The Old Jewish Cemetery of Kraków (), more commonly known as the Remah Cemetery (), is a historic

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

established in the years 1535–1551, and one of the oldest existing Jewish cemeteries in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is situated at 40 Szeroka Street in the

Kazimierz Kazimierz (; ; ) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, located sou ...

district of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, beside the 16th-century Remah Synagogue. The cemetery bears the name of

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Moses Isserles Moses Isserles (; ; 22 February 1530 / 25 Adar I 5290 – 11 May 1572 / 18 Iyar 5332), also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and '' posek'' (expert in Jewish law). He is considered the "Maimonides o ...

, whose name is abbreviated as Remah. The cemetery was closed in around 1850; the nearby New Jewish Cemetery at 55 Miodowa Street then became the new burial ground for the city's Jews. Izaak Jakubowicz, donor of the

Izaak Synagogue The Izaak Synagogue (), formally known as the Isaak Jakubowicz Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 14 Kupa Street, in the historic Kazimierz district of Kraków, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Poland. De ...

, is also buried at the cemetery. During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

destroyed the site by tearing down walls and hauling away tombstones to be used as paving stones in the camps, or selling them for profit. The tombstone of the Remah (Rabbi Moses Isserles) is one of the few that remained intact. The cemetery has undergone a series of post-war restorations. As is common in contemporary Poland, all original tombstones unearthed as paving stones have been returned and re-erected, although they represent a small fraction of the monuments that once stood in the cemetery.

Notable gravesites

The cemetery holds the gravesites of many notable

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

, including: *

, whose name is abbreviated as Remah, (c. 1525–1572), buried there along with his family; * Mordechaj Saba (called Singer),

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of the Kraków Talmudic Academy from 1572 to 1576; * Joseph Kac, head of the Academy from 1576 to 1591. *

Nathan Nata Spira Nathan Nata Spira (; 1585 – 20 July 1633) was a Polish rabbi and kabbalist, who served as Chief Rabbi of Kraków. A student of Meir Lublin, Spira played an important role in spreading Isaac Luria's teachings throughout Poland. Spira ...

(1583–1633), Kraków rabbi and head of the Academy from 1617 to 1633; * Jozue ben Joseph (1590–1648), also head of the Academy; *

Joel Sirkis Joel ben Samuel Sirkis (Hebrew: רבי יואל בן שמואל סירקיש; born 1561 - March 14, 1640) also known as the Bach (an abbreviation of his magnum opus BAyit CHadash), was a prominent Ashkenazi posek and halakhist, who lived in Ce ...

, (1561–1640), rabbi of the Kraków Jewish community and head of the Academy; * Isaac Landau Lewita, rabbi of Kraków's Jewish community from 1754 to 1768; * Isaac Halevi, Kraków's rabbi and head of the Academy from 1776 to 1799.WCSS (2004)
The Old Cemetery beside the Remuh Synagogue
(Internet Archive) ''Cemeteries in Cracow raków'. * Rabbi

Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom-Tov Lipmann ben Nathan ha-Levi Heller (c. 157919 August 1654), was a Bohemian rabbi and Talmudist, best known for writing a commentary on the Mishnah called the ''Tosefet Yom-Tov'' (1614–1617). Heller was one of the majo ...

, (1578–1654), a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and

Talmudist The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, best known for writing a commentary on the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

called the ''Tosafot Yom-Tov''. * Yossele the Holy Miser, central figure in a well-known tale of

Jewish folklore Jewish folklore are legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs that are the traditions of Judaism. Folktales are characterized by the presence of unusual personages, by the sudde ...

. *

Avraham Yehoshua Heschel Avraham Yehoshua "Heschel"(or Abraham Joshua) (1595 – 1663) was a renowned rabbi and talmudist in Kraków, Poland. His father Rabbi Jacob of Lublin was a rabbi in Brisk and then Lublin. In 1654 Heschel became Chief Rabbi of Kraków, succee ...

, Chief Rabbi of Kraków. Remuh Synagogue and Cemetery, gate, 40 Szeroka street, Kazimierz, Kraków, Poland.jpg, Gate to the synagogue and cemetery מצבת הרמ"א. בית הקברות היהודי העתיק בקרקוב (5).jpg, Grave of Rabbi

(far right) Remuh Cemetery, 40 Szeroka street, Kazimierz, Krakow, Poland.jpg, General view of the tombstones

Notes and references

{{Reflist Cemeteries in Kraków Jewish cemeteries in Poland Jews and Judaism in Kraków Cemetery vandalism and desecration 1535 establishments in Europe

Notable gravesites

See also

Notes and references