During the Nazi occupation, "Starofarny cemetery" was repeatedly damaged so as to wipe out Polish traces within the city. Following an order from occupying authorities to remove Polish inscriptions from the tombstones, Hitler Youth militias destroyed Polish tombstones, beating inscriptions and damaging the fence. In particular, on a Sunday of April 1942, SA and SS troops stormed the cemetery, smearing Polish gravestones with cement and destroying metal elements of the graves.