Catalogue of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland

Summary

Jewish cemeteries constitute one of the most valuable sources for our knowledge of the Jewish past in Poland. In order to make information about them more widely available, a project has been initiated to publish information concerning these monuments, collected by those responsible for recording the location and contents of these cemeteries and preserving them, where possible. It will include not only locations where tombstones and cemetery buildings have been preserved, but also information on cemeteries to be found only in archives, or more frequently simply preserved in human memory. In the first instance, we will concentrate on selected provinces, with the goal of putting together as a catalogue the research in archives and in the field.

The contents will be organised geographically, with headings referring to places in which a cemetery is or was located. Each section will provide information concerning the history of the Jews in that area. This will include an account of the Jewish Commune (Kahal), and its buildings which form part of the urban lay-out. It will also discuss the question of the synagogue council, the ghetto and restricted Jewish areas. The bulk of the information will, of course, concern the cemetery. Its history will be recorded, as well as the particular characteristics of its lay-out, buildings, cemetery components and grave stones (matsevot). The extent of this information will depend on the state of preservation of individual cemeteries. Gravestones with features of exceptional aesthetic or historic value will be reproduced. The authors wish to provide a complete picture of Jewish cemetery art, with its specific regional characteristics, a result of the differing levels of assimilation and acculturation under the different partitioning powers. This can clearly be seen in the differences in form and content of tombstones in the eastern and western regions of Poland.

The catalogue will be preceded by an introduction outlining the history of the Jews in Poland, with particular reference to facts concerning the problem of cemeteries and Jewish sepulchral art, emphasising characteristics peculiar to the different partitions. The project will be financed by the State and conducted under the aegis of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its authors aim to compile the catalogue by 1990 and publish it shortly thereafter.