Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Central and Eastern Europe

A Comparative Study
I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O U N C I L O N M O N U M E N T S A N D S I T E S
C O N S E I L I N T E R N AT I O N A L D E S M O N U M E N T S E T D E S S I T E S
CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE MONUMENTOS Y SITIOS
МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ СОВЕТ ПО ВОПРОСАМ ПАМЯТНИКОВ И ДОСТОПРИМЕЧАТЕЛЬНЫХ МЕСТ

Rudolf Klein

Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries

of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Central and Eastern Europe
A Comparative Study

BEITRÄGE ZUR DENKMALPFLEGE IN BERLIN 49

ICOMOS ∙ HEFTE DES DEUTSCHEN NATIONALKOMITEES LXVI
ICOMOS ∙ JOURNALS OF THE GERMAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE LXVI
ICOMOS ∙ C A H I E R S D U COMI T É NAT I ONAL AL L E MAND LXVI
ICOMOS – HEFTE DES DEUTSCHEN NATIONALKOMITEES
ICOMOS – JOURNALS OF THE GERMAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
HERAUSGEGEBEN VOM / PUBLISHED BY NATIONALKOMITEE DER BUNDESREPUBLIK
DEUTSCHLAND
Präsident / President: Prof. Dr. Jörg Haspel
Vizepräsident / Vice President: Dr. Christoph Machat
Generalsekretär / Secretary General: Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brandt
Geschäftsstelle / Office: Nicolaihaus, Brüderstraße 13, D-10178 Berlin
Tel.: +49(0)30 80493 100, Fax: +49(0)30 80493 120, E-Mail: icomos@icomos.de, Internet: www.icomos.de

BEITRÄGE ZUR DENKMALPFLEGE IN BERLIN

HERAUSGEGEBEN VOM / PUBLISHED BY LANDESDENKMALAMT BERLIN
Landeskonservator und Direktor / State Curator and Director of Landesdenkmalamt Berlin: Prof. Dr. Jörg Haspel
Stellvertretende Landeskonservatorin / Deputy State Curator of Landesdenkmalamt Berlin: Dr. Karin Wagner
Altes Stadthaus, Klosterstraße 47, D-10179 Berlin
Tel.: +49(0)30 90259 3601, Fax: +49(0)30 90259 3700, E-Mail: landesdenkmalamt@lda.berlin.de, Internet: www.berlin.de/landesdenkmalamt

Gedruckt mit freundlicher Unterstützung durch die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung

für Kultur und Medien aufgrund eines Beschlusses des Deutschen Bundestages

Front Cover: Honorary lane at the Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery, photo Rudolf Klein
Back Cover: Detail from the Adler family tomb at the Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest, photo Rudolf Klein
The vast majority of images were taken by: Rudolf Klein
The ones sourced from others include:
02.02, 02.03 – Dr. David A. Purger, Stanford, California
02.13-02.15 – Parco Archeologico dell’Appia Antica - MIBACT, Ufficio Direzione, Rome
17.02. – Eli Tauber, Sarajevo
26.08-26.22; 27.06-27.25; 28.01-28.21 – Dr. Anca Raluca Majaru, Bucharest

Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Central and Eastern Europe
A Comparative Study

Coordination: Gesine Sturm (Landesdenkmalamt Berlin)

Editorial Staff: Dr. John Ziesemer (ICOMOS Deutschland), Gesine Sturm (Landesdenkmalamt Berlin)
Copy editing: Dr. John Ziesemer (ICOMOS Deutschland), Cody Inglis (Phoenix, Arizona)
Translations from German to English of the Welcome Address and Editorial: EnergyTranslation
Design: Daniel Tesanovic
Printed by: Gutenberg Beuys Feindruckerei GmbH

1st Edition 2018

© ICOMOS, Nationalkomitee der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, © Landesdenkmalamt Berlin, © Rudolf Klein, © Michael Imhof Verlag

All rights reserved.

Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Nachdruck, auch auszugsweise, sowie Verbreitung durch Film, Funk und Fernsehen,
durch fotomechanische Wiedergabe, Tonträger und Datenverbreitungssysteme jeglicher Art nur mit schriftlicher Genehmigung
der Herausgeber.

Production and distribution:

Michael Imhof Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Stettiner Straße 25, D-36100 Petersberg
Tel.: +49(0)661 2919166-0, Fax: +49(0)661 2919166-9, E-Mail: info@imhof-verlag.de, Internet: www.imhof-verlag.com

Beiträge zur Denkmalpflege in Berlin 49

ICOMOS Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees LXVI
ISBN 978-3-7319-0752-7
6 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

Table of Contents

Welcome Address 8

Editorial 10

Acknowledgements 14

PART ONE – Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art 16

01 Introduction 18

02 A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 22

03 Short History of Metorpolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Europe 50

04 Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries 52

05 The Impact of Jewish Religious Reform on Cemeteries 64

06 Topography, Layout and Urban Context, Extensions, Layout Changes, Relocations,

and the Orientation of Gravestones 72

07 Segregation Inside the Cemetery – Gender, Religious, Social – and Its Morphological Consequences 80

08 Morphology of Cemeteries – Paths, Edges, Nodes, Districts and Landmarks, Grouping of Tombs 86

09 Gates, Fences, Edifices (Entrance Buildings, Ceremonial Halls and Tahara Houses,
and Common Facilities), and Other Space-Modulating Elements – Pergolas, Balusters,
Stairs, and Changes of the Ground Level 94

10 Collective Monuments and Memorials 104

11 Genizot, Buried Torah Scrolls, Benches, Wells, Storages Among Gravestones,

Gravel Holders, Row Indicators, Temporary Markers 110

12 Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time 116

13 Stylistic Considerations 134

14 Symbols and Other Representations 140

15 Inscription of Names 148

16 Eulogies (Family Grief, Social Contribution, Accomplishment), Visual References to Social Achievement 152

17 Typography (Hebrew; Roman, Gothic, or Cyrillic Letters; Versal, Italic, Serif, or Sans Serif;
Initials and Decorations), Inscriptions Carved or in Relief 156

18 Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity 160

19 Destructions at European Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries 174

On page 2
Graves at the Orthodox
Jewish Cemetery
in Bratislava
Table of Contents 7

PART TWO – The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe 180

General Overview of the Researched Cemeteries 182

20 The Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade 184

21 The Sephardi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade 192

22 The Berlin-Weißensee Jewish Cemetery 202

23 The Bratislava Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Žižková Street 218

24 The Bucharest Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery, Known as the Philanthropy Cemetery 230

25 The Bucharest Sephardi Jewish Cemetery 242

26 The Bucharest New Jewish Cemetery, Giurgiului Cemetery 252

27 The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 260

28 The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 276

29 The New Jewish Cemetery in Cracow, Miodowa Street 288

30 The Łódź New Jewish Cemetery in Zmienna/Bracka Street 296

31 The Prague New Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov 308

32 The Jewish Cemetery in Saint Petersburg – Often Called the Preobrazhenskoye 316

33 The Sephardic Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo, Old Jewish Cemetery of Sarajevo 326

34 The Jewish part of the Central Cemetery in Sofia 334

35 The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 342

36 The New Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna 358

37 The Užupis Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius 368

38 The Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street, Warsaw 376

39 The Old Jewish Cemetery in Wrocław in Ślężna Street 386

40 The Jewish Section of the Mirogoj Central Cemetery in Zagreb 394

Summary 402

Appendix 420

Glossary 432

Bibliography 446

About the Author 455

On page 5
Gate between the forecourt and
the cemetery proper at the Bracka
Street Jewish Cemetery in Łódź
8 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Grußwort
Die moderne Metropole Berlin versteht sich als weltof-
fen, vielfältig und traditionsreich. Schutz und Pflege des
kulturellen Erbes sind nicht zuletzt dem friedlichen Zu-
sammenleben von Menschen unterschiedlicher Kulturen
und Religionen verpflichtet. Ein Indikator für Pluralismus
und Toleranz ist der Umgang mit dem religiös geprägten
Erbe. Historische Sakralbauten, wie Kirchen, Synago-
gen, Moscheen oder andere kultisch-religiös genutzte
Bauwerke, gehören ebenso dazu wie Bau- und Kunst-
zeugnisse der Sepulkralkultur, wie Friedhöfe, Grabmäler
und sonstige Stätten des Totengedenkens.
Berlin kann sich glücklich schätzen, dass die Stadt über
eine unerhört reiche und vielfältige historische Fried-
hofslandschaft verfügt. In der großen Mehrheit gehen
die überlieferten Friedhofs- und Grabdenkmäler zurück
auf das 19. Jahrhundert, als in der rasch wachsenden
Metropole weitflächige Begräbnisplätze in kommunaler
oder konfessioneller Regie neu entstanden. Sie bezeu-
gen die Entwicklung Berlins von der kleinen, christlich
geprägten Doppelstadt (bestehend aus Berlin und Kölln)
zur religiös toleranten Groß- und Hauptstadt
Zu den Merkwürdigkeiten der Berliner Friedhofsdenk-
malpflege zählt der Bestand jüdischer Grabsteine und
Bestattungsorte, die bis ins Mittelalter zurückreichen.
Sie dokumentieren den hervorragenden Beitrag jüdischer
Kultur für die Berliner Stadtgeschichte, aber sie bezeu-
gen mittelbar in Fehlstellen, Fragmentierungen oder
Ortsveränderungen auch Unterdrückung, Verfolgung,
ja Vernichtung, denen jüdische Mitbürger im Laufe der
Jahrhunderte immer wieder ausgesetzt waren.
Der bis 1827 als Begräbnisplatz genutzte und von der
Gestapo zerstörte jüdische Friedhof an der Großen Ham-
burger Straße, der als Grünanlage überliefert ist, sowie
der 1827 eröffnete und seit 1984 schrittweise hergerich-
tete Jüdische Friedhof an der Schönhauser Allee, legen
eindrucksvoll Zeugnis ab von der Emanzipation und
Assimilation jüdischer Mitbürger im 18. und 19. Jahr-
hundert. Mit einer Fläche von mehr als 40 Hektar und
über 115.000 Grabstellen bietet aber der seit 1880 bis
heute als Bestattungsort genutzte Jüdische Friedhof Wei-
ßensee einen unvergleichlichen Spiegel der historischen
Bedeutung und Stellung jüdischer Kultur und jüdischen
Lebens für Berlin. Die Anlage gilt als eine der größten
und bestüberlieferten jüdischen Nekropolen in Europa
überhaupt und vermittelt Besuchern einen einmaligen
Einblick in die jüdische Vergangenheit der Stadt vor der
systematisch und europaweit von Berlin aus betriebenen
Judenverfolgung im Nationalsozialismus.
Der Berliner Senat hat vor dem Hintergrund seiner histori-
schen Verantwortung schon vor Jahren gerne die Initiative
der Jüdischen Gemeinde von Berlin und von internationalen
Experten aufgegriffen, den Jüdischen Friedhof Weißensee
für die Welterbeliste der UNESCO vorzuschlagen. Unter-
stützt durch Fördermittel der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
und des Landes Berlin sowie durch Denkmalprogramme
von dritter Seite konnten nicht nur aufwändige Restaurie-
rungs- und Konservierungsarbeiten an dem Bau- und Gar-
tendenkmal ausgeführt werden, sondern im Verbund mit
dem Centrum Judaicum, der Technischen Universität Ber-
lin und externen Experten wurde auch die systematische
Erfassung und Aufarbeitung dieser außergewöhnlichen
Denkmalanlage vorangetrieben.
Auf Empfehlung des 2013/2014 von der Ständigen Kon-
ferenz der Kultusminister der Deutschen Bundesländer
einberufenen internationalen Fachbeirats zur Fortschrei-
bung der Anmeldeliste der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
(Tentativliste) für das UNESCO-Welterbeliste und bera-
ten von Experten des Internationalen Denkmalrats ICO-
MOS hat das Landesdenkmalamt Berlin die Möglichkeit
geprüft, den Jüdischen Friedhof Berlin-Weißensee nicht
als deutsche Einzelnominierung, sondern als Teilbeitrag
im Rahmen einer internationalen seriellen Welterbeno-
minierung zu qualifizieren. Die vorliegende vergleichen-
de Studie von Prof. Dr. Rudolf Klein (Budapest) über
jüdische Großstadtfriedhöfe des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts
in Mittel- und Osteuropa arbeitet Welterbequalitäten der
jüdischen Nekropole in Berlin-Weißensee heraus und
zeigt zugleich Möglichkeiten einer multinationalen Ko-
operation und seriellen Welterbenominierung mit öst-
lichen Nachbarstaaten Deutschlands auf. In jedem Fall
liefert der von Rudolf Klein sorgfältig analysierte und
ausgezeichnet mit Bildmaterial illustrierte Friedhofs-
und Grabmalbestand eine Vorstellung von dem Reichtum
jüdischer Sepulkralkultur, der in den postsozialistischen
Ländern Europas überliefert ist.
Ich freue mich, dass es dem Autor und den Herausge-
bern gelungen ist, diese profunde Zusammenschau von
20 international bedeutenden Friedhöfen aus Mittel- und
Osteuropa rechtzeitig zum Europäischen Kulturerbejahr
(European Year of Cultural Heritage) 2018 zu publizieren
und anlässlich des European Cultural Heritage Summit
2018 in Berlin präsentieren zu können. Europa ist Sinn-
bild für „Austausch und Bewegung“ mit einem dichten
Netz vielfältiger historischer Beziehungen und kultureller
Wechselwirkungen. Die jüdischen Friedhöfe mittel- und
osteuropäischer Großstädte stehen exemplarisch für ein
gemeinsames kulturelles Erbe, das es über die aktuelle
Kampagne des Europäischen Kulturerbejahres hinaus zu
erhalten und vermitteln gilt.
Dr. Klaus Lederer
Bürgermeister und Senator für Kultur und Europa Berlin
Greetings
Welcome Address
The modern metropolis of Berlin is considered cosmo-
politan, diverse, and rich in tradtion. Protecting and car-
ing for cultural heritage depends not least on the peace-
ful coexistence of people from different cultures and
religions. An indicator of pluralism and tolerance is the
social interaction with religious heritage. Historic sa-
cred buildings such as churches, synagogues, mosques,
or other buildings used for ritual and religious activities
form part of this, along with architectural and artistic tes-
timonies to sepulchral culture, such as cemeteries, tombs,
and other sites for commemorating death.
Berlin can count itself lucky that it has an incredibly rich and
diverse historic cemetery landscape. In the vast majority, the
preserved cemetery and funerary monuments date back to
the 19th century, when extensive burial grounds were laid
out in the rapidly growing metropolis at the instigation of
the city and of the religious communities. They testify to the
development of Berlin from a small Christian ‘double town’
(consisting of Berlin and Kölln), to a religiously tolerant
metropolitan capital city.
The existence of Jewish gravestones and burial sites which
stretch back to the Middle Ages rank among the curios-
ities of Berlin’s cemetery heritage conservation. They
document the valuable contribution of Jewish culture to
Berlin’s city history, but they indirectly bear witness to
fragmentations, expulsions, oppression, persecutions, and
indeed annihilation, to which Jewish Berliners were re-
peatedly subjected to over the centuries.
Both the Jewish cemetery on Große Hamburger Straße,
used as a burial ground until 1827 and destroyed by the
Gestapo, which has been preserved as a green space,
as well as the Jewish cemetery on Schönhauser Allee,
which was opened in 1827 and since 1984 has been grad-
ually renovated, are impressive witnesses of the emanci-
pation and assimilation of fellow Jewish citizens in the
18th and 19th centuries. With an area of more than 40
hectares and over 115,000 graves, the Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery, which since 1880 and to this day has been
used as a burial place, offers an incomparable reflection
of the historical importance and position that Jewish
culture and Jewish life have for Berlin. The site is con-
sidered one of the largest and best preserved Jewish ne-
cropolises in Europe and provides visitors with a unique
insight into the city’s Jewish past before the systematic
and Europe-wide persecution of the Jews practised from
Berlin during National Socialism.
Given its historical responsibility, years ago Berlin’s Sen-
ate gladly embraced the initiative of Berlin’s Jewish com-
9
munity and international experts to propose the Weißen-
see Jewish Cemetery for UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Funded by the Federal Republic of Germany and the State
of Berlin as well as by third-party heritage conservation
programmes, complex restoration and conservation works
could be carried out at this listed architectural and garden
monument. Furthermore, a systematic inventory and doc-
umentation of this outstanding heritage site was promoted
in co-operation with the Centrum Judaicum, the Technical
University of Berlin, and external experts.
Upon the recommendation of the 2013/2014 internation-
al advisory board convened by the Standing Conference
of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the
Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany regarding
the updating of the tentative list of the Federal Republic
of Germany for the UNESCO World Heritage List, and
advised by experts of the International Council on Mon-
uments and Sites (ICOMOS), the Berlin Heritage Con-
servation Authority examined the possibility to propose
Berlin’s Weißensee Jewish Cemetery not as a single
German nomination, but as part of an international seri-
al World Heritage nomination. The current comparative
study by Prof. Rudolf Klein (Budapest) on 19th and 20th
century metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Central and
Eastern Europe presents in detail the World Heritage cal-
ibre of the Jewish necropolis in Berlin-Weißensee and
at the same time points out the potential for a multina-
tional cooperation and serial World Heritage nomination
with Germany’s eastern neighbouring countries. In any
case, Rudolf Klein’s carefully analysed and excellently
illustrated cemetery and tomb portfolio provides a pic-
ture of the rich sepulchral culture preserved in Europe’s
post-socialist countries.
I am pleased that the author and the editors managed to
publish this profound synopsis of 20 internationally im-
portant cemeteries from Central and Eastern Europe in
time for the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 and
are able to present it during the European Cultural Heritage
Summit 2018 in Berlin. Europe is a symbol of ‘exchange
and movement’, with a dense network of diverse historical
links and cultural interactions. The Jewish cemeteries of
Central and Eastern Europe’s major cities are exemplary
of a common cultural heritage which should be preserved
and communicated beyond the current European Year of
Cultural Heritage campaign.
Dr. Klaus Lederer
Berlin Mayor and Senator for Culture and Europe
10 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Editorial
Mit der vorliegenden gemeinsamen Veröffentlichung set-
zen ICOMOS Deutschland und das Landesdenkmalamt
Berlin die vor über zehn Jahren aufgenommene Zusam-
menarbeit auf dem Gebiet der Erforschung, Erhaltung und
Erschließung jüdischer Friedhofskultur in Europa fort. Die
Dokumentation des internationalen Expertentreffens, das an-
lässlich des Internationalen Denkmaltags von ICOMOS im
April 2008 in Weißensee stattfand, und gemeinsam mit der
Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin, der Stiftung Neue Synagoge
Berlin - Centrum Judaicum und der Technischen Universität
Berlin organisiert und ausgewertet wurde, sowie der 2011 in
der Reihe ICOMOS - Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees
erschienene Tagungsband „Jüdische Friedhöfe und Bestat-
tungskultur in Europa / Jewish Cemeteries and Burial Cul-
ture in Europe“ stehen für diese bewährte interdisziplinäre
und internationale Kooperation.
Die nunmehr von Rudolf Klein fertiggestellte und von ICO-
MOS Deutschland und dem Landesdenkmalamt Berlin ge-
meinsam editierte, internationale Vergleichsstudie „Jüdische
Großstadtfriedhöfe des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts in Mittel-
und Osteuropa / Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th
and 20th Century in Central and Eastern Europe“ entstand
im Auftrag des Landesdenkmalamts Berlin auf Empfehlung
des europäischen Expertentreffens „Jüdische Friedhöfe in
Mittel- und Osteuropa – Welterbevorschläge / Jewish Ceme-
teries in Central and Eastern Europe – World Heritage Pro-
posals“ vom April 2013 in Berlin und des Abschlussberichts
des Internationalen Fachbeirates der deutschen Kultusminis-
terkonferenz zur Fortschreibung der deutschen Tentativliste
für das UNESCO-Welterbe vom April 2014. Beide hatten auf
das Erfordernis grenzüberschreitender Kooperationsprojekte
zur Erschließung des Welterbepotentials jüngerer jüdischer
Friedhofskultur in Europa hingewiesen.
Sepulkralkultur und ICOMOS
Grabmäler und Friedhöfe spielen in der Denkmalpflege seit
jeher eine zentrale Rolle als Kulturgut. Das gilt auch für den
Internationalen Denkmalrat ICOMOS, zumal ICOMOS die
UNESCO und das Welterbekomitee in Fachfragen berät
und Sakralbauten oder religiöse Orte, aber auch Altstädte
und Kulturlandschaften auf der Welterbeliste häufig durch
historische Zeugnisse der Grabmalkunst und des Bestat-
tungswesens charakterisiert sind. Dazu zählen nicht zuletzt
jüdische Friedhöfe, die als Teil von UNESCO-Welterbestät-
ten verzeichnet sind, wie in den Altstädten von Krakau, Prag
und Trebic oder in den Medinas von Essaouira, Marrakesch
und Meknes sowie in den Kulturlandschaften Wachau und
der Tokaier Weinregion.
In den seit 2000 erscheinenden Weltschadensberichten
„HeIn den seit 2000 erscheinenden Weltschadensberichten
„Heritage at Risk“, die das Deutsche Nationalkomitee feder-
führend im Auftrag von ICOMOS International herausgege-
ben hat, werden gefährdete Friedhöfe und Grabmäler – etwa
die Zerstörung des armenischen Friedhofs in Djulfa (Aser-
baidschan) – ebenso thematisiert wie auch in Spezialreporten
über Schadensbilanzen von Kriegs- und Naturkatastrophen
weltweit. Des Weiteren sind Zeugnisse der Sepulkral- und
Bestattungskultur im Einzelfall auch Gegenstand der For-
schungen und Beratungen der Internationalen Wissenschaft-
lichen Komitees von ICOMOS, wie des Gartendenkmal-
komitees „International Scientific Committee on Cultural
Landscapes (ISCCL)“ oder des Komitees gegen Verwitte-
rung und Verfall von Natur- und Kunststeinen „International
Scientific Committee on Stone (ISCS)“. Und unter dem Titel
„Der bürgerliche Tod. Städtische Bestattungskultur von der
Aufklärung bis zum frühen 20. Jahrhundert / Urban Burial
Culture from the Enlightenment to the Early 20th Century“
hat ICOMOS bereits 2007 in den Heften des Deutschen Na-
tionalkomitees eine Sammeldarstellung aktueller Aufgaben
der Friedhofsdenkmalpflege in Europa vorgelegt.
Berliner Friedhofsdenkmalpflege
und jüdisches Erbe
In Berlin sind der Schutz und die Pflege von Friedhöfen
und Grabmälern seit Jahrzehnten ein wichtiges Anliegen
der Bau- und Gartenkonservatoren sowie der Archäologie.
Die Inventarisierung, Restaurierung und Pflege historischer
Begräbnisplätze und Grabmäler war bereits vor dem Mau-
erfall 1989/90 ein Spezialthema der in Ost und West für das
kulturelle Erbe zuständigen Denkmalbehörden. In Ostberlin
erfolgte die Friedhofsdenkmalpflege auf der Grundlage des
Denkmalgesetzes der DDR von 1975 vor allem durch das
zentrale Institut für Denkmalpflege der DDR und unter dem
Inspektor für Denkmalpflege beim (Ost-)Berliner Magis-
trat; in den Westsektoren waren auf der rechtlichen Basis
des 1977 verabschiedeten (West-)Berliner Denkmalge-
setzes eine Fachgruppe der Gartendenkmalpflege und die
Stabsstelle des Landeskonservators sowie im Bedarfsfalls
die archäologische Denkmalpflege aktiv. Unterstützung fan-
den die Denkmalämter bereits in den 1980er Jahren durch
bürgerschaftliche Initiativen und ehrenamtliche Akteure
zur Rettung der Berliner Sepulkralkultur, etwa durch Grün-
dung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Historische Kirchhöfe und
Friedhöfe Berlin e.V. im Westen oder aus den Reihen des
Kulturbundes der DDR im Osten. Neben Friedhofsanlagen
in kommunaler und kirchlicher Regie waren auch jüdische
Begräbnisplätze und Grabmäler schon früh Gegenstand der
Berliner Friedhofsdenkmalpflege.
Für die Westberliner Denkmalpflege bildeten die mittel-
alterlichen Grabsteine des Spandauer Judenkiewer, die in
der Frühen Neuzeit in der Zitadelle Spandau verbaut und
im Zuge von archäologischen Grabungen und historischen
Bauforschungen im 20. Jahrhundert zutage gefördert wor-
den waren, einen Arbeitsschwerpunkt, in den sehr viel
Editorial
später auch der 1955 neu eingeweihte Jüdische Friedhof
Heerstraße in Charlottenburg einbezogen wurde. Im Ost-
teil der Stadt richtete sich ein konservatorisches Augen-
merk auf den im Barock angelegten und in der NS-Zeit
geschändeten Jüdischen Friedhof an der Großen Hambur-
ger Straße in der Spandauer Vorstadt, vor allem aber auf
die Anlagen des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, den Jüdischen
Friedhof an der Schönhauser Allee in Prenzlauer Berg und
den in Weißensee, den man als jüdischen Zentralfriedhof
von Berlin bezeichnen möchte.
Aktuell verzeichnet die für Grünplanung zuständige Senats-
verwaltung auf dem Gebiet des Landes Berlin mehr als 220
genutzte oder geschlossene Begräbnisplatze, von denen rund
ein Drittel ganz oder teilweise als Gartendenkmal oder Denk-
malbereich in die Berliner Denkmalliste eingetragen sind.
Das 2007 vom Landesdenkmalamt in der Reihe „Beiträge
zur Denkmalpflege in Berlin“ als Band 27 herausgegebene
Gattungsinventar „Friedhöfe. Gartendenkmale in Berlin“
gibt einen stadtweiten Überblick über alle als Gartendenk-
male geschützten Friedhöfe; untergegangene, aber archäo-
logisch nachweisbare Kirch- und Friedhöfe werden in der
Regel in Kurzform im „Archäologischen Jahrbuch für Berlin
und Brandenburg“ oder im „Verzeichnis der Berliner archäo-
logischen Fundstellen und Funde“ vorgestellt oder in eigenen
Veröffentlichungen dokumentiert, wie „Der erste katholische
Friedhof Berlins“ in der Reihe des Landesdenkmalamts.
Alle historischen jüdischen Friedhöfe und Grabmäler, die
ermittelt und lokalisiert werden konnten, unterliegen heute
in Berlin denkmalrechtlichen Bestimmungen. Die Erfor-
schung, Erhaltung und Erschließung denkmalgeschützter
jüdischer Begräbnisplätze und Grabstätten hat in der letzten
Generation einen gewaltigen Aufschwung genommen, nicht
zuletzt dank der Unterstützung durch staatliche Fördermit-
tel und Fördermaßnahmen der Bundesregierung und des
Landes Berlin sowie durch Mittel der Deutschen Stiftung
Denkmalschutz und der Deutschen Bundesstiftung Umwelt.
Dabei ist gerade für den Jüdischen Friedhof Weißensee ein
enges und hochkompetentes Netzwerk von Freunden und
Förderern, von wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen und zi-
vilgesellschaftlichen Akteuren entstanden, die die jüdische
Gemeinde zu Berlin und das Landesdenkmalamt Berlin bei
ihren Bemühungen unterstützen.
Die 2006 auf Anregung der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Ber-
lin vom Senat und Abgeordnetenhaus gestartete Welterbe-
initiative für den Jüdischen Friedhof Weißensee, die auch
vom Vorsitzenden des Zentralrats der Juden in Deutsch-
land begrüßt wird, hat sich als ein wichtiger Motivations-
schub für die kontinuierliche Zusammenarbeit von Vertre-
tern jüdischen Lebens in Berlin mit Repräsentanten aus
Politik, Wissenschaft und Kultur sowie mit Partnern aus
Denkmalbehörden und ehrenamtlichem Denkmalengage-
ment erwiesen. Die 2013 vom Landesdenkmalamt und der
Technischen Universität Berlin in der Reihe „Beiträge zur
Denkmalpflege in Berlin“ herausgegebene deutsch-engli-
sche Broschüre „115.628 Berliner. Der Jüdische Friedhof
Weißensee – Dokumentation der flächendeckenden Erfas-
Dr. Karin Wagner
Landesdenkmalamt Berlin
11
sung der Grabstätten / 115,628 Berliners. The Weissensee
Jewish Cemetery – Documentation of the Comprehensive
Survey of the Burial Sites“ bildet gewissermaßen den wis-
senschaftlichen Extrakt der vertiefenden Erfassung, den
die Arbeitsgemeinschaft aus Jüdischer Gemeinde, Cen-
trum Judaicum, Förderverein Jüdischer Friedhof, Techni-
sche Universität und Landesdenkmalamt Berlin über die
Jahre hinweg durchgeführt und ausgewertet hat.
Jüdisches Erbe in Deutschland –
Welterbevorschläge aus Deutschland
Die aktuelle Vorschlagsliste der Bundesrepublik Deutsch-
land für künftige Welterbenominierungen bei der UNESCO
umfasst 16 Positionen, von denen einige bereits eingereicht,
einige auch bereits zurückgestellt sind. Unter den von dem
Internationalen Fachbeirat der Kultusministerkonferenz
empfohlenen Nominierungsvorschlägen repräsentieren drei
die Geschichte und das Erbe jüdischer Kultur in Deutsch-
land, nämlich der interkommunale Verbund der sogenann-
ten SchUM-Städte Speyer, Worms und Mainz mit ihrem
mittelalterlich-aschkenasischen Erbe, das jüdisch-mittelal-
terliche Erbe in der Erfurter Altstadt und der sephardische
Friedhof in Hamburg-Altona. Zwei der drei Vorschläge
umfassen ganz oder in Teilen das Erbe jüdischer Sepulkral-
kultur: die beiden mittelalterlichen Friedhöfe Judensand in
Mainz und Heiliger Sand in Worms als Teil der SchUM-Be-
werbung sowie der knapp zwei Hektar große sogenannte
Portugieserfriedhof in Altona (17.-19. Jahrhundert), der in
Verbindung mit sephardischen Friedhöfen in den Nieder-
landen (Amsterdam) und in der Karibik (Curacao, Surinam,
Barbados) nominiert werden könnte.
Der Jüdische Friedhof Berlin-Weißensee ist auf der bundes-
deutschen Tentativliste für das Welterbe nicht verzeichnet.
Rudolf Klein, dem international renommierten Experten
für jüdische Sakral- und Sepulkralarchitektur aus Buda-
pest, haben die Herausgeber herzlich zu danken, dass er
dem Wunsch der internationalen Berater und Experten nach
einem vergleichenden Überblickswerk nachgekommen ist
und rechtzeitig zum European Cultural Heritage Year 2018
die Darstellung „Jüdische Großstadtfriedhöfe des 19. und
20. Jahrhunderts in Mittel- und Osteuropa / Metropolitan
Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Cent-
ral and Eastern Europe“ zur Veröffentlichung fertiggestellt
hat. Gesine Sturm vom Landesdenkmalamt Berlin und John
Ziesemer vom Berliner ICOMOS-Büro danken wir sehr
herzlich für die sorgfältige redaktionelle Betreuung und das
gewissenhafte Lektorat des Veröffentlichungsprojekts. Die
vorliegende grenzüberschreitende Zusammenschau bedeu-
tender jüdischer Stätten der Totenehrung mag nicht nur den
internationalen Rang der jüdischen Nekropole im Nordos-
ten der deutschen Hauptstadt unterstreichen, sondern soll
auch helfen, mögliche Kooperationen für eine internationa-
le serielle Nominierung von jüdischen Großstadtfriedhöfen
der Moderne in Europa anzubahnen.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Haspel
ICOMOS Deutschland e.V.
12 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Editorial
In this publication, ICOMOS Germany and the Berlin
Heritage Conservation Authority are continuing their work
together, which began over ten years ago, in the fields of
research, conservation, and development of Jewish cem-
etery culture in Europe. Examples of this long-standing
interdisciplinary and international cooperation include
the documentation of the international expert meeting of
April 2008, held in Weißensee to mark ICOMOS’s Inter-
national Day for Monuments and Sites, and organised and
evaluated in partnership with the Jewish Community of
Berlin, the New Synagogue Foundation Berlin – Centrum
Judaicum, and the Technical University of Berlin; and Jü-
dische Friedhöfe und Bestattungskultur in Europa / Jewish
Cemeteries and Burial Culture in Europe, conference pro-
ceedings published in 2011 as part of the ICOMOS series
Journals of the German National Committee.
Now completed by Rudolf Klein and co-edited by ICOMOS
Germany and the Berlin Heritage Conservation Authority, the
international comparative study Jüdische Großstadtfriedhöfe
des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts in Mittel- und Osteuropa / Met-
ropolitan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th and 20th Centuries in
Central and Eastern Europe was commissioned by the Berlin
Monument Authority on the recommendation of the Europe-
an expert meeting held in Berlin in April 2013 on the sub-
ject of Jüdische Friedhöfe in Mittel- und Osteuropa – Welt-
erbevorschläge / Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern
Europe – World Heritage Proposals, and by the final report
of April 2014 of The Standing Conference of the Ministers of
Education and Cultural Affairs regarding the updating of the
German tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage applica-
tions. Both had pointed out the need for transnational cooper-
ative projects to analyse the World Heritage potential of more
recent Jewish cemetery culture in Europe.
Burial Culture and ICOMOS
Being examples of cultural heritage, tombs and cemeter-
ies have always played a central role in the preservation of
historic monuments. This is equally true for ICOMOS (the
International Council on Monuments and Sites), especial-
ly given that ICOMOS advises UNESCO and the World
Heritage Committee on specialist issues, and that World
Heritage sites such as sacred buildings or religious plac-
es, old towns, and cultural landscapes are often character-
ised by historic evidence of funerary art and burial culture.
These frequently include Jewish cemeteries listed as part of
UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as those in the old
towns of Krakow, Prague, and Třebíč or in the Medinas of
Essaouira, Marrakech, and Meknes, as well as in the cultural
landscapes of Wachau and the Tokai wine region.
The German national committee has taken a leading role in
the “Heritage at Risk” reports, which have been published
internationally by ICOMOS since 2000; these list endan-
gered cemeteries and tombs – the destruction of the Arme-
nian cemetery in Djulfa (Azerbaijan), for example – as do
special reports on the damage caused by war and natural
disasters around the world. Moreover, individual accounts
of cemetery and funeral culture have also been the subject
of research and consultation by the ICOMOS International
Scientific Committees, such as the International Scientific
Committee on Cultural Landscapes (ISCCL) or the Inter-
national Scientific Committee on Stone (ISCS). In 2007,
under the title Der bürgerliche Tod. Städtische Bestattungs-
kultur von der Aufklärung bis zum frühen 20. Jahrhundert /
Urban Burial Culture from the Enlightenment to the Early
20th Century and as part of the series Journals of the Ger-
man National Committee, ICOMOS published conference
proceedings dealing with the current work of preserving
historic cemeteries in Europe.
Caring for Berlin’s Cemeteries
and Jewish Heritage
In Berlin, protecting and preserving cemeteries and tombs
have been an important part of the work of building and
garden conservators and archaeologists for decades. Even
before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989/90, cataloguing,
restoring, and preserving historic burial sites and tombs
were a specific subject of interest to the authorities respon-
sible for cultural heritage and monuments in both East and
West. In East Berlin, under the GDR’s 1975 Law on His-
toric Monuments, the preservation of historic cemeteries
was primarily the responsibility of the Central Institute for
Monument Preservation in the GDR and under the Inspec-
tor for Monument Preservation within the (East) Berlin
municipal authorities. In the Western sectors, on the le-
gal basis of the (West) Berlin Law on Protecting Historic
Monuments, passed in 1977, a specialist group of garden
conservators, the Field Office of the State Conservator as
well as – if necessary – the Archaeological Heritage Au-
thority could take action. The monument authorities gained
support in the 1980s from civic initiatives and volunteers
keen to preserve Berlin’s burial culture: in the West, they
set up the Working Group on Historic Churchyards and
Cemeteries of Berlin, for example, while in the East assis-
tance came from the membership of the GDR’s Cultural
Association. From the outset, Jewish tombs and burial sites
were as much part of Berlin’s care for historic cemeteries as
church-run and communal burial facilities.
The medieval gravestones in the Spandau Judenkiewer
represented one major focus of the work of West Berlin’s
Heritage Conservation Authority. These were inserted into
the fabric of Spandau Citadel during the Early Modern Era
and were revealed in the course of archaeological exca-
vations and historic building research in the 20th century.
Much later, the Jewish Cemetery at Heerstrasse in Char-
Editorial
lottenburg, dedicated in 1955, was added. In the East of
the city, conservators were keeping an eye on the Jewish
Cemetery in Große Hamburger Straße in the Spandau-
er Vorstadt. This was laid out in the Baroque period and
desecrated during the Nazi rule. The conservators’ main
concern, however, were the 19th and 20th century facil-
ities, such as the Jewish cemeteries at Schönhauser Allee
in Prenzlauer Berg and in Weißensee. The latter could be
considered Berlin’s Jewish central cemetery.
At the moment, the State of Berlin’s Senate Administration
for Green Planning looks after over 220 burial sites, wheth-
er in use or closed, around a third of which are listed in
whole or in part as protected garden monuments or ensem-
bles in Berlin. The inventory Friedhöfe. Gartendenkmale
in Berlin [Cemeteries. Garden Monuments in Berlin] was
published by the Heritage Conservation Authority in 2007
as volume 27 in the series Beiträge zur Denkmalpflege in
Berlin; it gives a city-wide overview of all the cemeteries
with protected status as garden monuments. Defunct but
archeologically-attested churchyards and cemeteries are
generally introduced in a shortened form in the Archäolo-
gisches Jahrbuch für Berlin und Brandenburg or in the
Verzeichnis der Berliner archäologischen Fundstellen und
Funde, or documented by the Conservation Authority’s
own publications, such as Der erste katholische Friedhof
Berlins [The First Catholic Cemetery in Berlin].
All the historic Jewish cemeteries and tombs that have
been identified and located are now subject to laws on pro-
tecting historic monuments in Berlin. Research, conserva-
tion, and development of protected Jewish burial sites and
graves have seen a significant boost in the last 30 years
or so, thanks not least to support from government subsi-
dies and funding at national and federal levels, as well as
funding from the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz and
the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt. This has created a
close-knit and highly-skilled network of friends and sup-
porters, academic institutes and civic organisations pro-
viding backing especially for the Weißensee Jewish Cem-
etery. They all support the Jewish Community of Berlin
and the Berlin Heritage Conservation Authority in their
endeavours.
The World Heritage initiative for the Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery, launched in 2006 by the Berlin Senate and
House of Representatives at the prompting of the Jewish
Community of Berlin (and also welcomed by the Chair-
man of the Central Committee of the Jews in Germany),
has proved a vital source of motivation for the continued
collaboration between representatives of Jewish life in
Berlin and those from the worlds of politics, academia,
and culture, as well as partners from the monument au-
thorities and volunteers in the field. The bilingual study
115.628 Berliner. Der Jüdische Friedhof Weißensee –
Dokumentation der flächendeckenden Erfassung der
Grabstätten / 115,628 Berliners. The Weissensee Jewish
Cemetery – Documentation of the Comprehensive Sur-
vey of the Burial Sites, published in 2013 by the Berlin
Dr Karin Wagner
Berlin Heritage Conservation Authority
13
Heritage Conservation Authority and the Technical Uni-
versity of Berlin as part of the series Beiträge zur Denk-
malpflege in Berlin could be considered the academic es-
sence of the in-depth research carried out and evaluated
over the years by the working group made up of the Jew-
ish Community, Centrum Judaicum, the Friends of the
Jewish Cemetery, the Technical University and the Berlin
Heritage Conservation Authority.
Jewish Heritage in Germany –
World Heritage Proposals from Germany
There are 16 positions on the Federal Republic of Ger-
many’s current list of potential future UNESCO World
Heritage sites, some of which have already been sub-
mitted, while others have been shelved. Three of the
nominations recommended by the international adviso-
ry board of The Standing Conference of the Ministers
of Education and Cultural Affairs represent the history
and heritage of Jewish culture in Germany. These are
the intercommunal league of the ShUM cities (Speyer,
Worms, and Mainz), and their medieval Ashkenazi her-
itage; the Jewish medieval heritage in the historic centre
of Erfurt; and the Sephardic cemetery in Hamburg-Al-
tona. Two of the three proposals include, in whole or
in part, the heritage of Jewish funerary culture: the two
medieval cemeteries of Judensand in Mainz and Hei-
liger Sand in Worms, which form part of the ShUM ap-
plication; and the almost two-hectare Portuguese Cem-
etery in Altona (17th–19th centuries), which could be
nominated in conjunction with the Sephardic cemeter-
ies in the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and the Caribbean
(Curacao, Surinam, Barbados).
The Jewish Cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee is not in-
cluded in the national German tentative list for World
Heritage status. The editors would like to thank Rudolf
Klein from Budapest, the internationally renowned ex-
pert on Jewish sacred and funerary architecture, for hav-
ing responded to the request of international advisers and
experts for a comparative overview and for having pre-
pared the title Jüdische Großstadtfriedhöfe des 19. und
20. Jahrhunderts in Mittel- und Osteuropa / Metropoli-
tan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th and 20th Centuries in
Central and Eastern Europe for publication in time for
the European Cultural Heritage Year 2018. Our heartfelt
thanks go to Gesine Sturm of the Berlin Heritage Con-
servation Authority and John Ziesemer of the ICOMOS
office in Berlin for their thorough editorial assistance and
conscientious copy editing of the text. Our hope is that
this cross-border assessment of significant Jewish burial
grounds will not only emphasise the international status
of the Jewish necropolis in North-Eastern Berlin, but
also help to pave the way for potential cooperation on
an international serial nomination of Jewish metropolitan
cemeteries of the modern era in Europe.
Prof. Dr Jörg Haspel
ICOMOS Germany
Acknowledgements 15

On the oposite page

A group of obelisk-type
Acknowledgements graves, Neolog Jewish
Cemetery, Bratislava

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who con-

tributed to this work, first and foremost to Professor Jörg
Haspel, head of the Berlin Heritage Conservation Author-
ity, who entrusted me with this task, and to Gesine Sturm
(also Berlin Heritage Conservation Authority) who helped
me in the organisation of all tasks related to this project.
I would like to thank my wife, Maria Klein-László for
joining me on my numerous trips and sharing with me
the burden of taking photographs. I owe similar thanks
to my former doctoral student Anca Raluca Majaru for
collaborating in the research on Bucharest’s Jewish cem-
eteries, and to Felicia Waldmann (Bucharest) for facil-
itating my investigation in the same city. I am indebted
to Alla Sokolova (St. Petersburg), Eleonora Bergmann
and Witold Wrzosinski (Warsaw), Elko Hazan (Sofia),
Eli Tauber (Sarajevo), Vuk Dautović (Belgrade), Ma-
roš Borsky (Bratislava), Ivan Čerešnješ (Jerusalem), Bill
Gross and Anna Szalai (Tel Aviv), Catharine Szántó (Bu-
dapest and Paris), Ruth Ellen Gruber (Umbria), and Éva
Lovra (Budapest-Bačka Topola) for their ideas regarding
my research and for reviewing parts of the manuscript.
Last, but not least, I am grateful to John Ziesemer (Berlin)
and Cody Inglis (Phoenix, Arizona), who tirelessly edit-
ed my English and provided me with useful suggestions
regarding the elaboration of ideas.

