The Łódź Jewish Cemetery, also known as the New Jewish Cemetery, was once the largest Jewish cemetery in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and one of the largest in the world. Located in the city of

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

on Bracka Street, the necropolis was opened in 1892 and occupies around 44

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s of land. The cemetery contains from 180,000 to 230,000 marked graves, as well as mass graves of victims of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto and the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. From 1893 to 1896, the basic construction of the necropolis was completed under the supervision of well-known architect Adolf Zeligson. The circular access is provided by the gate from the southern side on the axis of Abram Cukier Street, which is an extension Chryzantem Street. Pedestrian access is possible from the east through a gate in the wall stretching along Zmienna Street. The composition of the foundation is based on the arrangement of two mutually perpendicular axes. The first one leads from the main gate to the square in front of the pre-funeral house. Alongside it, there were once buildings associated with the functioning of the necropolis, in addition to the pre-burial house, this complex included a synagogue, a residential house for cemetery service, a water tower, a mikveh and other minor construction facilities. Today over a hundred of historical gravesites have been declared historical monuments and are in various stages of restoration. The mausoleum of Izrael Poznański is perhaps the largest Jewish tombstone in the world and the only one containing decorative

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

. The cemetery continues to function as a Jewish burial site.

History

The cemetery was established on Bracka and Zmienna Streets and following its creation in 1892, it was the largest Jewish necropolis in the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The decision was made to established a Jewish gravesite when residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods refused to allow the expansion of the old cemetery on Wesoła Street, which contained over 3,000 graves. An influential industrialist and factory owner Izrael Poznański donated the first 10.5 hectares of land towards the cemetery's establishment. The outbreak of a cholera epidemic in 1892 forced the Tsarist authorities of Congress Poland to accept the construction. Thus, the first people buried there in the winter of 1892 were approximately 700 cholera victims. In 1893, an estimated 1,139 men and women were buried at the new cemetery. The ''Beit Tahara'' (

Funeral Home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

) was funded by Mina Dobrzyńska Konsztat in 1896 and completed in 1898. In 1900, Albert Cukier purchased additional acres of land and greatly expanded the necropolis. During this time, several houses for cemetery workers and a wooden synagogue were built.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

brought severe destruction and many tombstones were badly damaged. Its renovation was supported financially by city's industrialists. By 1925, the original wooden fence surrounding the cemetery's borders was replaced by a red brick wall that still stands to this day. All tombstones in the cemetery face east and in the 19th century the majority of them were painted in different colours.

Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Schilf-004-14, Polen, Ghetto Litzmannstadt, jüdischer Friedhof.jpg, ''Beit Tahara'' - funeral home in 1940 File:Cmentarz Zydowski Lodz5.JPG, Interior of the funeral home File:Jewish cemetery Lodz IMGP6736.jpg, Jewish tombstones and graves in 2012 File:Cmentarz Zydowski Lodz pomnik.JPG, A memorial dedicated to the

victims File:Cmentarz Zydowski Lodz 16.jpg,

Lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas reliefs, tombston ...

and the red brick wall surrounding the necropolis File:ODNOWIONY POMNIK NA CMENTARZU ŻYDOWSKIM W ŁODZI.JPG, Izrael Poznański's largest Jewish tombstone

References

External links

* The Jewish Lodz Cemetery - http://www.jewishlodzcemetery.org/EN/Home/Default.aspx * Traces of War - http://en.tracesofwar.com/article/6583/Jewish-Cemetery-Lodz.htm * Polin Travel - http://www.jewish-guide.pl/sites/lodz {{DEFAULTSORT:Jewish Cemetery, Lodz Jewish cemeteries in Poland Jews and Judaism in Łódź Buildings and structures in Łódź Art Nouveau cemeteries Art Nouveau architecture in Poland Holocaust locations in Poland

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links