Type of place

Information about the crime

On the edge of the „kombinacki” forest in Nowy Targ there is a war grave marked with a cross and a plaque. It says that it is a grave of Władysław Patkowski, born on September 19, 1914 and murdered on December 16, 1943. In fact it was Milek Reiner, an engineer from Kraków, who was murdered and buried there. For many years after the war Reiner was buried under a false name. After 75 years, in November 2018, thanks to the support of the local historians and social activists, the Zapomniane Foundation placed a wooden matzevah with the real name of this man on the grave.

You can read more about Milek Reiner history in:

Karolina Panz “Nowy Targ District” in: “It’s still night. The fate of Jews in selected districts in occupied Poland, vol. II, edited by Engelking B. and Grabowski J., Warsaw 2018

Michał Maciaszek “The secret of Władysław Patkowski”, Almanach Nowotarski 2012, No. 16

Beata Zalot “A secret grave”, article published in Tygodnik Podhalański in 2017. The article is available at: http://www.straznicyczasu.pl/viewtopic.php?t=13113 (accessed on 23.12.2020)

Commemoration

The grave was commemorated and is included in the list of war graves.

In addition, the place of the grave was marked with a wooden matzevah as part of the project “Reference points”. The project is an attempt to find a way to mark these places before they can be commemorated. The action was aimed as an intervention in the landscape of these places, which would remind about what remains invisible, even if present in the memory of local communities. Being only a temporary commemoration, wooden matzevot invite local communities to discuss and take action, to discover the places, and perhaps to start their own memory practice related to them or to permanently commemorate them.

You can read more about the project here: https://tinyurl.com/2p9ar52f

The project was implemented thanks to the funding from The Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland (Stowarzyszenie Żydowski Instytut Historyczny) and The Matzevah Foundation.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE GRAVE BASED ON NON INVASIVE RESEARCH

On November 20, 2018 a site inspection of a grave of Milek Reiner (Wiesław Patkowski), killed on December 16, 1943, was carried out. The grave was commemorated and is included in the list of war graves. (GPS: N49°27’58.208” E20°1’7.442”)

The LiDAR survey was not helpful in that case.

The aerial photography query for this area was not ordered.

Contact and cooperation

We are still looking for information on the identity of the victims and the location of Jewish graves in Nowy Targ. If you know something more, write to us at the following address: fundacjazapomniane@gmail.com.