Rudolf Klein

On next page
Hand-written texts in
Hebrew on a Chassidic
rabbi’s grave at the
Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
in Bratislava
PART ONE

Aspects of
19th and 20th Century
Jewish Funerary Art

Traditional Jewish cemeteries are like immense pages of
old chronicles or the Scripture, handwritten on the soil
with gravestones as letters and lanes as background, dotted
with ritual buildings and framed by long walls. The nar-
row paths between the rows of Jewish matzevot are remi-
niscent of the white of parchment between the tight rows
of letters. The strict rhythm of gravestones resembles the
sequence of Hebrew letters of the Scripture without space
between the words, as if pressed together to save material
and make the text even more compact. Buildings of the
cemetery, beith taharot, later ceremonial buildings too, are
traditionally small and excluded from the continuity of the
sea of letters like manuscript illuminations.
However, it is not just the entirety of a Jewish cemetery
that resembles the Scripture: each and every traditional
Jewish matzeva is also related to the Scripture. Lengthy
eulogies carved in beautiful letters underline the virtues
of the deceased, his piety, God-fearing attitude, knowl-
edge of the Torah and the entirety of Jewish heritage,
or her kindness, generosity, and devotion to the family,
etc. This resemblance between the Jewish cemetery and
the Book was probably strongest in the medieval peri-
od, when matzevot most often only contained text. Nev-
ertheless, through Antiquity and modernity, Jewish or
non-Jewish symbols were/are present on Jewish grave-
stones beside letters, and thus were/are also part of the
‘text’, of the communication between the deceased on the
one hand, and his or her relatives and friends—as well as
posterity—on the other.
Moreover, the layout of Jewish burial places, the shapes
and materials of the graves, their mutual relationships, the
content and language of inscriptions, their typography,
symbols and other decorative elements, the garden ele-
ments (if available), as well as the dialogue with the gen-
tile environment, all can be interpreted as text, often with
interwoven commentaries ‘written’ by the People of the
01.01
A Judean lion holds the
Book, Sephardi Jewish
Cemetery, Belgrade
CHAPTER 01
Introduction
Book, telling a vivid story of Jewish communal life during
the past three millennia. Aside from synagogues, Jewish
cemeteries offer the most substantial material evidence of
once vivid Jewish life in Europe before the Shoa.
Jewish scholarship usually concentrates on cemeteries
before the Emancipation as they appear to be clearer and
more compact from a Judaic point of view. 19th century
Jewish burial places, on the other hand, are often consid-
ered to be unclear, assimilated, and hybrid, not really wor-
thy of attention of Jewish studies. The other professions
involved in cemeteries, such as art history, architecture,
monument preservation, and cultural history are more tol-
erant vis-à-vis 19th century Jewish cemeteries, but they
don’t reach out to the entirety of this genre. This book
takes the risk of an inter/multi-disciplinary approach and
attempts to involve as many disciplines as possible in the
research and evaluation of modern metropolitan Jewish
burial places.
Unlike many other studies that concentrate mainly on the
gravestones, this book intends to look at the entirety of
the cemetery, starting with its ‘urban’ and gardening as-
pects, morphology, and general image, touching upon the
social sphere, discussing all types of segregation – gen-
der, religious, and financial – as a mirror of the structure
and hierarchy of Jewish communities in the diaspora. On
the level of the single tomb, this book analyses its form,
typology, inscriptions (languages, content, typography),
symbols, the involvement of vegetation, as well as the
grouping of graves along family ties or the representa-
tion of different generations in a single family grave. This
book also presents common facilities, beith taharot, cere-
monial halls, fences and gates, benches and wells, section
and row markers, gravel holders, etc.
The intention of this book is also to communicate the
universal significance of metropolitan Jewish cemeter-
ies in the period of Emancipation, in an optimistic age
20
that promised to all minorities in enlightened European
countries prosperity and legal equality, including for the
hitherto excluded, persecuted Jews. Metropolitan Jew-
ish cemeteries go beyond the fences of a minority; they
portray a larger picture of modern societies, including
interfaith relationship, general artistic and historic sig-
nificance, thus testifying to the fruitful coexistence and
cultural cross-fertilisation of European culture and the
Judaic heritage from the Gründerzeit to the Holocaust.
This work identifies numerous criteria for the evaluation
and interpretation of Jewish cemeteries in order to put
this genre into a larger cultural and art-historical context.
It scrutinises practical, preservation-centred questions,
such as integrity and authenticity, emphasising the cul-
tural and natural heritage values of Jewish cemeteries.
Additional aims include drawing the public’s attention to
their significance and to the urgency of their restoration
and maintenance, showing successful and less successful
examples, and last but not least, shedding light on a van-
ishing Jewish culture in Europe.
The book is made up of two parts. The general part com-
prises a short general history of Jewish cemeteries and
a brief history of metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Eu-
rope, followed by a chapter on gentile influence and the
impact of Jewish religious reform on metropolitan Jew-
ish cemeteries. After these general topics the following
chapters deal with questions of topography, layout and
urban context, extensions and layout changes, orienta-
tion of gravestones, and segregation inside the cemetery
– according to gender, religiosity, and social status. The
next series of chapters deals with urban and architectural
aspects, such as the morphology of cemeteries – paths,
edges, nodes, districts and landmarks, changes of ground
level, grouping of tombs, gates, fences, and edifices (en-
trance buildings, ceremonial halls and tahara houses,
01.02
Priestly blessing – detail
from the Holocaust
Memorial at the Sephardi
Jewish Cemetery in
Belgrade (Architect Bogdan
Bogdanović)
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
common facilities). Further chapters focus on smaller
elements, such as pergolas, balusters, stairs, and, collec-
tive monuments and memorials (1848 revolutions, World
War One and Two, Shoa, 20th-century pogroms and ac-
cidents), Genizot, buried Torah Scrolls, benches, wells,
storages among gravestones, gravel holders, row indica-
tors, and temporary markers. The largest chapter of the
theoretical part is devoted to tomb typologies – a survey
of already existing typologies and the one used in this
book –, followed by stylistic analyses. The next block
of chapters deals with aspects of funerary culture touch-
ing Jewish studies, such as symbols displayed on grave-
stones, their combinations and meanings, inscriptions
– language (Hebrew, Yiddish, local vernacular and their
combinations), ways of writing names (Jewish name,
civil name, combinations, lineage description – father’s
or mother’s name and social position), eulogies, and vi-
sual references to social achievement. Finally, descrip-
tions of vegetation, damages and destruction of graves
and other elements of the cemetery, as well as questions
of maintenance, complete the theoretical part.
The second, survey part of the book presents twenty met-
ropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Europe in alphabetic or-
der. The principles of selection of cemeteries for the sec-
ond part of this anthology are: 1. artistic value in terms of
art history, architecture, urban planning, and landscaping;
2. historically most important (both from the viewpoints
of Jewish and general history); 3. gap-filling function,
i.e. examples explaining the evolution of Jewish funer-
ary culture in certain regions and in general; 4. examples
that in some aspects shed light on a specific phenomenon,
important for the entirety of Jewish cemeteries. Items un-
der 3 and 4 were chosen freely in order to illustrate the
problem discussed there; these examples do not intend to
be proportionately representative of all cases in Europe.

A Short History
of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation
The history of Jewish burial culture goes back to the
times of the Patriarchs. In the Book of Genesis 23:1–20,
Abraham buries his wife Sarah in the cave of Machpelah
near Mamre, which is at Hebron. The burial of Sarah is
the first account of an interment in the Bible.01 Still, it is
not the beginning of Jewish funerary art or architecture,
as would have been natural in many other cultures, but
just the onset of a new funerary culture. In fact, the status
of art in the Jewish tradition differs from that in other
religions.02 While in numerous religions art’s main rai-
son d’être is to communicate the cultic, sacred, or divine,
in Judaism this is not allowed, and therefore Jewish art
has developed along different trajectories.03 The Second
Commandment is explicit: “Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image, or any likeness [of anything] that
[is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or
that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD
thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [gen-
eration] of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my command-
ments” (Exodus 20:4-6, King James Version).04 If we in-
terpret the sentence “Thou shalt not bow down thyself...”
as an explanation of the first part of the Bible passage,
the image ban is not valid per se; instead, it refers to idol
worship mainly. However, the interpretation of this pas-
sage of the Bible varied from time to time and from place
to place. Thus, idolatry in Judaism is context-dependent,
reliant on the political position of Jews in a given society.
In periods when Jews lived in relative harmony with their
neighbours, images were not forbidden per se; it was just
forbidden to use them in representing the sacred.05 In dif-
ficult times of persecution and oppression, as for instance
in medieval Europe and partly in early modern times, vi-
sualisation was largely avoided, although here and there,
02.01
General view of the Jewish
cemetery Heiliger Sand
(Holy Sand), Worms
CHAPTER 02
a human figure would show up even on gravestones, as
in the case of the old Jewish Cemetery in Battonstraße,
Frankfurt/Main.
Certainly, the definition of idolatry is inseparable from
the cultural context: some visual representations cus-
tomarily used by Jews in the Roman Empire would have
meant idol-worship for medieval Ashkenazi Jews. Lat-
er, however, images appeared regularly even in funerary
culture, as an addition, such as visual representations
of animals, ships, houses, tools, and religious symbols
above the inscription of a Jewish grave, as in Prague Old
Cemetery from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and in the
Pale of Settlement even until the early to mid-19th cen-
tury, as will be seen in the chapter about the Okopowa
Street Cemetery in Warsaw.
Moreover, in the same period, or even at the same cem-
etery, as for example in Hamburg-Altona, there are, side
by side, Ashkenazi graves showing a more stringent ob-
servation of the image ban, and Sephardi graves that are
more liberal in these terms as they have three-dimension-
al visual representations, even of humans. This differ-
ence is probably due to the different experiences of the
Sephardim in Spain until the expulsion in 1492, and of
the Ashkenazim living under the constraints of medieval
Christian societies, both buried side by side in the grave-
yard of Hamburg-Altona.
In all these cases, however, art was deprived of its ide-
ative-philosophical and religious foundations existing in
other cultures06 and became a less important issue. Jew-
ish art developed under the watchful eyes of rabbis and
Jewish scholars who regulated the rules to avoid idolatry
successfully.
Due to this lack of ideative or religious-philosophic input,
art created for or by Jews was deprived of its innate con-
cept and historic continuity, thus spurring artists to borrow
from the artistic language of the neighbouring cultures.07
24
This borrowing started as early as Solomon’s Temple,
three thousand years ago. This temple was architectural-
ly almost identical with Canaanite temples, which from a
Jewish point of view were pagan buildings. However, it
was almost like the pagan temples—although the purpose
of pagan temples was to house a certain god represented
by a statue, this was absent from Solomon’s Temple. In
the Holy of Holies there sat no god, but the Tablets of the
Law, a ‘textual document’ sacred not per se, but due to
its content, and the moral foundations of a people set by
an invisible God. Moreover, the outfit also differed from
that in pagan temples due to the monotheistic service. The
Canaanite temple, a building without any particular visual
representation and meaning, was quite acceptable to the
Jews and King Solomon consented with Hiram, the pagan
architect and his associates – even if some Jewish crafts-
men took part in the creation of the Temple. Thus, borrow-
ing from neighbouring cultures has been limited mainly
by the image ban and has been practiced in Jewish art and
architecture in the past three millennia.
As a by-product of this borrowing, Jewish art and architec-
ture became a hybrid. There is a misconception according
to which only Jewish art and architecture after the Eman-
cipation mixed Jewish contents and formal elements with
those of the gentile environment. As mentioned earlier, the
idea of hybrid has been inherent in Jewish visual creations
since Solomon’s Temple. It is true that since the Eman-
cipation this hybridity has increased and the difference
of Jewish cemeteries vis-à-vis their Christian counter-
parts has become almost invisible. However, this ‘almost’
should be strongly emphasised, as neither the cemetery as
a whole nor its elements are entirely identical with their
neighbours’. It is just a question of being skilled enough
to discover the incremental differences that allow us to use
the epithet ‘Jewish’. Moreover, it is not only a phenome-
non of 19th century assimilation, but of earlier assimila-
tions too, which are usually not labelled assimilations as
such: the Hellenistic, the Roman, and even in some cases
the medieval or early modern assimilation, implemented
in a limited way and area.
In this respect, it is useful to deploy Jacques Derrida’s no-
tion of différance, elaborated later in detail in the chapter
on cemetery morphology. Jewish art/architecture should
be viewed vis-à-vis its gentile counterpart in incremen-
tal differences, or, in the spirit of Derridean différance,
as the “systematic play of differences, of the traces of
differences, of the spacing by means of which elements
are related to each other.”08 Here, the systematic means
incrementality on the ‘urban’ level (level of the cemetery
as a whole), on the formal level of graves, and also on the
level of inscription and decorative motives, while there is
no différance in strictly Jewish matters, such as patterns
of segregation, use of symbols, and elements related to
the burial ritual.
Besides the ideas of hybrid and différance, the most im-
portant specificity of traditional Jewish tombs is the pri-
macy of text over figure, inscription over architectural
form, which is a logical outcome of a culture based on
text and image reluctance – image ban perhaps being a
too strong expression as a priori it excludes the evolu-
tion of Jewish art. Although there had always been a fear
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
of idolatry among Jews, they could not survive without
form, artistic or architectural, and therefore, to make
these disciplines idol-free or idol-proof, they developed
certain techniques, like the grotesque, the unfinished,
faulty by design, and many others that were more charac-
teristic of architecture proper than of funerary art.
After this theoretical introduction, some highlights of
Jewish cemetery history will be presented briefly, which
helps to understand 19th century metropolitan Jewish
burial places in Europe. This is not only for the sake of
putting 19th century funerary art into historic context, but
a necessity as the age of historicism frequently quoted el-
ements from the millennia of Jewish funerary traditions.
Jerusalem – be it fiction for Jews during the time of ex-
ile, or a real location Jews visited in yearly pilgrimage in
Antiquity – played an extremely important role in their
lives.09 No wonder that Jerusalem’s funerary culture, fu-
nerary monuments, and locations figured as a point of
reference in subsequent Jewish funerary history, even in
the 19th and 20th centuries. Moreover, Jerusalem, and
its cemetery on the Mount of Olives, will play an ex-
traordinary role at the end of times: According to Jewish
tradition, it is here that the Resurrection of the Dead will
begin, once the Messiah appears on the Mount of Olives
and heads towards the Temple Mount.
Jerusalem’s actual history of funerary culture goes back
some five thousand years,10 but the oldest preserved Jew-
ish graves date only from the Second Temple period. The
largest burial place in the Holy City is the Jewish cemetery
on the Mount of Olives.11 Regarding its size, 70,000 indi-
vidual graves, it is commensurate with a number of mod-
ern metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Europe. However, it
is only the size that relates it to modern European Jewish
cemeteries. Due to its hillside location and the vicinity of
the Kidron Valley with its large funerary monuments, the
Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives is unique and
absolutely overwhelming, signalling Jerusalem’s long his-
tory and the Jewish presence in it. It is adjacent to monu-
ments of later religions, to sites of Christianity and Islam,
although it is not as multi-layered in cultural and confes-
sional terms as the Old City itself in the vicinity of which
it lies. Its history is much longer and richer than that of any
other Jewish cemetery in the world.
During the First and Second Temple periods, the Jews of Je-
rusalem were interred in burial caves scattered on the slopes
of the Mount.12 The cemetery sprawls over the slopes of the
Mount of Olives overlooking the Kidron Valley from the
lower, ancient part, which preserved Jewish graves from
the second Temple Period. Jewish burials have been taking
place uninterrupted for thousands of years.
The cemetery began to take its present shape only in the
16th century. Its appearance is determined by the gentle
slopes, long horizontal retaining walls and nearly uniform
horizontal slabs made of Jerusalem stone. Since the 16th
century, the cemetery has been continuously expanded.
Numerous famous figures of Jewish culture were buried
here: Jewish thinkers, like Nahmanides (Moses ben Nah-
man), 1194–1270; chief rabbis, like Meir Auerbach, first
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, and Jacob Saul El-
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 25

02.02
02.03
02.02
yashar, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Ottoman Palestine; busi- General view of the Kidron
ness people, like Robert Maxwell, British media magnate Valley and the cemetery on
and supporter of Israel; cultural figures, such as Shmuel the Mount of Olives
in Jerusalem
Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father
of modern Hebrew, Else Lasker-Schüler, German-Jewish 02.03
poet, Boris Schatz, founder of the Bezalel School in Jeru- The tomb of Zechariah
salem, and many others, including some gentiles. in the Kidron Valley
26 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

The best preserved Jewish burial place of Antiquity in

the Holy Land is the cave cemetery at Beth She’arim in
Haifa District, in the foothills of Lower Galilee, northern
Israel. The town of Beth She’arim was founded in the
1st century BCE during the reign of King Herod and be-
came an important centre of Jewish learning in the 2nd
century CE. The prosperous Jewish town was eventually
destroyed by fire in 352, at the end of the Jewish revolt
against Gallus, and centuries later it was rebuilt as a Byz-
antine town.13 From the beginning of the Early Islamic
period (7th century), settlement was sparse.14 Most of the
archaeological remains date from the 2nd to 4th centu-
ries CE. Many individuals were buried in the more than
twenty catacombs of the necropolis. Geographical refer-
ences in inscriptions on the walls of the catacombs reveal
that the necropolis was used by people from the town of
Beth She’arim, from elsewhere in Galilee, and even from
towns as far away as Palmyra and Tyre.15 Inscriptions in
several languages, many images, engraved and carved in
relief, decorate the walls and tombs, ranging from Jewish
symbols and geometric decoration to animals and figures
from Hellenistic myth and religion.16
In terms of the history of religion, the most important
part of the complex is the Cave of Judah the Prince (Ye-
huda haNasi), cited also by the Jerusalem Talmud. The
fact that Rabbi Judah was buried here emphasises the
popularity of the necropolis in late Antiquity. Catacomb
no. 14 is likely to have belonged to the family of Rabbi
Judah the Prince.17 An inscription states his name.18 A He-
brew wall inscription from Catacomb 14 reads “Simon
[Shimon] my son shall be hakham [president of the San-
hedrin], Gamaliel my son patriarch, Hanania bar Hama
shall preside over the great court.” Two tombs located
next to each other within the same catacomb are iden-
tified by Hebrew and Greek inscriptions as those of “R.
Gamliel” and “R. Shimon”, believed to refer to Judah’s
sons, Nasi Gamaliel III and hakham Rabbi Shimon.19 In
2015 the burial cave complex was declared a UNESCO
World Heritage site.
In summary, the following can be maintained about Jew-
ish funerary art in the Holy Land during Antiquity and the 02.04
Byzantine period: Jewish graves were similar to those of 02.05
surrounding cultures in terms of form, based mainly on the 02.06
foundations of Greco-Roman art and architecture. Still, some
sculptural motifs, such as lions, menoroth, lulavs, and etrogs,
were based on Jewish iconography. This refers both to the
funerary art of the Holy Land as well as to that in exile.
Even before the ‘official exile’, since around the 3rd cen-
tury BCE (long before Titus destroyed Jerusalem, the
Kingdom of the Jews), Jewish merchants settled in cities
along the Mediterranean coast, as for instance in Alexan-
dria, Cyrene, and Antioch. Thus, a diaspora came into be-
ing, albeit on a smaller scale than after the destruction of
the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews also moved to Rome, but
only later when the city became a centre of trade at the
beginning of imperial times. There they were a tolerated
minority within the pagan culture. In many cases, cata-
combs were the preferred type of burial for the Jews, not
the pagan funerary monuments aboveground. The Jew-
ish tradition of catacombs was later adopted by the early
Christians, many of whom had initially been Jewish.
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 27

02.08
02.09 02.08
02.11 The end of the main corridor
in the cave of the coffins at
Beth She’arim
02.09
02.04 Niches in the wall and slabs
02.07
02.10 Beth She’arim, the hill of the with acroteria in the cave of
02.12 cave of the coffins the coffins at Beth She’arim
02.05 02.10
Beth She’arim, Sarcophagi in the main
the courtyard in front corridor in the cave of the
of the cave of the coffins coffins at Beth She’arim
02.06 02.11
The cave of Rabbi Yehuda Lions on the front of a
Hanassi near the cave of the sarcophagus in the cave of
coffins at Beth She’arim the coffins at Beth She’arim
02.07 02.12
The main corridor in the Widening of the main
cave of the coffins at Beth corridor in the cave of the
She’arim coffins at Beth She’arim
28 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

During the reign of Augustus, some 40–50,000 Jews

lived in Rome, amounting to about four to five percent of
the general population, which is the percentage of Jews
in present-day Budapest, for instance. While Romans
used to cremate their dead and kept the ashes in tombs
aboveground, Jews adhered to their custom of burying
the dead in caves or other underground spaces, in accor-
dance with the tradition brought from the Holy Land. In
the crowded conditions of imperial Rome there were no
available caves, so they used the volcanic tufa around the
city that was easy to cut and strong enough to carry the
load of subterranean vaulting. The earliest examples of
these catacombs date back to the 2nd century CE. They
were actually communal cemeteries.20 Of the known six
examples, the catacombs of the Vigna Randanini on Via
Appia are among the best preserved of their kind, some
three kilometres away from the historic city walls. From
the road leading to Rome a forecourt opens, from where
one enters the subterranean area, the main walkway lead-
ing to the burial chambers. The forecourt with arches
framing sarcophagi probably contained the earthly re-
mains of the important members of the Jewish communi-
ty, similar in terms of status to the practice of the German
Ehrenreihe in the 19th century. The other members were
interred in the catacombs proper, along the underground
irregular passageways. Openings of the grave niches
were walled up, sometimes carrying epitaphs painted or
etched into the plasterwork and often with an image of a
menorah, lulav, or shofar. The vaults of the burial cham-
bers of wealthy families were decorated with painted
palms and mesusot.21
As the Roman Empire conquered huge parts of Europe
– Mediterranean territories, South-Eastern Europe, parts
of Central and Western Europe – Jews settled in these
regions along with the pagan Romans. Some Jews were
slaves initially, but soon they became freemen living a
typical Roman lifestyle all over the empire, including the
European provinces of Thracia, Pannonia (Inferior and
Superior), Noricum, Germania (Inferior and Superior),
up to Britannia.
In some provinces, which were not as crowded as Rome
or other major cities, for instance in the province of
Pannonia, Roman-period Jewish assimilation produced
gravestones that are very similar to their pagan coun-
terparts. For instance, a Jewish family gravestone from
Aquincum (today Budapest’s 3rd district) from the first

02.13
The forecourt of the
catacombs on the Via Appia,
Rome
02.14
Subterranean corridor of the
catacombs on the Via Appia,
Rome
02.15
Burial chamber with frescoes
of the catacombs on the Via
Appia, Rome
02.16
Jewish family gravestone
from Aquincum (today:
Budapest’s 3rd district), first
half of the 4th century,
The Hungarian Jewish
Museum, Budapest
02.13
02.14
02.15
half of the 4th century, kept in the lapidary of the Hungar-
ian National Museum, is very similar to its pagan coun-
terparts in the same collection in terms of size, material
and decoration. In an aedicula frame there is a relief of
a Jewish family – mother, father and child – in defiance
of the image ban. It is just the inscription and a menorah
that sets this gravestone apart from its pagan counterparts
exhibited in the same row of the lapidary. This degree of
assimilation resembles that in the 19th and 20th centuries
presented in this book.
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 29

After the fall of the Roman Empire, burials in catacombs

were given up by the Jews. Perhaps the best evidence of
this change in early medieval times occurred in the south
of Italy, in Venosa, where from the late Roman period re-
markable catacombs have survived. However, probably in
the 9th century the community started erecting matzevot,
the vertical slabs that we have already seen in the Roman
province of Pannonia.22 This happened later in Rome,
where above the Porta Portese catacombs a cemetery was
laid out with matzevot in the early Middle Ages.23
It is the medieval period that radically changed the social
and political position of the Jews and their mindset, too.
The demise of the Roman Empire created a period of po-
litical and economic uncertainty for a couple of centuries
that made life difficult for Jews. It was only at the onset
of the second millennium that flourishing Jewish com-
munities came into being along the trading routes of the
Rhineland and in Italy, France, Spain, and England. Still,
the relatively tolerant times for Jews during the Roman
Empire did not return until modernity. Medieval Jewish
life was plagued by intolerance, persecution and later
massacre as well.
First major synagogues with mikvaot emerged in medie-
val cities, where Jews lived under the strictures of their
medieval Christian compatriots.24 While the latter buried
their dead around the church, Jews were interred at cem-
eteries beyond the city walls – this was not only a con-
straint set by Christians, but a Jewish tradition based on
religious hygienic requirements. These cemeteries were
walled off from the environment, with tahara houses and
filled with matzevot mainly in chronological order. The
segregation already known in Roman Antiquity contin-
ued, this time in terms of merit. Rabbis and more pious
people received more prominent graves, while sinners
were buried along the perimeter walls.25 (Later, the pe-
rimeter location would be preferred by the rich in the
19th century as the walls could be used for erecting large
funerary monuments.) Graves were lined up in precise
distance from each other, mostly in irregular rows with-
out formal walkways, following the character of the ter- 02.16
rain. Basically, a flat terrain or very slight slope was con-
sidered as appropriate for a Jewish cemetery, but there Mainz.27 These cities along trading routes and waterways
are exceptions, such as the Jewish cemetery in Lublin, of medieval Rhineland stood for the heyday of Ashke-
albeit of a later period. In Lublin the Jewish community nazi culture from the 11th to the 14th centuries, setting
purchased a property from the burghers of the town at the the foundations for halakha in the subsequent centuries
site of the former medieval fortress, in fact just the hill, in Central and Eastern Europe. This Jewish high culture
making this a rare example of a dramatic topographical came to an end due to pogroms and massacres commit-
setting for a Jewish cemetery. ted by the majority population, German Christians, mo-
Both Jewish quarters as well as cemeteries were difficult to tivated by the crusades and by hatred towards Jews as
enlarge in the Middle Ages, which led to cramped condi- religious minority and supposed spreaders of the Black
tions. Sometimes, when necessary, older Jewish graves were Death.28 In fact, the great plague epidemic in the mid-
covered with soil in order to accommodate new graves, but 14th century had little to do with the Jews; it originated
without disturbing the already existing ones. from the Crimea (today: Russia) from where rats trav-
Similar to the mentioned Beth She’arim in Israel and Ve- elling by ship brought it to the Sicilian port of Messina.
nosa in the south of Italy, Rome was a city with a link From there it spread to many European countries, killing
between antique and medieval Jewish cemeteries.26 Still, roughly half of the general population. Nevertheless, due
the cemetery found on maps in Rome has not yet been to incitement in 1394, 6000 Jews in Mainz perished in
substantiated archeologically. Thus, in Europe the most the flames of their houses and synagogues. After the ex-
important locations of medieval Jewish burial places pulsion from the German-speaking countries, Jews found
remain in the Rhineland, in the heart of Germany, the refuge in the Slavonic-speaking countries of Eastern and
so-called SCHUM, i.e. the cities of Speyer, Worms and Eastern Central Europe.
30 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

02.17 The Jewish cemetery in Worms, called Heiliger Sand,29

02.18 was established in easier times for medieval German
02.19 Jews, i.e. before the first crusade (1096–1099), a fact
substantiated by the earliest remaining gravestone of Ja-
cob ha-Bachur dating from 1076, thus making this buri-
al place the oldest preserved medieval Jewish cemetery
of Europe.30 It is surmised that the cemetery might be
contemporaneous with the pre-crusade synagogue from
1034. According to another source, the first gravestone
dates back to 1058–59, roughly two decades before Jacob
ha-Bachur was laid to rest.31
Located just outside the south-western tip of the walled
medieval city, the cemetery contains some 2000 to 3000
gravestones from the 11th to 20th centuries, eight hav-
ing survived from the 11th century and almost 50 from
the 12th century. These first matzevot are of sandstone
and trapeze-shaped, narrowing a bit towards the base
and having inscriptions on the face. The text has hori-
zontal lines above the row of letters, a characteristic that
disappeared around 1100. This cemetery is very signif-
icant not only for Jewish funerary culture, but for gen-
eral cemetery history too, as Christian Romanesque and
Gothic gravestones were recycled after a certain period
of time and the old stones removed and used for other
purposes.32
The older graves are closer to the entrance, on lower-ly-
ing ground, and the more recent ones climb the hill on
the western side of the plot used from the 18th century
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 31

02.20
02.21

onwards, but predominantly in the 19th century. In 1250,

the boundary railings were replaced by a massive wall, to
be refurbished in 1615 when the forecourt was laid out.
The small tahara house, built in this period, is located
in this forecourt on the right side of the entrance to the
cemetery proper. The forecourt enabled the Cohanim to
watch burials when the body and the procession left the
forecourt. This could now be done without trespassing
the strict demarcation line between the forecourt and the
cemetery proper, which is not kosher for the Cohanim to
visit. For the same purpose, windows were cut into the
cemetery walls.

02.19
Pious Jews pray in front of a
great rabbi’s grave
02.17
Street entrance to the 02.20
Heiliger Sand (Holy Sand) General view of the Heiliger
medieval Jewish cemetery Sand (Holy Sand) Jewish
in Worms Cemetery in Worms
02.18 02.21
Forecourt and entrance Graves of Rabbi Meir of
to the cemetery proper at Rothenburg (left, died in 1293)
the Heiliger Sand (Holy and of Alexander ben Salomo
Sand) in Worms Wimpfen (died in 1307)
32 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

02.22 02.23
02.24
02.25

The cemetery was laid out from south to north, grave-

stones facing north roughly in the direction of the medie-
val synagogue inside the city walls, which is contrary to
the custom of matzevot facing east,33 in the approximate
direction of the Holy Land, which is also the usual orien-
tation for synagogues and churches.34
The most important graves of the cemetery are the ones
of Meir von Rothenburg (died 1293) and Alexander ben
Salamon Wimpfen (died in 1307), often visited by the
pious Jews from all around the world. Further import-
ant graves are located in the so-called Rabinental, the
‘Valley of Rabbis’, laid out in south-north direction from
the 11th century onwards. Here Rabbi Nathan ben Isaak
(died 1333), Rabbi Jakob ben Moses haLevi Molin or
MaHaRil (died 1427), Rabbi Meir ben Isaak (died 1511),
and Elia Loranz or Baal-Schem (died 1636) were buried.
These burials are also a sign of the continuity of this cem-
etery that was used until the 1930s.35
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 33

02.26

02.22
Gravestones with semi-
circular top and shoulders
02.23
Gravestone with chinqeufoil
Gothic decoration
02.24
Gravestone ending in
inverted ogee arch
02.25
Gravestone with moulding
in the form of Gothic trefoil
pointed arches
02.26
The “Martin Buber View”
34
The site of the cemetery is overwhelming, so much so that
it has inspired thinkers, among others Martin Buber, who
frequently visited the city of Worms, the cathedral, and the
cemetery. There is the famous description by Martin Bu-
ber, in which the cathedral plays the role of a backdrop to
the romantic Jewish cemetery with its old gravestones.36
The second oldest Jewish cemetery in Germany, partly
preserved in its original condition, is in Frankfurt/Main,
in Battonstraße (Jüdischer Friedhof Börneplatz), on the
fringes of the medieval Jewish settlement.37 While the
Holy Sand in Worms has kept its original shape in terms
of urban appearance and position,38 the Battonstraße
cemetery has changed during its history in terms of urban
environment and has suffered major losses due to Na-
zism. Today it is near the centre of a pulsing metropolis
together with the remnants of the nearby medieval Jew-
ish settlement, of which the fragments are integrated into
the new Jewish Museum. The cemetery is an organic part
of the Jewish ensemble and a frequented tourist destina-
tion in the European Union’s financial capital.
The cemetery was first mentioned in documents in 1180,
the oldest remaining graves dating back to 1272.39 In
1333, the cemetery that was originally outside the city
walls became part of the walled area of Frankfurt. Until
the 16th century, it served as the burial place for a wider
region, reaching from Wetzlar to Aschaffenburg. In the
course of the 1333 extension of Frankfurt it became city
territory. The last burial on the territory of the cemetery,
measuring 11,850 square meters, took place in 1828.
Until that year, 6500 gravestones were erected, of which
the vast majority was made of pink sandstone. While
customarily the older tombs are unadorned, the newer
possess house-signs, small visual depictions of the house
where the deceased lived, thus establishing a visual link
between worldly and eternal life, actually ‘life’ until the
Messiah comes. However, in general such images were
not widespread in medieval and early modern times in
the Ashkenazi world. Besides these house-signs the usual
symbols can also be found, such as those referring to the
Cohen or Levite status of the deceased, or name symbols,
as for instance a bear for Dov (meaning bear), a deer for
Zvi/Hirsch, or weir, moon, jars, and shields.
The best-known grave is that of Meir Rothschild (1744–
1812), the son of Anschel Rothschild. Meir established the
famous Rothschild bank. The oldest grave harbours Chan-
na bat (daughter of) Alexander who died on 12 July 1272
according to the Christian calendar. The stone is simple
with name and eulogy and a usual medieval frame carved
into white stone, near the perimeter wall of the cemetery.
The eulogy points out that she was divorced.40
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
02.27
02.28
Immediately after the Nazi takeover, the district officer (Gau-
leiter) was eager to turn the cemetery into a people’s park
(Volkspark). In 1939, the Jewish community was pressed to
give away the cemetery to the German state, which in 1942
turned the cemetery into a depot for rubble. In the same year
the mayor of Frankfurt ordered the destruction of the grave-
stones, while 175 of the most significant ones were trans-
ferred to the Rat-Beil-Straße cemetery and in the 1950s were
brought back to the Battonstraße cemetery. Some two thirds
of the gravestones were destroyed mainly by machines, so
today only 2675 gravestones have survived in their entirety
and 3500 in fragments out of 6500 that were surveyed by
Rabbi Markus Horowitz in 1900.
Probably the most interesting feature of this cemetery is the
way it commemorates the Holocaust. While almost all major
monuments commemorating the Shoa are inside the ceme-
tery walls – usually in the forecourt, but sometimes tucked
away not to ‘disturb’ Christian visitors – here the outside
walls of the burial place became a holocaust memorial draw-
ing the attention of passers-by and tourists to the names of
the city’s 11,957 Jews murdered by the German National So-
cialists. As a generous gesture of the city small name-stones
have been inserted into the cemetery wall to commemorate
all known victims of the Holocaust in Frankfurt. This cam-
paign was carried out between 1996 and 2010.
After the restrictions of the Middle Ages it was mainly
the Renaissance that prompted the Jews to include visu-
al elements in the upper part of their matzevot (steles),
although the primacy of text remained. These ‘visu-
al attachments’ at the top of the stones referred to the
gender, name, profession, house, status, and character of
the deceased. This was perhaps not surprising since the
Renaissance was the first period after the Antiquity that
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 35

02.29
02.30
02.32 02.31

eased the tension between Jews and gentiles and initiated

the cultural dialogue, which then resulted in the aforemen-
tioned change in Jewish funeral art and also in synagogue
construction in 16th century Poland,41 in the entire Pale of
Settlement as well as in the Czech and Moravian lands.42 In
that period this novelty did not cause fundamental changes
in the looks and message of Jewish gravestones and ceme-
teries: the focus of Jewish culture on text remained unchal-
lenged and the compactness of communities uncontested,
just some visual representations were added.

02.30
02.27 Detail of the fence at
The fence of the Jewish Battonstraße Jewish
cemetery in Battonstraße, cemetery, Frankfurt/Main
Frankfurt/Main 02.31
02.28 Names of Holocaust victims
Entrance to the cemetery in of the city on the fence of the
Battonstraße, cemetery in Battonstraße,
Frankfurt/Main Frankfurt/Main

02.29 02.32
General view of Battonstraße A group of gravestones and
Jewish cemetery, trees at Battonstraße Jewish
Frankfurt/Main cemetery, Frankfurt/Main
36 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

02.33
02.33 02.34 02.34
Tombstone representing House signs on the endings
Adam and Eve with the Tree of graves at the Battonstraße
of Life, Jewish cemetery, Jewish Cemetery,
Frankfurt/Main Frankfurt/Main
 A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 37

Adam and Eve with 01 Adam and Eve with 02 Angels 03 Angels 04 05 Human
the Tree of Life the Tree of Life figures

Human figures 06 Male profiles 07 Male profiles 08 Moon as a male profile 09 10 Heart
motive

Broken bone 11 Glove 12 Shoe 13 Ladder 14 15 Plough

Plough 16 Plough 17 Plough 18 Barrel 19 20 Kitchen

utensils

Kitchen utensils 21 Kitchen utensils 22 Kitchen utensils 23 Kitchen utensils 24 25 Kitchen

utensils

Kitchen utensils 26 Kitchen utensils 27 Kitchen utensils 28 Lamp 29 30 Anchor

38 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

Rifles 31 32 Rifles 33 Trees 34 Trees 35 Trees

Horses 41 42 Horses 43 Goat 44 Dears 45 Dears

Lions 51 52 Lions 53 Lions 54 Lions 55 Lions

Cocks 61 62 Cocks 63 Cocks 64 Double-headed eagle 65 Swan

Crabs 81 72 Crabs 73 Birkhat Kohanim and a well 74 Double six-pointed-star 75 Shofar

Candles 81 82 Candles 83 Houses 84 Houses 85 Ships

 A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 39

Trees 36 Trees 37 Onion 38 Horses 39 40 Horses

Dears 46 Dears 47 Dears 48 Bear 49 40 Bear and bird

holding a crest

Lions 56 Lions 57 Lions 58 Cocks 59 60 Cocks

Birds on 66 Birds on tree branches 67 Birds on tree branches 68 Dragon 69 70 Frog

tree branches

Mugs 76 Mugs 77 Mugs 78 Mugs 79 80 Candles

Ships 86 Ships 87 Well 88 Windmills 89 90 Windmills

40
Probably the most famous European Jewish burial place
of this period and of the entire Ashkenazi space is the
Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague’s Jewish town of Jose-
fov in the heart of the Czech capital, which exemplifies
the aforementioned effects of the Renaissance. Although
strictly speaking the cemetery was founded during the late
Middle Ages, it witnessed the blooming of Prague’s Jew-
ish community in the early modern period. While by the
mid-14th century the German lands were largely judenre-
in, Bohemia was the home of flourishing Jewish commu-
nities.43 This was based on medieval foundations – Jews
had lived in Prague since 970 C.E. Neither the first me-
dieval synagogue nor the first medieval Jewish cemetery
have survived, so the Old Cemetery roughly starts when
the Holy Sand of Worms ends, i.e. in the 14th century. The
two cemeteries together stand for the continuity of Jewish
funerary culture for almost eight centuries.
The 16th century hallmarked the Prague Renaissance,
in which some Jews took active part as mathematicians,
astronomers, geographers, historians, philosophers, and
artists, besides pursuing their traditional Jewish sciences.
Jewish mysticism flourished, the Jewish press became fa-
mous, the Prague Passover Haggadah became the model
in Europe for subsequent haggadot. The reigns of Emper-
ors Maximilian (1564–1576) and Rudolf II (1576–1612)
were a golden age for Jewry in Prague, with some 7000
Jews living in the ghetto.
Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525–1609), called
Maharal, published over 50 religious and philosophical
books and became the centre of legends, as the mystic
who created the Golem. Maharal was even invited to the
castle of Rudolf II. This relationship was similar to that of
Jacob Mendel, head of the Buda Jewish community, and
the king of Hungary, Mathias Corvinus. Further famous
Jewish figures of the time include David Gans (1541–
1613), a mathematician, historian, and astronomer; Jacob
Bashevi (1580–1634), a financier and the first Jew to be
knighted in the Habsburg Empire; and Mordechai Maisel,
a brilliant financier, businessman, and philanthropist. The
latter was the mayor of the Jewish town; he funded the
building of a public bathhouse, ritual baths, and an alms-
house, the construction of the Jewish town hall and the
paving of the streets in the Jewish quarter Josefov.
During the early 18th century, more Jews lived in Prague than
anywhere else in world, making up one quarter of Prague’s
population in 1708. The golden age ended with the ascension
to throne of the zealous Habsburg Empress Maria Theresia,
who expelled the Jews from Prague for three years, starting in
1745. However, her son, the enlightened Emperor Joseph II,
issued the Edict of Tolerance in October 1781 that declared
religious tolerance, thus unleashing fundamental changes in
Jewish life in the following centuries, of which he was prob-
ably not aware. Prague Jews were so enthusiastic about him
that they named their quarter after the Czech version of his
name, adding to it a Czech genitive ending: Josefov. He al-
lowed Jews to participate in all forms of trade, commerce,
agriculture, and the arts, which gradually started to erode the
compactness of Jewish communities and led to Jewish assim-
ilation in the Habsburg Lands and beyond.
In the 19th century, as elsewhere in the Habsburg Empire,
Jews gradually became emancipated. Civil equality was
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
granted to Jews during the turbulent years of 1848 and 1849.
The ghetto was abolished in 1852 and Josefov became a
district of Prague, which culturally was split between Ger-
mans and Czechs impacting the Jewish community as well.
During the liberal decades from the 1830s to the 1870s, Jews
adopted the German language and cultural patterns. From
the 1870s onwards, another change happened that was sim-
ilar in other Habsburg Lands: Czech-Jewish acculturation
emerged, which was only partial as some remained faithful
to German language and culture, while others favoured the
new ideology of Zionism.
Today the Old Jewish Cemetery in Josefov consists of
13,415 tombstones and tombstone fragments of probably
tens of thousands of people buried here from 1439, when
the burial place was opened, until 1787, when new in-
terments were prohibited for hygienic reasons. According
to some estimates, there may have been 100,000 burials,
up to 12 layers deep in the soil.44 The cemetery with an
irregular plan and on a territory of roughly 10,000 square
metres, the only major green surface in Josefov, is sur-
rounded by the Pinchas and Klaus synagogues and secular
buildings, some of them erected in the interwar period.
Still, these buildings do not disturb the view of the cem-
etery because of their subdued, restrained character. The
cemetery is partitioned by lanes on which visitors move
from one part to the other. Graves are set irregularly, some
of the matzevot are integrated into the walls.
The most important distinguishing feature between tomb-
stones from the Renaissance in Prague and in the Polish
Lands on the one hand, and medieval matzevot on the oth-
er is the architectural frame around the inscription. There
are usually two pilasters or allettes flanking the plaque
with inscription, topped by an architrave or semi-circular
arch. Often over the architrave there may be a pediment,
lunette, or more complex forms, such as volutes, acroteria
and leaves. Sometimes above the architrave there is an em-
phasised central element, a vase, lion, or an etrog flanked
by smaller decorative elements on both sides. Less fre-
quent and mainly for prominent people are wider matzev-
ot with two inscription plaques flanked by three pilasters,
two on both edges and one in the middle of the tombstone.
This type has a tripartite division in the vertical direction:
the main level – the matzeva with the flanking pilasters –,
the middle layer with further inscriptions, and smaller oval
members with inscriptions at the top. Sometimes the usual,
one-field matzevot also have an oval field over the main
part, topped by a crown, a reference to the keter torah, the
Torah crown.
The largest and most imposing type of grave is for rab-
banim, with two large, double-field matzevot on both
ends and a connecting horizontal element shaped like a
sarcophagus and ending in a steep saddle roof-like form.
In some regions the horizontal, connecting member may
have a slot at the top, where the pious put their messages
to the Lord written on small pieces of paper. This is char-
acteristic of the Pale of Settlement and Orthodox cemeter-
ies in Eastern Central Europe, represented in this book by
the example of the Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Bratisla-
va. In Josefov such examples are absent. At Prague’s Old
Jewish Cemetery these rabbi graves, just like the tombs
of other prominent community members, may also have
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation
02.35
02.36
inscriptions on the sides of the connective horizontal pris-
matic element, either on its vertical sides, or on their ‘sad-
dle-roofs.’ There are some twenty tombs of this type at the
cemetery. All over the cemetery, on all tombs it is the top
element of the matzevot where jugs signify Levites and
two blessing hands the Cohanim.
Moreover, many of the ornate tombstones of the 16th
and 17th centuries feature sculptural representations
symbolising, for instance, the person’s family name or
profession. A bunch of grapes stands for fertility and wis-
dom, and there are also musical instruments and animals
decorating the tombstones. For instance, on the grave for
David Gans besides the Star of David there is a visual
representation of a goose, referring to the German word
for goose. The symbols for professions include scissors
denoting a tailor and a quill referring to a writer.
During the Renaissance, poems and quotes from the Bible
often appeared on inscriptions. As Czech was also spoken
in the ghetto, some inscriptions were in Czech, but epi-
taphs were written in Hebrew. Since Ashkenazim did not
use last names before the 16th century, many of the de-
ceased are named after the district where they had resided.
The number of original epitaphs totals about 8000.
During the short German Nazi rule between 1938 and
1945 Bohemia became part of the Third Reich, which
41
02.37
ended tolerance and the Czech-Jewish cultural dialogue.
Apart from murdering the vast majority of the Czech
Jews, the German Nazis destroyed numerous synagogues
and some Jewish cemeteries in what is today the Czech
Republic. In Prague, the National Socialists wanted to
save Jewish material heritage for a “Museum of the
Extinct Race” which was meant to bear witness to the
“sinful Jewish Semites” in a future judenrein Europe.
Luckily, the Old Jewish Cemetery along with thousands
of artefacts of the Jewish Museum survived.
The uniqueness of this cemetery is its extraordinary densi-
ty, the layers of buried people, one on top of the other, the
irregular placement of tilted headstones from the Gothic
to the Baroque periods, and the proximity of synagogues,
which is very rare in Jewish history: usually, cemeteries
are not allowed to be in close proximity to the living and
particularly not to synagogues where Cohanim attend the
service. In addition, the cemetery’s cultural and art historic
significance is also extraordinary.
02.35–36 02.37
General views of the Old Lapidary of gothic tombstone
Jewish Cemetery in Prague fragments, mid-14th century
42 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

