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The
Łódz
Cemetery |
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 Next
we visited the largest
Jewish cemetery in Europe,
known for its huge cemetery
size --- the
Łódz
Cemetery
. The cemetery was built in
1892 with an initial
donation of 10.5 hectares of
land donated by Izrael
Poznanski. The present size
of the cemetery is 42.5
hectares. It continues to
function as a Jewish burial
site.
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Right
opposite the cemetery was a
funeral home, called Beit
Tahara (Funeral Home). It
was supposedly used to clean
and prepare bodies and of
the dead to prepare for
burial. In the Jewish
culture, bodies were not
allowed to be mummified, or
cremated. This funeral home
was founded by Mina
Dobrzynska Konsztat in 1896,
and construction work was
completed in 1898.
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I found some interesting
information about the Ghetto
Field we saw at this cemetery:
“After the German occupation
in 1939, the cemetery became
part of the eastern section
of the enclosed
Łódz
ghetto. A total of about
200,000 Jews were
incarcerated in the ghetto.
Between 1940 and 1944,
approximately 43,000 burials
took place in the spare part
of the cemetery that became
known as the Pole Gettowe or
Ghetto Field. Many of those
interred were victims of
starvation, cold and disease
(especially typhus); they
included Jews from Germany,
Austria, Czechoslovakia and
Luxembourg, who were
transported to the ghetto in
1941, as well as Roma
(Gypsies) who died in the
Gypsy Camp in the ghetto.
The cemetery was the site of
mass executions of Jews,
Roma and non-Jewish Poles:
the graves of the Polish
scouts and soldiers of the
Home Army are found there.
The Germans forbade the use
of stone grave markers, so
burial sites were marked
with metal bed frames or low
cement posts. After the
ghetto was liquidated in
August 1944, about 830 Jews
were left as a clean-up
crew. They were forced to
dig large holes for their
own graves near the cemetery
wall. The Nazis did not have
enough time to kill them,
and the empty holes have
been left as a remembrance.”
Source:
The New Cemetery in Lodz.
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Ghetto field |
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The Poznanski mausoleum
Izrael Poznanski (1833-1900)
was a philanthropist,
textile magnate and the most
successful Jewish
industrialist in
Łódz
The
domed mausoleum of Izrael
and Eleonora Hertz Poznanski
is the largest Jewish
tombstone in the world.
Restored in 1993, the
mausoleum has mosaic
covering the inside of the
dome.
Source:
Wikipedia -- Izrael
Poznanski
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Flat gravestones
Flat gravestones neatly
arranged in rows are graves
of Jews who died in the
ghetto from natural causes
such as diseases and
starvation. Each person
received a plot and an
identification number, which
gave respect to those who
died in the ghetto during
the Nazis regime.
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The Monument
In 1956, a monument was
built by Muszko in memory of
the victims of the Lodz
ghetto in this cemetery.
The main features of this
monument are its smooth
obelisk, a tall and thin, with four-sided
tapering monument which ends
in a pyramidal top, usually
made of a single piece of
stone; and
a menorah,
one of
the oldest symbols of the
Jewish people. Another
feature is the
broken oak tree with leaves
stemming from the tree which
symbolizes death of that
person before her or his
“time,” or at a young age.
It's hard to imagine how
much people put thought into
the significance of symbols.
Many of the graves in this
cemetery have architectural
and symbolic significance.
Besides the features of a
broken oak tree, we also saw
features of a broken candle
among three candles, all
which symbolize death at a
young age.
A menorah
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Trenches
Here you can see there are
three empty trenches. Before
the Lodz ghetto was
liquidated, the Nazis forced
the Jews to dig their own
‘graves.’ However,
immediately after the
trenches were dug, the
Soviets invaded the ghetto,
and all the Nazis soldiers
could think about were
saving their own lives, and
fled before having the
chance to kill the Jews or
use these trenches as the
Jews’ mass grave. The
trenches are still there
today
Personal Reflection
It
was just our first day
and second site visit
after the Broken Heart
monument….yet to me I
felt so overwhelmed with
what I have learned of
this place. The
Łódz
cemetery
contains approximately
250,000 graves.
I
was awed the sheer
number of people who
died --- in the ghetto,
in trenches, in mass
graves, and perhaps just
anywhere on the ground
we walked on in the
cemetery.
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I felt a bit
uneasy walking on this
cemetery, knowing that
many people were killed
mercilessly during the
Holocaust and thrown in
mass graves. Some of
the graves were in rows,
with fresh flowers in
front of the graves;
while some were in the
woods, among the
undergrowth. Those
without flowers...I am
sure they are not
forgotten….just that
MAYBE...they do not have
any body (relatives)
left to bring them fresh
flowers every day….
~ Pauline Chhooi
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Sources:
The
Łódz
Shtetlinks.
The New Cemetery in
Łódz
Wikipedia -- Izrael
Poznanski |
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