The Old Jewish Cemetery (), in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, Poland, is located on a hill between Kalinowszczyzna and Sienna Streets. The cemetery overlooks the Old Town and is entirely surrounded by a high, 17th-century wall. It is located on the site of a former medieval fortress, and was once surrounded by numerous backwaters. Currently, the Old Jewish Cemetery in Lublin provides some of the last surviving physical evidence of the centuries-old presence of Jews in the city.

History

The cemetery was probably founded in 1541, although some sources give a much earlier date. The first written mention of the cemetery dates from 1555, when a privilege was issued to

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 ...

permitting burial in the area. Many distinguished representatives of the Lublin Jewish community are buried there. Many of them have monumental and richly decorated matzevot

headstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...

s (''macewy''), but there are also matzevot without ornaments, which are evidence of modesty. In 1939, the cemetery probably held up to 3,000 matzevot. 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 ...

(

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 1939–45) and the start of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, many of the matzevot were demolished or were used for street paving. The matzevot of several significant figures, however, remain. In the 1980s, the Association for the Preservation of the Jewish Heritage in Lublin (''Towarzystwo Opieki nad Pamiątkami Kultury Żydowskiej'') began to put the cemetery in order and to make a detailed inventory. Between 1988 and 1991 several anti-Semitic acts of vandalism took place, as a result of which 40 further matzevot were destroyed.

Notable interments

* Solomon Luria * Yaakov Yitzchak, known as the "Seer of Lublin" * Jacob Pollak * Shalom Shachna

References

Lublin.EU

Jewish cemeteries of Poland

The Old Jewish Cemetery
sztetl website
TEATRNN Poland

External links

Old Jewish Cemetery photos
Jono David / HaChayim HaYehudim Jewish Photo Library (September 2011)
Kirkuty-Lublin

{{Jews and Judaism in Poland Jewish cemeteries in Poland Jews and Judaism in Lublin Holocaust locations in Poland Cemetery vandalism and desecration