02.38 02.39
02.40 02.41

02.38–39
02.42
Large tombs of rabbis
Graves of the flourishing
with two vertical stones on
Prague Ghetto – the neo-
their ends and horizontal
Romanesque entrance-office
connecting elements, the Old
building in the background
Jewish Cemetery in Prague
02.43
02.40
Gravestones with triangular Gravestones integrated into
ending, the Old Jewish the fence of the Old Jewish
Cemetery in Prague Cemetery in Prague

02.41 02.44
Lion figurine topping a The extraordinary density
rabbi grave, the Old Jewish of the gravestones, the Old
Cemetery in Prague Jewish Cemetery in Prague
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 43

One of the most multifaceted Jewish burial places of ear-

ly modern times is the Königstraße Cemetery in Ham-
burg-Altona that was opened at the beginning of the 17th
century. Altona was home to one of Jewish settlements
on Europe’s Atlantic coast and the Baltic Sea founded af-
ter Jews were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula. It is a
mixed cemetery—with some parts being Sephardi, others
Ashkenazi—and as such offers an opportunity for com-
parison. In 1611, three Portuguese Jewish merchants pur-
chased the plot from Count Ernst III of Holstein-Scha-
umburg and Sternberg, who protected the Jews. In 1616,
Ashkenazi Jews purchased a separate but neighbouring
plot that was expanded in the years 1668, 1719, 1745,
and 1806. Still, the cemetery became overcrowded and
closed in 1869. In 1902, the widening of the Königstraße
necessitated the relocation of about 300 Portuguese
tombs to central areas of the cemetery.
The cemetery and tomb morphology differ in the Ashke-
nazi and Sephardi parts. In accordance with their customs,
the Sephardi tombs are horizontal, simple slabs with rect-
angular or polygonal cross section (prismatic shapes),
while Ashkenazi graves have traditional matzevot. Artisti-
cally, the two groups differ significantly not only in shape,
but also regarding text and visual representations. Vertical
Ashkenazi slabs create long continuous rows, which to-
gether with the different heights of the matzevot modulate
space around themselves, much more than the horizontal
Sephardi slabs. Thus, the latter create a more united space
with mainly two-dimensional slabs carrying inscriptions
and visual representations on their upper side. However, a
smaller number of Sephardi tombs are three-dimensional
02.42
with triangular cross-sections resembling a hip roof, but
02.43
02.44 still reclined, i.e. their height is much smaller than their
length. On the two longer sides are the Hebrew inscrip-
tions, while the shorter side has Portuguese inscriptions
and visual representations, as for instance an open book
topped by a keter torah the sacrifice of Isaac, King Da-
vid playing the harp, bones and skull, broken tree, etc.
The edges of these triangular slabs are adorned with floral
decoration.
The majority of the triangular stones lie directly on the
soil, similarly to the Balkans, but some are raised on two
vertical stones on their shorter ends. These latter create
miniature landmarks, gently disrupting, or rather mod-
ulating the free flow of space. Flat slabs also may have
visual representations. Moreover, in the Sephardi part
there are graves in the shape of a pseudo-sarcophagus, a
dominant form at Jewish cemeteries in the former Otto-
man territories in Europe.
The most striking graves from an art-historical and Ju-
daic point of view are some Sephardi ones from the 17th
and 18th centuries, displaying a wide spectrum of motifs.
Among them are not only familiar motifs of Jewish art,
but also representations of the human figure, alien to Ju-
daic tradition, which was defined by image-ban and the
avoidance of the representation of human figures origi-
nating from the Second Commandment. These represen-
tations show the influence of the Christian art of the pe-
riod, or Christian art on the Iberian Peninsula with which
Portuguese Jews identified themselves. For instance, on
the grave of Isaac Machorro (died in 1731) we see Isaac
44 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

02.45
praying in the field in quite a naturalistic representation 02.46
that one may encounter in Catholic churches. Another 02.47
representation involving two human figures refers to Ja-
cob’s dream of the ladder.
After centuries of hiding behind the veil of Christiani-
ty, as Michael Studemund-Halévy explains, Portuguese
Jews returning to “normative Judaism tried hard to con-
struct themselves a Jewish past. Among the large Sep-
hardi families in Amsterdam and Hamburg, it became a
fashion to put together genealogies and family chroni-
cles, or to commission their creation. Perhaps the fami-
ly tree on Sephardi gravestones should be interpreted as
a new beginning after returning to the fold of Judaism,
and as a vow to maintain and uphold a Torah-true Jewish
life.”45 To reinforce the real or supposed noble ancestry,
family crests appear on the Sephardi graves in Altona, as
elsewhere in the Iberian Jewish diaspora. There are also
other, non-Biblical representations that can be found on
the graves, such as symbols related to the name of the
deceased, similar to Ashkenazi customs.
Ashkenazi symbols and depictions at the Königstraße
Cemetery follow the mainstream of this genre. A goose
represents the family name Gans, the depiction of the hand
holding a quill pen refers to a scribe of the Torah, a deer
stands for the name Zvi or Hirsch and also for the Jewish
community, the crown alludes to the keter torah, and the
jug signifies a Levite. The lion in many forms alludes to
the name Arie or Leo (Lion), but also to a protector of the
Torah or to the origin from the house of David.
At the Altona cemetery are the earthly remains of a number
of significant rabbis, such as David Cihen de Lara, Mose
de Gideon Abudiente, Yeheskel Katzenellenbogen, Jon-
athan Eibe(n)schutz, Jacob Emden, Raphael Kohen, and
of prominent families. There was the Castro family from
Portugal, headed by Rodrigo de Castro (ca. 1550–1627),
who was famous for his achievement in gynaecology, and
his book Tractatus de Peste.46 Abraham Seinor Teixeira,
a Portuguese consul to Antwerp, could prove his nobili-
ty with his coat of arms. Among the most notable people
buried in the Ashkenazi part are Fromet Gugenheim, the
later wife of Moses Mendelssohn, and Samson Heine, the
father of Heinrich Heine. Probably one of the most out-
standing German Jewish families is also buried here, the
Warburgs who were famous bankers. One of them was
Aby Warburg, the world-famous art historian.
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 45

02.48

By and by, the splendid isolation of the Jews gradually fad- However, it was not only the internal life of the cemetery that
ed in Europe; ghettos opened, shtetls dissolved, Jews be- acquired elements from the gentile environment. Jewish cem-
gan to populate gentile cities again, but on different terms: eteries as solitary burial places of a distinct minority started
The Enlightenment and the French Revolution increasingly to disappear, being supplanted by new cemeteries that were
propagated the equality of all people; the Industrial Rev- part of larger multi-confessional ensembles in the spirit of the
olution started to undermine inherited privileges, opening Enlightenment, as could be seen in Paris, Vienna, Budapest,
the floor to Jewish entrepreneurship and to participation in Warsaw, Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade, and many other metrop-
the culture of Christian societies. The Jewish-Christian dia- olises in Europe and America during the second half of the
logue at the onset of modernity began to dismantle the com- 19th and the first third of the 20th centuries.
pact Jewish community and to undermine the textual focus
of the Jewish culture, shifting it gradually to the domain of
02.46
visuality. Jews were hardly prepared for this visuality and
resorted once again to borrowing the visual culture of their Sephardi graves in the form
of triangular prism lying on
environment, as in Roman times. These processes lasted for
the ground – at the triangular
centuries, parallel to the establishment of the modern bour- end of the prism a relief
geois society, peaking in the Gründerzeit. represents King David playing
These historical changes also had an impact on Jewish the harp, Jewish cemetery in
cemeteries, particularly in metropolitan areas, where Königstraße, Hamburg-Altona
modernity pushed back traditions, both among Jews and
02.47
gentiles. Segregation based on social standing in capital-
Sephardi grave in the form
ist societies prompted the Jews to abandon the tradition
of triangular prism elevated
of strict equality of the dead (except the ones that had from the ground – the
always enjoyed high standing due to their knowledge of triangular end features a
holy texts and their wisdom) and the textual character relief of Abraham sacrificing
of their cemeteries and to introduce visuality on many Isaac, Jewish cemetery
levels. Thus, seen from above, as a text of the Book, the in Königstraße,
formerly modest signs of graves grew into figures, graves Hamburg-Altona
02.45
became extensively three dimensional, began to form or 02.48
General view of the Jewish
embrace space, and the hitherto banned high vegetation cemetery in Königstraße, Sephardi graves in the form
found its way into reform Jewish cemeteries. Thus, the Hamburg-Altona – Sephardi of simple horizontal slabs
former similarity of the Jewish burial space and the Book lying slabs on the left, lying on the ground, Jewish
became weaker as cemeteries began to make strong visu- Ashkenazi standing cemetery in Königstraße,
al-figural statements and accents. gravestones on the right Hamburg-Altona
46
02.49
02.51
02.49
Small Sephardi gravestone
with only Hebrew inscription
and floral decoration, Jewish
cemetery in Königstraße,
Hamburg-Altona
02.50
Large relief of a female
figure on the grave of Senior
Iosseph Debinn, who died
in 5476 (1716), Jewish
cemetery in Königstraße,
Hamburg-Altona
02.51
Death’s-head motive on a
lying Sephardi slab, Jewish
cemetery in Königstraße,
Hamburg-Altona
02.52
Sephardi lying slab with
a family tree featuring
Hebrew names, while the
language on the perimeter is
Portuguese, Jewish cemetery
in Königstraße,
Hamburg-Altona
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
02.50
02.52
This book is about the aforementioned new type of Jewish
cemeteries that highlighted Jewish Emancipation, backed
by a firm belief in technological and social progress and
coupled with political liberalism. To Jews, all of this
seemed to be unstoppable until the appearance of German
National Socialism, which eradicated European Jewish
culture. The cemeteries presented in this publication re-
flect the century of this unprecedented Jewish optimism,
its total breakdown in the Holocaust and its aftermath.
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation 47

02.53
02.54
02.55

02.53
The invisible division
between Sephardi and
Ashkenazi sections, Jewish
cemetery in Königstraße,
Hamburg-Altona
02.54
Large Ashkenazi gravestones
featuring drapery, the symbol
of the division between this
world and the other one,
Jewish cemetery
in Königstraße,
Hamburg-Altona
02.55
Row of Ashkenazi graves –
there is a rabbi’s grave with
hand-written Hebrew letters
of the pious and three lamps,
Jewish cemetery
in Königstraße,
Hamburg-Altona
48
01 It is the first commercial transaction mentioned in the
Bible, as Abraham had purchased the site.
02 It is also noteworthy that Sarah was buried in a cave,
a non-architectural, natural formation and not under a
vertical marker, monument, pillar, or matzeva.
03 Rabbi after rabbi has taught that the attempt to mediate
between man and God by way of symbols is the root cause
of idolatry. This is in sharp contrast to the mainstream
Christian view that allows material to symbolise the sacred
without any fear of idolatry. (Little wonder that these
foundations of Jewish tradition are sometimes seen as
neurosis. It was Sigmund Freud who related neurosis to
religion. Elliot Oring writes: “ Freud had drawn parallels
between obsessional neurosis and religion. ‘One might
venture to regard obsessional neurosis as a pathological
counterpart of the formation of a religion, and to describe
that neurosis as an individual religiosity and religion as a
universal obsessional neurosis’.” See Elliott Oring: The
Jokes of Sigmund Freud: A Study in Humor and Jewish
Identity, Lanham 2007, p. 90.) The lack of this fear in
mainstream Christianity – apart from iconoclastic periods,
which constituted only brief episodes – and the tolerance
of symbolic representation is also due to the possibility of
incarnation. See Rudolf Klein: Synagogues in Hungary
1781–1918. Genealogy, Typology and Architectural
Significance, Budapest 2017, p. 26.
04 Quoted after David N. Freedman (ed.): Idol: Images in the
ANE, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, New York 1992, p. 377.
05 It is known that Jews in imperial Rome used to place
Jupiter statues in their homes as a decoration, as did
their counterparts with Mercury statues in the 19th
century Gründerzeit in urban palaces of the Viennese
Ringstraße or of Budapest’s Andrássy Avenue, in all
cases for decorative purposes and not for direct worship.
True, Mercury, as a Roman god who was the patron
god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence (and thus
poetry), messages/communication (including divination),
travellers, boundaries, luck, trickery, and thieves,
conveyed some values of the Jewish haute bourgeoisie of
the 19th century that inhabited these urban palaces.
06 For instance, in Christianity following Christ as an
incarnation of God, incarnation may be ensued by further
incarnations without threatening the previous one.
Thus, works of art may also be considered as further
incarnations, the idea of which more or less coincides
with Hegel’s and Winckelmann’s views, stating that a
perfect piece of art is the very embodiment of God. That
is why, following in the footsteps of ancient Greek art,
Christianity was able to create a fully-fledged world of
art, while Judaism tried to control and restrict the fine
arts, including architecture, although it did not completely
forbid it. See Rudolf Klein: Synagogues in Hungary 1781–
1918. Genealogy, Typology and Architectural Significance,
Budapest 2017, p. 40.
07 This borrowing concerned different levels of architecture,
from larger elements, such as composition of volumes
and space conception, to smaller details, like technical
solutions of joining elements (carpentry joints,
connections between stone elements and most importantly
their representation in front of the eye of the beholder),
and finally to decoration, which may be related to the
bearing structure or not.
08 See Jacques Derrida: Interview with Julia Kristeva, in:
Positions 1981, p. 21.
09 In certain periods of time even the concept of heavenly
Jerusalem, the ‘Jerusalem above’, played a similar role for
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
some followers of esoteric teachings in the framework of
Jewish mysticism.
10 Before the Jews Jebusites used it as a burial place from
about 3000 BCE.
11 See Rachel Hachlili: Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices
and Rites in the Second Temple Period. Boston and Leiden
2005; Amos Kloner and Zissu Boaz: The Necropolis
of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period. Leuven
2007; Max Küchler: Jerusalem. Ein Handbuch und
Studienreiseführer zur Heiligen Stadt, Göttingen 2007,
chapter 12: Der Ölberg – Die jüdisch-christliche »Höhe«
von Jerusalem, pp. 790–919.
12 This type of burial was the norm since Abraham buried
his wife Sarah. Usually, families buried their dead in
their own, separate vaults. True communal cemeteries
were found only from the post-Biblical period, although
the Bible mentions “the graves of common people”
in the Kidron Valley (II Kings 23:6). Over time, with
the increase in population density, graves were placed
in specially constructed cemeteries underground, the
catacombs that became the most popular form of Jewish
burial in Antiquity. See Joachim Jacobs: Houses of Life –
Jewish Cemeteries of Europe, London 2007, pp. 24f.
13 Benjamin Mazar: Beth She’arim: Report on the
Excavations during 1936–1940, vol. I, p. 19.
14 Mazar, op. cit., p. 20.
15 Various scholars assess the significance of the site differently.
The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Archaeology in the Near East
considers Beth She’arim of international importance (vol.
1, pp. 309–311); Tessa Rajak considers its importance to be
regional (“The rabbinic dead and the Diaspora dead at Beth
She’arim”, in: P. Schäfer (ed.): The Talmud Yerushalmi and
Graeco-Roman Culture 1, Tübingen 1997, pp. 349–366);
however, S. Schwartz: Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200
B.C.E. to 640 C.E., Princeton 2001, pp. 153–158, plays down
the importance of Beth She’arim. Apparently, archaeologists
and art historians value it more as evidence of a bygone era,
while Rabbinic literature is less interested in it.
16 Beth She’arim (http://whc.unesco.org/en/
tentativelists/1643/), UNESCO World Heritage site
“Tentative List”, summary from 2002.
17 “Beit She’arim – The Jewish necropolis of the Roman
Period” (http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/israelexperience/
history/pages/beit%20shearim%20-%20the%20jewish%20
necropolis%20of%20the%20roman.aspx), Israel Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, 2000 (retrieved 16 April 2016).
18 The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Archaeology in the Near
East, vol. 1, pp. 309–11. For a more cautious view see M.
Jacobs: Die Institution des jüdischen Patriarchen, eine
quellen- und traditionskritische Studie zur Geschichte der
Juden in der Spätantike, Tübingen 1995, p. 247, n. 59.
19 See Beth She’arim (http://whc.unesco.org/en/
tentativelists/1643/), UNESCO World Heritage site
“Tentative List”, summary from 2002; and Heshey Zelcer:
A Guide to the Jerusalem Talmud (https://books.google.
com/books?id=W4HNSmOmf6IC), p. 74 (retrieved 16
April 2016): “In 1954 two adjoining sepulchres in cave 14
in Bet She’arim were discovered bearing the inscriptions
in Hebrew and Greek ‘R. Gamliel’ and ‘R. Shimon’, which
are believed to be the coffins of the nasi and his brother.”
20 Arnold Toynbee: Death and Burial in the Roman World,
London 1971, p. 54, quoted after Jacobs, op. cit, p. 27.
21 In the catacombs of Venosa in the south of Italy, well-
preserved wall paintings survive representing a menorah,
shofar, lulav, and etrog. See Jacobs, op. cit., p. 30.
A Short History of Jewish Cemeteries before the Emancipation
22 Hannelore Künzl: Jüdische Grabmalkunst. Von der Antike bis
heute, Darmstadt 1999, quoted after Jacobs, op. cit., p. 32.
23 Jacobs, op. cit., p. 32, emphasises that no Jewish
cemeteries have survived from the early Middle Ages,
i.e. from before the 11th century. There is a presumption
that in the early medieval period Jews were buried
alongside Christians in multi-faith cemeteries, probably
in separate sections. The lack of gravestones is explained
by the presumption that headstones were made of timber
decaying relatively fast (Jacobs, op. cit., pp. 32f.).
24 See Robert Chazan: The Jews of Medieval Western
Christendom: 1000–1500, Cambridge 2006.
25 See Otto Böcher: Der alte Judenfriedhof zu Worms
(Rheinische Kunststätten 148), 5th edition Worms
1984; Fritz Reuter, Christa Wiesner: Der Judenfriedhof
zu Worms. In: “Ein edler Stein sei sein Baldachin.”
Jüdische Friedhöfe in Rheinland-Pfalz, hg. v. Landesamt
für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz 1996;
Adalbert Böning, Der jüdische Friedhof in Hohenlimburg.
Dokumentation mit Erläuterungen und Übersetzungen, 1988.
26 Künzl, op. cit., p. 46 and 64.
27 “Sch” stands for Schpirah (Speyer); “U” stands for
Uvormaisah, Vermaisah (Worms); “M” for Magenza (Mainz).
Of the three medieval SCHUM cemeteries only Worms
has survived, the Speyer and Mainz sites were destroyed,
although some matzevot have been preserved in museums.
28 Jews were blamed for the series of plagues as the
incidence of the disease was reportedly lower among them.
They were accused of purposefully spreading the disease
among Christians. At that time, the majority population
did not consider the relative isolation of the Jews in
ghettos and a stricter hygiene that may have contributed to
the different incidence of the plague among Christians and
Jews. In fact, Jewish laws promote cleanliness: a Jew must
wash his or her hands before eating bread and after using
the bathroom; it was customary for Jews to take a bath
once a week before the Sabbath; a corpse must be washed
before burial, etc. Generally, Jews lived in better sanitary
conditions than the gentiles in the Middle Ages. See The
Black Death, http://www.jewishhistory.org/the-black-
death/ (retrieved 4 October 2017).
29 In English: The Holy Sand.
30 Jacobs, op. cit., p. 38.
31 Epidat: Jüdischer Friedhof Worms: Inv.-Nr.
9008 (http://www.steinheim-institut.de/cgibin/
epidat?function=Ins&sel=wrm&inv=9008).
32 See: Jacobs, op. cit., p. 40.
33 In the Holy Sand only the grave of the very pious Jacob,
Moses Moellin the Maharil, kept the conventional
orientation to the east in 1427. See: Jacobs, op. cit., p. 38.
34 From the Baroque period, Catholic churches abandoned
this tradition in order to better fit into the urban setting,
while Eastern Christian churches and synagogues have
kept the tradition of eastern orientation until today.
35 In 1911 a new cemetery was opened, further away from
the city of Worms and new burials took place there.
36 Here a quotation: “Ich lebe nicht fern von der Stadt Worms
(…) gehe ich immer zuerst zum Dom. (…) Dann gehe ich
zum jüdischen Friedhof hinüber. Der besteht aus schiefen,
zerspellten, formlosen, richtungslosen Steinen.” In,
Martin Buber: Theologische Blätter 12 (1933), p. 272
37 There are two further major Jewish cemeteries in the city,
one in Rat-Beil-Straße and the New Jewish cemetery. The
former was established in 1828, when the Battonstraße
49
Jewish cemetery was closed for further burials. It
highlights the Jewish Emancipation, represented by its
imposing neo-classical entrance. The 5.4 hectare-large
New Jewish cemetery in Eckenheimer Landstraße 238
was established in 1928 and is located near the Central
Cemetery of Frankfurt (Frankfurter Hauptfriedhof). It is in
use until today and numbers more than 8000 tombs.
38 The outer entrance building is modern, but fits well into
the architectural-urban context.
39 The oldest grave is for Channa bat Alexander who died
according to the Christian calendar on 12 July 1272. The
stone is simple with name and eulogy and with the usual
medieval frame carved into white stone; the grave is near
the perimeter wall of the cemetery. See Markus Horovitz:
Die Inschriften des alten Friedhofs der Israelitischen
Gemeinde zu Frankfurt a. M., Frankfurt am Main 1901,
quoted after J. Jacobs, op. cit., p. 43–46.
40 While among Christians divorce was very rare, Jewish
traditions regulate the rules of the divorce if the marriage
does not function properly. Each ketubah (marriage
contract) describes these circumstances precisely; it is read
aloud and signed during the wedding ceremony.
41 See Sergey Kravtsov: Synagogues in Eastern Galicia. In:
Treasures of Jewish Galicia. Judaica from the Museum of
Ethnography and Crafts in Lvov, Ukraine, ed. by Sarah
Harel Hoshen, Tel Aviv 1996, pp. 37–49; Sergey Kravtsov:
Fortress Synagogues in Eastern Europe. In: Historic
Cities and Sacred Sites, ed. by Ismail Serageldin et al.,
Washington, D.C. 2000, pp. 307–309.
42 In this period, the Hungarian Kingdom was occupied by
Ottoman Turkey, which prevented Jewish tombs to follow
the trends of the free Christian lands, despite the fact that
Jews fared quite well in the Ottoman Empire.
43 As a matter of fact, Prague’s Jewish history was not
without pogroms, either. At Easter 1389, members of the
Prague clergy condemned the Jews of having desecrated
the Eucharistic wafer, which led to ransacking and burning
of the Jewish quarter by the mob. Almost the entire Jewish
population of Prague, some 3000 people died. Many of
the remaining women and children were baptised. The
plight of the Jewish community has been immortalised by
one of the few survivors, Rabbi Avigdor Kara. The rabbi
outlived the tragedy and gave moving account of it. This
text is still read every year in the city on Yom Kippur.
See Josef Jireček (ed.): Historia de caede Iudaeorum
Pragensi. In: “Zpráva o židovském pobití v Praze r. 1389 z
rukopisu Krakovského” (Sitzungsberichte der Königlich-
Böhmischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften in Prag),
Prague 1880, pp. 227–229, quoted after Barbara Newman:
The Passion of the Jews of Prague: The Pogrom of 1389
and the Lessons of a Medieval Parody. In: Church History
81:1 (March 2012), pp. 1–26.
44 Rebecca Weiner: Virtual Jewish World: Prague, http://
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/prague.
45 See Oliver Breitfeld, Michael Studemund-Halévy, Almut
Weinland: An Archive in Stone – 400 Years Königstraße
Jewish Cemetery, Hamburg 2011, pp. 20f.
46 See Studemund-Halévy, op. cit., p. 12.

Short History
of Metorpolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Europe
Metropolitan Jewish cemeteries emerged during the 19th
century as a joint effect of rapid urbanisation, Jewish Eman-
cipation, and the convergence of Jewish and gentile burial
traditions. In the course of the Enlightenment, gentiles be-
gan to give up burying their dead around the churches and/
or in the dense urban fabric of towns and cities. Following
hygienic considerations they relocated their cemeteries to
places outside their settlements. Before that, only Jewish
cemeteries had been beyond the city boundaries, as Judaism
did not allow for the dead to be buried close to where people
live. Thus, Christian metropolitan cemeteries represented a
new genre, arguably the most pioneering example being the
Père Lachaise in Paris, which opened in 1804, and in which
landscape gardens and new hygienic requirements prompted
by demographic pressure found a common denominator.01
Romanticism, the idea of death as final repose and eternal
life, and at the same time rationalism, the idea of coping with
death and consolation, fuelled the creation of cemeteries of-
fering – besides the actual funerary monuments – pleasant
spaces and picturesque views, enriched by cypresses, willow
trees, taxaceae, aspens, and shrubs, as well as flowers.
Following these changes meant the Jews had to depart from
their millennia-long funerary tradition that concentrated on
the essential, avoided excessive visuality and significant in-
volvement of nature. For instance, the German Parkfriedhof
and particularly the Waldfriedhof are in irreconcilable contra-
diction with the Jewish funerary tradition. The architectural-
ly inspired cemeteries with a clear and complex geometrical
pattern, such as the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna (1874), express-
ing hierarchy that was largely based on secular values and
excessive visuality (imposing monuments and wide lanes
to enable vistas) were also hardly acceptable to the Jewish
funerary tradition. Traditionally, the Jewish cemetery was a
strictly structured, densely populated place where space was
used sparingly; graves were all turned to one cardinal direc-
tion, related to Jerusalem (sometimes east, sometimes south),
with a firmly set entrance. Newly established metropolitan
Jewish cemeteries tried to accept some elements of the new
03.01
Old graves at the Okopowa
Street Jewish Cemetery
in Warsaw
CHAPTER 03
type of Christian cemeteries, but nevertheless the majority of
Jewish burial places remained organised along simple rectan-
gular grids, departing from that pattern only occasionally and
in smaller sections. Some organic touch of tradition in terms
of plan remained in most of them.
While Reform Jews were open to modern, 19th century ur-
ban and architectural grandeur,02 they were reluctant to ap-
ply it when creating the layout of their cemeteries. The only
metropolitan Jewish burial place with a complex geometrical
pattern is the Weißensee Cemetery in Berlin, where a signif-
icant part abandons the simply gridded pattern according to
cardinal directions in favour of radial, diagonal lanes and the
creation of little squares. To a smaller extent, some marginal
parts of the Old Jewish Cemetery at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof
shows the same principle, but the much bigger part of this
burial place follows the gridded pattern of traditional Jewish
cemeteries. All other metropolitan Jewish cemeteries dealt
with in this book have a simple gridded plan, rarely with
some smaller parts of their general layout organically set or
organised in a non-rectangular pattern. This will be presented
later in the second part of this book.
Thus, metropolitan Jewish cemeteries could not avoid apply-
ing some gentile achievements to the Jewish funerary tradi-
tion in order to meet the expectations and requirements of the
Christian environment and the standards set by the Enlighten-
ment and the Industrial Revolution. Nonetheless, some essen-
tials of the Jewish funerary tradition still continued.
01 It is interesting to note that in the first couple of decades
of its existence this cemetery was not popular. Paris
Municipality took a set of measures to make it more
attractive to the general public which objected to its
relative distance from historic parts of the French capital.
02 Fredric Bedoire has shown that numerous examples of imposing
urban boulevards were financed and often inhabited by upper
middle-class Jews. See Fredric Bedoire: The Jewish Contribution
to Modern Architecture 1830–1930, Jersey City 2004.

Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries
Theoretical Considerations:
Visual Representation vis-à-vis Image Ban
A comprehensive discussion of the influence of the gen-
tile environment – ethnic, religious, art-historical, archi-
tectural, landscaping, and urban – on the Jewish cemeter-
ies would require a whole book. Here only some channels
of influence of the German, Polish, Austrian, Hungarian,
Czech, Spanish, Rumanian, and Bulgarian cultures as
well as Catholic, Lutheran, Greek Orthodox, and Islamic
religious influences will be scrutinised.
While in Moses’ time Jews viewed the gentiles (Hebrew:
goyim or nokhri),01 who were heathens, with some suspi-
cion and hostility.02 Later, after King David had achieved
Jewish statehood, his son King Solomon, in the spirit of
tolerance and Realpolitik, allowed borrowing from the
art of neighbouring kingdoms.03 As a matter of fact, in
the diaspora, where the Jews were more exposed to the
environment, this impact was more prevalent. However,
this was not always the case: in some periods Jews were
more world-open, in others less so.
Since 70 CE, the Roman conquest of Jerusalem, when
ancient Israel lost its statehood, a major part of the Jew-
ish people lived in the Euro-Mediterranean area as a
minority, their political and cultural life being impact-
ed by the host empires – Roman, Byzantine, Persian,
Holy Roman, Habsburg, Russian, Ottoman, and later
host nations. From the very beginning lacking their
own visual vocabulary, Jews readily accepted the art
and architecture of the gentiles in so far as they did not
clash with their own heritage, their rigorous anti-iconic
tradition and their fear of idolatry. However, this fear
differed greatly from period to period and from region
to region. For instance, in the Roman period Jewish
cemeteries in Europe often accepted three-dimensional
representations of human beings, mainly the deceased,
04.01
The main alley at the
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
CHAPTER 04
which in other places and times accounted for sheer
idolatry. For instance, a 4th century Roman gravestone
found not far from Budapest features a naturalistic
representation of the deceased family, like its pagan
Roman counterparts, and shows its Jewish provenance
just by a display of Hebrew letters and a menorah. How
is this possible? While theoretically idolatry is defined
quite accurately in the Jewish heritage, its implemen-
tation varied according to the actual threat it posed
upon the Jews. For instance, from the Middle Ages un-
til the Emancipation, in Ashkenazi areas idolatry was
perceived as a serious threat, as Jews lived under op-
pression, while before and after they were more toler-
ant vis-à-vis naturalist visual representations, even the
most blatant three-dimensional versions. Thus, it is not
surprising that some well-off Jews in Roman antiqui-
ty possessed Jupiter statues in their homes, and later,
similarly, upper middle-class Jews of the Gründerzeit
in Central Europe amassed a considerable amount of
paintings and sculptures in their mansions and even an-
gels were put up in their cemeteries.
Still, the representation of the image of the deceased was
avoided in much of Western and Central Europe. It be-
came fashionable in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans,
under Christian Orthodox influence. This is curious, as
Pravoslav or Greek Orthodox culture is more image-hos-
tile than Catholic culture – in orthodox churches there
are not even sculptures, and icons are actually not nat-
uralistic in terms of representation. Still, the focus on
icons in Greek Orthodox culture induced a widespread
custom of putting the image – usually a photograph –
of the deceased on the tomb from the mid-19th century
onwards. However, unlike in Catholic or Lutheran cem-
eteries, where we often find the bust or a relief of the de-
ceased, in Christian Orthodox cemeteries it was not very
frequent until recently. Thus, visual representation or its
54
04.02
ban, respectively, is the main element that sets Christian
and Jewish burial places apart.
Until the late 19th century Christian-Jewish ‘dialogue’
was actually not a dialogue, but a one-way communi-
cation in funeral art and arts in general: Jews took over
structural principles, formal elements and techniques
from the gentile environment, filtering out just the abso-
lutely unacceptable, like the cross form or blatant natural-
ist representations of human beings. Although Orthodox
Jews were quick to refute all these changes, it was not un-
til after the Holocaust that mainstream emancipated Jews
radically changed their perception of the Christian world
and with that borrowing its artistic principles. The Holo-
caust changed the self-perception of Jews in the context
of European culture and their view of this culture. Before
the Shoa, and mainly during the Gründerzeit, for some
families of the Jewish upper middle class leaving Juda-
ism was not always viewed as sheer apostasy – although
it was often condemned to a certain extent –, but was
also interpreted as joining the religion of the ‘civilised
world’, a sort of mainstream humanity, the already tol-
erant post-Enlightenment Christianity. The Shoa revived
the pre-Enlightenment Jewish-Christian ideological and
cultural rift.
Interestingly, even before the Holocaust, mainly in the first
decades of the 20th century, there was a movement among
secular Jews who started discovering their own cultural
past, finding in it guidance for the future. Due to the impact
of the revival of Jewish tradition in the early decades of the
20th century,04 pre-Emancipation Jewish visuality began to
reappear in funeral art. Some early modern graves began
to refer to historic Jewish graves. For instance, the grave of
Hermann Cohen at Berlin’s Weißensee Jewish Cemetery
refers to some rabbis’ graves in traditional Ashkenazi cem-
eteries of Eastern and Eastern-Central Europe. The form
of the matzeva, which had lost its prevalence in reform
Jewish cemeteries since the 1870s and 1890s – depending
on the geographical region or the type of Jewish communi-
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
04.03 04.04
ty – was revived, paired up with some modernist elements,
as in the case of Vilmos Bacher’s grave in Budapest’s Sal-
gótarjáni Street Cemetery.
These changes at Jewish cemeteries in some Central Eu-
ropean countries could be ascribed to the influence of
the German Friedhofsreform, a movement for reforming
funerary art and the layout as well as the landscaping of
cemeteries. In the first decade of the 20th century, numer-
ous German architects, sculptors and other professionals
involved in the creation and management of cemeteries
attacked the existing Wilhelmine planning schemes of
cemeteries and the large, pompous tombs that disregard-
ed the coherence and harmony of the cemeteries as a
whole. At the same time, it was also an attack on liberal
capitalism of which the upper class Jews were part.
In 1912, architect Emil Högg enthusiastically declared
war on schematism (Schematismus) and ‘non-art of the
drawing table’ (Reißbrett-Unkunst) and aimed at simpli-
fication, originality and a synthesis of nature, technique
and culture.05 Attacks on individualism, arbitrary creation
of form (willkürliche Gestaltung) was indirectly also an
attack on the attitude of Jewish industrialists and bankers,
i.e. the Jewish upper classes who populated the Chevra
Kadishas of Jewish communities. The attacks on individ-
ualism06 and the emphasis on homogeneity07 were notions
that they could not accept – they were just running away
from the tightly knit web of traditional Jewish commu-
nities, from Shtetl anonymity, some 50–60 years earlier.
This explains the rift inside Jewish communities and their
cemeteries. The ideas of the Friedhofsreform found their
followers mainly among Jewish intellectuals and artists,
while the upper classes often distanced themselves from
them until the 1920s, sometimes even longer.
However, it was not an issue of social class. While Jews
could not embrace all the principles of Friedhofsreform,–
particularly not the synthesis with nature as exemplified in
Munich’s Waldfriedhof –, some of these ideas found their
way into Jewish funerary culture in the 1910s and 1920s,
Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries 55

04.05 04.06 04.07

namely in some metropolitan reform Jewish communities, Urban Setting

such as Prague and Zagreb, where homogeneity became the
hallmark in the 1920s and 1930s. Interestingly, some ideas While before the Emancipation Jewish cemeteries stood
of the Friedhofsreform, particularly the idea of nationhood, alone, further removed from the urban settlement than their
were amplified by the new Jewish awakening08 in Europe Christian counterparts, in the second half of the 19th century,
–, exemplified in Theodor Herzl’s Altneuland (1902) and European metropolises aimed at concentrating cemeteries of
Martin Buber’s poem The Awakening of Our People. different denominations at one location, which sometimes
Thus, the gentiles spurred at first the Jews to open up their implied physical connections too. In Berlin, Bucharest, Bu-
cemeteries and introduce a liberal attitude towards funer- dapest, Sofia, Vienna, Warsaw, and Zagreb there are burial
ary culture – change of traditional forms, materials and or- places for the Catholic, Lutheran, Christian Orthodox, and
ganisational principles –, and later the gentiles were again Jewish populations in the same compound. In extreme cas-
partly responsible for the Jewish revival’s endeavours to es there may not even be a wall between them, just a lane
return to traditions, to abandon the competitive formal ca- separating Jews from Christians, as at Vienna’s Zentralfried-
cophony of Gründerzeit cemeteries and reintroduce homo- hof,11 Zagreb’s Mirogoj, and at Sofia’s Central Cemetery
geneity and harmony to Jewish burial places. (Централни софийски гробища). Usually, however, these
It is fair to say that Modernism – modern art and ar-
chitecture – created a turning point in Christian-Jewish
‘dialogue’ in visual arts, insofar as henceforth it became 04.04
more Jewish-Christian than Christian-Jewish and a real
Early 20th century flattened
dialogue. As the avant-garde largely removed naturalism obelisks in a Jewish
or at least blatant naturalism from the arts, it became ac- Orthodox environment,
ceptable from a Jewish/Judaic point of view and Jews Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
made forays into modern art, like El Lissitzky, Chaim in Bratislava
Soutine, László Moholy-Nagy, and many others, who 04.05
all exerted great influence on modern architecture and
Early 20th century obelisk in
partly on funeral art, too.09 From now on, one could be
a Greek Orthodox Christian
a Western artist and a traditional Jew at the same time.10 environment, New Cemetery,
Thus, Jewish revival and Modernism changed the face 04.02 Belgrade
of Jewish funeral art in Europe. In the interwar period Early 20th century obelisk
04.06
elegant modernist graves became the norm in the Jewish in a Catholic environment,
cemeteries of Prague, Vienna, Zagreb, etc. However, not Rákoskeresztúri Cemetery, Early 20th century obelisk
all Jewish communities embraced Modernism, neither in Budapest at the Sephardi Jewish
Cemetery, Belgrade
the architecture of their synagogues nor in their funer- 04.03
al art. Moreover, there were major Jewish centres that Early 20th century obelisk
04.07
pioneered modern architecture in the secular world, but in a Jewish Orthodox Early 20th century obelisk
remained conservative in synagogue and funeral art, as environment, Orthodox in the Sephardi Jewish
for instance the 204,400 people-strong Budapest Jewry Jewish Cemetery Cemetery, Belgrade –
in the interwar period. in Bratislava variation with drapery
56
cemeteries are just well separated neighbours, like the two
major Jewish cemeteries in Budapest (although on some
plans there is a gate between the Christian and Jewish part
in Kozma Street), or in Berlin-Weißensee, etc. In some rare
cases, the Jewish part may be simply embedded into the
Christian fields, as in Sofia, where other minorities like the
Catholics have a similar position. Apparently, it makes no
difference if the cemetery is Ashkenazi or Sephardi; in both
cases undivided arrangements can be found. However, even
if they are divided, they may share workshops that manufac-
ture gravestones, or maintain greenery.
New urban settings for burial places from about the sec-
ond half of the 19th century – in the case of Warsaw Oko-
powa Street cemetery even 50 years earlier – meant also
a great change in size of Jewish cemeteries that grew fast
in modern cities. The larger scale necessitated the need
for differentiation of spaces in the cemetery as a whole,
in order to facilitate orientation and make the space
pleasant. Thus, the hitherto compact, usually undivided
space of Jewish cemeteries broke up into groups of sec-
tions, different in character and divided from each other
by ground-level changes, vegetation or even walls. At
the two largest European Jewish cemeteries, Warsaw’s
Okopowa Street Cemetery and part of Budapest’s Kozma
Street Cemetery, this differentiation was not always de-
liberate; instead, it reflected changing habits in the long
existence of these cemeteries.
Christian cemeteries also began to change; their large size
and new, extra-urban location prompted the creation of park
cemeteries and sometimes even forest cemeteries, i.e. burial
sections became urban parks. The latter was not an easily
acceptable proposition for the Jewish communities. Plant-
ing trees was contrary to halachic requirements, but eventu-
ally assimilated Jews accepted the new trends. Often, as in
the case of Budapest’s Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery, at the
time of the opening there were very few trees in the ceme-
teries, but by and by and due to a lack of maintenance they
became wildly overgrown parks. In other cases, as at the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna or at Berlin’s Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery trees were deliberately planted.
Some metropolitan Jewish cemeteries provide vehicular
transport, like the Jewish parts of the Zentralfriedhof and
Budapest’s Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery, while others,
like Budapest’s Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery completely
exclude it, and Warsaw’s vast Okopawa Street Cemetery
is largely pedestrian with pleasant organically climbing/
descending lanes.
Fences, Gates, and Spaces in Front of Them
The Christian environment exerted significant influence
on the contact zones between Jewish cemeteries and their
gentile environment. While the fences of Jewish cemeter-
ies remained simple, just secluding the peaceful inner space
from the urban noise, under Christian influence entrances
changed substantially during the 19th century. By the end
of the 19th century larger gates emerged at the entrances
to Jewish cemeteries – both at the entrance to the forecourt
and at the entrance to the cemetery proper, where these two
parts are physically separated by a fence and gate, not just
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
visually by vegetation or changing the ground level or any
other more subtle way. The first entrance remained larger
and more monumental in all cases. The contact space be-
tween the cemetery and the public space remained modest
in the majority of cases. The entrance to a Jewish cemetery
usually lacked urban prominence, as for example a major
avenue leading to it or a square in front of the gate. Usually
the entrances to Jewish cemeteries were located along a
street, sometimes wider, sometimes more intimate. How-
ever, some metropolitan Jewish cemeteries received large
gates, like triumphal arches, as at the Old Jewish Cemetery
of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, or at the Bracka Street Jewish
Cemetery in Łódź.
Some Jewish cemeteries or Jewish parts of large urban
central cemeteries, like the ones in Bucharest Filantro-
pia, Budapest Kozma Street, the Old Jewish Cemetery
at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof often have an urban setting
in the Baroque tradition: a small square or a semi-cir-
cular extension of the public space that continues into
the territory of the cemetery. This is an obvious Christian
influence. Probably the most spectacular is Vienna’s Zen-
tralfriedhof, of which both the Catholic and the Lutheran
parts have such an extension, and it was logical that the
Old Jewish Cemetery in that compound would follow
this pattern. In this respect the small green space in front
of Bucharest’s Filantropia Jewish Cemetery is quite mod-
est, but follows this tendency nonetheless.
Moreover, the New Jewish Cemetery of the Zentralfriedhof
doubles the entrance courtyard, as the visitor also crosses
the internal patio of the large ceremonial hall, adding so-
lemnity to the complex. Still, neither of the two Jewish
cemeteries at the Zentralfriedhof copied the circular and
diagonal lanes of the Catholic part – just one diagonal lane
cuts the corner of the Old Jewish Cemetery of which the
central parts are free of Christian-type gardening patterns.
As stated already, the only metropolitan Jewish cemetery
in the researched countries of Europe substantially utilis-
ing circular and diagonal lanes is Berlin Weißensee.
General Layout – The Orientation of Graves,
Grouping, and Other Compositional Principles
The funeral culture of the Christian surroundings influ-
enced large Jewish cemeteries not only in terms of visual
representation, with imposing entrances, wider lanes, clear
geometry, and strict differentiation of the entrance section
from the cemetery proper, but also in terms of buildings that
became larger and larger and more prominent with focused
views. This striving for creating larger and well-structured
ensembles led to the grouping of graves – the introduction
of large family graves and mausoleums as well as graves
arranged in a row and covered with arcades.
Of course, even before the Emancipation Jews arranged
graves in rows, and the rows and graves sometimes made
up more or less visible sections, as is evidenced in three
cemeteries in this book. However, the structuring prin-
ciples remain implicit, they are not conspicuous. The
most eminent example is the Great Sephardi Cemetery
in Sarajevo. Here graves create slightly curved rows that
organically follow the topography and make up sections.
Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries
04.08
These curves are just slight, as stronger curving would
mean abandoning the obligatory eastern or southern ori-
entation of all the graves. Some departure from the east
or south is admissible for Jews both in the orientation of
synagogues and of graves, unlike the strict Muslim orien-
tation towards Mecca.12 The Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
in Bratislava does have a strict orientation of the graves
basically towards the south, but the layout is still not a
geometrically precise grid. This is a very typical tradi-
tional arrangement. The Miodowa Street Jewish Ceme-
tery in Cracow roughly follows the same pattern, with
also a looser orientation of the graves.
The strict geometrical and rectangular arrangement of
most metropolitan Jewish cemeteries can be ascribed to
Christian influence, which, however, in most cases did
not go any further. As mentioned, Jewish cemeteries
seldom adopted the complex geometrical park arrange-
ments of their 19th century Christian counterparts and in
Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof the curved and radial park lanes
of the Christian part were only marginally extended to
the Old Jewish Cemetery of that compound. It is import-
ant to stress that the Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery
is the only one that completely abandoned the uniform
orientation of the graves and followed Christian garden-
ing principles by introducing curved lanes, radial lanes,
small circles, all under the dominant influence of vegeta-
tion. Why did the Jews otherwise shy away from gentile
57
04.09
gardening patterns? Diagonal and curved lanes used in
Christian cemeteries contradict the Jewish tradition as
they forcefully change the orientation of the graves. It
is true that from time to time, even in the context of the
rectangular plan from the 1870s, some graves abandoned
the strict eastern or southern orientation and some Jews
rotated the graves 90 degrees to the left or right in order
to let them face the western or northern lane and make
inscriptions easily legible, thus establishing a better vi-
sual communication with the passers-by. However, this
was a voluntary abandonment of the tradition that could
be, but did not have to be followed when locating Jewish
gravestones. In contrast, a complete refusal of the rect-
angular plan would have forced the Jews to leave behind
tradition and follow the Christian pattern of locating and
orienting their graves. This would have been difficult to
accept in most cases.
It is important to stress that the strict rectangular geometrical
plan introduced under Christian influence did not contradict
Jewish traditions per se, as long as it did not require chang-
04.08 04.09
Flattened obelisk, detail from A group of flattened
Rakila de Majo’s (Ракила obelisks, around 1900, Old
деМајо) grave, 1895, Sephardi Jewish Cemetery at the
Jewish Cemetery, Belgrade Zentralfriedhof, Vienna
58 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

