Cemeteries

The cemeteries - burial grounds of the Dutch colonists - constitute an inherent element of the rural landscape of the region colonized by the settlers. Frequently, these sites bear last witness to the existence of a Dutch village. It is often the case that they provide the only evidence that a given village (e.g. Wilcze Tułowskie, dist. Tułowie, province Mazowiecki; originally: Wilcze Holenderskie) was associated with the Dutch colonization.

Only 31 cemeteries survived to the present day of which we can say with certainty or near certainty that they were linked to the colonization. They are often in poor condition. After the departure of the original residents of villages, the cemeteries were neglected or even purposefully destroyed. Cold war propaganda, which followed WWII, largely contributed to this phenomenon. Although attempts to rescue and clean up these cemeteries have been successful, this tendency is still not universal. Only in Żuławy, due to the wide-ranging social involvement and the actions of the Towarzystwo Przyjaźni Polsko-Mennonickiej (The Association of Polish-Mennonite Friendship), have several of the cemeteries been cleaned up.

The current residents see the Olęder cemeteries in Mazowsze from the perspective of their war experiences; they associate the heritage of their predecessors with Germans, who in the 20th century constituted the majority among the settlers. The inhabitants who, through their traditions, linked their origin to the Dutch Mennonites were lost in this majority. (In spite of that, the current residents who had Dutch neighbors are aware of the differences between Dutch and Germans and often point them out even to this day.)

The cemeteries were generally located in the village outskirts, and in the case where the village had a church, the cemetery was located next to it. As a rule, the cemeteries were small and often surrounded by a low cement fence and were situated among beautiful old trees. Of course, the older the cemetery was the more exquisite the trees. Every cemetery is unique and worth preserving, ranging from the oldest ones in Nowy Kazuń or Nowy Wymyśl to the 19th and 20th cemeteries with gravestones dating from the pre-war period.

Every cemetery constitutes a beautiful element of the riverside landscape, but the most precious ones are the splendid historic gravestones, particularly the ones in the form of stalls - cuboidal stone slabs with heights reaching 2,5 m - especially because few of them remain in Mazowsze. Each of them is a unique work of art and often is the last remaining evidence of the settlers' stay, making them even more invaluable because of their connection to the first Dutch colonists in Mazowsze. They can be found, for example, in the Nowy Kazuń cemetery located across from the church behind the flood bank. The gravestone of Henryk Nikiel, deceased in 1869, stands out among the partially damaged gravestones.