EN
The Roman Catholic cemetery in Żytomierz, known up to this day as the Polish cemetery, was established in 1799 about 2 kms to the south of the town, on a hilly terrain with considerable differences of height (up to 30 metres). In 1888, the cemetery was enlarged to present-day dimensions (9 hectares 60 ares). Attempts at a further expansion failed — neither the Russian nor the subsequent Soviet authorities agreed for political reasons. The only solution was the liquidation of the old graves for the purposes of reusing the sites. This campaign led to the devastation of numerous tombstones, especially in the first half of the nineteenth century. Even worse effects were produced by the sale of the more ornate tombstones, carried out by the municipal authorities in 1957-1970. Today, the cemetery contains 2 222 extant Polish graves, i. e. with Polish inscriptions. The cemetery is used and no concession for its expansion has been obtained as yet. In comparison with cemeteries in Poland, a characteristic feature of the Żytomierz site is the difference of material used for the tombstones. In Żytomierz, 98% tombstones are made of hard material — granite, labradorite and gabbro while in the Warsaw Powązki cemetery the use of such material does not exceed 3%. Iconography also discloses certain differences. A complete inventory of the Polish graves conducted in 1994 and 1995 offered data pertaining to the tombstones and made it possible to expand the base of genealogical data by several thousand names.