04.10 04.11
04.12 04.13
Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries 59

04.14

ing the obligatory rhythm of graves. However, it started to even firm evidence about the Christian origin of this ar-
depart from Jewish traditions when the grid of the rectan- rangement, but it is so contrary to Jewish heritage that
gular plan stopped being continuous and significantly im- it is hard to surmise its Jewish origin. The traditional
pacted the rhythm of Jewish graves. In the 19th century the a-a-a-a-a rhythm of the lanes, the equal distance between
rectangular plan disrupted the continuous modular rhythm the rows of graves, is replaced by an a-b-a-b-a rhythm,
by introducing a hierarchy of the lanes. Some lanes became where ‘b’ is merely 20–30 centimetres as gravestones
wider, others remained narrow and almost invisible in the
spirit of Jewish tradition. This hierarchy of lanes broke the
homogeneity of the dense fabric of graves and induced a 04.12
hierarchy of cemetery plots: graves near the wider lane be-
Antique aedicular shape in
came more valuable, the ones along the narrower lanes less Jewish funerary art, Old
so. Moreover, the introduction of main lanes also created Jewish Cemetery at the
more emphasised intersections that represented even more Zentralfriedhof, Vienna
precious locations. These intersections created corner plots
04.13
that increasingly asked for more prominent tombs, spurring
their creators to respond architecturally to the special loca- 04.10 Antique aedicular shape in
tion, similar to houses on the corners in towns and cities. Antique aedicular shape in Jewish funerary art, Old
Movement in such a cemetery became more and more Christian Orthodox funerary Jewish Cemetery in the
formal, something like an end in itself – it gradually pro- art, 1904, New Cemetery Zentralfriedhof, Vienna
moted the cemetery to evolve into a park –, relegating in Belgrade 04.14
the cemetery’s main objective, i.e. visiting the graves, to 04.11 Harmonious ensemble of
becoming a secondary event. Antique aedicular shape antique aedicular tombs in
Apart from using patterns of parks there was a unique in Catholic funerary art, Jewish funerary art, Old
change of rhythm of graves in some Jewish cemeteries Rákoskeresztúri Cemetery, Jewish Cemetery at the
in Europe of which the origin is not known. There is not Budapest Zentralfriedhof, Vienna
60
turn their back to each other, saving space and enabling a
better view of the front of the graves. Both in the Luther-
an section (1904) of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof and in its
Old Jewish Cemetery (1863) this arrangement appears.
While it makes better use of the space, as every second
lane is very narrow, it produces a visual conflict as the
rear side of a grave becomes the backdrop to the front
view of another grave. This arrangement found its way
most spectacularly into the Prague New Jewish Cemetery
in Žižkov (1891). Interestingly, it did not spread to other
metropolitan cemeteries of the period.
Vegetation, Wells, Benches, Pergolas
Probably, the most prominent visual element of Christian
influence on Jewish cemeteries was the intense use of green-
ery, rows of trees, cultivated lower greenery, and a succes-
sive transformation of the Jewish cemetery into a park with
all other elements, such as benches, pergolas, wells, etc.
By the introduction of greenery and other park elements, the
previous unity of Jewish cemetery space was transformed
into a sequence of interrelated spaces, composed along gar-
dening principles of the period. The Berlin Weißensee Jew-
ish Cemetery is unique in this respect and therefore it has the
most prominent corner tombs on the intersection of its lanes
and in the small squares created by the complex geometrical
layout. Vegetation and its Halachic implications will be dis-
cussed separately in chapter 18.
Tomb Typology
Besides layout and park elements, the typology of the Jew-
ish graves was another aspect that was considerably influ-
enced by Christian graves after the Emancipation. How-
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
04.15 04.16
ever, it was not just the Jewish cemeteries that took over
Christian traditions; instead, Christian cemeteries also
changed due to the Enlightenment and Neo-Classicism.
There, traditional cross-shaped gravestones were increas-
ingly replaced by types adopted from antiquity, which
decreased the difference between Jewish and Christian
cemeteries. Christian cemeteries started to use obelisks
around 1800,13 some 70–80 years earlier than their Jewish
counterparts. Around the end of the 19th century this type
was certainly more widely used by Jews – first by reform
and Neolog Jews, and when these started to favour newer
types, the obelisk was the preferred form of the Orthodox
cemeteries. The majority of new Jewish gravestone types
originated from Christian, or rather ancient Greco-Roman
sources: steles, sarcophagi, pseudo-sarcophagi, pillars,
columns, angels and later natural-looking rocks, and fore-
most mausoleums, which became the burial places of up-
per middle class Jews.
Steles are quite similar at Jewish and Christian cemeter-
ies, but the shape of Jewish steles may be seen as a sequel
of the matzeva tradition that goes back to antiquity.
Aedicules also appeared in 19th century Jewish funerary
art, predominantly due to Christian influence, although
Jews had used this form before even Christianity codified
its sepulchral art, i.e. in antiquity. Still, at the time when
aedicules started to spread across Jewish cemeteries, an-
tique Jewish graves of aedicular shape were not widely
known, so it seems to be correct to ascribe this type to
Christian influence.
The pseudo-sarcophagus appeared in 19th century Jew-
ish cemeteries also on account of the Christian influence
in Ashkenazi Europe. The sarcophagus is also an an-
tique form and it emerged among Jewish graves in Ro-
man antiquity, but again this was not yet widely known
to Ashkenazi culture in the late 19th century. This type
has different variations. A real sarcophagus may appear,
Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries
04.17
but the corpse is never located in it. As a rule, the corpse
is buried below, either in a single grave within a coffin
or in a family crypt.14 Sarcophagi are usually placed on
top of a relatively low pedestal, but sometimes even on
top of a very high funerary monument. We encounter the
pseudo-sarcophagus form both in Ashkenazi and Sephardi
cemeteries, but more often in the latter. It is a rectified ver-
sion of the sarcophagus, a prismatic shape that covers the
complete coffin and beyond, usually two metres long, one
meter wide, and 40–60 centimetres high.15 The fact that the
pseudo-sarcophagus is much more widespread in Sephar-
di cemeteries could be ascribed to the fact that it is clos-
er to the tradition of the slab, the most common form of
Sephardi graves until modernity, and probably also to the
fact that during the Ottoman Empire Sephardi Jews were
in contact with Jerusalem, where this type was and still is
widespread. Interestingly, the slab is quite a popular form
at Warsaw’s large Catholic Powązki cemetery (Cmentarz
Powązkowski). The great Jewish cemetery in Salonika
consisted almost entirely of pseudo-sarcophagi, this being
further reason why this type also appeared in Belgrade and
Bucharest, mainly in the Sephardi cemeteries.
The Mausoleum is the most prestigious type of Jewish tomb
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries all over Ashkenazi
Europe. Its form was mainly influenced by Christian cha-
pels, while stylistically it usually avoided Neo-Romanesque
or Neo-Gothic forms as these were considered to be explic-
itly Christian, but not always. It was Max Fleischer (1841,
Prostějov/Moravia – 1905, Vienna), the famous Jewish
architect of synagogues and Jewish community buildings,
who wanted to be buried in a chapel-like small mausoleum
in the Old Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof.
It is an art-historical curiosity that ‘Jewish mausoleums’
may be quite close to the form of the ohel, the covered
grave of Hassidic rabbis, in some Ashkenazi cemeteries.
Probably the most spectacular examples of this type are
61
04.18
in Warsaw’s Okopowa Street Cemetery, where the mau-
soleums are more modest than in Budapest, Prague, or
Vienna, thus resembling more the ohalim. Apart from ar-
chitectural differences, mausoleums and ohalim can best
be differentiated by the inscription, which in the case of
mausoleums is almost exclusively local vernacular and
for the ohalim mainly Hebrew. Moreover, the two types
also differ in their surroundings. Mausoleums are usu-
ally in the row of the rich, along the perimeter wall or
the dividing wall in the cemeteries, while an ohel usually
stands alone, surrounded by matzevot and having some
open space for the gathering of devotees.
The use of wrought-iron railings in Jewish cemeteries is
certainly based on Christian influence; its prominence
may be related to the Industrial Revolution all over Eu-
rope, although this applies more to Jewish graves.
Sculpturally worked tree trunks with cut-back branches
as main element of a tomb in combination with a small
plaque is another type of Christian tombstone that found
its way into Jewish cemeteries, mainly in Poland and the
Baltic states, but sporadically this type can also be found
in Germany. In Jewish symbolism the tree is more often
the tree of life (etz hayim) that may be broken, usually
its thickest part, the trunk. It is not a standalone sculptur-
al element, but a surface decoration on a stele, as can be
04.16
Sarcophagus type tomb,
Old Jewish Cemetery at the
Zentralfriedhof, Vienna
04.15
Sarcophagus type tomb in 04.17–18
a Catholic environment, Sarcophagus type tombs
Rákoskeresztúri Cemetery in the Salgótarjáni Street
in Budapest Jewish Cemetery in Budapest
62 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

seen on numerous tombs in the Bracka Street Cemetery in

Łódź and in other Polish Jewish cemeteries as well.
Interestingly, the type of the tree trunk with cut-back
branches spread into countries where forest is not so fre-
quent as in Northern Europe. As Jews were fleeing po-
groms in the Pale of Settlement and found refuge in the
Balkans, they took with them this motif which is quite
common in Romania, most prominently in the liquidated
Sebastopol Road Cemetery and from there transferred to
the Giurgului Cemetery. Similarly, there are some graves
of this type in Belgrade.

Style

Stylistic aspects of Jewish gravestones will be discussed

in detail in chapter 13. Here just the gentile influence
will be touched upon, i.e. the ways Jews received alien
elements, including their message. The most important
channel of influence was style, much before the Christian
influence became prevalent in terms of typology. In other
words, traditional Jewish types, for instance the matzeva,
received Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, or Ro-
mantic decoration. However, to call these pre-Emanci-
pation tombs by their Christian style of decoration would
be far-fetched, because the most important element is
still the basic form of a tomb that is just partly related to
the stylistic elements of the environment.
In some historic periods and cultures Jews were more
04.19
ready to adopt elements from their environment, in some
04.20 periods less so. In Greco-Roman antiquity borrowing
forms freely was the norm, in the medieval period there
was reluctance to do so. Even in the structural details of
synagogues and secular buildings erected by or for Jews,
one tried to avoid the cross form, for instance. Medieval
matzevot in some regions showed very little outside in-
fluence – Romanesque or Gothic – they were character-
ised only by inscription, without even the contours of the
gravestones being influenced by stylistic elements bor-
rowed from the environment. These were utterly simple
rectangular medieval gravestones.
The Renaissance turned a new page in the Jewish recep-
tion of Christian architectural elements. In this period, syn-
agogue interiors were influenced by this style not only in
terms of outside and inside decoration, but also in terms of
plan and space, as Sergey Kravtsov has shown.17 Similar-
ly, the Christian influence on the style of the Jewish grave-
stones became customary during the Renaissance and Ba-
roque. The impact of the two aforementioned great historic
styles was more explicit in Jewish communities that were
more liberal-minded. For instance, this can be seen in the
decorated graves of the Prague Jewish Community during
its heyday, which coincided partly with the northern Renais-
sance and early Baroque. 16th–17th century matzevot, steles
and larger tombs show the aforementioned gentile influence
mainly in the decoration and usually in places framing the
inscription. These stylistic elements did not replace ‘Jewish
iconography’, they just complemented it.
In Europe’s great metropolitan Jewish cemeteries
Neo-Classicism and Historicism were the most influen-
tial styles taken over from neighbouring Christian cem-
Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries
eteries. While Neo-Gothic was widely considered to be
a Christian revival style, referring to the religiosity and
morality of the Middle Ages, it nonetheless was also used
for numerous Jewish funerary monuments, particularly
the large ones. Such tombs represent a very high degree
of assimilation and ‘Jewish revision’, or a reinterpreta-
tion of Christianity not as a historic tradition, but as the
root of European culture, the ‘common platform of the
civilised world’,18 as the Western world was often called,
to which assimilated Jews in the 19th century eagerly
wanted to belong. Such an attitude lost its meaning and
appeal after the Holocaust which put the humanity of
Western/Christian culture into perspective and resulted
in striving for Jewish independence from it, as mentioned
earlier. Neo-Romanesque was more prevalent in German
metropolitan cemeteries than elsewhere, because the
Romanesque style was considered a German style. As
a derivation of the Neo-Romanesque one can also find
various examples of Rundbogenstil in Germany and Ger-
man cemeteries. As part of Historicism, Neo-Moresque
or oriental style also played a considerable role, but much
smaller than in synagogue architecture.19
The Free Style20 and Art Nouveau periods were charac-
terised by an intense convergence of Jewish and Christian
funerary art, as mentioned already with regard to typolo-
gy and style. While the Free Style came entirely from the
Christian environment, Art Nouveau represents a more
complex matter. No doubt, it is a western style, but it
distanced itself from traditional Western architectural el-
ements, including the ones verified by Christian Europe,
and introduced partly Far Eastern elements and influences,
the prevalence of floral decoration, undulating forms, sur-
face decoration – all elements not contained in the Western
Christian or Jewish heritage. This ideological and formal
independence became very attractive for emancipated
Jews, who were about to create a brave new world around
1900 all over Europe, perhaps less so in the Russian Em-
pire, but even there most Art Nouveau buildings, for in-
stance in St Petersburg, were either designed or commis-
sioned by Jews.21 Art Nouveau, actually a ‘new art’, or its
Viennese counterpart Secession, both breaking away from
academicism, were catchwords to which upper class Jews
subscribed for numerous reasons. Carl Schorske main-
tained in his seminal book Fin-de-siècle Vienna that the
new style was prompted by the frustration of the well-off
Viennese bourgeoisie because of their exclusion from po-
litical power.22 Moreover, Secession offered Jews several
advantages in visual and ideological terms, which explains
their overrepresentation among architects and clients who
commissioned buildings or graves in this style.23
In non-German speaking regions or in areas with a large
population not speaking German, the Secession as a style
was the first to expose national identity and became at-
tractive to Jews, who wanted to show their loyalty to the
national cause of peoples under German/Austrian or Rus-
sian rule in the first decade of the 20th century, as for
example Hungarian or Polish Jews.24
As mentioned in the introductory paragraphs of this chap-
ter, Modernism was the final station on the long journey
towards Emancipation and a great opportunity for the de-
velopment of a new funerary art all over Europe.
63
The Use of Symbols and Motifs
Shared Between Jews and Gentiles
There are relatively few symbols shared by Jews and
Christians that are used in funerary architecture. Proba-
bly the most important ones are those that refer to death,
such as the torch turned upside down, the broken tree
or broken branch, flame, urn, vase, willow tree. These
symbols became common on Jewish graves mainly in the
19th century and usually on new, larger grave types with
more room to display them without interfering with the
inscription. The Tablets of the Law was a popular symbol
used by the Jews to underline the common ethical roots
of Judaism and Christianity. The eyes of divine provi-
dence with the sunrays played a similar role. Professional
symbols referring to the occupation of the deceased were
identical: musical instruments, books, snakes for medical
doctors, triangle and compasses for architects, etc.
Content of Eulogies – Virtues, Achievement,
Family Grief
While in pre-Emancipation times eulogies emphasised
the piety of the deceased, his/her loyalty to Judaism, his
erudition in religious matters, in the period of Emancipa-
tion other virtues in common with Christians were pre-
ferred. On Jewish graves from the Gründerzeit onwards
only secular achievements were emphasised. Family
grief remained from pre-Emancipation times, but it lost
significance and intensity, unless it was the death of an
infant, which was described in emotional terms on Ash-
kenazi graves, less so on Sephardi graves in the Balkans,
where the impact of text was replaced by moving photo-
graphs of a happy child with toys or on a rocking horse.
Typography
By abandoning the dominance of Hebrew inscriptions
Jewish graves entirely followed the typefaces used by
the Christians, while traditional Hebrew fonts were used
that often clashed with the Roman letters of the period.
From about 1900 some architects and artists started to
modernise the Hebrew typefaces that began to follow the
forms of their ‘Christian’ counterparts.
04.19
Broken column type tomb
in Catholic funerary art,
Rákoskeresztúri Cemetery,
Budapest
04.20
Broken column type tomb
at the Sephardi Jewish
Cemetery in Bucharest
64
04.21
01 Gentile is the English translation of Hebrew goy and
nokhri or the Greek ἔθνη (éthnē).
02 The Torah requires the Hebrews to refuse Canaanites
(otherwise known as the Phoenicians) without mercy
(Deuteronomy 6, 20), and forbids the Hebrews to
intermarry with them or adopt their customs. It alleges that
the gentiles’ barbarism will “contaminate” the Hebrews.
(Mark, Josua J.: “Canaan”. In: The Ancient History
Encyclopedia, retrieved 21 December 2015.)
03 Despite the official reservation vis-à-vis the gentiles/
heathens even in times of Jewish statehood, borrowing
from other cultures was the norm. Solomon’s Temple
was created by Hyram, who was a foreigner, but in
accordance with the Judaic principles, the image ban
and thus the avoidance of God’s sculpture in the Holy
of Holies, a ‘textual document’, the Tablets of the Law,
was placed instead in the Kadosh Kadoshim that signaled
the prevalence of the ethical vis-à-vis the ontological in
Jewish thought and values.
04 See: Rudolf Klein: Humor in Architecture: Jewish Wit
on Béla Lajta’s Buildings. In: Ars Judaica, 12, February
2016, pp. 93–110.
05 Emil Högg wrote: “Heute darf der wagemutige junge
Stadtbaurat, gestützt von dem Beifall der Stadtväter,
aller Reißbrett-Unkunst, aller Geometerweisheit und
allem nüchternen Schematismus den Krieg erklären
und als begeisterter tatkräftiger Vorkämpfer idealer
Forderungen einen Friedhof schaffen, der nicht mehr ein
Niederschlag des Totengräber-Registers ist, sondern die
künstlerische Verklärung der letzten menschlichen Dinge,
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
04.22
des Todes, der Trauer und der Erinnerung.” In: Emil Högg,
Friedhofskunst, Bielefeld 1912, pp. 6–7.
06 “Sie alle, Bildhauer und Architekten, sind in einer
Richtung erfreulich geeint: sie wollen im Kunstwerk,
das an die Toten mahnt, nichts vom prunkenden Stil,
nichts von widerlich aufdringlichem Protzentum, wie es
gerade die ‘vornehmen’ Grabmäler unserer Friedhöfe so
lange geschändet hat.” Editorial. In: Dekorative Kunst,
1906, p. 186.
07 Architect Stefan Fayans, the author of
Bestattungsanlagen (1907) a seminal book on
cemeteries, requested that the individual grave should
be subordinated to the entirety of the cemetery, insisting
on homogeneity instead of individualistic chaos
(individualistischer Wirldwuchs), an idea that in the
1920s led to the breakthrough. See: Stefan Fayans:
Kunst und Architektur im Dienste des Totenkults.
In: Zeitschrift des Österreichischen Ingenieur- und
Architektenvereines 60, 1908, Nr. 37, pp. 597–598.
08 The emphasis of the “Heimat-movements” (”Heimat”-
Sehnsucht, Heimatkunst, Heimatstil) on national tradition
corroborated Zionism’s ideas of “national”, with or
without a nation-state.
09 Moreover, these changes in the arts were outcomes
of modern science to which Jews also contributed
significantly as the impact of Einstein’s and Minkovsky’s
physics prove. See in detail: Rudolf Klein: Judaism,
Einstein and Modern Architecture. In: Prostor – A
Scholarly Journal of Architecture and Urban Planning,
No. 20 (2012) 2 (44), pp. 220–235.
Gentile Influence on Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries 65

10 Jewish involvement into arts, however, started much earlier.

It is known that in the art trade Jews propagated art nouveau,
and even earlier Japonism that paved the way the art nouveau.
See, Rudolf Klein: Secession: un goût juif? – Art Nouveau
Buildings and the Jews in some Habsburg Lands. In: Jewish
Studies at the CEU V, 2005–2007, 2009, pp. 91–124.
11 It refers only to the Old Jewish Cemetery that does not fall
under the jurisdiction of the present Jewish community;
the New Jewish Cemetery is fenced off from the Lutheran
cemetery.
12 If orientation missed, the building became invalid – a
good example is the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque
in Marrakech that was five degrees misaligned, and the
second version even more, some ten degrees. Probably,
this would have remained unnoticed in a Jewish context.
See Ingeborg Lehmann et al. (2012): Baedeker Morocco,
pp. 292–293. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
13 The popularity of the obelisk form resulted from the Neo-
Classical revival and Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition.
14 In this period burials without a coffin were not allowed.
15 In chapter 12 on tomb typology this type will be dealt with
in detail.
16 This type is also the dominant form at the Christian
Rochusfriedhof and Johannisfriedhof in Nürnberg, with
slabs dating back to the early 16th century.
17 See Сергеи Кравцов: О происхождении девятипољых
камениых синагог. In: Евреиское Искусство, Москва
2002, pp. 191–204.
18 See Rudolf Klein: Oriental-Style Synagogues in Austria-
Hungary: Philosophy and Historical Significance. In: Ars
Judaica, vol. 2, 2006, pp. 117–134.
19 See Rudolf Klein: Oriental-Style Synagogues in Austria-
Hungary: Philosophy and Historical Significance. In: Ars
Judaica, vol. 2, 2006, pp. 117–134.
20 I am using in this book the Anglo-Saxon term Free
Style due to the lack of a proper English term for what
the popular term Eklektizismus (Eclecticism) denotes
in Central Europe, i.e. the final stage of Historicism,
in which Western, predominantly Neo-Renaissance,
Neo-Baroque, but many other elements are freely mixed.
This late Historicism in Central Europe is similar to the
Anglo-Saxon Free Style but not identical. The latter has
more ingredients as described in the Oxford Dictionary
of Architecture: “Late-C19 style in which Classical,
Domestic Revival, Gothic, Queen Anne, and vernacular
themes, motifs, and elements were mingled promiscuously
in eclectic compositions, sometimes with additional
Elizabethan or Renaissance allusions added…”, James
Stevens Curl: Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, Oxford
University Press, p. 255.
21 See the chapter on St Petersburg and the oeuvre of
architect Jacob Gevirts.
22 He does not mention the Jewish barons, but it is a matter 04.23
04.24
of fact. See: Carl E. Schorske: Fin-de-siècle Vienna –
Politics and Culture. New York, 1979.
23 See Rudolf Klein: Juden und die Sezession – Ein kurzer 04.21 04.23
Überblick über Architektur und Gesellschaft in Kakanien,
Rock-type tomb at the Rock-type tomb at the Old
In: Aliza Cohen-Mushlin et al. (eds.): Beiträge zur
Lutheran Cemetery at the Jewish Cemetery at the
jüdischen Architektur in Berlin, Kleine Schriften der Bet
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
Tfila-Forschungsstelle für jüdische Architektur in Europa,
vol. 2, Petersburg, 2009, pp. 100–112. 04.22 04.24
24 See Rudolf Klein: A szecesszió: zsidó(s) stílus? – Rock-type tomb at the New Large rock-type tomb at the
A szecessziós építészet és a zsidóság kapcsolata a Jewish Cemetery at the Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery
Monarchiában. In: Múlt és Jövő, 2008/6, pp. 4–32. Zentralfriedhof in Vienna in Bucharest

The Impact of Jewish Religious Reform on Cemeteries
The Jewish religious reform was an important precondi-
tion for the reception of Christian elements in Jewish fu-
nerary art. Until the Haskala, i.e. from the 1770s to the
1880s, Ashkenazi Jews largely followed Halachic rules
regarding the orientation of graves, the setting up of ceme-
tery gates, the avoidance of trees, the position of the graves
of important rabbis, and the homogeneity of the fabric of
the cemetery (size and shape of gravestones). These rules
also allowed the kohanim to have a view of the cemetery
from the outside, etc or they created inner communications
in the cemetery that allowed them entrance.
The Haskalah, the ‘Jewish enlightenment’, partly by-
passed or pushed aside many of these Halachic rules, and
metropolitan Jewish cemeteries opened a radically new
page in Jewish funerary culture. This change applies both
to the newly opened cemeteries (Weißensee in Berlin,
Kozma Street and Salgótarjáni Street in Budapest, Zmi-
enna Street in Łódź) and to the ones inherited from the
past and enlarged during or after the reform (Okopowa
Street in Warsaw, Sephardi in Sarajevo, Miodova Street
in Cracow). The reaction of traditional Jews was prompt:
New Orthodox cemeteries emerged for people who did
not want to be buried in the new type of cemeteries that
did not keep all the Halachic rules. These Orthodox cem-
eteries are basically small in the metropolitan world of
cemeteries, as for instance the Gránátos Street Orthodox
Cemetery in Budapest. However, there are a few larger
cemeteries that remained completely Orthodox through-
out the time of their existence or at least until the Shoa,
as if there had not been any reform. Such an Orthodox
metropolitan cemetery can be found in Bratislava; it has
kept its coherence in terms of the shape of gravestones,
particularly adjacent ones, of orientation, etc., until today,
although after the Holocaust this remained the only active
Jewish cemetery in the city, not only for the Orthodox, but
also for the Neolog.
05.01
View of the Kozma Street
Jewish Cemetery
in Budapest: Mausolea,
sculptures contradict
strict Jewish tradition
CHAPTER 05
The transition of the cemetery fabric from pre-reform
times to the Emancipation period can be organic in some
cemeteries, as in Warsaw Okopowa where one hardly
perceives the line of division in planning; it is only no-
ticeable in the shape and size of the graves. Similarly,
the other prominent Polish Jewish cemetery, the one in
Miodova Street in Cracow, shows a smooth transition,
which results partly from its organic layout. In other cas-
es, the transition may be more visible, as in the Sephardi
Cemetery in Sarajevo, where the 16th century tradition
of horizontal large stones almost entirely lost its signifi-
cance vis-à-vis the 19th and 20th century custom of ver-
tically set gravestones, adopted from the reform Ashke-
nazi world. Interestingly, the slightly oblique, basically
horizontal tradition of 16th century gravestones survived
only in the Holocaust and World War Two monument, in
which the architect consciously used traditional elements
and integrated them into the late modernist architectural
idiom and into the customs of memorial design in com-
munist Yugoslavia. The other prominent Polish Jewish
cemetery in this survey, the one in Miodova Street in
Cracow, shows a smooth transition, which results partly
from its organic layout.
In this context, an important distinction should be made:
In common parlance often pre-Emancipation cemeteries
or pre-Emancipation parts of larger metropolitan ceme-
teries are called Orthodox, as for instance older sections
of Warsaw’s Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery. This is
incorrect, as before the Emancipation there was no or-
thodoxy. Instead, these sections or ensembles should be
termed traditional. Orthodoxy is a conscious reaction to
the reform, and not a period that preceded it. There is
a common perception of the isolation of the Orthodox,
trying to stop historic time and succeeding in severing
ties with the evolution of architectural history.01 Howev-
er, this would have been impossible. Orthodox Jews were
68
05.02
05.02
Immediately after the
Reform movement
gravestones changed
slightly: by and large the
traditional matzeva form
with semi-circular ending
survived with some little
variation, but the “urban
coherence” became a little
bit looser, without planted
vegetation. Kozma Street
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
05.03
During the last quarter
of the 19th century obelisk
form and its variations
took over the matzeva
tradition and planted trees
started to appear in reform
Jewish cemeteries.
Wroclaw Slezna Street
Cemetery
05.04
By the of the 19th century
the diversity of grave
types changed the hitherto
traditionally homogeneous
look of Jewish cemeteries
throughout Europe, including
peripheral regions.
The Ashkenazi Jewish
Cemetery, Bucharest
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
also embedded to some degree in gentile societies; they
were dependent on their technology, architectural skills,
and customs. In fact, they could not avoid the impact of
the Haskala and Enlightenment in architectural terms,
which is visible in their synagogues and cemeteries. In
other words, the Orthodox could not stop architectural
history, but they could delay it for some 15–20 years.
For instance, Orthodox synagogues also became domi-
cal, but not as early as in the 1870s when Reform Jews
started to build their synagogues with cupolas. Some
20–25 years later, when the Neologs started to abandon
this form, the Orthodox began to opt for it. Similarly, the
obelisk-shaped grave which followed after the matzeva
tradition was used a bit later among the Orthodox, i.e.
when the Reform Jews moved on to Art Nouveau and
proto-modernist gravestone types. It wasn’t difficult at
all, as in a given time and place since the 1820s there
were parallel currents in European architecture – some
more traditional, others more avant-garde. Orthodox
Jews opted for more tradition in architecture and almost
in all visual facets of life, like furniture and, probably
most importantly, in fashion.
01 Certainly, there was an intention to do so. Chatam
Sofer of Pressburg (today Bratislava), “the father of
Orthodox Judaism,” coined his motto: “He-ḥadash asur
min ha-Torah!” (Innovation is forbidden as a biblical
prohibition!). He wanted to segregate Reform Jews, but as
the latter created a clear majority in the 19th century, he
segregated himself and the Orthodox. See: Michael Silber:
Sofer Moshe, In: YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern
Europe, http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/
Sofer_Mosheh, retrieved 8 March 2017.
The Impact of Jewish Religious Reform on Cemeteries 69

05.03
05.04
70 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

05.05
05.06
The Impact of Jewish Religious Reform on Cemeteries 71

05.07
05.08
05.09

05.05
The dissolution of the
traditional compact Jewish
communities in the rich
countries resulted in the
emergence of larger funerary
monuments among smaller
graves by the end of the 19th
century. The Weissensee
Jewish Cemetery, Berlin
05.06
In German Jewish
cemeteries, as in Berlin and
Wroclaw, very large funerary
monuments were placed
along the perimeter walls,
which somehow levelled the
differences vis-à-vis freely
set large tombs and their
smaller neighbours.
The Weissensee Jewish
Cemetery, Berlin
05.07
The impact of religious
reform was more moderate
in Sephardi areas of the
European periphery, where
it merged with the local
Jewish funerary tradition.
Jewish Section of the Central
Cemetery in Sofia
05.08
The German Friedhofsreform
was the first conscious
movement to stem the
competition between rich
Gründerzeit Jewish families
in cemeteries and advocated
smaller, more refined
gravestones. The Weissensee
Jewish Cemetery, Berlin
05.09
Stalinism in Eastern Europe
regimented societies and
also the graves in Jewish
cemeteries, which became
as compact and harmonious
as before the religious
reform. The Sephardi Jewish
Cemetery in Bucharest

Topography, Layout and Urban Context, Extensions,
Layout Changes, Relocations, and the Orientation of Gravestones
Large Jewish cemeteries created or substantially enlarged
from the Gründerzeit onwards vary considerably in terms
of location within the context of the city, size, density,
topography, general layout, vegetation, degree of preser-
vation, maintenance, existence of historical records, and
degree of research. Basically, all of these cemeteries – ex-
cept the ones obliterated by the Nazis or the Soviets – are
better preserved and researched than their smaller, provin-
cial counterparts. In major cities of Central and Eastern
Central Europe as well as of the Balkans there are still
smaller Jewish communities using and/or maintaining the
cemeteries. However, state or municipal authorities can be
equally efficient, as can be shown by the example of the
Polish metropolitan cemeteries. The easier accessibility of
these cemeteries and the vicinity of central and national ar-
chives in the capitals and other metropolises have resulted
in a greater quantity of research. On the other hand, major
cities have developed faster and more drastically, which
has resulted in the loss of original suburban context.
When large European cities underwent strict modern ur-
ban regulation in the 19th century, planners of new met-
ropolitan cemeteries preferred choosing flat, preferably
undivided land that had been allotted to the Jews. This
was a process which largely coincided with Jews obtain-
ing certain emancipatory rights. Still, the legal framework
was less significant than the changes of urban fabric, the
fast extension of cities. While in France Jews received civ-
il rights with the Code Napoleon, in Central Europe this
occurred largely in the second half of the 19th century, in
peripheral parts of Europe even much later, as for instance
in Serbia, where limitations vis-à-vis the Jews were only
lifted in 1889, and in Romania Jews received citizenship
as late as 1923, largely under international pressure.
Nevertheless, there is little difference between the afore-
mentioned countries in the main guidelines and tenden-
cies regarding the location of metropolitan Jewish cem-
06.01
Detail of the Užupis
Jewish Cemetery, Vilnius
CHAPTER 06
eteries. There were even large urban synagogues built
before Jews obtained full civil rights or even before they
could own private property.01
However, quite a number of cemeteries were inherited
from earlier periods, and they continued to function as
burial places if they were far enough from the city centre
and did not hamper urban development. In these fortunate
cases one can observe a long continuity from the early 19th
century (Warsaw, Cracow) or even from early modern
times (Sarajevo, 16th century). Very often new metropol-
itan cemeteries opened between 1848 and 1900 contained
earlier gravestones that were removed from smaller medi-
eval, early modern or pre-Emancipation Jewish cemeteries
that stood in the way of modernisation in numerous Cen-
tral and Eastern European cities. The question arises, how
could emancipated Jewish communities readily accept the
relocation of graves for obtaining attractive new locations
for their nascent metropolitan cemeteries? It was not only
pragmatism; instead they believed to have complied with
the call of the time. Prior to the19th century anti-Semit-
ic scandals, like the blood libel in Tiszaeszlár, in Hungary
(1882–83) and the Dreyfus affair in France (1894–1906),
Reform Jews saw in modernisation the fulfilment of ‘Mes-
sianic promise’ and made concessions for the sake of it,
even if they had to abandon some rules of Jewish tradition.
Anti-Semitic acts in the early 20th century, such as the se-
vere pogroms in the Russian Empire from 1903–06, cooled
down the Messianism of Reform Jews, but their outlook
did not change substantially until the Holocaust.
In cases where older cemeteries were liquidated during the
Gründerzeit and gravestones with or without the earthly re-
mains of the deceased were transferred to a new metropoli-
tan cemetery, as for example from the Jewish Cemetery on
Váci út to to the Kozma Street Cemetery in Budapest, the
earlier tissue merges with the modern one, creating an inter-
esting variety and witnessing the changes of Jewish funer-
74
ary culture in a given city or region. This variety of graves
applies not only to the 19th century, but also to the late 20th
century, when gravestones from villages or smaller towns
without a Jewish population were relocated to major urban
cemeteries in order to protect them from theft. These relo-
cations contradict Halachic requirements, but Jewish com-
munities were often flexible in interpreting them under the
pressure of the harsh reality and the fast urbanisation, i.e. the
planned liquidation of older cemeteries in the 19th centu-
ry. In exchange they often received from the municipalities
prominent plots of land for their new cemeteries. The same
applies to cases of mid-20th relocations that aimed at rescu-
ing elements of Jewish heritage after the Holocaust and of
the radically shrunk Jewish population in Europe.
Unlike Christian or Muslim cemeteries which often sur-
rounded the church or mosque near or in the centre of the
town Jews always laid out their cemeteries further away.
The dead were not considered to be kosher, i.e. unclean
and therefore dangerous. In small gentile towns and vil-
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
lages the dead buried around the churches represented
mediators between the actual population and the divine;
Muslims buried around the mosques were people of
achievement, revered members of their respective com-
munities. Jews, however, sometimes even forbade the
Kochanim to pass over the doorstep of cemeteries, which
were not kosher because of the presence of corpses.
Some urban Jewish cemeteries were located in hilly loca-
tions – Košice, Miskolc, Bratislava, Sarajevo – often as a
continuation of existing older cemeteries or in lieu of better,
more easily manageable locations. As already mentioned,
in most cases a Jewish cemetery is located on flat land,
without any major inclination, but there may still be some
topographic variety: rifts and small raised sections giving
ample opportunity for achieving fine nuances and creating
monumental spaces, even in the informal, non-symmetrical
surroundings of the second half of the 19th century.
As already mentioned, Jewish cemeteries most often have
a sort of ‘free gridded layout’, except very few that fol-
Topography, Layout and Urban Context, Extensions, Layout Changes, Relocations, and the Orientation of Gravestones 75

06.02

low more complex gardening patterns of the period, like
the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin Weißensee. In some cases
the honorary sections are not part of the grid, enabling the
placement of larger funerary monuments and allowing in-
teresting views, while the larger section of the cemetery
will follow the gridded pattern, as at the cemetery in Bu-
dapest’s Salgótarjáni Street. In some rare cases it can be
just the opposite – the ‘VIP’ section is gridded and located
near the entrance, while some non-gridded parts are farther
away, as in the case of Budapest’s Kozma Street Cemetery.
Some cemeteries from earlier periods may continue with
a rather organic structure, as is the case with the Sephardi
Jewish cemetery in Sarajevo.
While in terms of layout the majority of metropolitan
Jewish cemeteries are homogeneous with a constant
rhythm of paths and lanes, their distribution differs. Usu-
ally there are main roads and some narrow middle lanes,
similar to the pattern of major American gridded cities.
In some cases there is a pronounced axiality with a spa-
tial marker at the end, or even some specially designated
spaces for the burial of soldiers killed in World War One,
or monuments commemorating World War Two or the
Holocaust, all of them showing some degree of monu-
mentality. The most monumental, axially set Holocaust
memorial is in Belgrade’s Sephardi Cemetery, which cre-
ates a sort of via sacra as in Catholic churches that starts
from the main entrance and culminates in the huge Tab-
lets of the Law and the menorah between them, the only
real landmark of the cemetery.
06.02
After emancipation,
traditional orientation of
graves towards Jerusalem
was abandoned and graves
lined up to emphasise
lanes as trees. New Jewish
Cemetery in Prague
76
06.03
The example of the aforementioned monument proves
that regarding the emergence of landmarks, Jewish cem-
eteries often changed due to historic events, such as per-
secution and extermination. Thus, a former completely
homogeneous cemetery – or mainly homogeneous buri-
al place as the Sephardi Cemetery in Belgrade – had to
accommodate a new landmark-like monument as conse-
quence of wars, pogroms and the Shoa.
Initially the main landmarks in Jewish cemeteries in East-
ern-Central Europe since early modern times were the oha-
lim (literally tents), shelters over the graves of significant
Hassidic rabbis, whose graves are visited by the pious.
These graves became vivid focal points of the cemetery, sur-
rounded by the pious during the Yorzeit (anniversary) of the
buried. During the Emancipation, however, as Jews became
increasingly secular, the landmark role of the ohalim was
taken over in reform Jewish cemeteries by funerary monu-
ments for people with significant secular achievements – in
trade, industry, sciences, and the arts. These new landmarks
were usually located in special lanes, the Ehrenreihe, or in
honorary sections in the central parts of the cemetery near
the main entrance or along the perimeter walls.
In some cases, when the cemetery needed to be enlarged,
the demand for expensive and impressive monuments
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
prompted the retention of the walls between the old and
the new parts in order to have more wall surface avail-
able. Such a partitioned Jewish burial place can be found
in Wroclaw, divided into smaller sections, according to the
age of construction and social strata. These sections are
linked to each other only at certain points – otherwise pre-
cious space would be lost – opening up the possibility of
further spatial views. The wealthiest Jews purchased such
locations to erect funerary monuments with a ‘double pan-
orama’ – a view from two sections – which at the same
time became passageways across which the monuments
worked as triumphal arches. As a matter of fact, this ar-
rangement represents a sharp deviation from Jewish tradi-
tions, as it is a radical refusal of the idea of the undivided
Jewish community, an organically knit web of belonging
to each other and facing God as one, as in the synagogue.
Thus, this change in establishing landmarks was not only
in terms of content – great rabbi versus a millionaire – but
in formal terms as well. The ohel of Chassidim appears
haphazardly in the context of the cemetery. It is an organic
phenomenon, while the honorary section is an element of
deliberate segregation. In some cemeteries, for instance in
Warsaw’s Okopowa Street or Budapest’s Kozma Street,
the same cemetery may reflect both aspects.
Topography, Layout and Urban Context, Extensions, Layout Changes, Relocations, and the Orientation of Gravestones 77

06.04

In many 19th century Jewish cemeteries there are special the large Central Municipal Cemetery, positioned between
lanes for rabbis and Jewish scholars, as well as for lead- Christian Orthodox and Catholic graves and recently some
ers of the Jewish community and its major institutions. Muslim graves as well. At Zagreb’s Mirogoj Cemetery
As a rule, these are not identical with the burial places there is no dividing wall between the Catholic and Jew-
of the wealthy and secularly famous. The spatial distri- ish parts, either, but the Jewish sections have a separate
bution and the proportion of ‘people of spirit’, the very entrance and Jewish presence is also marked by six-point-
rich, the solid middle class, the lower middle class, etc., ed stars on the domes of the long entrance arcades. Since
defines the image of a cemetery. the number of Jews has shrunk and mixed marriages have
While the majority of Gründerzeit Jewish cemeteries are spread, there are even interfaith gravestones – Catho-
independent of and sometimes adjacent to Christian cem- lic-Jewish, Jewish-Communist – at Mirogoj.02
eteries, in some cases they are just special sections of a
larger interfaith cemetery, as in the case of the Zentral-
friedhof in Vienna, the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb, the 06.03
Farkasrét Cemetery in Budapest, or the Central Cemetery Graves and ohalim in
in Sofia. Often just a wall divides the large 19th century traditional sections look
Jewish cemetery from its Christian counterpart – as can be towards Jerusalem.
seen at Kozma Street and Salgótarjáni Street in Budapest, Okopowa Street Jewish
Slezna Street in Wroclav, etc. At the aforementioned Ze- Cemetery, Warsaw
ntralfriedhof there are even two Jewish cemeteries at the 06.04
two ends of the complex, the old one not fenced off from A high, obelisk-like funerary
its Christian neighbour, Jewish sections facing the Cath- monument does not signal
olic sections along an invisible border-lane, and the New orientation, but play the role
Jewish Cemetery fenced off from the Lutheran cemetery in of a landmark. New Jewish
that complex. In Sofia, the Jewish section is in the heart of Cemetery, Prague
78 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

Probably the most exquisite urban location is the one of

the Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery in Budapest, which is
adjacent to the National Cemetery Park, on Fiumei Road,
where the great sons and daughters of the Hungarian na-
tion are buried. The message of this setting is of toler-
ance, in which Jews, who took part in the Gründerzeit
reshaping of Budapest and the whole country, share the
same location, just partitioned by a wall. At some places
in the Jewish part angels and crucifixes can be seen be-
yond the wall, while from the Christian part the visitor
can have a glimpse of the Tablets of the Law above the
fence. The Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw
is similarly located near the Powązki Cemetery (Cmen-
tarz Powązkowski), but its architectural prominence lags
behind its gentile counterpart.
The orientation of gravestones is an important matter in
the layout of a Jewish cemetery with relevance to escha-
tology, social relations, and to planning the sections and
entrances to the cemetery. There is no absolute rule in
practice regarding how the graves in a cemetery should
be aligned and apparently metropolitan Jewish cemeter-
ies had to consider more modern requirements, but in de-
tail some of them did follow the ancient tradition.
Probably the most authentic modern-time responsum
(Hebrew: She’elot ve-Teshuvot, literally: questions and
answers) is the one by Rabbi Moshe Sofer known as
the Chatam Sofer (from the name of his volumes on
Jewish law).03 He says that while Jewish law does not
require all graves to face any particular direction, in
anticipation of the ultimate redemption and the messi-
anic era, when all will be resurrected, there was a cus-
tom that evolved in many communities. Thus in many
cemeteries the bodies are buried with their feet facing
the entrance to the cemetery to symbolise that they will
leave the cemetery at the time of the resurrection of
the dead. At the time of the resurrection, everyone will
head to the Land of Israel, and therefore some ceme-
teries are laid out so that the feet of the dead face the
direction one would take to travel to the Holy Land.
For instance, in cemeteries in Europe some dead are
buried with their feet to the east, some with their feet to
the south – since Israel is southeast of most of Eastern
Europe, one would travel either east to Turkey and then
south, or first south to the Mediterranean and then east.
Based on the above, some cemeteries in Europe have
entrances on both the south and east sides, and the dead advantage of views, changes in topography, etc. Nev-
are buried in both directions. ertheless, in the case of some metropolitan cemeteries
There can be several reasons why graves face the there could be a second entrance, which followed this
same direction in each section of a cemetery: it saves rule, if the main one did not.
space and obliges people to adhere to the dimensions Often there is a combination of traditional siting to the
of graves. Therefore, it is suggested that the graves be east or less frequently to the south, and a more monu-
placed in an orderly way so as not to draw attention to mental siting, i.e. facing the lane. This sometimes breaks
any one grave more than to another. This principle of the order and harmony, with two adjacent graves looking
equality was soon forgotten in metropolitan cemeteries into different directions. With the introduction of wider
in the 19th century, at least for a small number of the lanes this problem emerged first in the corners of sec-
prominent or the rich. tions, when there was a dilemma in which direction the
Thus, many of the great metropolitan cemeteries fol- grave should be oriented, if the dominant orientation was
lowed the general tendencies of the period in terms of not obligatory anymore. In the more traditional metro-
general layout and changed the aforementioned rule. politan cemeteries the corner would not be emphasised
Funerary monuments were arranged to enhance the by changing the direction of the grave, but possibly by
monumentality in the context of the cemetery, to take the size of the tomb.
Topography, Layout and Urban Context, Extensions, Layout Changes, Relocations, and the Orientation of Gravestones 79

