 pointsapprox. 1,5 km on foot55 min including stops
Market Square
On the Market Square in Nowy Targ, Eliasz, the father of Lonek, ran the largest grocery and colonial goods shop in town. It was taken from him in December 1939. The story of Lonek and his family is told in a biography on the foundation’s blog.
Photograph of this point in preparationJewish cemetery and the tablets of names
The cemetery at ul. Jana Pawła II 85. Many executions took place here, and there are many mass graves on the cemetery grounds. On 7 November 2021, 2,866 names of victims were read aloud here. Today students of the Private Secondary School in Nowy Targ help care for the cemetery.
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Gallery
List of names
List compiled by Dr Karolina Panz, published by the foundation on 11 November 2025.
Biographies
The stories of individual people and families, researched by the foundation and published on its blog (in Polish).
The testimony of Chana Grassgrün30 August 1942 is a tragic date for Nowy Targ and the whole of Podhale. Through Chana Grassgrün's testimony we learn how the town died.
The Beldegrün familyDr Karolina Panz recalls the story of the Beldegrün family and the daily struggle of Helena (Chaja), a mother keeping her family alive in poverty.
Lonek“In the dawn of happy days and in the flower of youth, God took you from us.” The quotation comes from a recovered matzevah that has returned to the cemetery in Nowy Targ.
Zvi TurnerThe story of a matzevah found in a backyard led us to Johannesburg, where the granddaughter of the deceased lives. The stone lay outside the cemetery for decades.
Lonek and LudwikToday is the 75th anniversary of the deaths of Salomon Lindenberger and Ludwik Herz, residents of Nowy Targ murdered in their own town after the war.
Salomon DröhlichIn 2020 we recovered more than a dozen matzevot from backyards in Czarny Dunajec. Reading a name carved in stone returns another life to memory.
Dawid GrassgrünToday marks 75 years since the death of Dawid Grassgrün, a farmer, cab driver and respected horse dealer from Nowy Targ.
Bronia Lieblich and Abraham HochnerBronia Lieblich and Abraham Hochner were the first Jews killed in Nowy Targ. The German gendarmerie arrested them on 29 December 1941.
Salomon KannengiesserAnother story, more people who once made plans and had dreams, as we do. In 1933 Salomon ran the 18-kilometre race at the first Winter Maccabiah in Zakopane.
Julek SchneiderThis ciupaga, held by Julek Schneider, a Holocaust survivor from Nowy Targ, hides an extraordinary story from the harsh winters of the occupation.
Listen
Narrated recordings for this place are in preparation. Each will have subtitles and a full transcript.
Guide to the site
A single A4 sheet to print: a short history, the address and coordinates, a QR code for navigation, guidance on conduct at the cemetery and the foundation’s contact details.