Alternate names: Gorzków [Pol], Gorshkov [Yid], Gozhkuv [Rus], Gireshkov, Gorzkov, Russian: Гожкув. גוז'קוב-Hebrew. 50°57' N, 23°01' E, 28 miles SE of Lublin, 25 miles WSW of Chełm, 8 miles WSW of Krasnystaw. 1900 Jewish population: 303, 1921-434, 62.8%. Gorzkow is a village in Krasnystaw County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Gorzków. It lies approximately 14 km (9 mi) SW of Krasnystaw and 47 km (29 mi) SE of the regional capital Lublin. The village population is 264. Jewish history. Jewish cemetery in Gorzkow was established most probably in 19th century. The cemetery is located on the border of Gorzko and Chorupnik on a smallish hil; the area was 0.5 ha. The cemetery was destroyed during the war with no fragments of matzevot left and no fence remnant either. The synagogue was destroyed in WWII. [May 2009]

US Commission No. AS 122

The town is located in the Province of Zamosc at 50º52 23º01, 34 km NE of Zamosc. The cemetery is within fields of the village Chorupnik. From the center of Gorzkow, proceed along the road in the direction of Chorupnik to the first settlements of that village on right over the pond. The cemetery on the left side of a road faces the settlements. Present town population is under 1,000 people with no Jews.

• The city council, Urzad Gminy, Rynek Square, tel. 23, 110, 111, 66.
  
• Local: Urzad Wojewodzki, Zamosc, ul.Partyzantow 3, the Sejmik Samorzadowy Wojewodztwa Zamojskiego (Local Govt. Committee of Woivodship Zamosc), and Zamosc ul. Partyzantow 3, tel. 31 34.
  
• Regional: Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow and Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow [the State Preservation Authority, Zamosc, ul. Staszica 29, tel. 59 71.
  
• Interested: Regional Center of the Study and Preservation of Cultural Landscape [Regionslny Osrodek Studiow I Orchrony Krajobrazn Kulturowego], Lublin, ul. Archidiakonska 4, tel. 73 62 24. Urzad Wojewodzki-Wydzial Geodezji, Kartograffi Gospodarki Gruntami (Woivodship Office-Dept. of Land Survey, Cartography and Land Use), Zamosc, ulPrzemyslowa 4, tel 26 57, and Wojewodzkie Archiwum Panstwowe (State Archive for Woivodship), Lublin 4 Przemyslowa St.
  
• A neighbor of the cemetery, Mr. Stanislaw Klosinski (Janki #4), serves as caretaker for the site.
  

The earliest known Jewish community was about 1689. 1921 Jewish population was 434. Privileges granted Jewish residents were incorporated in the location act of the town. Until the mid-19th century, the Jewish community of Gorzkow was a relatively poor community using a cemetery in Turobin. The Orthodox Jewish cemetery, 3 km away, in Gorzkow was established after 1843. 1942 mass murder of the entire remaining Jewish population occurred at the cemetery. The isolated rural, agricultural hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing private property, access is open to all. No wall or gate surrounds the cemetery. The approximate size of the cemetery both before WWII was 0.50 ha. and today is about 0.30 ha. No gravestones are visible. The location of removed stones is unknown. Municipality owns site with Jewish graves, crops, animal grazing, and waste dumping. Adjacent properties are agricultural and residential. The cemetery boundaries are smaller than in 1939, due to both agricultural and residential development. Rarely, Jewish and non-Jewish private visitors stop. The cemetery was not vandalized in the last ten years but the tombstones were removed earlier. There are no structures. The most serious threat is security. Vegetation is a moderate threat while existing development is regarded as somewhat threatening.

Malgorzata Radolowicz, ul. Florianska 37 m3, Krakow, who visited the site, completed survey on August 23, 1995. Local preservation authorities and officers of the local Council and one nearby resident of the housing development near the cemetery, Mr. Stanislaw Mrozek, Janki #4 were interviewed. Documentation: PSOZ (the State Preservation Authority, Conservation Officer for Woiwodship) Zamosc: "Karta cmentarza" [cemetery record chart], #2643 filed by D. Kawalko, 1989. And Historical-Urban Survey, Lublin 1990, prepared by J. Sygowska/PKZ [State Restoration Workshop], Dep. Lublin.