06.05

01 Jewish communities often found their ways to push aside

legal hurdles if and when they needed. Often they leased a
plot in the Habsburg Empire before 1840, i.e. the date they
were allowed to own land. Later they legalised this property.
02 In the years after World War Two in the so-called Socialist
countries, Communism officially replaced traditional
religions, although it had no teleology and dogmatics.
So, five-pointed stars figured on gravestones instead of
six-pointed stars. Jews were more eager to adopt the
‘Communist Religion’ than Christians; they were over-
proportionately represented in the Communist parties that
fought Nazism and usually suppressed nationalism and 06.05
anti-Semitism, apart from sporadic anti-Semitic campaigns Gate-type mausoleum that
of the Stalinist regimes. connects the main part of the
03 Chatam Sofer Responsa, Volume 1: Hilchot Yoreh Deah. cemetery with the section
Pressburg 1841; Chatam Sofer Responsa, Volume 2: of the rich, Slezna Street
Hilchot Even HaEzer. Vienna 1880. Jewish Cemetery in Wroclaw

Segregation Inside the Cemetery – Gender,
Religious, Social – and Its Morphological Consequences
Traditionally, Jews were buried in individual graves, 24
hours after their death at the latest. After the burial, the
earthly remains should not be touched or disturbed. Later, in
the course of the 19th century, Emancipation coffins – spe-
cial plain, undecorated coffins made of timber01 – became
the norm, and gradually the individual graves were supple-
mented by other types in Central and Eastern Europe.02
Early modern Jewish cemeteries were still characterised
by gender segregation: men and women were buried in
separate sections or separate lanes, or at least in separate
sequences. This habit survived in some cemeteries well
into the 19th century, as in the case of Cracow’s Mio-
dova Street Cemetery, or even into the 20th century as
in Łódź. The Emancipation changed this tradition and
since the second half of the 19th century married couples
were increasingly buried side by side in separate graves
or later in the same grave. Thus, initially the first twin
matzeva-type gravestones or other twin types appeared
for a married couple – this tradition being kept for quite
a long time, well into the 20th century – parallel to the
emerging new tradition of large family graves in Jewish
reform cemeteries.
There are different variations of gravestones to express mar-
riage, apart from the aforementioned twin-matzeva solu-
tion. These matzevot may be put onto a common pedestal
that visually unites them. There may be a larger vertical slab
for a couple, while the traditional Sephardi horizontal slabs
may be divided, or there can even be a common pedestal
and just two cover slabs to express marriage.
In the course of the 19th century, believers and entire Jew-
ish communities split into orthodox and reform, includ-
ing the entire intermediary variations, such as Status quo
Ante, Neolog, etc., which often led to the establishment
of separate orthodox cemeteries where traditional gen-
der segregation was observed.03 However, in some other
cases Jewish cemeteries remained mixed, orthodox and
07.01
Gender segregation: a group
of ladies’ graves, Zmienna
Street Jewish Cemetery, Łódź
CHAPTER 07
reform together, with some sections of the cemetery seg-
regated and others not, as in Cracow’s Miodova Street.
The distribution and percentage of orthodox vis-à-vis re-
form greatly varied in the major European empires (the
Habsburg and Russian Empires, and, after the unification
of 1871, the German Reich). Closer to the observant ar-
eas in Eastern Europe, mainly in the Pale of Settlement,
even major urban cemeteries could be purely orthodox,
as in Galicia, or more insular in areas with more reform
Jews, farther from the traditional places of Jewish set-
tlement. Still, the rule of thumb is that the further one
moves away from traditional territories of Jewish settle-
ment the greater is the likelihood of reform communities.
For instance, in Transylvania or Vojvodina or continental
parts of Croatia where Jews settled later and further from
the traditional Jewish heartlands, the majority of them
were reform, actually Neolog.04
As traditionally men of achievement in Jewish studies en-
joyed special status within their communities, they were
buried in the lane for rabbis. In conservative as well as in
some progressive cemeteries not only the rabbis of official
Judaism, but also Hassidic rabbis would have ohalim –
light covers made of timber and metal (ohel), or a massive
wall and roof. These ohalim were always further away
from the official rabbi lanes and the central areas in the
reform Jewish cemeteries, usually among more conserva-
tive members of the community, as in the case of the New
Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.
Basically, a clearly visible social segregation in Jewish
cemeteries started with the modernisation, when Jews
became assimilated and the social inequalities of the gen-
tile world affected the Jewish communities. Their mem-
bers abandoned the traditional Jewish hierarchy based on
the knowledge of religious texts and wisdom and adopted
dividing lines that rested upon social strata and secular
achievement.05 This restructuring among reform Jews
82
07.02
could not avoid having an impact on cemeteries newly
opened in the second half of the 19th century. Interest-
ingly, social segregation could take different forms, just
as segregation within a Jewish cemetery. As a rule, in
smaller towns the differences were smaller, but even in
major industrial cities segregation could take quite differ-
ent forms. In other words, the extent to which social seg-
regation was allowed to be visible at a cemetery, i.e. how
modesty or decency prevented the display of extreme
wealth at cemeteries largely depended on local traditions
and the coherence of the community. For instance, at the
New Jewish Cemetery in Prague differences are mod-
est compared, for instance, to Łódź. And it is not only
a question of size. In Łódź, the Poznanski family built
an extraordinarily large funerary monument, amidst av-
erage-sized gravestones. This showed the social stratifi-
cation in the Jewish community: the millionaire vis-à-vis
the factory workers or the more modest white collar em-
ployees. The large mausoleum of the Poznanski family
is absolutely overwhelming. It occupies a huge plot and
its height dominates the context of the whole cemetery.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of gravestones at Łódź’s
Jewish Cemetery show coherence, the use of tradition-
al symbols and gender separation. In contrast, Prague’s
New Jewish Cemetery has a strong emphasis on the mid-
dle classes – lawyers, medical doctors, engineers, artists
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
and scientists. Here titles are often present and eulogies
describing the achievement of the deceased are more im-
portant than the size of the gravestones. In some cases
even the eulogies are missing, as in the case of Franz
Kafka’s tombstone fashioned in the spirit of cubism,
designed by architect Leopold Ehrmann, known for his
funerary oeuvre and designs for Jewish communities.
Budapest’s Salgótarjáni Street and Berlin’s Weißensee
Cemeteries have both of the aforementioned types: the
Manfred Weiss funerary monument and that of the Kem-
pinsky family show affluence, while famous intellectuals
have quite modest gravestones, although these may excel
in artistic terms, as with works by renowned architects
such as Sigmund Quittner, Wilhelm Freund, Béla Lajta,
or even Walter Gropius. In Warsaw, a more harmonious,
well-balanced community presents itself at the Okopowa
Street Cemetery. Here, very large tombs as in Berlin or
Budapest are absent.
The 19th century also brought about segregation by
knowledge, in contrast to segregation by wealth. At the
majority of metropolitan cemeteries rabbis and famous
Jewish scholars and other intellectuals close to commu-
nity leadership were buried in special rows, usually close
to the entrance area.
By the end of the 19th century, the already mentioned
funerary monuments along perimeter walls gained in sig-
Segregation Inside the Cemetery – Gender, Religious, Social – and Its Morphological Consequences
nificance – they could be built wider and higher than the
others, expressing the privileged social status of the fami-
lies buried. In Berlin’s Weißensee Jewish Cemetery these
are not only graves along the perimeter wall, but also the
ones along little squares, where many lanes meet.
At some large 19th century cemeteries there is yet another
type of segregation: differentiation in relation to time of
burial, which can make each section of the cemetery dif-
ferent. Usually, interments at cemeteries proceed from the
older parts to the newer ones, each of them being homog-
enous in terms of burial date. However, there are notable
exceptions to this general rule. In cases where gravestones
were relocated from older cemeteries liquidated in the
19th century due to urban regulations, the ‘old newcomers’
assumed a special role in the fabric of the new cemetery.
It would have been logical to allot them separate sections,
but that is not always the case. Sometimes they were more
or less evenly scattered across the entire cemetery – ex-
cept usually the honorary sections – but further away from
the main alleys and lanes, to plots that were cheaper, as
they could no longer be paid for. Therefore, most of these
mixed sections show an interesting lack of homogeneity,
which at the same time ensures historical continuity be-
tween the newly open 19th century graveyard and older
ones. At some functioning Jewish cemeteries in the second
half of the 20th century older gravestones were removed
83
07.03
altogether and new ones were placed in prominent sections
of the cemeteries. Thus, for instance, at the Kozma Street
Cemetery in Budapest in front of protected 19th century
mausoleums new small gravestones stand in a row and
spoil the authenticity of the cemetery.
01 In some cemeteries, there are metal coffins for the very rich
buried in very large family graves, which are completely
incorrect from the Halachic point of view, but it eased
handling, as timber is prone to decay and with twenty years
between the burials the use of timber coffins may pose
hygienic problems. Historically the timber coffin is also an
innovation, as earlier people were buried without coffins.
07.02
Female row of gravestones
in the Zmienna Street
Jewish Cemetery, Łódź
07.03
Female gravestone that
stands beside the grave
of her husband, Slezna Street
Jewish Cemetery in Wroclaw
84
07.04
07.06
02 Interestingly, Jewish history had already witnessed the
abandonment of the traditional individual burial. Parts of
Central and Eastern Europe under the rule of the Roman
Empire already had family graves: for instance, in the
Province of Pannonia, Roman Jewish families were
often buried in family graves, as testified by surviving
gravestones kept in the Jewish Museum and the National
Museum in Budapest.
03 For instance, the Gránátos Street Orthodox Jewish
Cemetery in Budapest.
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
07.05
07.07
04 Neolog is a reform branch of Jewish observance mainly
in the lands of the former Hungarian Kingdom (Hungary
proper, Slovakia, Transylvania, Vojvodina, Zakarpatie,
northern parts of Slovenia and eastern edges of Austria),
which is slightly more conservative than the German
Reform movement.
05 As a matter of fact, there had been social inequalities
among Jews even before, but they were not shown so
explicitly in cemeteries and they were not considered
virtues as in capitalist times.
Segregation Inside the Cemetery – Gender, Religious, Social – and Its Morphological Consequences 85

07.08

07.04
A row of graves of Hassidic
rabbis in the Orthodox
Jewish Cemetery, Bratislava
07.05
Hebrew hand-written notes
with supplications
to the Hasidic rabbi
07.06
Obelisk-type graves at the
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
07.07
Matzeva-type gravestones
in Salgótarjáni Street
Cemetery, Budapest
07.08
Row of upper middle class
mausoleums (right) along
the perimeter wall
of the Salgótarjáni Street
Cemetery, Budapest

Morphology of Cemeteries – Paths, Edges,
Nodes, Districts and Landmarks, Grouping of Tombs
Methods of urban morphology are quite applicable to the
majority of metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Europe, be-
cause a cemetery as a necropolis shares certain character-
istics with the city of the living: an accumulation of slight-
ly different, single units along paths, edges, districts, and
nodes, with some landmarks. There are numerous models
applicable to urban and cemetery morphology elaborated
by urban historians and urban planners, of which the most
prominent are the Conzenian urban morphology (English
school),01 the Caniggian approach (Italian school),02 and the
rather simple method of Kevin Lynch (American school).03
Moreover, these methods could be extended with a further
model of thinking based on the idea of différance, a post-
humous application of Jacques Derrida’s key notion to the
fabric of cemeteries, the differential relationships of graves.
Differential relationships, including land-marking, are
based not so much on Gestalt principles, but on the dif-
férance as understood by Jacques Derrida, i.e. as the
“systematic play of differences, of the traces of differenc-
es, of the spacing by means of which elements are related
to each other.”04 Thus, the différance of the cemetery sec-
tion or district involves a contextual approach, in which
a system of differences – spacing, dynamic interrelated-
ness of monuments, and open spaces – enjoys primacy
over static imageability principles as defined by Lynch.
In all cases the morphology of cemeteries is not only based
on the tombstones, but also on the joint effect of topo-
graphical, architectural/sculptural constituents, and garden
elements. Thus, while most urban morphologists base their
findings on the built element and built heritage, here in the
case of cemeteries of the Emancipation and post-Emanci-
pation05 periods, vegetation plays an equal role as the built
elements, be it planned or spontaneous vegetation.06 In this
context the method proposed by Kevin Lynch offers a gen-
eral introduction to the problem of cemetery morphology,
including vegetation, in the image of the cemetery, as this
08.01
A paved lane near an
intersection, Weißensee
Jewish Cemetery, Berlin
CHAPTER 08
method analyses the image of a city in a given moment and
not in its historic evolution.07 The differential method is
more suitable for in-depth research of single sections and
their evolution in the cemetery’s fabric.
On the following pages, Lynch’s key notions, such as paths,
edges, districts, landmarks, and nodes, will be applied to
cemetery space and illustrated with concrete examples.
Paths at the cemetery are represented by alleys and lanes,
which were formally conceived as constitutive elements
of the composition, but informal footpaths and shortcuts
also often play an important role besides the formal axes.
Unlike the paths in the city of the living, paths here can
have extensions and gates at the periphery of the ceme-
tery and between its walled parts, if these parts exist at
all. While in modern, 19th century cemeteries paths were
intentionally created according to an overarching con-
cept, in traditional Jewish cemeteries these were either
avoided in order not to disturb the continuity and harmo-
ny of the whole, or they came into being spontaneously
as mourners moved between the graves.
The intersection of paths creates nodes, which may be
intersections in the form of crossings or in the form of
T-junctions. Moreover, at the cemeteries nodes may evolve
at junctions when a district, a small square is joined by a
path, which is a common element of gardening.08
Edges can develop at cemeteries due to topographic data
(see Warsaw’s Okopowa Street and Sarajevo’s Old Jewish
Cemetery) in the form of retaining walls or on the fring-
es of sections, along dividing walls, also on the borders
of high and low vegetation or on the borderline between
spaces with or without vegetation. Arcades at cemeteries
create edges (see Zagreb-Mirogoj or Wroclaw, Slezna
Street Jewish Cemetery, honorary section), often not far
from the periphery of the cemetery. Sometimes edges are
created by flatly cut bushy ‘green walls’ which may serve
as a backdrop to a row of gravestones.
88
08.02
In Kevin Lynch’s urban morphology, districts are rel-
atively large sections of the city distinguished by some
identity or character, a notion that is perfectly suited to
the description of large 19th century Jewish cemeteries
and their sections. Districts are sections defined by paths,
often numbered, or natural-topographic elements, by a
change of height, slope, etc., or by gardening elements,
either intended or spontaneously grown. Districts are usu-
ally rectangular in planned Jewish cemeteries, but in rare
cases, as in Sarajevo, districts may have an organic shape,
due to the topography on the one hand, and the customs of
organic ‘Islamic urban planning’ on the other hand.09 The
character of these districts is defined by the form and size
of the gravestones, and by the topography and vegetation.
Before the Emancipation most cemetery districts were
homogeneous with a strong character. However, as in the
19th century the organic and closed Jewish community
changed by acquiring the rules of capitalist economy and
political liberalism, the cemeteries could not remain un-
changed. Social differences increased among community
members, which were ‘recorded’ by the districts of the
cemeteries. Segregation took place in different ways. One
way was segregation between the districts, the older and
the new ones. Another way involved the establishment of
special zones along the walls, while the third, most fre-
quent way was differentiation inside the existing districts,
whereby the formerly coherent rows of gravestones were
‘disrupted’ by larger funerary monuments erected hap-
hazardly. This latter solution was natural when sections
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
were extended on account of the pathways or when some
families already possessed plots within sections with old-
er gravestones which they simply replaced by new and
larger ones. This third approach was possible only if there
was enough space between gravestones. The traditionally
dense, pre-Emancipation fabric of cemeteries would sel-
dom have allowed such a change.
Traditionally, landmarks at cemeteries were tahara hous-
es and some ohalim of Hassidic rabbis. In the course of
the Emancipation and the increasing social differentia-
tion, some funerary monuments started to attain landmark
status, as for instance the mausoleum of the Poznanski
family in Łódź or the mausoleum of the Hatvany-Deutsch
family in Pest. When this ‘race’ started, the traditional ho-
mogeneous sections, or ‘districts’ in Lynch’s terminology,
lost their former character and each of them acquired some
‘miniature landmarks’. This phenomenon necessitates the
introduction of the notion of differential land-marking.
By the end of the 19th century, several attempts had sur-
faced – as it was put – to create order in Jewish cemeter-
ies, to curb the appetite of some rich or nouveau riche
Jewish families to dominate the landscape of the ceme-
tery. The Chevra Kadishas of large Jewish communities
were eager to put an end to the showing off on the part
of the affluent, which offended social sensitivity. At some
metropolitan Jewish cemeteries a chief architect and a
committee were appointed to introduce order, often with-
out much success. Architect Béla Lajta, the most import-
ant creator of Jewish funerary monuments of all time,
Morphology of Cemeteries – Paths, Edges, Nodes, Districts and Landmarks, Grouping of Tombs
and an appointee of the Pest Chevra Kadisha,10 wrote a
couple of articles in the Jewish press in order to persuade
rich Jewish families to exert restraint – largely in vain.11
In order to raise their appetite for his cause, he created a
plan and a model for the so-called arcades, in which each
section would be allotted to a Jewish family of the upper
middle-class. The architectural language was carefully
chosen to answer the question of Jewish identity and to
signal the modernity of metropolitan Hungarian Jews.
His project remained unrealised. What he could achieve,
though, was to avoid building funerary monuments for
his very rich compatriots, who commissioned the leading
gentile architects of the time to build their mausoleums,
and limit himself to orders from the Jewish middle class
and from intellectuals. The latter were also more support-
ive of Lajta’s experiments with form, new materials and
innovative typography.
Interestingly, the most imposing group of Jewish funer-
ary monuments in Europe was constructed on gentile ini-
tiative. Architect Hermann Bollée designed the immense
arcades at the central cemetery of Zagreb, the Mirogoj.
As prestigious Catholic families ‘moved into’ the arcades,
these arcades became quite fashionable and affluent Jew-
ish families followed suit. The over 500-metre-long ar-
cades were decorated with domes every 50 metres or so,
of which two are topped with the Star of David, while the
others have Latin or Greek crosses. This colossal edifice
brought Jews and gentiles to a common architectural de-
nominator, unique in the region. Such an arrangement pos-
89
es a whole set of Halachic problems, but it bears witness
to how prosperous Jews could be persuaded to subordinate
themselves to some kind of physical order. The position-
ing, scope and iconography of plaques, reliefs, and even
sculptures under these unifying arcades provide interest-
ing social and art-historical material for analysis.
There are smaller arcades in numerous other metropolitan
cemeteries, mainly as a consequence of non-coordinat-
ed private attempts to group gravestones on the basis of
families or related families. However, these did not yield
results that were as spectacular as in Zagreb Mirogoj.
There are also arcades at the Christian cemetery that bor-
ders with Warsaw’s Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery,
but it did not exert any influence on Jewish burial places
in what is today Poland. Relatively short arcades were
realised in the Jewish Cemetery in Salgótarjáni Street in
Budapest that has just three arches and three families.
08.02
Panoramic view of the large
empty middle section
of the Kozma Street Jewish
Cemetery in Budapest with
the ceremonial building
in the background
90 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

08.03

08.03
Narrow lane in the late
19th century section in
Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery,
Budapest
08.04
The Jewish section in the
grand arcades of Mirogoj
Cemetery, Zagreb
08.05
Exterior of the grand arcades
of Mirogoj Cemetery, Zagreb
08.06
Grouped family funerary
monuments in Salgótarjáni
Street Cemetery, Budapest
Morphology of Cemeteries – Paths, Edges, Nodes, Districts and Landmarks, Grouping of Tombs 91

08.04 08.05 01 Conzen, M.R.G., Conzen, M.P. ed. (2004): Thinking About
08.06 Urban Form. Papers on Urban Morphology 1932–1998.
Oxford, New York.
02 Caniggia, G., and Maffei, G.L. (2001): Architectural
composition and building typology: interpreting basic
building. Firenze. Caniggia, G., Maffei, G.L. (1984):
Composizione Architettonica e Tipologia Edilizia: 2. Il
Progetto nell’ Edilizia di Base. Venice (1st edition: 1979).
03 Kevin Lynch: The Image of the City. Cambridge MA 1960.
04 See Jacques Derrida: Interview with Julia Kristeva. In:
Positions (The University of Chicago Press, 1981), p. 21.
05 Post-Emancipation as a term is used on the basis of
Israel Finestein: Post-Emancipation Jewry. The Anglo-
Jewish Experience, 7th Sacks Lecture, Oxford Centre for
Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, 1980.
06 Existing Orthodox cemeteries and other traditional Jewish
burial places are exempted from this general rule.
07 Regarding urban morphological cases see also: Lovra,
É. (2015): Typological approaches of the modern cities
(heritage of the k. und k. period). In: G. Strappa, A.R.D.
Amato, A. Camporeale (eds.): City as Organism. New
Visions for Urban Life – Conference Proceedings 1–2.
Conference: 22nd International Seminar on Urban Form
2015. Rome, Italy. 22–26 September 2015. pp. 1023–1032.
08 Theoretically it would be reasonable to use morphologies
of gardening, but these are not available in the way of
existing urban morphological schools elaborated above.
09 When Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, they
did not substantially change the plan of the cemetery inherited
from the 16th century; they just went on adding new sections.
10 There was no Jewish community in Budapest at that time,
but instead two separate communities for Pest and Buda,
as a consequence of the long period before the two cities
were united in 1873.
11 See Rudolf Klein: Lajta Béla funerális művészete [The
Funerary Art of Béla Lajta]. In: Lajta Béla, szerk.: Gerle János,
Csáki Tamás, Holnap Kiadó, Budapest 2013, pp. 191–234.
92 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

Wroclaw (path) 01 02 Berlin (path) 03 Budapest-S (path)

Sarajevo (path) 07 08 Budapest-S (path) 09 Budapest-K (edge)

Budapest-K (landmark) 13 14 Bratislava (path) 15 Zagreb (edge)

Budapest-S (node) 19 20 Bratislava (domain) 21 Sarajevo (domain)

Łódź (landmark) 25 26 Prague (landmark) 27 Łódź (domain)

Morphology of Cemeteries – Paths, Edges, Nodes, Districts and Landmarks, Grouping of Tombs 93

Berlin (path) 04 Budapest-K (path) 05 06 Budapest-S (domain)

Bratislava (domain) 10 Budapest-K (domain) 11 12 Bratislava (edge)

Wroclaw (edge) 16 Berlin (edge) 17 18 Zagreb (edge)

Bratislava (node) 22 Budapest-S (landmark) 23 24 Budapest-S (edge)

Prague (edge) 28 Cracow (edge) 29 30 Bratislava (edge)


Gates, Fences, Edifices (Entrance Buildings,
Ceremonial Halls and Tahara Houses, and Common Facilities),
and Other Space-Modulating Elements – Pergolas, Balusters,
Stairs, and Changes of the Ground Level
At the main ceremonial entrance, metropolitan Jewish
cemeteries usually have two gates; one that connects the
cemetery to the public space and another connecting the
forecourt to the cemetery proper. Rarely, as at the New
Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, there may
even be three entrances on the path to the cemetery prop-
er. First, one crosses the first gate that separates the ceme-
tery from the street, then one enters one of the courtyards
of the very imposing entrance building that contains cer-
emonial halls, beit tacharot and administration, and fi-
nally there is a third gate through which one leaves the
courtyard and enters the ground of graves. Parallel to this
is the way of the dead, who instead of proceeding in one
of the courtyards undergo the pre-burial ritual in the inte-
rior of the large building before being buried. Small and
medium-sized cemeteries usually do not have these two
gates at the main entrance.
The forecourt of large metropolitan cemeteries usually
contains the ceremonial hall, the tahara house, toilets,
workshops, offices, and sometimes collective memo-
rials, as for example memorials of the Holocaust. The
forecourt may also contain walls covered partly with
broken gravestones of local origin or from other places
mainly in Poland, or plaques in memory of celebrities
who were not buried there, but have some relation to the
Jewish community of a given town. They may be buried
elsewhere or may have perished in the Holocaust, or the
place of their earthly remains is unknown.
The size and prominence of the gates vary considerably,
particularly the gate which leads to the cemetery proper.
In Łódź these gates tower like triumphal arches, while in
Budapest’s Kozma Street and Salgótarjáni Street Ceme-
teries they are barely noticeable. In Prague Žižkov and
Cracow Miodova they are omitted and the differentiation
between the two spaces is hinted at only symbolically. In
any case, when there is a fence between the two parts of
09.01
Entrance gate from the
forecourt to the cemetery
proper, Zmiena Street
Jewish Cemetery, Łódź
CHAPTER 09
the cemetery, the forecourt and the part with the grave-
stones, it is usually of transparent nature, except in Wro-
claw Slezna Street, where there are historic reasons for
this lack of transparency.
The fence around the whole cemetery is most often
non-transparent. It is a high wall, which separates the
burial space from the gentile environment. Its solidity
has no Halachic basis; this is more a pragmatic issue: the
outer fence of metropolitan cemeteries serves as a back-
drop to the funerary monuments of the rich. Where there
are fewer of them, as in St Petersburg, or at smaller cem-
eteries in Central or Eastern Europe, the fences are of
transparent nature, usually with a brick base and pillars
and a fill-up made of wrought-iron bars.
Gate buildings above the first entrance are rare, i.e. build-
ings that overarch the gateway, but the Salgótarjáni Street
Cemetery in Budapest, the New Jewish Cemetery of the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna and the Sephardi Cemetery in Bu-
charest have one. They are at the same time the house of the
caretaker and public toilet and provide ritual hand-washing
facilities before leaving the cemetery. At the Zentralfriedhof
complex the New Jewish Cemetery’s gatehouse is a very
monumental building with three entrances, where the mid-
dle one is much larger and just small windows for the jan-
itor’s office perforate it. This gate continues on both sides
towards the fence, resulting in a very monumental front that
is more than one hundred metres long.
It is not just the size of the gate that gives prominence
to an entrance of a Jewish cemetery, but also the public
space in front of it. The most understated entrance gates
are just in line with the fence along a street without any
urban prominence. The grandest arrangement includes a
widening of the street parallel to the wall of the cemetery
in front of the entrance. This widening can be between
30 to 50 metres, creating a small square, as mentioned in
chapter 4. Often this is a concave fence with the gate in
96
09.02
the centre, or even more gates. This is the solution for all
four cemeteries and their gates at Vienna’s Zentralfried-
hof – the Old Jewish, the Catholic-Central, the Lutheran,
and the New Jewish. In Vienna these are semi-circular
widenings, in Budapest Kozma Street it is a rectangular
widening, just as in the case of the Sephardi Cemetery in
Bucharest. Another method of giving prominence to the
entrance gate of a cemetery is to have a street that runs
perpendicular to the wall that contains the gate. This is
the layout used in Berlin Weißensee, where a street ends
in front of the entrance. In this case the entrance also be-
comes a landmark that is visible from afar and it raises
the expectations of the visitors, who while walking to-
wards the cemetery are gradually being prepared to cross
the gate. In rare cases it is not a street, but a square where
the main entrance stands. In Bucharest, the Sephardi
cemetery is placed on a square and opposite is the large
Orthodox Christian cemetery. In this case monumentality
does not need to be enhanced by smaller tricks. The en-
trance to this cemetery has a little forecourt with planted
trees and a prominent oriental-style gate building.
In some cases the ceremonial hall is built together with
the administration and with the tahara house, as at the
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
Kozma Street Cemetery in Budapest. There is a simi-
lar arrangement in Łódź, while in Prague Žižkov these
functions are housed separately.
Ceremonial halls vary greatly in size and embellishment. In
Łódź it is a large building with an imposing hall that looks
more like a factory hall than a ceremonial hall or a syna-
gogue interior. In Budapest Kozma Street the building of the
ceremonial hall is even larger and richly decorated like an
urban synagogue. The architectural style is a blend of Free
Style and Orientalism, with onion-shaped spires on the main
façade, i.e. on the entrance. The ceremonial hall cum beit
tahara in Budapest Salgótarjáni Street is a piece of modern
Orientalism, while the gatehouse uses Scandinavian Nation-
al Romanticism, fashionable at the time in Hungary. The
main gate imitates medieval fortress gates, which is quite
rare for Jewish burial places. The ceremonial hall and tahara
house in St Petersburg is an imposing oriental-style build-
ing from around 1910, like the one in Budapest Salgótarjáni
Street with lancet arches and rough stone cladding. Lancet
arches are deployed also at the New Jewish Cemetery of the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, although this is already an inter-
war edifice. At the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw Okopowa
Street there is no ceremonial hall preserved in the forecourt.
Gates, Fences, Edifices and Other Space-Modulating Elements
09.03
In Prague Žižkov the cemetery buildings look like typical
Austro-Hungarian Free Style public edifices of the period,
without any stylistic hint to Jewish identity. In some met-
ropolitan Jewish cemeteries there may be two beit taharot,
namely in those cases where an old cemetery was supple-
mented by a new, more modern one, as at Preobrazhenska
Jewish Cemetery in St Petersburg.
Since tourism has begun to get interested in Jewish cem-
eteries, some of them are provided with facilities for this
purpose – the provision of basic information, the sale of
books and maps of the cemeteries.
Pergolas are elements that can often be seen in metropoli-
tan Jewish cemeteries. Some pergolas are part of major fu-
nerary monuments, as at Berlin Weißensee or at Wroclaw
Slezna Street , where they modulate spaces in and around
the monument. In some other cemeteries, mainly in the
Balkans, pergolas modulate central areas of metropolitan
Jewish cemeteries, as at Bucharest Philanthropic Ceme-
tery, Belgrade Sephardi Cemetery and the Jewish part of
the Central Cemetery in Sofia. In all cases the pergola inti-
mates space in the vicinity of central buildings (ceremoni-
al hall, tahara house, administration buildings) and defines
a central ‘forum’ of a given cemetery, often enriched with
97
benches. Moreover, the three aforementioned Balkan cit-
ies are quite warm during a good part of the year and the
pergola is justified, albeit it is a western architectural motif
and not part of the local, pre-Ottoman Christian, Ottoman
and post-Ottoman modern architectural heritage.
In some metropolitan Jewish cemeteries there are chang-
es of the ground level and this is often used for the sake
of differentiation between the forecourt and the ceme-
tery proper, which involves retaining walls and/or bal-
ustrades. In countries where cemeteries suffered losses
during World War Two, broken gravestones are used to
decorate these retaining walls.
09.02
Main gate between forecourt
and the cemetery proper in
the Slezna Street Cemetery,
Wroclaw
09.03
Main gate to the Zmienna
Street Cemetery, Łódź
98 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

09.04
09.05
09.06

09.04
Main gate to the New Jewish
Cemetery in Prague - Žižkov
09.05
Main gate to the
Old Sephardic Cemetery
in Sarajevo
09.06
External side of walls of the
Zmienna Street Cemetery,
Łódź
09.07
Main gate to the Miodova
Street Cemetery, Cracow
09.08
External walls of the Slezna
Street Cemetery, Wroclaw
Gates, Fences, Edifices and Other Space-Modulating Elements 99

09.07
09.08
100 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

09.09
09.10
09.11

09.09
Internal side of walls of the
Zmienna Street Cemetery,
Łódź – the trenches were
dug by Jews before their
execution.
09.10
External side of the wall of
the Slezna Street Cemetery,
Wroclaw
09.11
Internal side of the wall of
the Slezna Street Cemetery,
Wroclaw
09.12
Ceremonial building of the
Sephardi Jewish Cemetery,
Sarajevo
09.13
Interior of the ceremonial
building of the Sephardi
Jewish Cemetery, Sarajevo
09.14
Corps washing table
in the tahara house of the
ceremonial building of the
Sephardi Jewish Cemetery,
Sarajevo
09.15
Ceremonial and office
building at the Sephardi
Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade
09.16
Ceremonial hall at the
Sephardi Jewish Cemetery
in Belgrade
Gates, Fences, Edifices and Other Space-Modulating Elements 101

09.12 09.13
09.14
09.15 09.16
102 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

09.17 09.18
09.19
09.20 09.21
Gates, Fences, Edifices and Other Space-Modulating Elements
09.22
09.24
09.25
Jewish Cemetery, Bucharest
Pergola on the large tomb of
the families Hermann, Lesser,
09.17
Ohel of a Hassidic rabbi,
Okopowa Street Jewish
Cemetery, Warsaw
09.18
Interior of an ohel of a
Hassidic rabbi, Okopowa
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Warsaw
09.19
Pergola around the central
square of the Jewish section
at the Central Cemetery
Park, Sofia
103
09.23
09.20
Pergola around the central
square of the Ashkenazi
09.21
and Henoch, Weissensee
Jewish Cemetery, Berlin
09.22
Stairs at the Weissensee
Jewish Cemetery, Berlin
09.23
Stairs at the Sephardi
Jewish Cemetery, Belgrade
09.24
Retaining wall decorated
with gravestone fragments,
Miodowa Street Jewish
Cemetery, Cracow
09.25
Retaining wall at the
Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
in Bratislava

Collective Monuments and Memorials
This chapter deals with monuments and memorials relat-
ed to the 1848 revolutions, World Wars One and Two, the
Shoa, and 20th century pogroms and accidents involving
a large number of Jewish community members.
At large Jewish cemeteries there are collective memori-
als to unknown victims and heroes in the shape of major
monuments, which may be sculptural or architectural. In
addition, there may be larger sections where individual
soldiers are buried or simply their names are displayed.
Such sections usually are lavishly planted to reinforce
the architectural effect. In some other cases these sec-
tions may be constructed as separate parks, as in Berlin
Weißensee’s World War One Monument.
The first military monuments were erected at Jewish
cemeteries for soldiers who died in the course of the
revolutions and uprisings of 1848, an example being the
monument at Kozma Street Cemetery in Budapest. All
over historic Hungary such monuments at major Jewish
cemeteries served the purpose of emphasising the Hun-
garian identity of Jews and their commitment to the Hun-
garian national cause, in this case the participation in the
Revolution and War of Independence of 1848. All sub-
sequent military sections of Jewish cemeteries until the
Shoa aimed at emphasising the Jews’ fidelity and com-
mitment to the national cause of a given country.
Sections for soldiers who died in World War One are
present at many Jewish cemeteries in Central and East-
ern Europe as well as in the Balkans. These sections have
a different rhythm from the main alleys and lanes of the
cemetery with their uniform small gravestones – pil-
low stones or small steles or matzevot – placed in tight
composition that also differs structurally from the other
sections of the cemetery. Usually such sections have nar-
row lanes between the rows and/or a special framing of
the whole ensemble in order to reflect the common fate
of the deceased. As these graves are low, in some cases
10.01
Plaques for Holocaust
victims at the Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
CHAPTER 10
there is a high column with a winged bird that serves as a
land-marking element of this section in the context of the
whole cemetery. The placement of these sections is not
specific; it can be anywhere at the cemetery where there
is a space large enough to accommodate them. However,
the location cannot be completely marginal, for instance
in a corner. If there was a possibility to ensure a promi-
nent location, it was allotted, but usually these were al-
ready occupied by family graves.
Memorials to the Holocaust and to victims of World War
Two are much larger monuments placed in clearly visible
locations, usually around the entrance section, sometimes
in the entrance courtyard, sometimes beyond it. The most
notable exception is the Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery in
Pest, where due to lack of space the Holocaust memorial,
inadequate in size and expression, was erected near the
end of the cemetery. However, at the other large cemetery
in Pest, in Kozma Street, there is an imposing Holocaust
memorial, the largest of its kind in Europe, some 50 me-
tres long, 20 metres wide, and over 10 metres high. It was
designed by one of Hungary’s most important Jewish ar-
chitects, Alfréd Hajós.
There may be monuments to commemorate mass Ali-
ya, which ended in catastrophe during World War Two.
There can be further monuments to commemorate any
mass death in the respective community, as for example
the Purim fire in the Bucharest Jewish Community.
After World War Two special monuments were erected
using gravestones and gravestone fragments. These rein-
forced the idea of fragmentation and loss of Jewish com-
munities, while at the same time it was a way of rescuing
stones and fragments that once served as graves. Such a
special collective memorial in a forecourt can be seen in
Cracow’s Miodova Street, which is a collage of damaged
or destroyed gravestones created after the Shoa. There
is a more recent monument with entire matzevot and a
106 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

10.02

reconstructed gate fragment of the once famous Užupis At some Jewish cemeteries there may be memorial
Cemetery in Vilnius. While the former looks chaotic, be- plaques to famous people who are buried elsewhere, but
ing a collage of traditional matzevot with even Baroque belonged to that community. On the wall of Prague’s
decoration in the upper, semi-circular part, some 19th New Jewish Cemetery in the Žižkov District there are
century fragments and even modern elements, the latter numerous plaques of this kind in memory of famous art-
is harmonious due to a more careful choice of grave- ists murdered in the Holocaust or who died in emigration.
stones and their regular composition in rows, quoting the
original rows of graves at a cemetery. However, it is not
entirely genuine – some stones were never gravestones,
they were just added to create a stronger effect.
At the great Sephardi cemetery in Sarajevo, the Holo-
caust memorial is also the memorial of the Communist
partisans who resisted Nazism; it is placed between the
Ashkenazi and Sephardic sections of the cemetery. Its
form is derived from the traditional form of Sephardic
gravestones at this cemetery, which were used from the
mid-16th to the early 20th centuries.
There are also memorials to commemorate old, de-
stroyed cemeteries, as at Prague’s New Jewish Cemetery
in the Žižkov District, where a large trilithon represents
the city’s destroyed Jewish graves and cemeteries. The
monument is placed in a section in a dominant way and
is even visible from far-away sections of the cemetery.
Collective Monuments and Memorials 107

10.03
10.04
10.05

10.02
Symbolic graves of the
victims of forced labour units
of Hungarian Jews during
World War Two, Budapest
Kozma Street Cemetery
10.03
Monument to the Jewish
heroes of World War One,
Budapest Kozma Street
Cemetery
10.04
Part of the large Holocaust
Memorial in Budapest
Kozma Street Cemetery
10.05
Victims of the pogrom in
Pusztavám committed by
Arrow Cross Units, Budapest
Kozma Street Cemetery
108 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

10.06
10.07

10.06
Section dedicated to the
Jewish Heroes of World
War One, Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery, Berlin
10.07
Symbolic horizontal graves
dedicated to the Jewish
Heroes of World War One,
Weißensee Jewish Cemetery,
Berlin
10.08
Section devoted to the
unknown victims of Nazi
terror, Okopowa Street
Jewish Cemetery, Warsaw
10.09
The Holocaust Memorial
at the Salgótarjáni Street
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
10.10-11
Details of the Holocaust
Memorial at the Kozma
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
10.12
Plaques for Holocaust
victims at the Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
Collective Monuments and Memorials 109

10.08 10.10
10.11
10.09 10.12

Genizot, Buried Torah Scrolls,
Benches, Wells, Storages Among Gravestones,
Gravel Holders, Row Indicators, Temporary Markers
Numerous metropolitan cemeteries contain genizot, plac-
es for the storage of worn-out Hebrew-language books
and papers on religious topics prior to proper cemetery
burial, as it is forbidden to throw away writings contain-
ing the name of God. This is because damaged or worn-
out Hebrew-language books and papers are no longer
kosher and cannot serve their original purpose.
Most synagogues clean out their genizot every few years
by burying their contents in a Jewish cemetery as a sign
of reverence and respect. Some communities even have
cemetery plots that have been assigned expressly for the
purpose of burying ritual objects from a genizah. It is
considered a great sign of respect to bury a Torah scroll
or other sacred work near a prestigious Torah scholar.
The designation of these genizot is not precisely regulated
and sometimes it is very difficult to identify them on the
spot, as these often reveal little about their content from
the outside. A good indication for their identification can
be their unusual size or proportions, or the lack of any
inscription. The same applies to buried Torah scrolls. In
some cases, however, there may be a visual representation
of a Torah scroll, and even an inscription referring to the
purpose, as in the Sephardi Cemetery in Belgrade.
As even Jewish cemeteries gradually became parks during
the 19th century, benches appeared near the gravestones
with which they formed a monumental composition, used by
the family of the deceased. These benches sometimes may
be part of the grave. At numerous cemeteries, in addition
to these ‘private’ benches, there are some public benches,
free-standing along lanes and more often in the entrance sec-
tion around the ceremonial building. The erection of these
benches may have been financed by well-to-do Jewish com-
munity members, in which case their names and merits can
be displayed on these benches. There is a number of such
benches at Bucharest Filantropia Cemetery, each one or each
series having a different design depending on the financier.
11.01
Burial place for damaged
Torah scrolls and other
ritual objects at the Sephardi
Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade
CHAPTER 11
While in many Jewish cemeteries storage rooms are usual-
ly in the complex of entrance buildings, in some larger ones
there may be additional storages placed among the grave-
stones, some with special architectural features. These stor-
ages take the place of a normal gravestone, they are not
wider than one metre, typically 70–90 centimetres, but they
are two to three metres high in order to house gardening
tools. These storages are usually made of metal, a wrought
iron skeleton which may be glazed or covered with metal
sheet. In all cases they have a narrow saddle roof and their
front faces the dominant eastern or southern direction of the
gravestones in order to fit in better visually. In some cases,
the erection of these storages is also financed by wealthy
members of the Jewish community, with their names and
role in the community inscribed on marble plaques above
the entrance or on the rear side. The glazed types can be
observed in the Ashkenazi Jewish cemetery in Bucharest,
while the ones covered with metal sheet are located in St
Petersburg’s Preobrazhenska Jewish Cemetery.
Traditionally, hand-washing facilities and wells are placed in
or around the entrance building with some additional taps
inside the cemetery, usually at the crossing of lanes. Still, at
some cemeteries there are decorated wells, as at the Jewish
cemeteries in Sofia and Bucharest, where these wells take the
shape of traditional Ottoman urban wells found in the streets
of Muslim cities. They usually have an ogival arch in the
centre and rich oriental decoration on their surface.
Gravel holders are usually of newer date. In the case of
the Old Jewish Cemetery in Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof,
these are of prismatic form, around 40 by 40 by 80 centi-
metres, made of an iron cage and filled with larger stones
securing stability, while in the upper 10–20 centimetres
there is the gravel to be put on graves.
Row and section indicators developed parallel to the
growth of Jewish cemeteries. Usually, at cemeteries of
up to four to six hectares there are only row indicators as
112 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

these cemeteries are small enough to have an overview of

its lanes. The Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery in Budapest
is a typical example of this size, where the small num-
ber of sections does not require extra notification. There
are cases where there are no traditional rows, just very
densely and organically set up matzevot. Regardless of
the size there are only section indicators, as is the case at
Bratislava’s Orthodox Cemetery in Žižkova Street.
At larger cemeteries, typically over ten hectares, sections
are also indicated along with rows. Row indicators are of-
ten similar in shape to matzevot with semi-circular endings,
just much smaller, 15–20 centimetres wide and about 25–35
centimetreshigh and usually made of stone. At some ceme-
teries row indicators may be made of iron, usually an enamel
plaque framed and put on a vertical bar. Section indicators
are higher and almost always manufactured of metal in a
similar fashion as section indicators. Both row and section
indicators give a good hint of the time of the establishment of
the section on the basis of their decoration and typography.
Temporary markers represent a special genre, not yet dis-
cussed in essays and books. After the burial they are posi-
tioned near the head of the deceased and kept there until
the erection of the final gravestone, which is usually a year.
Metal and timber temporary markers are standardised, not
higher than about 50 centimetres and basically two-di-
mensional. Older temporary markers, for example from
the mid-20th century, are usually metal plaques 20 by 40
centimetres on top of a metal bar, while timber markers
are one piece, a board not higher than 50–60 centimetres,
painted in darker colours. On metal plaques the names can
be painted or just printed on paper and inserted, whereas
on timber names are applied with copper or plastic letters
screwed to the board. In Sofia, there are unusual tempo-
rary markers in the shape of pyramidal red metal stands,
about 50 centimetres high. Temporary markers are often
shared with Christian cemeteries, they seldom carry any
religious symbol, but there are rare cases where they have
a six-pointed star. Sometimes the deceased never received
a solid, permanent gravestone and the temporary marker
remains for good. Sometimes these temporary markers
11.02
survive even a century before completely decaying.
11.03
11.04

