It is not known when exactly it was founded (presumably in the 19th century).
During World War II, 130 victims of mass executions from Krościenko, Szczawnica and Ochotnica carried out by the Germans in April and June 1942 were buried in a mass grave in the cemetery.
For several decades after the war, the cemetery was neglected and forgotten. In 2018, thanks to the initiative and involvement of Dariusz Popiela and the financial support of the Nissenbaum Family Foundation, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland, and crowdfunding, the memory of this place was restored. A monument dedicated to the tragedy of the local Jewish community was built, mass graves were identified and secured, and information and educational boards were set up. The cemetery was fenced.
As a result of the devastation of World War II (the Nazis made a floor of some matzevot in the warehouse of agricultural produce), only the following have survived to our times:
one matzevah lying in the grass with inscriptions in Polish and Hebrew
fragment of the plate with the inscription "1928".
In the cemetery there is a magnificent and undamaged basalt tomb of Leopold Krumholz, with inscriptions only in Hebrew. It is the tombstone of a wealthy merchant from Szczawnica, which was erected by his son.