The Jewish cemetery in Bochnia dates back to 1872, in 1873 a permit was issued to build a pre-burial house.
The cemetery occupies a plot of 0.65 ha. There are from 700 to 870 tombstones on it. The oldest of them comes from 1873, and the oldest matzevot are in the northern part of the cemetery.
The vast majority of matzevot are made of sandstone. Old gravestones made of Swedish granite have not been preserved, they were dismantled and looted by the Germans.
The latest commemorative plaques, funded by families of people buried at the cemetery, are made of granite. Over 70% of all tombstones are in good condition, with inscriptions in Polish, Hebrew, Yiddish and German, renovated and corrected by students of the Art High School in Nowy Wiśnicz.
At the entrance to the necropolis, there is the tomb of Rabbi and tzaddik Asher Majer Halberstam, who died on February 15, 1932, son of Józef Zew, descendant of Chaim Halberstam, the founder of the Hasidic dynasty from Nowy Sącz (Sanz). On the matzevot decorated with a bas-relief of lions supporting the crown and a cabinet with holy books, there is an inscription: "Here buried the great rabbi, an outstanding, holy and immaculate man, our superior, our teacher, Rabbi Asher Majer, son of Rabbi Józef Zewa, blessed in memory of the righteous Halberstam, grandson of the righteous rabbi , master Chaim and scholar Zwi of blessed remembrance of God-fearing. Chairman of the Sacred Congregation in Bochnia and Galicia. He passed away on the 8th of Adar 692 in abbreviated reckoning. May his soul be included in the wreath of eternal life.
Once the tomb was covered by an ohel, but destroyed by the Germans, it was never rebuilt. In the vicinity of the tzaddik's grave, there are monuments of family members - wife, daughter and granddaughter killed during the Holocaust.
Asher Majer's grave is a destination of Hasidic pilgrimages.
On the left side of the entrance there is a mass grave of the Jewish population from Bochnia, Nowy Wiśnicz and the surrounding villages, as well as Jews from Bochnia, Kraków, Brzesko, Krzeszowice, Mielec, Dębica and other places who were murdered in the ghetto in 1941-1943 by the Germans. As a result of the executions carried out in the cemetery, about 300 people lost their lives. In the 1960s, a monument commemorating the murdered was unveiled. The obelisk was built from destroyed matzevot.
In the Jewish cemetery in Bochnia, there is also a war cemetery number 313, where Jewish soldiers who died during World War I are buried.
The cemetery was surrounded by a high wall destroyed by the Germans, a similar fate befell the pre-burial house located in the cemetery.
Currently, the cemetery area is closed, the key is held by the museum in Bochnia. Thanks to this, it is not exposed to acts of vandalism. Well-maintained and regularly cleaned, it is one of the best-kept Jewish cemeteries in Poland.