11.02
Bench from the
interwar period,
The Ashkenazi Jewish
Cemetery in Bucharest
11.03
Benches from the
Communist period,
The Ashkenazi Jewish
Cemetery in Bucharest
11.05
Burial place for damaged Torah
scrolls created after World War
Two from gravestones broken
by Nazis. Miodova Street
Cemetery, Cracow
11.06
Storage for gardening
tools, The Ashkenazi Jewish
Cemetery in Bucharest

11.04 11.07
Benches in front of the Gravel holder, The New
perimeter wall, The New Jewish Cemetery at the
Jewish Cemetery in Prague Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
Genizot, Buried Torah Scrolls, Benches, Wells, Storages Among Gravestones, Gravel Holders, Row Indicators, Temporary Markers 113

11.05
11.06 11.07
114 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

11.08 11.09
11.10
Genizot, Buried Torah Scrolls, Benches, Wells, Storages Among Gravestones, Gravel Holders, Row Indicators, Temporary Markers 115

11.11
11.12
11.13

11.08
Row marker, Old
Jewish Cemetery at the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
11.09
Section marker, The Old
Jewish Cemetery at the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
11.10
Special marker for Franz
Kafka below a section
marker, The New Jewish
Cemetery in Prague
11.11
Section markers,
The Orthodox Jewish
Cemetery in Bartislava
11.12
Row markers, Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
11.13
Section marker, The Old
Jewish Cemetery at the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna

Shape and Material of the
Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time
Introduction
During its long history, there were strict limits to formal
individualism of Jewish funerary art. The vast majority
of tombs in Ashkenazi Europe were of the matzeva type,
i.e. steles, vertically standing stone slabs. An individu-
al variation was limited mainly to the top of this slab,
which could be semi-circular, segmental, flat, or some-
times lancet, or a combination of these shapes: semi-cir-
cular or segmental in the middle with two acroteria an-
gularia-like ‘ears’ on the sides. Some variation can be
observed in the framing of the text – there are rope mo-
tifs or textile representations. The most individual part in
terms of visual representation was the upper semi-circle,
where various religious or gender symbols could be dis-
played. Sometimes, basically from early modern times,
some complex shapes and decoration came into being, as
witnessed at the Old Cemetery in Prague-Josefov.
The few Sephardic cemeteries in Central and Eastern Eu-
rope, including the Balkans, usually contain horizontal
slabs, as in Hamburg-Altona, Belgrade, Bucharest, and So-
fia, or a horizontally set massive stone of parabolic cross
section as in Sarajevo, Bucharest, and Sofia. They can date
from the period of the Muslim conquest until the fall of the
Ottoman Empire. At some Sephardic cemeteries these slabs
grow into prisms, which may allude to sarcophagi.
On the territory of present-day Poland there are Ashkenazi
gravestones with the vertical slab joined by a longer or short-
er horizontal member, which may have a strictly rectangular
cross section or a somewhat rounded form. Rarer to be found
at Polish Jewish cemeteries are horizontal slabs.
From the second half of the 19th century onwards, Jewish
cemeteries acquired new forms: first obelisk-type grave-
stones appeared, often in expensive dark stone, for in-
stance carved from Swedish granite. The tapering obelisk
was put on a prism on which inscriptions were written –
12.01
Ensemble of Solemn tombs
inspired by Neo-Classicism
and carved from black granite,
Old Jewish Cemetery at the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
CHAPTER 12
later inscriptions also occupied the obelisk part. Children
started to get an irregularly broken column, also usually
set on a prismatic base, although not all broken columns
signify children’s graves. At some metropolitan and larger
urban cemeteries there may be a children’s section, main-
ly in the 18th and late mid-19th centuries, while gradual-
ly from the 1880s onwards children were buried among
adults, sometimes even marked with a special small stone
in the middle of the family mausoleum, as in the case of
the tomb ‘Familie Hofrath Samuel Ritter von Hahn’ at the
Old Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof.
Gradually, in addition to steles, horizontal slabs were in-
troduced, sometimes with a vase or a small vertical slab
with a slanting surface with inscriptions, sometimes even
with a book or circular shapes. In all cases the height
never exceeded one third or one fourth of the horizontal
slab’s length. Later some openings for plants were in-
troduced, a departure from Jewish tradition. These hor-
izontal and vertical members could be accompanied by
a bench or provided with a fence. Fences were always
symbolic, never higher than 50–60 centimetres, usually
made of wrought iron, at first in the Free Style, later in
Art Nouveau with leaves and sometimes even flowers.
Symbolic lower fences were also made of the same stone
as the other parts of the funerary monument, while sym-
bolic fences were created using greenery.
It is difficult to create a general, all-encompassing ty-
pology for gravestones and mausoleums in metropolitan
Jewish cemeteries, due to the huge diversity of spaces,
forms and details. There are too many variables which
would have to be taken into account. Generally, the most
effective typologies are related to single cemeteries with
a significant coherence of funerary monuments.
For 18th and early 19th century matzevot there are reliable
methods by analysing their shape. The matzeva or stele is
divided into several zones, bottom, middle area, and top,
118
or for more complex shapes it may be divided into five to
six zones, of which each is then analysed in terms of form
– stepped, segmental, semi-circular, elliptical, lancet with
or without acroterion, etc. For the simplest 18th and early
19th century matzevot the typology in Szilvia Kormos’
book, drawn by Viktória Bányai, is effective, in which
she analyses just the upper, variable part of the grave-
stones.01 This type of precise categorisation refers to one
cemetery or a couple of similar cemeteries in a limited
area. There are other, wider typologies, for instance the
one by Boris Khaimovich, defended in his PhD thesis en-
titled The Jewish Tombstones of the 16th–18th Centuries
from the Eastern Province of the Polish Kingdom: Study
of the Iconography and Style Genesis.02 Khaimovich lim-
its his samples of cemeteries to the regions of Galicia,
Podolia, Volhynia, Bukovina, Transkarpatiye, etc., and to
the period of early modern times, which enables him to
furnish a firm typology of the shape of the matzevot and
a typology of their iconography.
However, while effective in simpler cases and with smaller
examples, the aforementioned method largely leaves aside
the spatial aspect, except the marker role of the funerary
monument. It is excellent for single cases or limited re-
gions and mainly for the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Tobias Rütenik introduced a more comprehensive typol-
ogy for a wider application, tried out for his extensive re-
search on the Berlin Weißensee Cemetery.03 This typology
encompasses the larger and more dramatic, fast changing
period of the Gründerzeit, applicable mainly to the Ashke-
nazi cemeteries of Central Europe.
It has two main aspects, first dividing the graves into
horizontal zones (Zonierung), second, distinguishing ba-
sic formal types (Typisierung). While Zonierung is iden-
tical in principle with Viktória Bányai’s procedure,04 the
Typisierung is more complex.
Unlike Bányai, whose research is concentrated mainly on
pre-Emancipation cemeteries, Rütenik makes zoning for
later periods too. All his designated types are divided into
two to five horizontal zones from bottom to top and each
is analysed and categorised. The simpler, basically hori-
zontal types are divided into two to four zones, the larger
ones into five. The number of five is reasonable, as with
that it is easy to describe the shallower bottom zones,
the taller middle zone and the top zones or the ending,
which shows the largest variety. It seems that only the
pseudo-sarcophagus (see later types) is not sufficient-
ly described for Sephardi graves, where it is not made
of two, but three zones. As a general rule, gravestones
have a lower base and a higher bottom zone, which are
then followed by the main part that carries the inscrip-
tion, followed by the crown, which may have one or two
zones. This is really a useful description for gravestones
before 20th-century Modernism. In Modernism and art
deco, this arrangement gets simpler – one may also pre-
sume that it reverts to pre-Emancipation simplicity, but it
only applies to the horizontal zones, i.e. for the vertical
division of tombs. The division is along the horizontal
direction, whereas the vertical articulation is left out of
this typological model, as it is not common for simpler
gravestones. With that, however, the more complex fu-
nerary monuments are left out of the system, as are the
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
modernist ones since the 1920s. After all, Jewish graves
often follow the general tendencies of modern architec-
tural history from the Art Nouveau period onwards.
Rütenik’s Typisierung contains 12 types: 1. Pseudo-sar-
cophagus (Scheinsarkophag), 2. Reclined board (Liegen-
de Platte), 3. Pillow marker (Kissenstein), 4. Slab (Tafel),
5. Stele (Stele), 6. Stocky tombstone (Gedrungener Grab-
stein), 7. Obelisk (Obelisk), 8. Pillar (Pfeiler), 9. Column
(Säule), 10. Lectern stone (Pultstein), 11. Aedicule (Ädi-
kula), 12. Small-scale architecture (Kleinarchitektur).
Rütenik’s types are formally clear and geometrically
strictly defined.05
His first type is the pseudo-sarcophagus, usually a large,
horizontal stone, monolithic or composed of smaller
parts, resembling in shape a sarcophagus or a simplified
sarcophagus, built in the 19th and 20th centuries, which
in earlier periods may have had the form of a rectangular
Roman ossuary (ossarium). He mentions locations, such
as Altona, Split, Sarajevo, and Thessaloniki. Probably
with regard to the great Sephardi cemetery in Sarajevo
the category of horizontal gravestones may not be called
pseudo-sarcophagus, as their form is not prismatic, but
mainly rounded – parabolic or just edges rounded up;
neither is their upper surface flat nor horizontal. I would
rather mention in this context the Sephardi cemeteries in
Bucharest and Belgrade, besides Thessaloniki, once the
largest cemeteries populated by this type. Today, proba-
bly Belgrade Sephardi Cemetery is the only one which
has complete sections with this type of grave.
His second type, the reclined slab, (in German: Liegende
Platte), sometimes a bit tilted is one of the main types of
Sephardi gravestones. Rütenik mentions the cemeteries
of Bayonne in France, Hamburg-Altona, and Bugojno
in Bosnia. He emphasises that its distinction from pseu-
do-sarcophagus requires more elaboration. It is a ques-
tion of proportions and the author’s set the border-lineb-
etween the two types, width to height is less than 1:2 for
the pseudo-sarcophagus, which may go to 1:1,5, but it is
never 1:3 or 1:4, so it is safe to say that the slab’s thick-
ness vis-à-vis its height should not exceed the propor-
tion 1:4. The lying slab covers the body of the deceased
completely, just like the pseudo sarcophagus. Horizontal
slabs are to be found all over the Balkans at Sephardi
cemeteries, i.e. Belgrade, Niš, Bucharest, Sofia, Bitola,
and even in Zagreb, where they may even be Ashkenazi.
In Łódź there are very special tilted slabs which even
show an abstracted, three-dimensional representation of
the human body. Also in Łódź, in the Zmienna Street
Jewish Cemetery, there are prefabricated lying-slab-like
graves, made of concrete and overgrown by grass in the
vast Holocaust section.
His third type, the pillow marker is a horizontal stone
which just covers the head area of the deceased, having an
inscription that looks towards the sky. It may have a square
or rectangular plan. When rectangular, its longer axis may
be parallel or perpendicular to the spine of the deceased.
This type is often to be found in urn sections, military sec-
tions or Holocaust sections of Jewish cemeteries.
Rütenik’s fourth type is the (vertical) slab, a basically
vertically set piece of stone whose ground plan propor-
tions are at least 1:3, but more often 1:5 or even more. Its
Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time
central part tapers and may have different endings, from
semi-circular, to segmental and more complex forms or
even linear in medieval, early modern and pre-Eman-
cipation graves. If the upper part is tapered at the top,
this type reverts to the type of stele. Moreover, the slab
cannot have architectural articulation – pilasters, cornice,
etc. If there is such an articulation, the grave becomes a
stele. The vertical slab appears first in the medieval cem-
eteries of Worms and Prague, then in Hamburg-Altona,
and continues in pre-Emancipation Central and Eastern
Europe. Until the 18th century this is the most frequent
type of Ashkenazi grave, not counting ohalim; it makes
up nearly one hundred percent of all graves. In the first
half and in the middle of the 20th century it became pop-
ular again all over Europe.
Rütenik’s fifth type is the stele, which he defines as a
vertical stone with ground plan proportions larger than
1:1, but smaller than 1:3. Moreover, they should be at
least fifty percent higher than wide. If it is less, the type is
called stocky tombstone. More importantly, the stele has
an architectural articulation; it may mimic an aedicule
with columns, architrave, and sometimes even tympa-
num. In rare cases, particularly in the Roman period, the
stele may have had a pedestal.
He emphasises that this type is not a basic shape for Jew-
ish tombstones, but it appeared as early as in the Baroque
period in Prague, Altona, and in modern times it became
widespread with Neo-Classicism. Some stele-type Jew-
ish-Roman tombs even with sculptural representation of
the deceased or deceased family were found in Central
Europe. They survived until today; some are kept in the
Jewish Museum and the National Museum of Hungary in
Budapest. Rütenik emphasises that the stele replaced the
former, traditional vertical slab, called often matzeva, after
its Hebrew name.06 The stele is usually made of one piece
of stone, but it may also be a composition put together with
more pieces, for instance a trilithon. If this includes com-
positions of more pieces, then is it quite a frequent type
from the late 19th century until the Shoa.
The sixth type is the stocky tombstone, a vertical prism
with ground plan proportions between 1:1 and 1:3 and the
proportion of width to height smaller than 1:1.5. If this
latter proportion exceeds 1:1.5, the tombstone is a stele.
Rütenik maintains that this type of stone was often pro-
duced in series by Jewish communities. This, however,
applies mainly to German lands, while in other countries
the communities seldom took such an initiative en masse.
In the post-World War Two period there was a preference
for this type all over the Communist Bloc, both for Jew-
ish and non-Jewish graves, while the latter still often used
crosses. Perhaps the most impressive cases are complete
sections of the west side of Bucharest Sephardi Cemetery
filled with this type, together with the reclined slab.
Rütenik’s seventh type is the obelisk, which usually has
an inscription on its base and not on the tapering upper
part. Still, in Eastern Central Europe the inscription often
starts on the tapering part of such a tombstone and con-
tinues down to the base.
According to him the cross section of the tapering part
is always a square, otherwise it is a stele. The end of
the obelisk is often pyramidal. While this definition is
119
clear, the distinction between stele and obelisk in prac-
tice remains vague. Rütenik’s definition applies perfectly
to precise German gravestones that don’t deviate from
the norm. Still, in much of Eastern and Eastern Central
Europe there are obelisks with an elongated rectangular
plan, of a cross section which is almost never a square.
Similarly proportioned obelisks can be found at the Old
Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof complex.
Moreover, the once German Jewish cemetery in Wroclaw
has a large number of obelisk-type tombs, whose plan is
not square; but they look like obelisks, and it would be
a mistake to deny their obelisk status. Theoretically they
could be named as stele, but in practice they look obe-
lisk-like. The question is not academic, as it is the most
frequent type of Jewish gravestones from about 1870
to World War One,07 and for the Orthodox even longer,
practically up to the Shoa. This is not even an issue of
local variation, changing from one cemetery to the oth-
er – instead, often there are obelisks of different propor-
tions side by side, as in Christian cemeteries. Moreover,
in much of Eastern Europe, there is the type of a very
flat obelisk, which indeed is a stele regarding its ground
plan proportions, but it still looks like an obelisk. Thus,
the distinction between stele and obelisk deserves local
studies, particularly if we consider that the ‘mainstream’
stele is very rare in Jewish cemeteries.
Rütenik’s eighth type is the pillar, which also carries the
inscription on its base or trunk. By his definition the plan
of the pillar is always a square, otherwise it is a stele.
Here too my remark applies as with regard to the obe-
lisk that these proportions are not to be taken too strictly.
More important is the appearance. Their cross section
upwards is constant – if there is a tapering then it is an
obelisk –, and the ending is not pyramidal. He maintains
that this is a less frequent type, but locally, as in Roma-
nia, there could be some examples, or even in Vienna in
the framework of the Secession.
Rütenik’s ninth type is the column, with the inscription on
the base. He maintains that this type is rare in Jewish ceme-
teries, apart from the type of the broken column, where the
shaft is irregularly cut. Often it was used for children, whose
life was broken prematurely, but there are broken columns
for young adults as well as for middle-aged people.
Rütenik’s tenth type is the lectern stone, a slanted plate
with the inscription, supported by a vertical member,
which may be metal, stone, or an imitation of a timber
trunk or broken stones. It is typical of Berlin’s Jewish
Cemetery in Weißensee. The author does not mention the
Eastern European version of this type, where the plaque
with the inscription is vertical and fixed to a branching,
broken oak tree, carved out of stone or made of artifi-
cial stone. This type can be found at Warsaw Okopowa
Street, Cracow Miodova Street, and Bucharest Sevasto-
pol Street Jewish Cemeteries.08 Sometimes the plaque is
replaced by on open book, slanting towards the visitors,
with the name(s) of the deceased on the pages.
Rütenik’s eleventh type is the aedicule and the architec-
turally formed flat composition, which according to him
played a limited role as a gravestone type at Jewish ceme-
teries. However, there is a general problem regarding this
type: the aedicule has no unanimous definition in architec-
120
tural history. In antiquity it is more a flattened represen-
tation of a house with columns, or just a smaller projec-
tion on the façade’s surface with free-standing columns,
architrave and pediment; this can also be found in (post-)
Renaissance architectural history. However, in a medieval
Christian context it is a real three-dimensional structure, a
small chapel, or burial chapel. If so, it clashes with Rüte-
nik’s type of Kleinarchitektur, which is very relevant for
Jewish funerary architecture, particularly for the burial of
the rich in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The twelfth and last type in his classification is called
small-scale architecture or in German Kleinarchitektur.
According to the author, Kleinarchitekturen are imita-
tions of architectural types and extremely rare. He main-
tains that one can see through these monuments and have
more views than one, so they are really sculptural-archi-
tectural and not two-dimensional.
Many types, as for instance the often used small peri-
styles and their variations, combinations of horizontal
and vertical members, as well as small mausoleums are
left out in Rütenik’s typology, but in my opinion could be
added to the category of Kleinarchitektur. The trilithon is
also a type that from time to time appears in the period
around 1900 in different variations, as for instance a tri-
lithon in combination with horizontal elements or short
vertical prisms.
Gridded metal funerary monuments are not mentioned
in Rütenik’s typology. Stone plaques are fixed to the
wrought-iron structure, which may have a variety of
forms. Very often – at the Old Jewish Cemetery of Vi-
enna’s Zentralfriedhof as well as at Berlin Weißensee
and Bucharest’s Filantropia Jewish Cemetery – a gridded
metal fence defines the boundaries of the plot, with the
plaques being on the narrow side. There are even large
family graves created in the same way. In some rare cas-
es, there is no stone part of such a composition, just metal
that often mimics leaves and flowers.
Another type of grave ignored in this typology is organic
shapes mimicking natural forms, such as stones, trees or
branches. They spread all over European cemeteries in the
period of Art Nouveau, except the branching tree, which is
older. At first glance these graves seem unique, defying ty-
pology. Longer scrutiny, however, shows that these graves
do yield to typology. The most usual type is a short men-
hir, an irregularly shaped vertical stone with rough sur-
face and edgy ending. The inscription is either carved onto
part of its surface which is rendered flat, or an additional
plaque is fixed to the menhir. Sometimes, these irregularly
shaped stones are quite low and of rounded shape. Another
organically shaped type of grave is made of small irregu-
lar stones with irregular joints, which are relatively thick.
These small masonry chunks have integrated (built-in)
plaques with the inscription of the deceased. This type
may be made not only of small pieces of stone, but also
combined with traditional, larger gravestones.
Yet another quite frequent type of gravestone not dis-
cussed by Rütenik is the branching tree fragment, to be
found exclusively in Ashkenazi areas, mainly in Poland,
the Ukraine, Romania, and sporadically even in Germany,
as at the Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery. These tombs
are made of stone, or later, in the 20th century, of artificial
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
stone; their surface shows the roughness of bark. In all cas-
es they imitate a thinner tree trunk with cut-back branches.
Due to its rough surface, the closeness of the soil, and the
porosity of the stone these tombs are often overgrown by
moss that renders them even more tree-like. The plaque
usually ‘grows’ out of the trunk and is made of the same
material. These gravestones are exclusively for one person
and often positioned over the head of the deceased. They
may be joined by a lower horizontal member.
There are also frequent local variations not mentioned
in this typology. In Polish Jewish cemeteries often the
vertical stele/slab/obelisk is accompanied by a horizontal
member at its rear side, which, as mentioned, may have
a rectangular or semi-circular or parabolic cross-section.
The two stones are connected with each other with met-
al bars. Obviously, the primary role of such horizontal
members is to secure stability to the vertical element,
but visually this combination creates unique forms; im-
pressive when there are complete sections of this type.
Another frequent combination is of a full-size horizontal
slab and a slightly tilted pillow stone, the latter over the
head of the deceased. The horizontal slab may be accom-
panied by a lower vertical slab with inscriptions at the
end, opposite the lane.
The Kleinarchitektur is only sketchily described in Rüte-
nik’s typology and will not be elaborated here either, due
to its formal complexity and its contextual specificity. Still,
architecturally these are the most creative funerary monu-
ments that certainly require further typological efforts.
Similarly, the ohel (or ohalim in plural) is not specifical-
ly mentioned in Rütenik’s typology, as it is not typical of
cemeteries of the Emancipation and post-Emancipation
period and doesn’t highlight the Berlin Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery which was the starting point for Rütenik. Still,
in metropolitan cemeteries there are often ohalim, even in
such emancipated Jewish communities as the one in Vi-
enna. They may be considered as ‘small architecture’, but
this question requires further elaboration, as the intention
of an ohel is not necessarily architectural as in the case of
mausoleums. While apparently the ohalim and the small
mausoleums of rich 19th century Jews look similar, in fact,
the meaning and to a certain extent also the formal solu-
tions may differ. While the mausoleum’s aim is to impress
with its architecture, the ohel has quite a different function:
it houses the grave of the rabbi and may have architectural/
artistic prominence or not. Sometimes the ohel is a mas-
sive building erected using stone or brick, sometimes it is
made of light materials, mainly metal. While the mauso-
leum is usually not meant to be entered, the ohel’s raison
d’être is just to be approached and often entered by the
faithful and also to protect the grave.
In summary, Tobias Rütenik’s typology is the most com-
prehensive so far, based on strict geometrical proportions
and a cross section of tombs at some Ashkenazi cemeteries
in Europe, but not the majority. Still, such a strict cate-
gorisation may not be adequate in all cases, particularly
for cemeteries farther from the centres, i.e. in countries in
which the German or Austro-German impact was weaker
or the implementation of these specimens was liberal. This
typology is mainly based on mass and proportions and
leaves the stylistic matters aside – which is its strength and
Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time
weakness at the same time. Involving stylistic questions
would make this typology complicated and unclear; none-
theless, the two matters are interrelated. Style also signals
the period of construction and often tells us something
about the deceased and the community.
In this book, which is based on 20 metropolitan and some
50 urban 19th and early 20th century Jewish cemeteries
in Central and in East Central Central Europe as well as
in the Balkans, I will not use such strict rules in geomet-
rical terms as Rütenik, because these rules cannot be ap-
plied to such a large area as Central and Eastern Europe
and the Balkans, where basic types may vary from region
to region. Instead, I shall focus on general evolutional
tendencies regarding types, transitional and hybrid types,
as well as local variations.
First, I shall leave out the details of the funerary mon-
uments and concentrate on their form and on the wider
impact on their surroundings in the cemetery. Later, I
shall present concrete examples of the researched met-
ropolitan cemeteries in their formal and period sequence.
A very simplified formal, geometric categorisation goes
as follows:
Zero-dimensional – a small marker, with practically no
significant dimension in the context of the cemetery;
One-dimensional – predominantly one-dimensional, the
other dimensions are significantly smaller: vertical (obe-
lisk, column, broken column) or horizontal (horizontal-
Sephardi ‘parabolic column’);
Two-dimensional – stelae, matzeva, ‘flattened aedicule’,
horizontal slab;
Three-dimensional – traditional ‘house’ or aedicule (tra-
ditional ohel or post-Emancipation mausoleum), ‘easy
chair’, ‘family bed’, polygonal or round mausoleum with
or without decorative fence.
Four-dimensional – monuments which can be compre-
hended only with the involvement of the fourth dimension,
i.e. time. They may be individual or family funerary mon-
uments or monuments commemorating collective death:
pogrom, war, Shoa. Four-dimensional monuments can
be large arcades and other types more complex in form
and composition than the three-dimensional. Although the
division line is not clear between three-dimensional and
four-dimensional, the rule of thumb is that a three-dimen-
sional monument may be comprehended almost entirely
from a static viewpoint, while a four-dimensional monu-
ment will require the fourth dimension, i.e. time.
These abstract categories can be found in different forms
and specific combinations, as is shown in more than 200
examples at the researched metropolitan cemeteries. In
the sequence of these types their evolution is also rep-
resented in order to show how abstract forms and their
manifestation in concrete types came into being. The
same sequence encompasses the stylistic evolution.
Material
The material of Jewish gravestones varies greatly from
region to region and from time to time. It usually fol-
lows the material of ancient pagan, Christian or Muslim
graves. However, timber was rarely used, except for
121
temporary markers. Until the Emancipation graves were
made of homogeneous material, mainly different kinds of
stone, but from around 1870 composite structures were
also used in order to make tombs tectonically more dar-
ing – slender, taller, more airy –, or simply to make them
cheaper. The most usual combinations were brick, stone,
and cast iron for vertical elements and steel with timber
for horizontal or domical ones.
Moreover, until the early 19th century entire Jewish cem-
eteries usually had one dominant material, marble, lime-
stone or sandstone, for all funerary monuments. Wrought
iron was used exclusively for joining elements between
stones when necessary. In pre-Emancipation times at Pol-
ish Jewish cemeteries the horizontal and vertical stones
were connected to each other by using wrought iron bars,
typically some 50 centimetres long with a cross section of
about 1 by 4 centimetres. Wrought iron for joining stones
was sometimes visible, sometimes invisible. Later, main-
ly in the second half of the 19th century, wrought iron
and cast iron started to accompany stone in an explicitly
visible manner, as parts of the composition. Emancipa-
tion brought about more precious materials, mainly gran-
ite, and introduced a wide diversity of materials different
from tombstone to tombstone and also combinations of
materials on a single grave. Not only the material itself
showed variety, but also its surface, from the rough to
the highly polished. Rich Central European families of
the late Gründerzeit preferred highly polished granite;
that was their favourite until the Friedhofsreform. Gran-
ite became a favourite material again of the very rich in
post-Modern times, particularly for the funerary monu-
ments of Russian oligarchs.
While cast iron was used mainly in conjunction with other
materials, in some cases it was the sole material of tombs.
At Warsaw Okopowa Street cemetery there are tombs en-
tirely made of cast iron. At Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cem-
etery in Budapest and at Preobrazhenska Jewish Cemetery
in St. Petersburg, small mausoleums were created solely of
cast iron. Still, cast iron for an entire funerary monument
is a rarity. While today cast iron is seen as a brittle and
obsolete material, in the 19th century it was an epitome of
technological progress. Press coverage of synagogue in-
augurations often stresses the significance of slender cast
iron columns flanking the naves of synagogues versus the
massive structure of 19th century churches.09 Technologi-
cal progress was high on the agenda of emancipated Jews.
There was a genuine enchantment with new materials and
technologies as part of reform Jewish messianism on the
one hand; and on the other hand, Jews were eager to show
the gentiles that they were progressive, making the life of
mankind easier and happier.
For larger funerary monuments the use of metal was un-
avoidable. Steel beams were used for ceilings, while the
rest was made of marble or granite if the family could af-
ford such an expensive solution. In most cases, however,
these large monuments were just built of brick and mor-
tar, like the houses in the towns. Ceilings and domes were
made of a variety of materials: the main structural frame
was steel, the fill-up was usually timber, which via a layer
of cane received a rendering of mortar and ashlar imita-
tion on the surface. The top of these small edifices was
 122 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

001 Bucharest Sephardic 002 Bucharest Sephardic 003 Bucharest Sephardic 004 Cracow Miodova 005 Zagreb Mirogoj

011 Sarajevo Sephardic 012 Sarajevo Sephardic 013 Bucharest New 014 Bucharest Sephardic 015 Łódź Zmienna

021 Warsaw Okopowa 022 Prague Žižkov 023 Budapest Salgótarjáni 024 Cracow Miodova 025 Warsaw Okopowa

001–004
013–014
Horizontal slab
Sephardic gravestones Decorated Sephardic
horizontal gravestones with
005–006 rectangular cross-section –
Horizontal slab Ark of the Covenant form
Ashkenazi gravestones
015–016
007–008 Slanting Ashkenazi
Sephardic horizontal gravestones
gravestone with
017
Polygonal cross-section
Temporary metal
009–010 headboard that was not
Sephardic horizontal replaced by a gravestone
gravestone with
018–030
Parabolic cross-section
Matzeva-type vertical
011–012 slab gravestones with
Sephardic horizontal semi-circular, lancet, ogival,
gravestone with or flat ending, sometimes
square cross-section topped with rich decoration
 Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time 123

006 Zagreb Mirogoj 007 Bucharest New 008 Bucharest New 009 Bucharest New 010 Bucharest New

016 Łódź Zmienna 017 Budapest Salgótarjáni 018 Budapest Salgótarjáni 019 Bratislava Žižkova 020 Budapest Kozma

026 Bratislava Žižkova 027 Cracow Miodova 028 Cracow Miodova 029 Cracow Miodova 030 Cracow Miodova

covered with tiles or tin in order to protect them from rain
and snow. Both the ceiling and domes often incorporated
glass elements – usually stained glass surfaces framed in
metal. In the interior of these large funerary monuments
mosaics were quite common, using intense colours and
gold surfaces. Their iconography varied between Biblical
motifs to just decorative floral patterns. The use of trans-
parent glass for Jewish tombs is extremely rare, even in
the case of larger mausoleums. However, metal storages
at Jewish cemeteries, when available, are often glazed to
show the content without opening. In some cases, as in
Bucharest, these glass surfaces are not entirely transpar-
ent, but just translucent. In rare cases, glass is used as the
only material of a Jewish tombstone, as for instance the
grave of the postmodernist composer György Ligeti in
the honorary section of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof.
By the end of the 19th century, glazed ceramics played an
important role at some metropolitan Jewish cemeteries,
usually in the interior of the mausoleums, but sometimes
even on their façades, as was the case with some mauso-
leums designed by Béla Lajta. The Lajta’ Schmidl mau-
soleum is made completely of ceramics using invisible
metal elements which ensure structural stability.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the base of cheaper
Ashkenazi tombs was made of brick, like the pseudo-sar-
cophagus-type tombs of the Sephardim. All were covered
with stone or artificial stone, or simply with mortar.
In the 20th century, artificial stone gained ground at
Jewish cemeteries, either alone or in combination with
natural stone. Usually the slabs of cheaper tombs are of
artificial stone and there are marble plaques carrying the
inscription. Artificial stone based on cement contains
aggregates of different colour and size. The surface is
sometimes rough, sometimes smooth.
 124 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

031 Cracow Miodova 032 Bratislava Žižkova 033 Bratislava Žižkova 034 Budapest Kozma 035 Bratislava Žižkova

041 Saint Petersburg 042 Prague Žižkov 043 Bratislava Žižkova 044 Cracow Miodova 045 Wrocław Ślężna

051 Bucharest New 052 Saint Petersburg 053 Cracow Miodova 054 Warsaw Okopowa 055 Cracow Miodova

031–045
Matzeva-type vertical
slab gravestones with
semi-circular, lancet, ogival
or flat ending, sometimes
topped with rich decoration
046–052
Funerary monuments
with tree or branching tree
053–057
Polish matzevot supported
by a horizontal stone
058–060
Obelisk-type gravestones
 Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time 125

036 Bratislava Žižkova 037 Bratislava Žižkova 038 Bratislava Žižkova 039 Bratislava Žižkova 040 Warsaw Okopowa

046 Budapest Kozma 047 Berlin Weißensee 048 Wrocław Ślężna 049 Warsaw Okopowa 050 Bucharest Sephardic

056 Cracow Miodova 057 Warsaw Okopowa 058 Cracow Miodova 059 Wrocław Ślężna 060 Bratislava Žižkova

01 Szilvia Kormos: A lovasberényi zsidó temető, MTA TK
Kisebbségkutató Intézet Judaisztikai Kutatócsoport,
Budapest 2012, pp. 46–47.
02 Doctoral thesis submitted to the Senate of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 2005, under the
supervision of Prof. Bezalel Narkiss. The thesis consists of
two volumes.
03 Tobias Rütenik, Tobias Horn, Elgin von Gaisberg,
Isabelle Arnold: 115.628 Berliner. Der Jüdische Friedhof
Weißensee – Dokumentation der flächendeckenden
Erfassung der Grabstätten, Beiträge zur Denkmalpflege in
Berlin, Bd. 40, Petersberg 2013, pp. 24–29.
04 Szilvia Kormos, op. cit., p. 46.
05 See Rütenik et al., op. cit.
06 He avoids using the term matzevot in his classification,
while this may well be the starting point in any
classification of Jewish tombs; his Tafel formally covers
the notion of matzeva.
07 In numerous countries this applies to Christian cemeteries
too, particularly to the urban ones.
08 As the Sevastopol Street Jewish Cemetery was closed,
these stones were transferred to the New or Giurgului
Cemetery in the Romanian capital.
09 See Rudolf Klein: The Great Synagogue of Budapest,
Budapest 2008, p. 102.
 126 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

061 Bucharest Philanthropy 062 Bucharest New 063 Bucharest Sephardic 064 Budapest Salgótarjáni 065 Warsaw Okopowa

071 Prague Žižkov 072 Budapest Salgótarjáni 073 Budapest Salgótarjáni 074 Bucharest New 075 Cracow Miodova

081 Bucharest Philanthropy 082 Wrocław Ślężna 083 Saint Petersburg 084 Budapest Kozma 085 Wrocław Ślężna

091 Saint Petersburg 092 Bucharest Philanthropy 093 Cracow Miodova 094 Cracow Miodova 095 Warsaw Okopowa

061 069–074
Obelisk-type Sarcophagus-type
gravestones funerary monuments
066–068 075–087
Rabbi graves with Column-type
a horizontal part flanked funerary monuments,
by two vertical slabs including broken columns
with inscription for children and vases
 Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time 127

066 Bratislava Žižkova 067 Warsaw Okopowa 068 Berlin Weißensee 069 Budapest Kozma 070 Budapest Salgótarjáni

076 Bucharest Sephardic 077 Bratislava Žižkova 078 Berlin Weißensee 079 Bucharest Philanthropy 080 Wrocław Ślężna

086 Budapest Salgótarjáni 087 Budapest Salgótarjáni 088 Budapest Salgótarjáni 089 Prague Žižkov 090 Prague Žižkov

096 Warsaw Okopowa 097 Budapest Salgótarjáni 098 Budapest Kozma 099 Budapest Salgótarjáni 100 Berlin Weißensee

092–096
Vertical, prismatic
funerary monuments
097–100
088–091 Pedimented
Neo-Gothic funerary monuments
funerary monuments (trilithons and aediculs)
 128 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

101 Prague Žižkov 102 Budapest Kozma 103 Prague Žižkov 104 Budapest Salgótarjáni 105 Wrocław Ślężna

111 Budapest Salgótarjáni 112 Łódź Zmienna 113 Budapest Salgótarjáni 114 Prague Žižkov 115 Budapest Kozma

121 Berlin Weißensee 122 Berlin Weißensee 123 Prague Žižkov 124 Budapest Salgótarjáni 125 Prague Žižkov

131 Budapest Kozma 132 Budapest Kozma 133 Budapest Salgótarjáni 134 Łódź Zmienna 135 Saint Petersburg

101–119
Pedimented
funerary monuments
(trilithons and aediculs)
120–126 127–129
Large funerary monuments German funerary monuments
with neo-Renaissance using neo-Romanesque
elements elements
 Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time 129

106 Budapest Salgótarjáni 107 Berlin Weißensee 108 Budapest Kozma 109 Budapest Kozma 110 Budapest Kozma

116 Budapest Kozma 117 Budapest Kozma 118 Prague Žižkov 119 Prague Žižkov 120 Berlin Weißensee

126 Bucharest Philanthropy 127 Berlin Weißensee 128 Wrocław Ślężna 129 Berlin Weißensee 130 Budapest Kozma

136 Wrocław Ślężna 137 Wrocław Ślężna 138 Bucharest Sephardic 139 Bucharest Sephardic 140 Bucharest Sephardic

135–137
Cast iron mausoleums
(non glazed)
130–134
Temple-type mausoleums 138–140
(Solomon’s Temple, Cast iron grid
Egyptian Temple) funerary monuments
 130 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

141 Berlin Weißensee 142 Bucharest Philanthropy 143 Bucharest Philanthropy 144 Budapest Salgótarjáni 145 Budapest Kozma

151 Berlin Weißensee 152 Budapest Salgótarjáni 153 Bucharest Philanthropy 154 Budapest Kozma 155 Budapest Kozma

161 Saint Petersburg 162 Saint Petersburg 163 Warsaw Okopowa 164 Berlin Weißensee 165 Berlin Weißensee

171 Berlin Weißensee 172 Berlin Weißensee 173 Warsaw Okopowa 174 Warsaw Okopowa 175 Warsaw Okopowa

141
Cast iron grid 144–164
funerary monuments Hut-type Art Nouveau
mausoleums
142–143
Glasshouses 165–172
in the form of mausoleums Other Art Nouveau
for storing gardening tools monuments
 Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time 131

146 Budapest Kozma 147 Budapest Kozma 148 Saint Petersburg 149 Prague Žižkov 150 Łódź Zmienna

156 Bucharest New 157 Bucharest New 158 Berlin Weißensee 159 Berlin Weißensee 160 Budapest Salgótarjáni

166 Berlin Weißensee 167 Berlin Weißensee 168 Berlin Weißensee 169 Łódź Zmienna 170 Prague Žižkov

176 Saint Petersburg 177 Prague Žižkov 178 Wrocław Ślężna 179 Saint Petersburg 180 Wrocław Ślężna

176–179
Pyramidal
funerary monuments
180
173–175 Peristyle inspired,
Art nouveau open, space-modulating
angel representations mausoleums
 132 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

181 Wrocław Ślężna 182 Łódź Zmienna 183 Budapest Salgótarjáni 184 Prague Žižkov 185 Budapest Salgótarjáni

191 Prague Žižkov 192 Prague Žižkov 193 Prague Žižkov 194 Zagreb Mirogoj 195 Zagreb Mirogoj

201 Prague Žižkov 202 Prague Žižkov 203 Prague Žižkov 204 Prague Žižkov 205 Prague Žižkov

181–189
Peristyle inspired,
open, space-modulating
mausoleums
190–192
Art deco tombs
193–207
Modernist, Czech
Cubist and expressionist
funerary monuments
208–210
Post-World War Two
funerary monuments
 Shape and Material of the Gravestones – Basic Formal Typology Unfolding Over Time 133

186 Berlin Weißensee 187 Prague Žižkov 188 Prague Žižkov 189 Prague Žižkov 190 Prague Žižkov

196 Zagreb Mirogoj 197 Zagreb Mirogoj 198 Budapest Kozma 199 Prague Žižkov 200 Prague Žižkov

206 Zagreb Mirogoj 207 Prague Žižkov 208 Prague Žižkov 209 Saint Petersburg 210 Saint Petersburg

When speaking about the style of architecture erected
for or by Jews, one needs to be careful. In general, style
in architecture is a package of structural principles, cer-
tain motifs, and technical solutions reflecting the imago
mundi, the comprehended universe of a historic period
and culture. All this is reflected in the spatial arrange-
ment and composition of volumes, down to the smallest
details. Jews, while living among Christians or Muslims,
maintained their own traditions, of which some elements
are reflected in the visual realm, while others limit the
application of elements from outside the system, i.e. el-
ements of the Christian or Muslim environment. Thus,
for instance, no piece of ‘Jewish architecture’01 could be
perfectly Romanesque or Gothic. It was instead a mix of
elements stemming from the Jewish tradition – mainly
functional elements, interior space resulting from the lit-
urgy in the case of synagogues – and of elements as well
as technical and aesthetic details from the environment or
host culture. For instance, a synagogue from the Gothic
period has predominantly Gothic details; yet its space is
not longitudinal like the space of cathedrals, but central,
as Jews gather around the bima. This is why synagogue
architecture can only be partially related to great histor-
ical styles of Western culture, and not as a complete set
of forms, space, details, and ideas. This should also be
taken into consideration with regard to Jewish funerary
monuments, but not as strictly, particularly not since the
Emancipation. In the 19th and 20th centuries many mo-
tifs appeared in Jewish funerary art that would have been
unthinkable before the Emancipation.
The complete adoption of gentile styles started only with
the Emancipation, and by and large developed in paral-
lel with modern, 19th century Christian funerary art, but
often along different trajectories with a different periodi-
sation. This duality was largely overcome with the onset
of Art Nouveau and the 20th-century avant-garde, which
13.01
Harmonious ensembles
of tombs stemming from
different stylistic periods,
Orthodox Jewish Cemetery,
Bratislava
CHAPTER 13
Stylistic Considerations
abandoned figurative visual representation and no longer
clashed with Judaism’s image-ban or image-reluctance.
Thus, Modernism largely abolished the differences be-
tween Jewish and gentile funerary art.
Romanticism, particularly Neo-Gothic, was not a well-ac-
cepted style for Jewish gravestones due to its emphasis on
medieval Christianity, which had negative connotations
for the Jews. Still, there are some Jewish gravestones all
over Catholic/Protestant Europe that show Neo-Gothic
forms: pointed arches, gables, tracery, pinnacles, etc., at
reform cemeteries and in a more restrained form even at
orthodox cemeteries.
The Classic Revival as part of the Free Style in the last quar-
ter of the 19th century led to a hitherto unseen convergence
of Jewish and Christian funerary art in stylistic terms, of
which the obelisk form is the most widespread type.
Interestingly, while synagogues usually avoided the use
of classical styles – even Western styles altogether – in
this period,02 funerary art welcomed them, probably due
to the connection between classical archetypes and the
idea of eternity, which was an important message of fu-
nerary art. Thus Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquity
found its way into Jewish funerary art.
Moreover, even Mesopotamian or Mycenaean architecture
also exerted an influence on Jewish graves, but a bit later,
mainly during the Art Nouveau period (see architects Béla
Lajta and Emil Vidor). Art Nouveau – both the early flo-
ral and the late or geometric variations – challenged the
dominance of the classical for a while, actually until about
1910, when there was a general tendency of proto-modern
classicism in architecture and funeral art.
However, Art Nouveau, Secession, or Jugendstil was was
never exclusive; it existed mostly in parallel with the clas-
sical vocabulary, particularly in the Habsburg lands. More-
over, it was not a single movement, but a set of sub-move-
ments, mainly along the Art Nouveau-Secession-Jugendstil
136
13.02
divide. However, even inside Secession there were currents
of some national movements – Hungarian, Polish, etc., in
some regions of Central and Eastern Europe.
Territories under stronger German influence cultivated
the Neo-Romanesque style. Wroclaw’s Jewish cemetery,
for instance, has a couple of mausoleums with Roman-
esque motifs, while this would be rare in the Habsburg
lands, particularly in Hungary or Croatia. If any, Vien-
na’s tombs leaning towards the Romanesque were rather
a late offspring of the Rundbogenstil than Neo-Roman-
esque proper. In the Habsburg lands upper-class Jews
were strongly attached to the scholastically applied
Doric order. Art Nouveau movements, particularly the
Secession, were somehow expressions of a cultural riot.
Their forms were therefore only used for medium-sized
funerary monuments for the intellectuals and free profes-
sionals vis-à-vis the more conservative social upper class
more closely related to the conservative political status
quo. Yet, some regions under German influence have
some very large Jugendstil funerary monuments, like the
famous Poznansky mausoleum in Łódź.
Wiener Werkstätte, Art Deco, Expressionism, Czech
Cubism, or Rondo Cubism had some followers in Jewish
funerary art, but they were far from typical. The same
applies to High Modernism, where sporadically one can
find some gravestones by Jan Kotěra or Walter Gropius;
but it did not become a widespread movement in funer-
ary art in most of Central and Eastern Europe or in the
Balkans. A more restrained Modernism closely related to
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
13.03
Art Deco was quite popular at Prague New Jewish Cem-
etery in Žižkov and Zagreb Mirogoj Cemetery and to a
certain extent at Vienna’s New Jewish Cemetery as part
of the Zentralfriedhof compound.
Parallel to the emergence of early Modernism there is a
post-Emancipation Jewish revival, which refers to grave-
stones before the 19th century. The revival of pre-Eman-
cipation funerary art manifests itself in the use of some ar-
chitectural details, or even complete traditional forms, like
matzevot and long-established Jewish symbols. These may
appear in larger compositions, but more often it means a re-
turn to pre-Emancipation modesty in composition, scale and
material – the avoidance of expensive shiny granite and often
a return to rough stone surfaces. In Central European coun-
tries, this phenomenon may be related to the German Fried-
hofsreform, a movement described in the previous chapter.
Orthodox cemeteries are excepted from this development,
i.e. in the interwar period the traditionalists used black pol-
ished Swedish granite, albeit their tombs were smaller and
created much more harmonious ensembles than the reform-
ists’ tombs during the Gründerzeit. A good example is the
Orthodox cemetery in Bratislava. Moreover, this was a city
where the Orthodox were richer than the Neologs.
After World War Two, late Modernism took over funerary
art, but often suffered from the lack of funds and atten-
tion, except for major Holocaust monuments. Neverthe-
less, sporadically one can find individually formed funer-
ary monuments even in the former Communist countries,
pre-eminently in Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.
Stylistic Considerations 137

