Cemeteries to visit Poland

The Jewish cemetery (Europe's largest) covers 14 hectares and houses some 180,000 gravestones. Founded and consecrated in 1892, it escaped the ravages and damage of war. Some of the tombs are architectural masterpieces, while parts of the cemetery have been abandoned, creating a unique atmosphere. Next door is the ghetto field, where some 45,000 victims of the Nazis are buried, including 800 Jews forced to dig their own graves.

Built in 1856, it is the only pre-war Jewish cemetery to have been completely preserved. The preservation of monuments, buildings and places of worship in Poland is always miraculous. After the Nazi occupation, many were destroyed. This cemetery is an exceptional example of ^19th-century funerary art. Sparsely frequented, it imposes a melancholy atmosphere, where solitude accompanies the beautiful Jewish headstones, half-overgrown by tall weeds, for lack of a Jewish community large enough to maintain it.

This cemetery survived World War II and was not too badly damaged by the Nazis. It dates from the 19th century and is rather well maintained, which is another rarity in Poland since the war. It contains about 1,500 graves. There is also a Holocaust memorial, in remembrance of the large Jewish community in Katowice that disappeared in its entirety in April 1941, with all the Jews living there - over 8,300 - being deported.

Located on a hilltop and completely abandoned since the last survivors of the Holocaust left the area, you will see beautiful graves, some dating back to the 17th century. The Jewish cemetery in Szczebrzeszyn was established in the late 15th century. About 400 visible matzevot have survived to date, the oldest dating from 1545. In early 2021, the Coalition of Custodians of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland was formed and took on the responsibility of restoring and maintaining the one in Szczebrzeszyn. It is a quick visit.

Considering the city's history, which is closely linked to the expansion of Judaism in Europe, it is not so surprising to discover that it is one of the largest in Poland. As was often the case during the Holocaust, which also included the destruction of Jewish heritage, the cemetery was vandalized and largely destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. Today, there are approximately 3,000 surviving graves, mostly dating from the 19th century.