One of Krakow’s neighborhoods, Kazimierz, used to be predominantly Jewish before the Holocaust. There are many historic features of Jewish heritage remaining in Kazimierz, but few Jewish people currently reside here. Those that were not killed by the Nazis mostly just left.
Last weekend’s One Clue Mystery photo (see below) featured a photo of a group of Jewish visitors at the New Cemetery. The site was recognized by George G — congratulations as always for a job well done, George!
It was my understanding that the gentlemen in the photo were on a trip from Israel to visit important Jewish sites in Europe, and this cemetery was on their list. They read scriptures and prayed and seemed very devout in their faith.
(One Clue Mystery photo)
Kazimierz has two cemeteries. The older and smaller of the two is known as the Old Cemetery, which was used until 1800 when it ran out of space. The larger and newer of the two is known as the New Jewish Cemetery.
(Graves with markers in the New Jewish Cemetery)
This New Jewish Cemetery was established in 1800 on a 20-hectare plot of land, the size of which has now shrunk to 4.5 hectares (due to destruction by war and development). Some of Krakow’s most famous Jewish residents were buried in the New Cemetery. Many of the tombstones from this and other Jewish cemeteries were sold to stone masons or were used as construction material (e.g., crushed to make roads). Still, today there are thousands (up to 10,000) of tombstones dating to the early 1800s remaining in the New Cemetery.
(More graves with markers in the New Jewish Cemetery)
As you can see from these photos, most of the graves have piles of stones on them. I was not familiar with this custom, but on doing some research it might be a somewhat superstitious custom, the stones intending to keep the person’s soul in place — at least for a while.
In 1957, the grounds of the cemetery were renovated by donations. In March 1999 the New Cemetery and its 1903 mortuary were put into the city’s register of historic monuments.
(Gravestone fragments used to build some of the walls of the New Cemetery)
Something that I think is very evocative is that many hundreds of broken headstone pieces were used to create several walls and memorials to Holocaust victims. The effect is quite striking, a permanent witness to the destructive forces of the Nazis.
There are also newer plaques and markers in place, like these:
Pay attention to the last photo in this blog, directly above. The two remaining survivors in the Ferber family placed this memorial to the 88 members of their family who were killed during the Holocaust. I can’t begin to fathom their feelings of pain, loss, anger and guilt.
Perhaps one day mankind will evolve to the point when such damage to fellow humans will not never happen. But it definitely won’t happen in my lifetime.