13.04
13.05

13.02
Gravestone showing some
neo-Moresque influence in
the context of Romanticism
in the Orthodox Jewish
Cemetery, Bratislava
13.03
Gravestone showing strong
Christian, Neo-Gothic
influence in the New Jewish
Cemetery in Prague
13.04
Typical late 19th century
classical obelisk-type
gravestones in the Orthodox
Jewish Cemetery, Bratislava
13.05
Gründerzeit combination
of an Egyptian temple and
a pyramid adjacent to a
neo-Romanesque, ‘German-
style’ funerary monument
with an in-grown tree
in the Slezna Street
Jewish Cemetery, Wroclaw
138 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

13.06 13.07
13.08
13.09 13.10

01 Jewish architecture is a term widely used, particularly

in the German Sprachraum (jüdische Architektur). It is
contested, but more and more established. For details
see: Rudolf Klein: ‘Jewish Architecture’ of the Late 20th
Century. In: Izgradnja 66 (2012) 3–4, pp. 16–31.
02 Neo-Classicism (c. 1780–1830), however, had quite
a strong impact on synagogue architecture in Central
Europe, as an expression of the Enlightenment.
Stylistic Considerations 139

13.11
13.12
13.13

13.06
Updated version of the
traditional matzeva-type
gravestone with traditional
Jewish symbols – books
signalling a man of erudition
and Levite jug in the Jewish
Cemetery of Łódź
13.07
Typical late Gründerzeit
neo-Classical, millionaire’s
funerary monument, Jewish
Cemetery of Łódź
13.08
Interwar proto-Modern
classicism of a family
funerary monument in the
New Jewish Cemetery
in Prague
13.09
Art Deco-style funerary
monument in the New Jewish
Cemetery in Prague
13.10
Minimalist, modernist
funerary monument of the
interwar period, New Jewish
Cemetery in Prague
13.11
Large-scale German
Jugendstil family funerary
monument in Weißensee
Jewish Cemetery, Berlin
13.12
Viennese Sezession-style
funerary monument on
the central lane of the
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery in Budapest
13.13
Czech Rondo-Cubist style
funerary monument in the
New Jewish Cemetery
in Prague

Symbols and Other Representations
19th century Jewish funerary art is a transitional genre
in which traditional, pre-Emancipation symbols and vi-
sual representations meet modern symbols and repre-
sentations with a secular message.01 A similar shift also
occurred at cemeteries of many Christian denomina-
tions, as a product of secularisation and modernisation.
Still, on Jewish graves the representation of professional
achievement played a major role, as Jews felt a pressure
to achieve much more than their fellow Christians after
centuries of marginalisation.
Moreover, 19th century Jewish graves do not just stand for
a combination of the present and the past, of old and new
contents, but also for the transition from the strictly cod-
ified way of presentation to the free, individual and mod-
ern. In pre-Emancipation times symbols were displayed on
the upper semi-circular or segmental part of the matzevot,
while later no compositional restraints remained. Usually,
symbols remained in the central zone of the gravestone,
but Modernism favouring asymmetric compositions in
architecture contributed to a new placement of symbols,
including professional symbols, as for instance in the case
of the grave for a soccer player. In some extreme cases,
the whole funerary monument has become a naturalistic
representation of a professional tool of the deceased, as in
the case of a racing car driver or a musician.
Traditional symbolic representations on Jewish graves
are a complex matter that can be analysed in the context
of form, meaning, geographical distribution and historic
time. The origin of traditional symbolic representations is
diverse, ranging from sources of the biblical period until
our times, from within Jewish heritage and from outside,
i.e. in the framework of a wider cultural-historical con-
text. Moreover, some of these symbols/representations
may have double footing and multiple meanings.
For instance, the bird can be a symbol of the spirit, it
can be a visual representation of a female named tzipo-
14.01
Bird and mug on the fence
between the forecourt
and cemetery proper,
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
CHAPTER 14
ra (bird) and it can be a post-Emancipation professional
symbol for a female opera singer, usually of a coloratura
soprano. The lion can be a symbol of Judea; it can be a
symbol of the tribe of Judah. Moreover, the lion is the
ancestral emblem of the House of King David, a strong
Judaic reference; as an allegory it stands for the ‘power
of serving the Almighty’, and finally it can be a symbol
of the names Arieh or Leon, both meaning lion.
Some symbols originate from the Jewish tradition, and
some from neighbouring cultures, regardless of the his-
toric period. For instance, the bear, quite often visible
on pre-Emancipation matzevot in the Pale of Settlement,
stems from Slavic folklore, but it is used as a name sym-
bol for Dov, meaning bear in Hebrew, a male name which
is quite common even today among Israelis.
Some symbols are universal in space and time, some are
just regional. For instance, a book can symbolise that the
deceased was a man of letters – being a rather gender spe-
cific symbol as women never have it on their graves – or
that the deceased was a rabbi, or simply a man who read
the prayer book on erev Shabbat. The meaning depends
on the context. For example, at the Bracka Street Jewish
Cemetery in Łódź there are rows of graves with candles
and others with books: obviously these are gender sym-
bols, representing the gender role in the ceremony of Erev
Shabbat – women lighting the candles and men reading
the ‘book’. This widespread use of gender symbols is
largely a regional habit, not to be found frequently in oth-
er areas than in the Pale of Settlement or at least not in this
way. There can even be a row of books or a bookshelf or
even a whole interior with a bookshelf and perhaps even
a table with a Torah Scroll signifying a Jewish scholar
or rabbi, as on numerous graves at the Warsaw Okopowa
Street Cemetery.
Symbols and other visual representations can be divided
into religious representations, representations to be found
142
14.02
on traditional graves, and those showing secular themes
related to the profession or social status of the deceased.
Religious symbols can be further divided into strict Juda-
ic symbols representing basic symbols of Judaism, name
symbols, and those that became customary on tradition-
al Jewish graves and express such values as generosity
(Tzedaka box with a hand throwing in a coin), solidarity
(handshake – just two hands), piety or knowledge. There
is a further group of symbols that refer to death through
symbols common in Christianity and Judaism, such as
torches turned upside down, broken trees, sometimes
columns, but not in the way of the broken columns for
children. The last group of symbols is related to the pro-
fession. It can be found in the framework of traditional
representations of pre-Emancipation matzevot, but also on
modern, 19th century Jewish graves where general sym-
bols – used by Christians and Jews alike – appear on the
graves. Moreover, these representations can surpass the
symbolic level of representation and acquire a naturalist
depiction of tools in crafts, musical instruments and even
buildings in which the deceased worked or which he or
she had established – banks, factories, theatres, etc.
Basic Jewish symbols include the image of Birkat ko-
hanim, the blessing hands of the kohanim, the Levite
signs (mug and representation of washing), the Hexa-
gram or the Star of David and crowns of all kinds re-
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
14.03
14.04
ferring to the Torah Crown or keter torah, the Kingdom
of Israel, etc. Birkat kohanim survived the Emancipation
and can even be found on modern Jewish graves.
Animal symbols include birds pecking fruit, heraldic ea-
gle motifs, the bear holding branches, the lion and the
unicorn in combat, three hares in a circle, the predator
with game in teeth, and the bird of prey carrying a small
animal. These animal symbols are of different origins –
some of them European, some Middle Eastern – but they
are composed and structured in the same way as the Ju-
daic or Jewish symbols.
A number of Jewish names are names of animals and
these animals appear on the graves. The spread of tradi-
tional symbols is diverse. In some regions, due to the lo-
cal cultural influence some symbols are more frequent, as
for instance the bear. Some symbols are limited to small-
er regions, as for example the unicorn, which is present
in the Ashkenazi world, mainly in Chernovaya Rus, Pod-
olia, and Volhynia, and corresponds there to the names of
Yosef, Ephraim and Menachem.
There are even symbols used just once, such as the ear-
ly 18th-century tombstone of a prominent Rabbi, Alex-
ander Sander Shor (1732) from the town of Zholkva,
Chervonaya Rus. It was decorated with a bull’s head or
bukranion (the Hebrew name Shor meaning bull). This
particular case, more in keeping with the Italian tradi-
Symbols and Other Representations 143

14.05
14.06
14.07

14.02
Judean lions, the most usual
visual representations on
pre-emancipation matzeva-
type graves, Okopowa Street
Jewish Cemetery, Warsaw
14.03
Winged animals, simple
birds or fantasy creatures,
cherubs on pre-emancipation
matzeva-type graves,
Miodowa Street Cemetery,
Cracow
14.04
Books on the shelf
symbolizing erudition in
Jewish scholarship
on men’s graves,
Bracka Street Jewish
Cemetery in Łódź
14.05
Levite jug on a gravestone
signalling Levite origin of
the deceased, Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
14.06
A Torah Crown (keter
korah) from the Holocaust
Memorial’s gravestone collage
in Miodowa Street Cemetery,
Cracow
14.07
Priestly blessing (birkat
kohanim) signalling the
kohen origin of the deceased,
Okopowa Street Cemetery,
Warsaw
144
14.08
14.09
14.11 14.12
tion, may be considered to be a testimony to direct Ital-
ian influence.02 Symbols and motifs change over time as
cultural influences also change in a given region inhab-
ited by Jews. Old motifs disappear and new ones appear.
Khaimoich writes: “The new set of central motifs, made
up of individual animal figures; and compositions of
animals performing different actions, make their initial
appearance during the 1720s on tombstones with a new
type of facade decoration (Vishnevets, Polonnoye). The
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
14.10
14.13
new set of central motifs that become the most common-
ly used ones in decoration of Jewish tombstones are: ‘a
stag standing with head turned backwards, scratching its
nose with a hoof’, ‘bird pecking the fruit’, ‘heraldic ea-
gle’, ‘bear holding a shrub or branches’, ‘lion and uni-
corn in combat’, ‘stork with a snake in its beak’, ‘two
bears carrying a cluster of grapes’, ‘three hares in circle’,
‘predatory animal or bird with game in teeth or talons’,
‘squirrel nibbling a nut’. These motifs are marked by the
Symbols and Other Representations
14.14
greatest iconographic range, which is achieved through
variegating additional details or attributes.”03
While symbols on Jewish graves were codified in
pre-modern times, their combination is free. Very often
in the traditional semi-circular upper part of a gravestone,
one can find a free combination of a crown, a reference
to keter torah (the Torah Crown), a jug, a pair of rampant
lions or a single lion lying, or in Poland broken trees, a
house with a shadoof, cherubs, or just cherub wings or,
more rarely, a deer.
As the 19th century was a transitory period, at its begin-
ning old symbols and motifs dominated that gradually
receded and new symbols and motifs appeared. A whole
set of symbols characterised the Emancipation period,
which were not necessarily new, but they were put into
a new context and had a political agenda. Some of the
symbols are also common in Christianity; they stress the
common roots and facilitate the convergence of Abra-
hamic religions in the spirit of the Enlightenment. For
instance, the Tablets of the Law or the Eye of Divine
Providence and the rays are the most prominent. There
are some other common symbols without this implicit
meaning of the common roots of Judaism and Christi-
anity, as for instance torches shown upside down (tak-
en from Antiquity), broken trees, etc. It is important to
stress that the original Judaic/Jewish symbols more or
less survived this change. The Star of David is an overar-
ching motif that also changed in terms of frequency and
significance. Throughout the early Emancipation it was
less prominent than later on; it is hard to find it on the
145
façades of synagogues and it would also be used more
sparingly on gravestones. It is interesting that the spires
of synagogues would seldom have a hexagram and that
on stained-glass windows the hexagram is geometrical-
ly embedded in a complex geometrical pattern in the
Baroque and Neo-Classical periods. From the late 19th
century onwards, the Star of David would appear more
frequently even on the exterior of Jewish-owned build-
ings and on Jewish community facilities as well as on
synagogues, including their spires.
The use of symbols is largely dependent on the particular
cemetery. For instance, in Łódź among the most dominant
symbols on the top part of gravestones are gender symbols,
as mentioned earlier. Moreover, these are not pre-Emanci-
pation graves, but graves of the very prosperous period of
the city of Łódź between the mid-19th century and World
War One. At other Polish Jewish graveyards, e.g. in Cra-
cow and Warsaw, this phenomenon is largely absent – gen-
der symbols are present, but they are not dominant.
Over time, mainly during the second half of the 19th centu-
ry, these representations started to disappear and of the tra-
ditional Jewish symbols just the blessing of kohanim and
the jug of the Levites remained, as well as the six-pointed
star, the Menorah, the Tablets of the Law, or tree of life,
grapes or pomegranate or the willow tree. In the last third
of the 19th century, the inscription YHVH framed with
sunrays became fashionable, particularly on larger funer-
ary monuments or in the interior of small mausoleums, but
by the end of the century it disappeared. The same applies
to large angel figures that survived until the Art Nouveau
and sometimes the Art Deco periods. The willow tree mo-
tif carved linearly on the stone surface was already present
on pre-Emancipation gravestones, but became fashionable
mainly in the second half of the 19th century, just like the
poppy, although the latter had a longer presence on Jewish
gravestones. Birds remained on Jewish gravestones well
into the 20th century, until Modernism and Art Deco came
up. In this period the simple modernistic gravestones were
14.11
Pair of compasses and
a triangle signals the
profession of an architect,
Salgótarjáni Street
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
14.08 14.12
Relief of a soccer player Notes on the bottom of the
hints at the profession of funerary monument refer
the deceased, Kozma Street to a musician, New Jewish
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest Cemetery, Prague
14.09 14.13
A car model hints at the Pallet and paint brushes
deceased’s profession, indicate the painter, Mauricy
Kozma Street Jewish Gottlieb, Miodowa Street
Cemetery, Budapest Jewish Cemetery, Cracow
14.10 14.14
A relief of a bank building An upright piano refers
represents the profession of to music created by Liviu
the deceased, Slezna Street brothers, Bucharest
Jewish Cemetery, Wroclaw New Jewish Cemetery
146
14.15
often enriched by sculptural reliefs of female figures. In
fact, secular sculpture and relief both started to appear in
the Art Nouveau period.
The Emancipation of the Jews turned their religious zeal
into a secular one, a wish for professional achievement
and social status. While similar changes occurred also
among the gentiles, for the Jews it was more significant,
as before they had been excluded from many professions
and secular activities and their sudden success was to be
celebrated even at the expense of giving up some aspects
of Jewish traditions. This was the time when occupation-
al symbols appeared on Jewish funerary art: medical doc-
tors, pharmacists, civil engineers, architects, writers, etc.,
acquired a system of symbols at the cemeteries of Central
and Eastern Europe. While basically these symbols are
common in the Ashkenazi world, there are local varia-
tions from country to country and from town to town.
Musical instruments or simple melodies can be displayed
on the bottom or upper part of the funerary monument.04
In Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, on the grave of an opera
singer there is a relief of the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna
State Opera, originally Royal Opera), and of a bird sing-
ing on a branch in front of it.
In some rare cases the occupation of the deceased is not
represented with simple symbols, but even with natu-
ralistic representations of a bank or theatre building, a
museum, or even a racing car or a soccer player.05 En-
gineers are often represented with a set square, hammer
and shovel, as well as a plumb line, or architects with
a set square and compasses. The most telling funerary
monument regarding the profession is the one for archi-
tect Leopold Baumhorn (1860–1932) who designed and
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
restored over 40 synagogues in the Habsburg Empire;
they are listed on the monument – actually erroneously.
Moreover, the monument’s form quotes his characteris-
tic trefoil synagogue windows with a relief of the dome
of the synagogue in Szeged rising from the clouds, like
many representations of the Tablets of the Law. Olympic
champions received the Olympic flame or the five rings,
like the first Hungarian Olympic champion and architect
Alfréd Hajós (1878–1955). The funerary monument for
the Bughici brothers, famous pianists, features a marble
piano in Bucharest New Jewish Cemetery.
Besides the professional achievement, reference is often
made to the social success of Jews on their gravestones.
From the late 19th century onwards, some wealthy Jews
became gentrified. Some not only were awarded the title
of baron, but their newly created coat of arms appeared
on their funerary monuments. A similar political engage-
ment is commemorated on the gravestone of Robert Wolf
in Prague’s Olsany Jewish Cemetery, albeit on the grounds
of interwar social democracy: a Christ-like Mercury rises
from a factory building. On his right a worker is receiving
from him a paper, in his left hand he is holding coins as the
capitalist, and both of them are about to drop the money
into the beehive, the symbol of saving. Ingenuity, industri-
ousness, and frugality were the leading ideas of Jewish en-
trepreneurs from the Gründerzeit to the Shoa. Taking pride
in achievement surfaced even in the Soviet Union. Some
Jews gained important distinctions, for instance ‘Honoured
Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic’
(заслуженный артист Р.С.Ф.С.Р. – Росси́йская Сове́тская
Федерати́вная Социалисти́ческая Респу́бликa), which
was written on their gravestones.
Symbols and Other Representations 147

14.16 14.18
14.17

14.16
The five-ring symbol of the
Olympics on the top of the
family grave refers to the
championship of architect
Alfréd Hajós, Kozma Street
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
01 However, the secular message is not necessarily modern,
as numerous traditional graves feature professional 14.17
symbols in a framework of codified, traditional ways of The coats of arms between
representation. two Egyptian columns refer
02 Boris Khaimovich: The Jewish Tombstones of the 16th- to the ennobled Jewish
18th Centuries from the Eastern Province of the Polish Baron, Salgótarjáni Street
Kingdom: Study of the Iconography and Style Genesis, Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
PhD thesis, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2005.
14.18
03 Khaimovich, op. cit., pp. 128f. 14.15 The dome of the synagogue
04 Professional symbols are not unique features of the Representation of a factory of Szeged and the list of
Emancipation – there were such representations even building, a Mercury, a synagogues he created
before, but they became more widespread in this period. worker and an entrepreneur describes the oeuvre of
05 Interestingly, this is a phenomenon that can also be found hint at the profession architect Leopold Baumhorn,
occasionally at Christian cemeteries, mainly before the of the deceased, Prague Kozma Street Jewish
First World War. New Jewish Cemetery Cemetery, Budapest

This chapter deals with the inscriptions: their language
(Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Polish, Czech, Russian, Hun-
garian, Croatian), the transition between languages, and
their pairing to lineage description (mentioning mother
or father in the Hebrew line).
As a rule, until the Emancipation Ashkenazi Jews did
not have permanent family names; traditionally the pat-
ronymic was used, as with Chaim ben Moshe, or Sarah
bat Moshe, i.e. Chaim the son or Sarah the daughter of
Moshe, respectively.01 However, in parts of some ceme-
teries often the mother’s name figures instead of the fa-
ther’s. In some regions of Central Eastern Europe this
is more customary than in other parts of the continent,
mostly in some areas of the Habsburg Empire, notably
in the north-eastern parts of the Hungarian Kingdom, but
also in Szeged and sometimes in Budapest. Traditionally,
the language of Jewish gravestones was Hebrew, even if
the Jews in the diaspora did not always speak that lan-
guage. However, they were traditionally able to read it
to some extent. In Jewish schools the Hebrew alphabet
(alephbet) was and still is being taught.
In 1781, the enlightened Habsburg Emperor Joseph II
ordered Jews, as a matter of fact Ashkenazim, to adopt
permanent family names and from then on in the Empire
Jews took typical German names, which either referred
to their lineage or status in the Jewish communities. For
instance, Kohanim were often called Kohn, Levites Levi
or in German Löwi, but the majority of Jewish names,
like Weiß, Grün, Blau, Roth, Schwartz, Groß, Klein, Un-
gar, Deutsch, Klopfer, Stein, Bernstein, Kurländer, War-
schauer, Wiener, Krakkauer, Lemberger, etc. were just
assigned haphazardly by gentile clerks during the early
Emancipation period. Some of these names may have
referred to the profession, like Klopfer, a Jewish commu-
nity employee who calls the Jews to evening prayer, or
to the geographical origin. The geographical origin may
15.01
The inscription on this solemn grave combines Jewish
tradition of patronym and Yiddish transliteration of the
official, German civilian name: Hayim, the respected
sir (Hayim harar), the son of Moshe Brill (ben Moshe
Brill). Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Bratislava
CHAPTER 15
Inscription of Names
have featured later when Jewish names were adapted to
the national languages, like the one of the Poznansky
family in Łódź. As assimilation continued, the Hebrew
side/part of the gravestone still carried the traditional pat-
ronymic, while the other side used the national language
or the language of the region, displaying the official name
of the deceased. Still, the notion of national was not quite
clear in the 19th century in Eastern and Eastern Central
Europe. In this multi-national region German featured as
the main language of the urban populations and as lingua
franca, but besides that emerging Polish, Czech, Hun-
garian and Croatian nationalisms also had an impact on
the inscriptions at Jewish cemeteries. At the beginning
of the 20th century, alongside German inscriptions Pol-
ish, Czech, Hungarian or Croatian inscriptions appeared,
and over time German disappeared almost entirely in the
Slavonic and Baltic lands as well as in Hungary. A good
example is the Czech inscription on the expressionist
grave of the musician Marta Wienerová, where we can
read in Czech the epitaph: “Died young, at the age of 25,
20 October 1918.”
In orthodox cemeteries, where local languages were sel-
dom used, e.g. in Bratislava (Pozsony, Pressburg), the Ger-
man family name appears in Hebrew letters as a sort of
Yiddish transliteration. For instance, Yaakov Zvi, with the
following epitaph: P.N. (Here rests)/In the semi-circular
text: Dearest man and honest with good virtues, his wife
and family (referring to the grief of the bereaved)/Levite
jug/large letters: Yakov Zvi/with small letters: Beloved
and honoured son of Moshe Segal Löwinger / notary at
the Holy Society of Pressburg (today Bratislava) / Died in
a good name at the age of 81 years to the sorrow of his
wife, son and his whole family. On the 23rd of the month
av, year 5685 (Roman year A.D. 1925). Thus, as men-
tioned in earlier chapters, the orthodox were not entirely
immune to modernisation, either. They just complied dif-
150 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

15.02 15.03

ferently and with some delay of 20–60 years. The shape of 01 This rule did not apply to a good part of the Sephardi
this gravestone alludes to the mid-19th century, although it diaspora in the same period. For instance, famous
was erected during the time of Modernism. families, as the Toledano of Dubrovnik had a permanent
After the Holocaust it became quite common to include family name, while in the Pale of Settlement they still
used mainly the patronymic. As a matter of fact, also in
the names of family members who had perished in the
Ashkenazi regions there were examples of the first.
Shoa on the gravestones, as there was no other place
02 The Yad Vashem name display in Jerusalem and other
where their names could appear, at least not in the con-
collective, national displays, like the one in Prague
text of the family.02 For instance, on the funerary monu- Pinchas Synagogue, often came much later.
ment of Berthold Steiner from Prague, built in the inter-
war period, his son and daughter, Arnošt and Marie, were
mentioned, but also family members who emigrated to
New York and London. The language of the inscription
is Czech, even ‘Auschwitz’ is written according to Czech
spelling, not German or Polish.
Inscriptions after emancipation contain dates of birth and
death of the deceased, written in Arabic numbers after the
name. Traditional Jewish graves have never had dates on
them written in numbers as on Christian tombs. There is
no anno Domini on Jewish graves and there are no num-
bers. Numbers are embedded into the text of the eulogy
by dots, as letters have a numeral value. Moreover, it is
not the actual secular date, but the Jewish one, counting
from the beginning of calculation of years plus thousand
years, that supposedly elapsed from the Creation – there
was no archaeology at the beginnings of Jewish culture.
Inscription of Names
15.02
The deceased name reads
Zvi Hirsch Badenstein,
written with Hebrew letters,
a combination of Hebrew
name, Zvi and German
(Hirsch) given name, both
meaning deer, and German
family name (Badenstein),
Old Jewish Cemetery,
Wroclaw
15.03
The inscription Yaakov Zvi,
two given names in large
letters is followed by his
father’s complete official
name (not just given name),
Moshe Segal Löwinger.
Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
in Bratislava
151
15.04
15.05
15.04
Marta Weinerová, who
“died young, at the age of
25, on 20 October 1918”
– modern inscription of
name and eulogy in Czech,
with fonts that harmonize
with the expressionist Tree of
Life, New Jewish Cemetery,
Prague
15.05
Berthold Steiner’s gravestone
carries the names of his
family members Arnošt and
Inge, who both perished in
Auschwitz, written according
to the Czech spelling as
Osvetim, as well as the
names of Marie, František
and Trude, who survived
the Holocaust and died in
New York and London at an
advanced age. New Jewish
Cemetery, Prague

Eulogies (Family Grief, Social Contribution,
Accomplishment), Visual References to Social Achievement
Eulogies are traditional elements of Jewish gravestones;
they were already widespread in Central and Eastern Eu-
rope in the Middle Ages and then in early modern times.
Traditionally, eulogies emphasised the moral virtues and
piety of the deceased, or, in the case of significant men, also
religious erudition. In the case of women these are mainly
virtues related to family life. However, with the Emanci-
pation these themes swiftly changed to stressing the values
of assimilation and secular, mainly professional achieve-
ment. There was the same enthusiasm, almost zeal, for the
bourgeois values as earlier for the traditional Jewish ones.
On Hugo Zuckermann’s grave in the Prague New Jewish
Cemetery the following German text is inscribed: “A life
of work, crowned with success and prestige, has ended
here.” We read at the same cemetery an even more apol-
ogetic eulogy: “In honourable memory of the long serving
president, JUDr. Moritz Lichtenstein, advocate, Knight of
the Franz Joseph Order. In gratitude, the representatives of
16.01
Large tomb erected for a soldier, who died in
World War One, followed by sister and brother-in-
law, murdered during the Holocaust and survived
by their parents. Long eulogy describes the grief of
parents. Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
CHAPTER 16
the Jewish Community of the Kingdom of Bohemia.” The
stone carrying the eulogy is an addition to the large funer-
ary monument, but stylistically it is more modern, inspired
by Expressionism and Czech Cubism.
The language of the eulogies changed during the Emanci-
pation, as did the inscription of names. Eulogies could be
embedded in the inscription of names, or conversely the
name could be embedded in the eulogy. In each case, there
may be a typographical differentiation between the two,
usually with italics or with different sizes of typeface.
While for the majority of Jews the eulogy would be on
the same side as the inscription of names and in the local
language, for Jewish scholars eulogies could also be on
the Hebrew side of the funerary monument. This applies
to rabbis of ‘official Judaism’. For Chasidim usually the
local language is missing and the Hebrew eulogy and
inscription are on the main side, where normally local
languages are used.
154
16.02
The gravestone of Wilhelm
Salomon Freund and his
wife. Below Freund’s name
stands his achievement:
secret legal adviser, doctor
of law honoris causa,
honorary citizen of Breslau
(today Wroclaw), Slezna
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Wroclaw
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
16.02 16.03
16.04
16.03
In the case of women, it
is the family role which
dominates the eulogy, as in
times before Emancipation;
the German text reads:
“Here rests our bellowed
mother Rosalie Ehrlich…”;
the script combines Gothic
and Roman letters. New
Jewish Cemetery, Prague
Eulogies, Visual References to Social Achievement
16.05 16.06
16.04
The little stone is an Art
Nouveau addition to a grand
classical funerary monument
of Moritz Lichtenstein,
donated by representatives of
the Jewish Community of the
Kingdom of Bohemia. New
Jewish Cemetery, Prague
155
16.05
The traditionally formed
gravestone of Vilmos Bacher,
the famous Jewish scholar,
follows the tradition of
having the eastern side of
the stone with the Hungarian
inscription and the western
with the Hebrew eulogy.
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
16.06
The gravestone of Hugo
Zuckermann starts with an
eulogy, followed by his name:
“A life of work, crowned with
achievement and prestige,
has ended here.”

Typography (Hebrew; Roman, Gothic,
or Cyrillic Letters; Versal, Italic, Serif, or Sans Serif;
Initials and Decorations), Inscriptions Carved or in Relief
Traditionally Hebrew letters were carved into the stone
since Moses received the Tablets of the Law on Mount
Sinai, according to Jewish heritage. This was the most
usual case until modern times. However, letters may also
be embossed, a solution that appears both on Ashkenazi
and Sephardi graves.
Hebrew letters were sometimes justified as on the To-
rah, sometimes centred. From time to time the name
appears centred, while the eulogy may be justified with
sometimes elongated Hebrew letters as in Torah Scrolls.
In the mid-19th century Gothic and Roman script ap-
peared, with or without decorated initials. Roman letters
were with serifs. Sans serif script started to appear in Art
Nouveau and modern times. From the early 20th century
onwards a wide variety of fonts appeared at Jewish cem-
eteries, often as a hallmark of the architect who designed
the funerary monument. Some architects even changed
these fonts from time to time. This was a period when
sans serif Hebrew fonts also appeared.
From around 1910 letters carved in the stone were some-
times replaced with letters in relief, standing out from the
17.01
The grave of Vilmos Bacher,
architect Béla Lajta,
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
CHAPTER 17
plane of the gravestone on many Ashkenazi Jewish graves.
This technique appeared a couple of centuries earlier at
Spanish/Portuguese Jewish cemeteries, as witnessed by
horizontal slabs of the Sephardi part of the historic Jewish
cemetery in Altona. At some metropolitan Jewish ceme-
teries these could be metal letters fixed to the stone with
little bolts, or even letters raised from the stone with the
introduction of artificial stones or inlays. In the same peri-
od inscription in stone was supplemented with inscription
in metal, either by pressing letters into metal sheet, or by
fixing metal letters to stone or to metal sheet.
From the early 20th century onwards there was a revival,
at least partial, of pre-Emancipation forms and script re-
garding the use of Hebrew, as on the gravestone of Franz
Kafka. The Hebrew text on Kafka’s grave reads: “[On]
Tuesday, June 3, 1924 (1/2 Sivan 5684 [according to the
Jewish calendar] / The glorious young man Anchel Kafka
[Franz’s Jewish name] passed away / Son of the respect-
ed Mr. Hanich Kafka [Hermann’s Jewish name] / And
mother Yettel Kafka [Julie’s Jewish name] / May his soul
have an eternal life.”
158 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

17.02 17.03
17.04 17.05
Typography, Inscriptions Carved or in Relief 159

17.06
17.07
17.08

17.02
Traditional Ottoman period
Sephardic gravestone with
Hebrew inscription, without
any visual representation, Old
Sephardic Cemetery, Sarajevo
17.03
The relief on Micha Josef Bin
Gorion’s modern gravestone
quotes traditional lion
representations, followed
by his name in Hebrew and
German written with sans
serif fonts. Weißensee
Jewish Cemetery, Berlin
17.04
Edward Kohn’s inscription
is a combination of Roman
letters with serifs and Gothic
letters. Both his family name
and given name start with
highly decorated initials. New
Jewish Cemetery, Prague
17.05
Franz Kafka’s gravestone
has a sans serif inscription
in accordance with the
modernist, crystalline,
expressionist form of the stone.
New Jewish Cemetery, Prague
17.06
On the Sváb Family Grave
Lajta creates special Roman
fonts that are raised from
a golden background,
characteristic of Byzantine
and Art Nouveau art.
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
17.07
The modern, sans serif
Hebrew fonts “vgadol” are
the creations of architect
Béla Lajta and do not refer
to the deceased members of
the Sváb family, but to the
Lord. Salgótarjáni Street
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
17.08
The framed text with modern,
filled sans serif fonts and title
“U spomen” (in memory of)
lists names of family members
who perished in the Holocaust
with places and dates. Mirogoj
Cemetery, Zagreb

Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity
The relationship between Judaism and nature is, to say
the least, complicated, and consequently trees and more
so the park or even forest character of cemeteries con-
tradicts Jewish tradition. Official Halachic considerations
will be explained later in this chapter; here philosophical
aspects, i.e. concerns regarding the extensive use of veg-
etation at Jewish cemeteries, will be addressed.
Renaissance and post-Renaissance gardens were meant
to convey meanings, universal order, even Paradise (He-
brew: gan eden – a par excellence garden, gan, with ex-
plicit meaning and message). An image-reluctant culture,
full of fear of idolatry, can hardly accept such a concept.
Moreover, Baroque and Rococo gardens represent nature
surpassed by the human impact of creativity.01 From a
strict Judaic point of view, this co-creation of nature, or
even ‘intimate nature’ of a park or cemetery, with God
would be completely inadmissible.
The human perception of nature itself calls for caution
too, as any enchantment with it inevitably also leads to
idolatry. Unlike in other religions, in Judaism God is not
accessible through his creations – it is not nature only,
but also Hegel’s and Winckelmann’s concepts of art02 that
deserve a very serious scrutiny, if not a complete refusal
in a traditional Jewish context.
The geometric jardin à la française of André Le Nôtre,
as can be seen in Versailles and of which some elements
and principles found their way into the Jewish cemeteries
in Berlin Weißensee and the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna03
is full of meanings, visual incarnations of cosmological
contents and therefore contrary to the intentions of tradi-
tional Jewish cemeteries. The so-called English garden
is even more ‘idolatrous’ from a strictly Jewish point of
view. The English or landscape garden04 does not reflect
the imago mundi as Le Nôtre’s does, but according to
the Enlightenment’s course it visualises ‘ideal nature’
by creating a ‘walkable landscape painting.’ Needless to
18.01
Plants between sandstone
graves, Battonstrasse Jewish
Cemetery in Frankfurt/Main
CHAPTER 18
say, many sins have been committed in the sequence of
these actions in the eyes of strictly religious Jews. The
landscape garden gives up man’s former intention to curb
nature and to give it shape, by setting it free, making it
an element of worship of its organic growth, spontaneity,
creativity, and totality – sheer nature-worship from a Ju-
daic point of view.
To conclude the problem from a traditional Judaic point
of view, the best solution is to avoid excessive presence
of nature and to reduce it to a minimum. However, the
convergence between Jewish and Christian culture dic-
tated a departure from this strict view and to a certain
degree nature became a formative element of Jewish
cemeteries from the second half of the 19th century.
Metropolitan Jewish cemeteries contain planned trees,
shrubs and hedges, as well as spontaneously grown veg-
etation. As time passed and maintenance became lax, the
spontaneously grown vegetation got the upper hand. As
numerous metropolitan Jewish cemeteries were closed
for new burials, or the number of burials was negligible
after the Holocaust, some parts of them became over-
grown by greenery, making the inscriptions illegible.
Furthermore, in the course of time and due to more ne-
glect, the balance between funerary architecture and na-
ture has tilted towards the latter and Central European
Jewish cemeteries may soon follow their Lithuanian and
Ukrainian counterparts, where graves are increasingly re-
duced to being staffage to nature.
Traditional Sephardic cemeteries in the south of Europe
and traditional Ashkenazi cemeteries usually do not have
planted trees between the gravestones. However, over
time some trees or groups of trees may appear, usually in a
random manner that is less threatening than a consciously
planned garden. Apart from general and cosmological con-
cerns, trees at Jewish cemeteries pose Halachic problems,
too: trees hide the view from the kohanim who cannot en-
162
ter the cemetery grounds, if special provision has not been
made inside; what is more, the dead that were buried with-
out coffins may be disturbed by the roots of the trees; the
trees can bear fruit, the status of which is problematic, and
sometimes there is also a lack of space for vegetation.
No wonder therefore that planted trees only became pop-
ular in modern times, when cemeteries became parks and
the strict rule of kohanim remaining outside the cemetery
was abandoned and they could enter by some other pro-
visions.05 In some sections, there are planted trees along
alleys, around a group of graves, or they are planted seem-
ingly randomly, simply for the sake of modulating space.
The same applies to shrubs, bushes and hedges.
After many years, spontaneously grown trees may ap-
pear around or even inside funerary monuments, adding
more trouble to the Halachic problems. From a modern
gardening standpoint, their removal should be considered
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
only when there is no other way to rescue the gravestones.
Usually they should be kept, allowing a dialogue between
the man-made and the natural, which has a special signifi-
cance at cemeteries. Vegetation also implies the existence
of small animals, lizards, and snails. Lush vegetation at
Jewish cemeteries, as elsewhere, makes the year’s cycle
visible and contributes to the picturesque quality of Jewish
cemeteries, which was originally not intended. Certainly,
the appearance of metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in terms
of vegetation, to which we are accustomed today, has little
to do with Jewish heritage.06
In terms of spaces created by vegetation, trees and bush-
es play a space-modulating role similar to built elements,
which they successfully complement at metropolitan Jew-
ish cemeteries. When maintained properly, the fine interplay
unfolds between man-made and nature-made, where vege-
tation can amplify the original architectural intention.
Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity 163

18.02
In terms of nature protection, these cemeteries represent
an outstanding value, as in their fabric there is a much
greater bio-diversity than in traditional gardens connect-
ed to housing or parks, where human impact, noise and
pollution hamper the well-being of plants and insects.
Thus, since after the Holocaust vegetation has been ac-
cepted as a fact and even protected in reform and Neolog
cemeteries, particularly at inactive cemeteries. The over-
whelming impact of nature that sometimes overgrows fu-
nerary monuments signifies, beyond its aesthetic values,
the idea of absence, the perished Jewish communities
in Europe after the Holocaust, which cannot maintain 18.02
their burial places any more. In the case of the Jewish Trees defining/reinforcing
cemetery in Wroclaw functioning as a cemetery museum the boundaries of cemetery
maintained by the municipality, this aspect is brought to section or fences, The
life: a fine balance is achieved between nature’s sponta- Okopowa Street Jewish
neity and the safety of funerary monuments. Cemetery in Warsaw
164 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

18.03
18.04
18.05

18.03
Trees defining/reinforcing
the boundaries of cemetery
section or fences, The New
Jewish Cemetery in Prague
18.04
Trees as landmarks on an
open area of the cemetery,
The New Jewish Cemetery
in Prague
18.05
Trees as landmarks behind
the graves, Zmienna Street
Jewish Cemetery in Łódź
18.06
Planted trees flanking alleys,
the Old Jewish Cemetery at
the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
18.07
Planted trees flanking alleys,
Berlin Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery
18.08–09
Planted trees flanking
alleys, the Sephardi Jewish
Cemetery in Belgrade
Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity 165

18.06 18.07
18.08 18.09
166 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

18.10 18.11
18.12 18.13
Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity 167

18.14 18.15

01 In the original: “(...) ein Stück durch die Schöpferkeit trees were reduced to a side-scenery and architecture and
(...) des Menschen überhöhte Natur (...)”. In: sculpture became staffage.
Wilfried Hansmann and Kerstin Walter: Geschichte 05 According to Jewish tradition, kohanim are not supposed
der Gartenkunst von der Renaissance bis zum to be in the same space as the corpse(s), as they are not
Landschaftsgarten, Köln 2006, pp. 8–10. kosher. Thick vegetation that obstructs the view from the
02 For Hegel, who based his aesthetics among others on sky is considered to be a space or sort of closed space.
Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s Geschichte der Kunst des Thus, kohanim cannot enter such a ‘space’ and therefore
Alterthums (Dresden 1764) “truly beautiful art thus shows forest-like vegetation is traditionally not allowed.
us sculpted, painted or poetic images of Greek gods or of 06 Jewish tradition, as emphasised, is not only image-
Jesus Christ—that is, the divine in human form.” (Hegel’s reluctant, but vegetation and flower-reluctant as well.
Aesthetics, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, first The custom of putting a small stone or pebble instead of
published Tue Jan 20, 2009; substantive revision Tue flowers on the graves goes back to ancient times, when it
Feb 2, 2016, p.5. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel- was an act of reinforcing the sepulchral mound.
aesthetics/, retrieved: 3 January 2017) Both sculpting
human figure and the idea of incarnation of the divine in
visible form are in stark contrast with the aniconic Jewish
tradition based on image ban. See also: Rudolf Klein:
Architecture and the Jews, In: Synagogues in Hungary 18.10 18.13
1782–1918 – Genealogy, Typology and Architectural Trees as landmarks on Trees as landmark and
Significance, Terc, Budapest, 2017, pp. 11–36. pathways, Kozma Street as part of a complex park
03 The geometric forms of French gardens to be found at the Jewish Cemetery in Budapest scheme, Berlin Weißensee
Berlin Weißensee Jewish cemetery include geometrically Jewish Cemetery
18.11
formed lanes decorated with trees, some of them 18.14
Trees as landmarks unrelated to
positioned diagonally (between sections H2, G2, D2,
graves or pathways, Zmienna Trees as landmarks behind
I2), small circles (between sections P1, Q2, K1, D1) and
Street Jewish Cemetery in Łódź the graves, The New Jewish
curved lanes (between sections U4, V4, X4, W4).
Cemtery in Prague
04 The English architect and landscape designer William 18.12
Kent redesigned the garden of Chiswick House, one of the Trees as landmarks unrelated 18.15
earliest examples of the English landscape garden started to graves or pathways, The Trees framing graves, Old
in 1729. Kent introduced nature-like organic forms into his Sephardi Jewish Cemetery Jewish Cemetery at the
composition, creating theatre scenery-like views, in which in Belgrade Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
168 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity 169

18.16

18.16
Diverse trees spontaneously
grown in a very
harmonious section,
Old Jewish Cemetery at the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
170 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

18.17 18.18
18.19 18.20
Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity 171

18.21 18.22
18.24 18.23

18.17–19
Trees rising from graves,
Slezna Street Cemetery,
Wroclaw
18.20
Trees rising from graves,
Jewish Cemetery
in Miodova Street, Cracow
18.21
Trees framing grave, Slezna
Street Cemetery, Wroclaw
18.22
Hedgerow as dividing
element between rows
of tombs and background to
gravestones, Jewish Section
of Mirogoj Cemetery Zagreb
18.23
Hedgerow and the
gravestones, Jewish Section
of Mirogoj Cemetery Zagreb
18.24
Trees framing grave, Slezna
Street Cemetery, Wroclaw
172 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

18.25 18.26
18.27 18.28
Vegetation – Form, Transparency, Dialogue, Spontaneity 173

18.29
18.32
18.33

18.30
18.31

18.25 18.29
Plants cover graves Plants partly cover graves,
completely, Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery in Bratislava in Bratislava
18.26 18.30–31
Plants cover graves Snails, the most visible
completely, Miodowa Street little animals on graves,
Jewish Cemetery in Cracow Salgótarjáni Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
18.27
Graves covered by moss, 18.32
Miodowa Street Jewish Plants partly cover graves,
Cemetery in Cracow Old Jewish Cemetery in
Wroclaw
18.28
Graves covered by moss 18.33
and fallen leaves, Miodowa Plants partly cover graves,
Street Jewish Cemetery New Jewish Cemetery at the
in Cracow Zentralfriedhof, Vienna

