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Cemeteries in Lodz
The Old Jewish Cemetery was founded in 1811 on Wesoła Street. Legend has it that a czarist clerk, who had decided to play with the town�s Jews, decided to change the street's name from Smuta/Cmentarna (Sad/Cemetery) to Wesoła (Happy). These former names can be found on older city plans.
Photo: A.Białkowski
What parts of the cemetery survived the war were completely destroyed after the war. Zachodnia Street and apartment blocks were built on its grounds. The cemetery's gate was saved and was later incorporated into the fence surrounding a new cemetery�s entrance on Chryzantem Street.
Photo: A.Białkowski
The New Jewish Cemetery, opened in 1892, today lies between Bracka, Zagajnikowa, Zmienna and Inflancka Streets, and covers over 42 hectares. It is an enclosed space divided into eastern and western parts by an internal wall. The eastern side, which is about two hectares, initially had both a synagogue and a mikva. In 1898, Mina Konstadt�the widow of a well-known industrialist and philanthropist-funded the construction of the funeral house.
Photo: A.Białkowski
The funeral house was designed by Adolf Zeligson. Administrative facilities were added at a later date. The western part of the cemetery is nearly 40 hectares and is where the graves are to be found, of which there are roughly 230,000, including 45,000 victims from the Łódź Ghetto in the so-called Ghetto Field.
The location of one's grave, in contrast to tradition, was dependent on one�s social status and means. Łódź's wealthy and distinguished Jews were buried along the main avenue. Family graves of manufacturers, merchants and bankers were common. The architecture and symbolism of the gravestones included ancient, traditional motifs, but also elements found in Christian cemeteries.
For example, crypt of the Konstadt family's crypt had black marble columns, while the Silberstein crypt alluded to classical motifs. The Rappaport family's mausoleum was a secessionist structure, while the Stiller family employed ancient Egyptian motifs. The above are but a few of the examples of the variety of architectural forms found in the cemetery.
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A particularly important example is the family mausoleum designed by Adolf Zelingson for Izrael Poznański, which takes the form of a raised circle crowned with a copula supported by an imposing colonnade. The interior was ornamented with a Venetian mosaic with a palm motif-the symbol of redemption and abundance.
Photo: A.Białkowski
In this exceptional Jewish cemetery, graves with more traditional ornamentation and symbolism line the main avenue.
Photo: A.Białkowski
During World War II, all the trees in the cemetery were cut down; it was also forbidden to erect stone gravestones. One could only mark graves using cement pillars or iron bed frames. Mass executions also took place on the cemetery's grounds.
Photo: A.Białkowski
It was not until 1980 that it was entered in the national register of historic monuments, and it took another four years until that the Committee for the Protection of the Łódź Jewish Cemetery was appointed.
Photo: A.Białkowski
It is currently being restored, and is now regularly maintained. The Monumentum Judaicum Lodzense Foundation has also been created.
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