Destructions at European Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries
This chapter deals with damages caused by wars, Nazi or
Communist destructions, neglect, vegetation, and profi-
teering. It also presents alterations, the ways some Jewish
communities have dealt with losses of graves or entire
sections of cemeteries; the poetics of ruins; space left
empty, and the forming of markers of lost graves.
150–200 years have passed since the opening of the first
metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Europe, which were
exposed to the vicissitudes of history. Central and Eastern
Europe as well as the Balkans have suffered a number of
wars since then and some cemeteries became battlefields.
Several gravestones were damaged by bullets and some-
times cemeteries were levelled during war operations.
Nevertheless, the biggest damage was done by dictator-
ships, i.e. by the Nazi and Communist regimes. While
‘Nazi purification’ sometimes targeted Jewish ceme-
teries, probably the biggest enemy was Soviet politics
aimed at rewriting history. Achieving this goal often re-
quired the destruction of monuments of cultural history.
Perhaps the largest destruction of a Jewish cemetery oc-
curred in Lviv and Vilnius during the Soviet regime – the
entire old Jewish cemeteries were bulldozed.
Cemeteries suffered significant losses under the Ceaușes-
cu regime in Romania and to a lesser extent in Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and also in Bulgaria, where
vandalism and profiteering decimated funerary monu-
ments at Jewish cemeteries. Gangs organised the removal
and ‘recycling’ of Jewish gravestones in some Commu-
nist countries with the tacit approval of the authorities.
Wildly growing vegetation damaged Jewish cemeteries
significantly, particularly the abandoned ones. This ap-
plies particularly to metropolitan cemeteries of reform or
Neolog Jews, whose cemeteries are actually parks. Or-
thodox or more traditional Jewish cemeteries have been
better off in this respect, because there are no planted
trees. However, all superfluous vegetation should be re-
19.01
Nameless matzevot made of
cement signal the place of
gravestones lost during the Nazi
period. Old Jewish Cemetery of
the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
CHAPTER 19
moved from jungle-like metropolitan Jewish cemeteries,
though with great care, because nature’s spontaneity rep-
resents a high value.
There are several strategies how to deal with losses.
Eroding village cemeteries were sometimes protected in
situ by erecting fences around a group of graves; some-
times eroding village cemeteries were liquidated by larg-
er Jewish communities and the stones transferred to safer
locations, i.e. into major urban centres. Such lapidaria
are highly controversial, both in terms of monument and
site preservation and in terms of Halachic requirements.
Still, in some cases these have proved to be successful, as
stones have been preserved and with them the memory of
lost Jewish communities and of a vanished culture.
Official or organised resettlement of Jewish graves has
had the following legal framework. The national umbrel-
la organisation of Jewish communities appointed hubs,
major local Jewish communities that have been taking
care of the small and abandoned cemeteries. In turn,
these create a priority list and a designated space in their
major cemeteries where these lapidaria could be estab-
lished. In the vast majority of cases, space has been avail-
able, as Jewish communities before the Shoa generously
calculated the future growth and the need for cemetery
space in the majority of cases. Due to the Holocaust and
the pogroms during and after World War Two, the need
for Jewish cemetery space has been radically reduced.
Actually not only the Holocaust decimated the European
Jewry, but also the ensuing emigration of the remaining
Jewish population to Israel or to the Americas. Thus, in
Europe the majority of existing cemeteries will be able
to accommodate the dead for centuries to come, unless
an unforeseen event happens to the European Jewish de-
mography. The only exceptions are some metropolitan
cemeteries where a shortage of space could arise, as for
instance at the cemeteries in Budapest and Berlin where
176
larger communities exist, but even that is unlikely in the
foreseeable future.
Besides the protection or liquidation with relocation of
village and small town cemeteries, the other challenge of
major Jewish centres was how to deal with the losses at
their own cemeteries, how to restore damaged funerary
monuments, how to mark (or not) the destroyed graves,
how to introduce architectural and/or gardening tech-
niques to visualise these losses.
A controversial method is making dummy gravestones,
as has been done at the Old Jewish Cemetery of the Zen-
tralfriedhof. Uniform, reinforced concrete, narrow pseu-
do-matzevot have been set up to visualise the loss. These
matzevot have six-pointed-stars on their upper part and a
sunken rectangle where the inscription would have been.
Thus the appearance of the lane has been preserved, but the
message is rather controversial, particularly from the point
of view of the families of the buried, whose beloved ones
are not marked anymore. Perhaps some archive research and
more investment into signalling their identity would help. In
other parts of the same cemetery some gardening measures
were carried out in order to create an acceptable view of the
cemetery as a whole after the Nazi destruction.
While the loss of Jewish communities poses a threat
to the Jewish cemeteries, their presence can be equally
detrimental if there is no proper monument protection.
Often existing lanes are narrowed in order to sell space
for new, small graves, usually for the cremated people’s
earthly remains, another halachically problematic pro-
cedure. These new small gravestones, often produced in
China, line up in front of architecturally valuable mon-
Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art
19.02 19.03
uments. They not only narrow the passageway for the
visitors, but destroy the view to existing tombs and the
whole cemetery.
However, there is one aspect that clearly distinguishes
Jewish graves and cemeteries from their Christian coun-
terparts and which is very important for the preservation
of tombs: Jewish graves are set up for good, actually until
the end of times, the coming of the Messiah. This is un-
like Christian graves that are usually on lease, and when
the family stops paying the tombs are removed and the
plot sold for a new ‘tenant’. Thus, the Halacha contrib-
utes to the preservation of Jewish graves and cemeteries
in an effective way, at least theoretically.
This introductory part of our publication has attempted
to list general questions of European metropolitan Jewish
cemeteries, to highlight their main features, and give a
short history from the point perspective of architecture,
symbols, religious aspects, the impact of non-Jewish en-
vironment, Jewish Emancipation, typology, style, gar-
dening, and many others. The second part deals with 21
selected examples, from the Baltics to the Balkans and
from Austria to Russia, presented one by one in alpha-
betic order. At the end of the book, there is a collection
of plans of these cemeteries that also highlight their ur-
ban context. The appendix contains a glossary of Jew-
ish terms necessary to understand the book, an index of
names, notions, and locations as well as a bibliography
with the most important sources for the study of Jewish
funerary culture in Europe.
Destructions at European Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries 177

19.04
19.05

19.02
Gravestones damaged during
World War Two. Slezna
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Wroclaw
19.03
Black granite obelisks with
bullet wounds, Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
19.04
Marble slab fallen from
the ceremonial building,
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
19.05
Spontaneously grown trees
threaten the existence
thombs. Salgótarjáni Street
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
178 Aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Funerary Art

19.06 19.07
19.08
Destructions at European Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries
19.09
19.11
19.06
The lack of maintenance
and frost contribute to the
erosion of tombs made of
light, composite materials.
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
19.07
With time, the plaques and
inscriptions of trilithon-type
tombs become loose and fall
from the frame. Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
179
19.10
19.08
Simple Sephardi graves
are destroyed by frost. The
Sephardi Jewish Cemetery
in Belgrade
19.09
Destruction of mausolea
occurs when robbers try to
search for supposed gold of
the Jews. Salgótarjáni Street
Jewish Cemetery, Budapest
19.10
Simple graves are also being
plundered. Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery,
Budapest
19.11
The grave of Herzl family
was robbed from the front,
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish
Cemetery, Budapest
PART TWO

The Cemeteries Surveyed

in Central and Eastern Europe
 Saint Petersburg

Vilnius

Berlin Warszawa
Łódź
Wrocław

Prague Cracow

Vienna Bratislava
Budapest

Zagreb
Belgrade Bucharest

Sarajevo
Sofia

This set of chapters contains the description and analysis
of twenty sites, ranging from historic data to the presenta-
tion of the findings on the spot, including visual material
about the present condition as well as art historic, archi-
tectural, and landscaping analyses and evaluations.
The current condition of these cemeteries varies between
wide margins. Balkan and Baltic examples are mainly in
poorer shape compared to Central or Central Eastern Euro-
pean examples, but they need to be considered to understand
the complexity of the genre and the evolutional tendencies
in Europe, which were set mainly by the large Jewish cem-
eteries in Berlin, Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Moreover,
Balkan examples, although not in the best shape – except
Belgrade Sephardi Cemetery, which is in very good con-
dition –, explain the interaction of Sephardi and Ashkenazi
heritage, the influence of German, Austro-Hungarian, and
Polish traditions on the rest of Europe. The Vilnius Užupis
Cemetery is in desolate condition; it is a romantic ruin. Still,
On the opposite page
The main entrance to the
New Jewish Cemetery at the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna –
Gate Four
General Overview
of the Researched Cemeteries
it carries a message and gives perspective for other cemeter-
ies which at the moment are in better condition, but in the
future may face a similar destiny. This particular cemetery
is also interesting from the point of view of memorisation of
a heavily damaged burial place and the visual and emotion-
al impact of such a site, which bears evidence to European
dictatorships of the 20th century and the Jews in their whirl.
The sequence of cemeteries presented here is defined by al-
phabetic order that neither corresponds with their artistic or
historic values, nor with their historic succession.
For some locations it was easy to obtain relevant infor-
mation, for some it was difficult, but still manageable,
while for some others information about the past is
patchy, such as their present standing in a given society.
Such a general survey cannot do extensive local histori-
cal research about missing data, such as the year a cem-
etery was opened. Still, such examples were not left out,
because some of their features deserve attention.

The Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade
(Ашкенаско јеврејско гробље у Београду)
At the confluence of two major rivers, the Danube and
the Sava, situated at a strategically important location,
stuck between Central Europe and the Balkans, Belgrade
saw many wars from Celtic/Roman times until the last
Balkan Wars.01 It changed hands several times between
the Byzantine, Franconian, and Bulgarian Empire and
the Kingdom of Hungary.02 In 1521, Belgrade fell to the
Turks and ever since it frequently passed from Ottoman
to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of
the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade be-
came the capital of Serbia in 1841. Zemun (German:
Semlin, Hungarian: Zimony), today the northern part of
Belgrade, remained the southernmost Habsburg outpost
until 1918. Sephardic Jews also arrived in larger numbers
in Belgrade in 1521 from the heartland of the Ottoman
Empire and the neighbouring cities.03 Ashkenazim ar-
rived mainly in the 19th and first half of the 20th century
primarily from the Habsburg Empire. As in other Balkan
cities in the aforementioned period, in Belgrade the Jew-
ish community was mixed: 80% were Sephardi and 20%
Ashkenazi.
Under Turkish rule, particularly in the last two centu-
ries of this rule, Sephardi Jewish tradesmen were large-
ly responsible for the trade routes from the northern and
southern parts of the vast Ottoman Empire, albeit as
non-Muslims they were legally just a tolerated minori-
ty, obliged to pay special taxes. With the establishment
of independent Serbia from 1830, the conflict of interest
between Serbian and Jewish tradesman grew and restric-
tions against Jews were lifted as late as 1889.
Before World War Two, Belgrade was home to some
10,000 Jews and by the end of 1941 Belgrade became
practically judenrein due to German occupation, during
which the Nazis and their domestic collaborators mur-
dered Jews locally and/or sent them to concentration
camps. Today the Jewish Community numbers less than
20.01
The entrance to the
Ashkenazi Cemetery
in Belgrade
CHAPTER 20
1000 members, some of them became members during
the last war and the ensuing poverty.
The first documented Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade dates
from the 17th century on the slopes near the river Sava. A
gravestone fragment from 5280 (1620) with the inscrip-
tion of the name Daniel Peretz was on the inventory list
of the National Museum before 1914. The second Jewish
cemetery can be seen on Gump’s plan of 1668, which
roughly is the location of the first modern Jewish ceme-
tery in the district of Palilula, some 16,000 square metres
large. It can be found on Belgrade’s maps from the 18th
century to the 1930s, when it was demolished.
Belgrade’s two presently existing Jewish cemeteries,
the Sephardi and the Ashkenazi, are located in a large
urban ensemble together with the New Cemetery (Ново
гробље, 1884 – Christian Orthodox, with Catholic, Lu-
theran, Muslim, non-religious sections)04 and a special
military cemetery park for the Liberators of Belgrade
(Гробље ослободитеља Београда), creating a unique
ensemble of four quite different cemeteries. The Sephardi
and the Liberator’s cemetery lie on one side of the Mije
Kovačevića and Roosevelt Streets05 and on the other side
the Ashkenazi and the New Cemetery. They are all sep-
arated from each other and from the street by high brick
walls. They are all accessible from the aforementioned
very frequented street.
The Ashkenazim, a minority in a minority, came to prom-
inence mainly in the interwar period, after the estab-
lishment of the Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom,
which unlike Serbia proper comprised larger territories
that before World War One belonged to the Habsburg
Empire, i.e. were part of Ashkenazi Europe. Ashkenaz-
im from Croatia, Vojvodina, and some even from Bosnia,
flocked to the new capital city of Belgrade, making its
Jewish community mixed, but still undivided. As these
Ashkenazim originated from the southern regions of the
186
20.02
20.03
Habsburg Empire, they were reform or Neolog Jews,
hardly any were Orthodox. This fact and the Balkan mi-
lieu would explain their liberalism vis-à-vis the use of
images, sculpture or at least a relief of the deceased on
many graves, customary for their Serbian Christian Or-
thodox compatriots.
The Ashkenazi cemetery was created in 1876 as part of
the New Cemetery of Belgrade, the latter having several
confessional sections. This Jewish part is separated by
a high wall from the rest of the complex. The ceremo-
nial hall was designed by architect Josif V. Albala and
consecrated in 1934.06 This cemetery significantly differs
from other Balkan Jewish cemeteries, exemplified here
in Belgrade’s Sephardi cemetery across Roosevelt Street.
The Ashkenazi Cemetery is a narrow strip of land, elevat-
ed some eight steps from the street level after the entrance
gate and surrounded by high brick walls. Its entrance axis
is short; after some 15 metres it faces a long perpendicu-
lar wall which separates this cemetery from the Christian
sections of the New Cemetery. Such a long wall would
elsewhere have been a great opportunity for well-to-do
Jews to erect large monuments, as in Berlin, Budapest, or
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
20.04
Wroclaw. Here the financial strength of the Ashkenazim
was limited, but under Balkan and Christian-Orthodox
influence many gravestones received images, reliefs, and
even sculptural representations of the deceased, which
make this cemetery specific. The dominant type of graves
is the traditional Ashkenazi matzevot with a semi-circular
ending and obelisks, as in provincial Jewish cemeteries
of the neighbouring Habsburg Empire, while aedicules
and small mausoleums are missing.
The greatest variety occurs with regard to inscriptions.
Texts are usually in Serbian (Cyrillic) and Hebrew, quite
a number of graves carry only German inscription (!), but
in some cases there are even three languages, which is
unique. The three-lingual inscription of Anton Farkas, ap-
parently a Hungarian Jew, is in Hebrew, Serbian (Cyrillic)
and German (!) and goes as follows: pe-nun, hey-chet-resh,
Aaron ben Shmuel Jaacov Farkash (in Hebrew), Антон
Фаркаш, зубни лекар (Anton Farkash, dentist in Serbian
Cyrillic); and the main text in German: Hier ruhet mein
edler Gatte, unser guter Vater, Anton Farkas, 1884–1930,
Tief betrauert und beweint von seiner Gattin und seinen
Kindern. (Hier rests my noble spouse, our good father,
The Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade 187

20.05 20.06
20.07

20.02
View of the Ashkenazi
Cemetery from its
ceremonial building
20.03
Stairs leading
to the cemetery
20.04
View of the Ashkenazi
Cemetery from the
Sephardi Cemetery
20.05
Lane leading from the
ceremonial building to
the centre of the cemetery
20.06
The Fleischer (Флајшер)
family tomb, a traditional
larger obelisk with a sculpture
20.07
The ceremonial building
of the Ashkenazi Cemetery
(today owned by the Greek
Orthodox Cemetery)
188 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

Anton Farkas, 1884–1930. Deeply mourned by his spouse

and children.) Interestingly, while having a Hungarian sur-
name, there is no Hungarian text. Diaspora Jews seldom
felt an intimate relation towards any language; they were
multilingual and multicultural. There is one single grave-
stone with only German inscription: Unseres Herzens
knospende Blüte, Erwin Schoßberger, 1925–1931 (Our
heart’s budding flower, Erwin Schoßberger) on a beau-
tiful Wiener Werkstätte-inspired matzeva which is topped
by a decayed bud, referring to the prematurely dead child.
However, the most important speciality of this cemetery
is three-dimensional visual representations of the de-
ceased. The famous sculptor Nándor Glied,07 whose work
decorates the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and in Dachau
(Unknown Prisoner at Dachau), created the graves in
Belgrade’s Sephardi Cemetery of S. Adanja, H. Lederer,
and A. Vajs in the honorary section near the entrance.08
The most striking funerary monument of the Ashkenazi
Cemetery was created by the famous sculptor Toma
Rosandić.09 In front of the long cemetery wall, a very tall
black Swedish granite slab stands out, joined by a hori-
zontal floor slab and two symmetrically positioned black
benches. A male and a female head emerge from the dark
vertical stone in high relief, representing the buried cou-
ple, Ruža and Jakob Klopfer.
Another unique monument is just one metre high. It ends
in a six-pointed star that has in its central part a relief
representation of the Wolfsohn Building on Mount Sco-
pus in Jerusalem that housed the national library, below
which we read in Hebrew and Serbian: Aron Najlinger,
20.08
halutz on his way to Eretz Yisrael died in an accident in 20.11
Belgrade on 29th July 1933. He set out to the Holy Land
on his bicycle and was hit by a tram before leaving his
home city.
The cemetery is closed for burials.

20.09 20.10
The Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade 189

20.12 20.13
20.14
20.08
Tombs showing the influence
of the Wiener Werkstätte
20.09–10
Interwar period urn-type
grave of Leopold and
Tereska Steiner (Леополд и
Тереска Шнајдер)
20.11
Interwar period urn-type
grave of Klara Klopfer
20.12
Interwar period child’s tomb
of Ervin Schossberger –
eulogy and name
written only in German
20.13
Interwar period child’s tomb
of Albert B. Herzl
(Алберт Б. Херцл)
20.14
The grave of Aron Neilinger
(Арон Најлингер), a halutz
who died on his way to
Eretz Israel. The relief in
the six-pointed star shows
the central building of the
Hebrew University.
190 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

20.15 01 This time Belgrade was not a battlefield, just a target

for American bombardment during which many public
buildings and nearby bridges were destroyed in 1999.
02 For a very short time Belgrade became the capital of the
Serbian King Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316).
03 It is likely that there were Jews even earlier, particularly
after the expulsion of Jews from the Hungarian kingdom
20.15 in 1376 and from German lands, Moravia, etc.
The ceremonial building 04 The first interment occurred on August 16, 1886, the
of the Ashkenazi Cemetery church was erected in 1893. In: B. Kostić: Novo Groblje u
(today owned by the Greek Beogradu. Beograd 1999, pp. 9–46.
Orthodox Cemetery)
05 It is the same street, but sections are called differently,
20.16 hence the addresses of the cemeteries differ.
The modernist grave of 06 Beogradska opština, Prilike i stanje opštinskih poslova
20.19 za poslednjih sedam godina (1919–1926), Beograd,
Klara Ruhvanger with large
Roman and Hebrew letters Tomb of the couple Ruzha 1927, p. 407.
and a small photograph of and Jakob Klopfer (Ружа, 07 Born in Subotica, 1924, died in 2011; was a specialist for
the deceased Јакоб Клопфер) murdered Holocaust memorials, after all his family perished in the Shoa.
by the Nazis at the Belgrade
20.17 fairground (Сајмиште) 08 The Ashkenazi Cemetery has no honorary section.
The tomb of Karl and Janka in 1942 Dignitaries of Belgrade Jews were buried in the Sephardi
Löbl (Карл и Јанка Лебл), Cemetery regardless of their Ashkenazi or Sephardi origin.
20.20 Mixed, Ashkenazi-Sephardi Jewish cemeteries are not rare
a simple grave with large
photographs and no dates Tomb of the couple Ruzha in the Balkans, but here physically the two are separated
of birth or death and Jakob Klopfer. Sculptor by a street, while in terms of function they are interrelated.
Toma Rosandić created the 09 Toma Rosandić was baptised as Tomaso Vincenzo in the
20.18 tomb after World War Two in Croatian port city of Split (Austria-Hungary at that time) in
The grave of Anna Anchy Communist Yugoslavia, when 1878, and became a leading figure of the Serbian art scene
Horowitz with a relief the image ban was no longer in the interwar period. His Belgrade studio was frequented
of her profile, 1928 observed by the Jews by Henry Moore. Rosandić died in Split in 1958.
The Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade 191

20.16 20.17
20.19 20.18
20.20

The Sephardi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade
(Сефардско јеврејско гробље у Београду)
The Jewish Community of Belgrade, in original ”The Jew-
ish Church-School Municipality” (Јевреjска цркве-но-
школска општина), purchased the land for the Sephardic
Cemetery in 1888 and with that founded the new cemetery,
because the old one in Palilula had become too crowded.01
In 1925 Belgrade was given a new general urban plan,
which foresaw the liquidation of the old Jewish cemetery
in the Palilula district and the transferral of its content to
the new location. This occurred in 1928. The Sephardic
Cemetery was extended in 1925 and ever since it has had
12,748 square metres with some 4000 graves.
The Sephardic Cemetery has a rectangular plan; it is ac-
cessible from its south-eastern perimeter wall in Roosevelt
Street. Its south-western perimeter wall separates it from
the military cemetery and its other perimeter walls touch
a park and some small industry. Its ground plan can be
compared to a Roman castrum with two dominant streets,
the cardo and the decumanus. The cardo runs from the
main entrance in Roosevelt Street right to the end of the
grounds. It is flanked by planted pine trees until it cuts
the decumanus in the shape of an octagonal space. Af-
ter that small square there is a short path leading to the
dominant Holocaust Memorial (officially Memorial to the
Jewish Victims of Fascism), created by architect Bogdan
Bogdanović (1922–2010) in 1952.02 The monument’s two
large rounded walls clad by rough stone symbolise the
Tablets of the Law. Between these two tablets there is a
rusty steel menorah. The path leading to the ‘tablets’ and
its long walls contain Jewish gravestones and gravestone
fragments from destroyed cemeteries and architectural
details from destroyed Jewish houses. North-west of the
decumanus, there are two additional lanes parallel to the
cardo, each of them having a small octagonal space half-
way between the decumanus and the perimeter wall.
The modernist ceremonial building built around 1930
with some traditional semi-circular windows is on the
21.01
The entrance to the Sephardi
Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade
CHAPTER 21
southern tip of the plot, and on the right side of the en-
trance is the monument to Jewish soldiers who fought for
Serbia between 1912–19, designed by the Sephardi ar-
chitect Samuil Sumbul and carved by the Ashkenazi Jo-
sef Deutsch (Јосиф Дојч). It was consecrated in 192703 in
the presence of the emissary of H.M. the King, Alexander
I of Yugoslavia (Александар Карађорђевић).
Famous rabbis and community leaders of the 20th cen-
tury – some of them of international stature – are buried
in the first row on the southern side of the cemetery, be-
tween the ceremonial hall and the entrance.
The cemetery’s older southern sections feature more hor-
izontal graves – slabs and pseudo sarcophagi –, typical of
the Sephardic Balkans, although the horizontal parabolic
graves common among the other Ladino-speaking Jewry
who lived in Sarajevo, Bucharest, and Sofia are absent. As
one gets closer to the cardo these graves change to more
Ashkenazi-type standing monuments. On the intersection of
the cardo and decumanus there are funerary monuments in
the corners, in a setting which is a modest version of their
counterparts at the Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery and
at the Old Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof.
The influence of the Orthodox Christian culture is obvi-
ous: as at Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Macedo-
nian Jewish cemeteries almost every second grave car-
ries the photographs of the deceased. Moreover, from the
period after World War Two, there are some medallions
of the deceased, like on the grave for Albert Vajs or La-
voslav Kadlburg, the latter being a leading figure of post-
World War Two Yugoslav Jewry, who took part in the
work of the World Jewish Congress, the Joint,04 and the
Memorial Foundation of Jewish Culture in New York. It
is important to stress that community leaders regardless
of whether they are Ashkenazi or Sephardi are buried at
this cemetery, which functions as the main burial place
for Belgrade’s Jews.
The Sephardi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade
21.02
Richer family graves unanimously show the Viennese in-
fluence despite the Sephardi status of the cemetery, i.e.
the influence of the Secession and more explicitly the
inspiration by the Wiener Werkstätte.05 So the local Se-
phardic artist M. Altaraz created a grave for the Rubeno-
vich family (Рубеновић) in 1920, which could have been
designed by Béla Lajta from Budapest or Josef Hoffmann
from Vienna. While before Serbs had fought the Austri-
ans, the Obrenović dynasty was rather Austrophile. The
Karađorđević dynasty, however, was Francophile, which
was beneficial to Serbia after World War One.
While a good part of the graves are from the interwar
period, there are very few built in the modernist manner,
as is also the case with the majority of houses in Bel-
grade. Instead, Art Deco style or more often some kind
of stripped down classicism is the style of choice for Bel-
grade’s Jews. Post-World War Two graves are modernist,
restrained and fit well into the context.
There are two children’s sections close to the lateral perim-
eter walls with smaller gravestones all equipped with pho-
tographs of the deceased, some of them decorated with oak
tree branches, like in north and north-eastern Ashkenazi
areas of Europe. On the grave for Mois D. Ergas (Моис Д.
Ергас) from Skopje, 1922–26, the little boy appears on his
rocking horse with only Cyrillic inscription, even without
the traditional Hebrew abbreviations of peh-nun.
Older gravestones, transferred from Palilula, have only He-
brew inscriptions, short and without epitaphs. Newer ones
have Hebrew with Serbian (Cyrillic), often with epitaphs.
There is a good number of graves of adults with only Serbi-
an text. After World War Two, Roman letters were also used
for Serbian text in the spirit of the official Serbo-Croatian
language, a compromise between Croatian Latin and Ser-
bian Cyrillic and also a common denominator between the
vocabulary and grammar of the two languages. After Yugo-
slavia’s collapse, the two languages were separated.
In 1928, the Chevra Kadisha created a genizah and
erected a monument over it, carrying a relief of an open
Torah Scroll. There is a monument to the 800 Austrian
Jews killed in 1941 in Zasavica near the town of Šabac
(Шабац); it was erected by the Jewish Community of Vi-
enna and designed by architect Adrija Mešulam.
195
21.03
The cemetery sections have a strict rhythm and pro-
nounced harmony, in which the horizontal slabs and
pseudo sarcophagi are mixed with vertical gravestones.
This cemetery gives evidence how a Sephardi community
took over Western, Ashkenazi traditions, similarly to the
Sephardi Cemetery in Bucharest, but more harmonious
than its Romanian counterpart. While the cardo follows
the German Parkfriedhof ideal with its regularly plant-
ed trees, its small square and corner graves, the sections
between the cardo and the perimeter walls are basically
without planted trees. There are some trees, but they are
positioned irregularly, reflecting Jewish funerary tradi-
tions. The balance of pine trees, cypresses and deciduous
vegetation is exceptional and contributes considerably to
the picturesque quality of the cemetery.
This is the metropolitan cemetery with the most dramatic
setting of a Holocaust memorial in Europe. The cardo
setting out from the main entrance inevitably leads the
visitor to the memorial, like the via sacra of a Catho-
lic church leading to the altar, or the nave of a reform
Ashkenazi synagogue, which dramatically hits the Ark.
This pessimistic ’urbanistic’ statement about the inevita-
bility of the Holocaust is substantiated by Serbia’s Jew-
ish history. However, the memorial was designed by a
gentile architect, Bogdan Bogdanović, who himself, as
mentioned earlier, was exiled from his home country in
his mature years. In accordance with his wish his urn was
transferred from Vienna and placed under the foundation
stone of the monument, with special permission of the
Jewish Community of Belgrade.
The cemetery is active and well kept by the Jewish Commu-
nity of Belgrade.
21.03
The Sephardi Cemetery in
Belgrade as seen from across
the fence of its Ashkenazi
21.02 counterpart – to the left is
The cemetery’s ceremonial the ceremonial building with
lane with the main entrance offices, to the right
at the end. the main entrance
21.04

21.04
The ceremonial lane flanked
by obelisk-type tombs,
characteristic of
Ashkenazi graves
21.05
View of the cemetery
from its southern corner
21.06
Monumental tombs taking
advantage of the crossing
of lanes in the centre of the
cemetery
21.05
21.06
21.07
The monumental Holocaust
memorial near the end
of the ceremonial lane
21.08
Crossing of the ceremonial
lane and the lane
perpendicular to it
 21.07
21.08

01 Mirjam Rajner, Jevrejska groblja u Beogradu. In Zbornik 6,

Studije, arhivska građa o istoriji Jevreja u Beogradu, Savez
jevrejskih opština Jugoslavije, Beograd 1992, p. 209.
02 This was his first monument, for which he was awarded the
October Prize of the Communist Party. He eventually became
a leading architect for monuments in the countries of the
Western Balkans. In the nationalist period of the 1990s he
went into exile from his native Serbia, first to Paris in 1993,
then to Vienna, where he was supported by Vienna’s Mayor
Helmut Zilk. Bogdanović’s ashes are buried beside the
southern tablet, although he was not Jewish.
03 The patriotic text reads: “Monument for the Jewish
heroes fallen in the past wars for saving, for the freedom
and reunion of the Fatherland.” See: Vuk Dautović: A
Monument to Fallen Jewish Soldiers in the Wars Fought
between 1912 and 1919 at the Sephardic Cemetery in
Belgrade. In: B. Murovec (ed.): Acta historiae artis
Slovenica, Visualizing Memory and Making History.
Public Monuments in Former Yugoslav Space in the
Twentieth Century, 18/2, Ljubljana 2013, pp. 43–58.
04 Joint or the JDC, full name “American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee,” was founded in 1914, initially
to provide assistance to Jews living in the Holy Land
under Ottoman Turkish rule. Today the Joint is active in
more than 70 countries and in Israel. Its main purpose
is to offer aid to the many Jewish populations in central
and eastern Europe as well as the Middle East through a
network of social and community assistance programs. It
also contributes millions of dollars in disaster relief and
development assistance to non-Jewish communities.
05 In the Balkans numerous buildings were designed by Austro-
Hungarian architects, as they represented the developed West.
198 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

21.09 21.10 21.11

21.12 21.13
The Sephardi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade 199

21.14
21.15
21.16

21.12
The tomb of Ediya Buli
(Едија Були), president
of the Jewish community
of Belgrade and his family
21.09 on the ceremonial lane
View of the whole cemetery 21.13
from its western corner The honorary section
21.10 of the cemetery
View of a group of graves 21.14
in the northern part The Holocaust memorial,
of the cemetery architect Bogdan
21.11 Bogdanović
Memorial to Jewish heroes 21.15
who fought with the Serbs Memorial to Austrian Jews
during the Balkan Wars murdered by the Nazis on
and World War One. their way to the Holy Land
The inscription on the
central pillar reads: Fallen 21.16
victims of the fatherland Street-view
(Жртве пале за отаџбину) of the ceremonial building
200 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

21.17 21.19 A, B, C
21.18
21.20 21.21 A, B, C

21.17
View of the children’s section
near the western corner
of the cemetery
21.18
View of the children’s section
near the northern corner
of the cemetery
21.19 A, B, C
The graves of boys
who died in the 1920s
21.20
The Rubenоvich (Рубеновић)
family tomb, 1923,
practically a copy of
Emmánuel Greiner’s grave in
the Kozma Street Cemetery
in Budapest, designed by
architect Béla Lajta in 1908
21.21 A, B, C
Details of the Rubenоvich
family tomb
The Sephardi Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade 201

21.22 21.23 21.24

21.26

21.22–24
Orientalising tombs
erected in the 1920s
21.25
Geniza with Hebrew and
Serbian inscription: hiding
place for old and unusable
holy books and ritual
objects, buried according
to the rules of Jewish Law
21.26
Oriental style tomb
of Solomon M. de Majo,
businessman, at the edge
of the honorary section
21.27
Away from the tombs of the
wealthy traditional many
Sephardi graves
can be found
21.28
21.25 Neglected old
21.27 pseudo-sarcophagus
21.28 grave made of brick

The Berlin-Weißensee Jewish Cemetery
(Jüdischer Friedhof Weißensee, Berlin)
The history of Jews on German territory goes back to
Roman times. For instance, in 321 C.E. the city council
of Cologne received a decree from Emperor Constantine
that Jews were eligible to the curia,01 even against their
will. Another document from 341 C.E. states the privi-
leges of the synagogue and yet another one mentions a
Jewish quarter, recently found by archaeologists.02
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the heartland of the
continental, i.e. Ashkenazi Jews became the Holy Roman
Empire,03 whose core largely coincided with the German
lands. It was the German language which initiated the
birth of the Yiddish language that again became the lin-
guistic and cultural spine of continental European Jewry.
However, this population was forced to leave the German
lands in the late Middle Ages and found refuge in East-
ern Europe,04 from where only a small part of the Jews
would return to the German lands in the wake of moder-
nity. Others would partially adopt modern German and
German-Jewish enlightened cultural influences, while
remaining in Eastern or Eastern-Central Europe.
The significance of the city of Berlin for Jewish Eman-
cipation cannot be overestimated. Berlin was the most
important place where the aforementioned Jewish new-
comers faced modernity and the Herderian-Hegelian ide-
al of Bildung05 – the German tradition of self-cultivation,
the process of harmonisation of mind, heart, selfhood
and identity achieved through personal transformation –
which in conjunction with the three-millennia-old Jewish
culture of Biblical erudition created an unprecedented,
rich synthesis in sciences and the arts, peaking in the
oeuvre of Albert Einstein, Edmund Husserl, Erich Men-
delsohn, Arnold Schönberg, and many others.06 It was
German culture and Berlin in particular that served as a
springboard for Jewish participation in shaping the 20th
century, the modern world. In 1933, German National
Socialism forced the Jews again to leave, but they took
22.01
Entrance to the Jewish
Cemetery Berlin-Weißensee;
architect Hugo Licht, 1880
CHAPTER 22
with them to America or Palestine the ‘virtual luggage of
German culture’ that helped them throughout their cre-
ative lives. The ones that chose to stay in Germany did
not survive.
Berlin’s Jewish cemeteries bear witness to Jewish Eman-
cipation, and in this sequence the Weißensee Cemetery
is the most spectacular one, due to its size and period of
construction during the Gründerzeit and first third of the
20th century.
When the National Socialists seized power in 1933 Ber-
lin’s Jewish population was 160,000, accounting for one
third of Germany’s total. In 1945, when the Red Army
liberated Berlin, 55,000 Jews had been murdered, 7,000
had committed suicide, 90,000 had emigrated, and only
8,000 were liberated. Nearly all major synagogues were
desecrated and/or destroyed, except the one in Rykerstraße
which was too tightly embedded into the urban fabric to be
burnt down without damaging neighbouring houses.
After the liberation, Berlin’s Jewish population slowly re-
covered, the city’s division further hampering and exac-
erbating the situation. Indigenous German Jews who had
left the country in the 1930s were not eager to return. It
was the weakening and the collapse of the Soviet Union
that has raised the number of Jews in Germany since about
the 1980s, and today the majority of Jews in Germany
are Russian-speaking. By 2014 the Jewish population in
Berlin reached 40,000, roughly 25% of the pre-Holocaust
level, but only few of them represent the centuries-old
German-Jewish cultural continuity. The 40,000–50,000
Jews in Berlin07 are complemented by some new Israeli
expatriates, some of them of Jeke origin. Estimating the
size of the latest migration of mostly young Israelis and
Western European Jews is statistically difficult, but Jewish
community leaders and diplomats place the current surge
between 3,000 and 20,00008 people, usually estimated to
be 15,00009 over the past five years.
204
In the second half of the 19th century the Jewish pop-
ulation of Berlin grew rapidly and the cemetery in
Schönhauser Allee opened in 1827 became almost full.
The Jewish Community of Berlin purchased a plot of 42
hectares in the then suburb of Weißensee. In 1878 the
community announced an architectural competition for
the plan of the ensemble, but the results were unsatisfac-
tory and Hugo Licht10 was commissioned to accomplish
the project. Buildings and the sections were constructed
during the years 1879–80 and on 9 September 1880 the
cemetery was inaugurated.
The Berlin-Weißensee cemetery belongs to the group of
younger large 19th century Jewish cemeteries, opened
after Warsaw Okopowa Street, Cracow Miodova Street,
and Budapest Salgótarjáni Street as well as the Old Jewish
Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, a fact which
is well reflected in its layout significantly departing both
from its predecessors and Jewish funerary traditions.
Similarly to other Jewish cemeteries of the period, there
is a forecourt accessible from the street that receives the
visitors, who from here have access to the complex of
the ceremonial hall and, by passing its lateral sides, to
the cemetery proper. The forecourt is the solemn ending
of the Herbert-Baum-Straße, perpendicular to the en-
semble of buildings with a polygonal widening before
the entrance gate.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
The plan of the cemetery is unique among Jewish burial
places in two ways. First, significant parts of the plan con-
tain non-rectangular sections with the placement of graves
departing from the principle of parallel lanes and the of-
ten eastern or southern uniform orientation of the graves
characteristic of traditional Jewish cemeteries. There are
15 straight diagonal lanes, three curved ones and numer-
ous geometrically laid squares that violate Jewish funerary
traditions. Second, the cemetery is accessed from one of
its corners. This solution is logical from an urban point
of view, as the axis of the entrance continues the line of
Herbert-Baum-Straße, but it contradicts traditions and
generates an ambiguity regarding cardinal directions. In
comparison, the Old Jewish Cemetery’s contours at Vi-
enna’s Zentralfriedhof are also irregular, departing from
the dominant grid of the ensemble, due to urban layout
of the neighbourhood, but both the entrance line and the
ceremonial lane keep one direction, creating a spine of the
composition which define the internal grid of the whole
ensemble. This arrangement gives a spatial coherence and
keeps Jewish tradition alive.
The wall in front of the ceremonial building ensemble
and the ensemble itself is built in Italian neo-Renais-
sance, covered with yellow brick, intermittently with
some red brick stripes and geometrical patterns, char-
acteristic of Jewish community edifices since the intro-
The Berlin-Weißensee Jewish Cemetery 205

22.02 22.03
22.04

duction of oriental style synagogues in the 1860s. The
lower central part of the building and the two higher side
projections define a cour d’honneur, from which on the
left side one enters the two-storey administrative build-
ing that contains the archives, on the right side the beit
tahara. These two buildings and the ceremonial building
on the southern tip of the ensemble are connected with
arcades. The axis of the entrance ends in the ceremonial
hall at the end of long glazed arcades. The ceremonial
hall has a square plan and an apse at its far end, and is
topped with an octagonal drum and roof.11
In the forecourt stands the monument for the six million
victims of the Holocaust, in the centre of the rondelle
of the cour d’honneur is the monument to the Jewish
Community members of Berlin murdered between 1933
and 1945.
Unlike in many 19th century Jewish cemeteries, where
the ceremonial lane is a sort of spatial catharsis (Buda-
pest Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery, The Old Jew-
ish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, Belgrade’s
Sephardi Cemetery, etc.), here the ceremonial lane is
quite understated due to the irregular, diagonal access
to the complex. Passing by the right end of the central
building complex one arrives in a non-ceremonial way
in the honorary lane of local dignitaries. As a rule, these
tombs are more modest than the graves of the rich located
along wider lanes and squares of the cemetery complex.
Many elaborate family tombs are also laid out along the
main paths, at the edges of the sections and along the
2.7-kilometre surrounding wall.
Before the Second World War, approximately 110,000
members of Berlin’s Jewish commu­nity were buried
here. Today there are almost 116,000 graves. Their type
and style changed from the 1880s to World War Two and
even after, similarly to other, older metropolitan Jewish
cemeteries in Europe. At the beginning, after the opening
of the cemetery, the traditional, simple, vertical slab or
matzeva-type graves dominated the cemetery, but they
were gradually abandoned in favour of the obelisk type.
The latter was replaced by more complex forms around
22.03
The forecourt
of the cemetery with the
ceremonial building complex
22.04
View from the arcades
22.02 of the ceremonial building
Square in front of the main towards the forecourt
entrance to the cemetery and entrance gate
22.05
22.05
The honorary lane of the
cemetery, not far from the
ceremonial building and
containing tombs of prominent
scholars and artists
1900, such as framed steles with niche, aedicules or even
more complex three-dimensional compositions, up to
the large monuments on corner plots, some resembling
Roman round temples. Along the perimeter walls and
dividing wall of the cemetery typical large monuments
were built using the wall as a backdrop. Apart from typ-
ical post-Emancipation gravestones the Polish type of
branching tree with little slabs carrying the inscription
can be also found. This cemetery had the largest num-
ber of wrought-iron funerary monuments, around 600, of
which 500 were sacrificed for military purposes during
World War Two.
The cemetery has a large walled section with pillow-stone
tombs for Jewish soldiers who died in World War One. It

is the most impressive example of this type in a European
Jewish cemetery.
In stylistic terms, late Free Style dominates with classi-
cal elements, Jugendstil and sometimes even Modern-
ism. One of the largest funerary monuments worldwide,
and the largest in Berlin, is the family tomb for Sigmund
Aschrott and his family, a heavy Jugendstil mausoleum
made of red Swedish granite, housing two dark sarcoph-
agi. Its architecture follows the forms of the late Wilhel-
minian period.12 The monument, designed by architect
Bruno Schmitz,13 takes advantage of the planning of the
cemetery, i.e. its privileged position on the intersection of
lanes that enables distant, monumental views. Sigmund
Aschrott (1826–1915) was a typical “Gründerzeit hero”
of Jewish faith. Educated as a businessman, he inherited
his father’s linen business, initiated some technological
innovation and invested its profit into urban development,
in Kassel and later in Berlin-Pankow. His acitivities as
a developer, creating streets and whole urban quarters
– including the Aschrott Strasse – generated consider-
able anti-Semitism, but by the end of his life due to his
massive philanthropic activities he was decorated with
the Prussian Crown Order, Second Class (Königlicher
Kronen-Orden 2. Klasse) and with the Red Eagle Order,
Third Class (Roter Adlerorden 3. Klasse) and bestowed
with the title of Geheimer Kommerzienrat.14 None of his
decorations were first class, however, and the extra large
mausoleum seems to have compensated for that.
Probably with regard to Jewish history those graves are
the most significant which signal the 20th century revival
of Jewish heritage. The grave of the famous neo-Kantian
philosopher Hermann Cohen (1842–1918) represents a
special case in which his scholarly commitment found an
architectural expression.15 His Religion der Vernunft aus
den Quellen des Judentums, 1919, and Deutschtum und
Judentum, 1915, are clear intentions to find a common
denominator between traditional Jewish thought and the
German philosophical tradition. This is not surprising
as he vehemently opposed Zionism. Cohen’s tomb is a
synthesis of Jewish funerary heritage and German pro-
to-Modernism of the period. A lower pseudo-sarcoph-
agus with a steep saddle-roof is joined by two higher
matzevot also ending in a steep angle. The whole com-
position is a reminiscence of graves of famous rabbis in
Eastern and Eastern Central Europe. The front matzeva
ends with a representation of the blessing of Cohanim.
Below the pediment there is the inscription framed by
a frieze and two cannelured allettes, typical of German
proto-Modernism. However, all intentions to revive Jew-
ish funerary traditions would not have been enough to
create this outstanding tomb and others in this cemetery,
if it had not been for the German Friedhofsreform that
paved the way to abandoning traditional Gründerzeit
grave types and stylistic directions and fostering creativ-
ity in search of a simple and original funerary art devi-
ating from the types of gravestones that started to define
the look of cemeteries since the last decades of the 19th
century. This “cleaning” meant also that in Central and
Central Eastern Europe the hitherto dominant influence
of Viennese funerary traditions – gentile and Jewish alike
– gave way to German influence during the first two de-
cades of the 20th century.16
Not far from this tomb is the grave of Micha Joseph bin
Gorion (born Berdyczewski, 1865–1921), the German,
Yiddish and Hebrew writer, and the descendant of fa-
mous Hassidic rabbis. His grave is also a synthesis of
Jewish traditions and the Berlin taste of the time. Over
a base, a matzeva-shaped stele is divided into an up-
per part ending steeply and carrying a carved represen-
tation of a lion, and a lower part completely occupied
by text, as was the case with pre-Emancipation Jew-
ish gravestones. There is first a Hebrew version of his
name and below the German version, while there is no
mention of his original Russian name of Миха Йосеф
Бердичевский. While at first glance everything is tra-
22.06
ditional, it is not a direct revival of traditions in terms
of formal language, but a creative reinterpretation of
customary elements. The first obvious departure from
traditions is the division of the front of the matzeva. A
traditional vertical Jewish gravestone from the late Re-
naissance and early modern times is clearly divided into
a rectangular part and a triangular/circular/segmental
over the former. The upper part carries the visual repre-
sentation, the lower part is covered by text. Bin Gorion’s
gravestone departs from this custom: the triangular part
with an animal or other visual representation extends
downwards to the rectangular, textual part. Moreover,
this extension is not just 20–30% which sometimes oc-
curs on tratitional tombs, but half of the lion is on the
triangular part and half of it on the rectangular.
On traditional Jewish graves there are usually rampant
lions, less frequently resting ones. In the case of bin Go-
rion’s grave, there is an intermediate posture: the lion
is neither rampant nor lying, but as if starting to move.
More importantly, almost all post-Renaissance represen-
tations, including lions, are strictly naturalistic and with
smooth stone surfaces. Here the lion resembles some an-
cient archaeological excavations both in terms of surface
treatment and in representing the anatomy of the animal,
and at the same time, resembling modern sculptures and
reliefs in terms of surface treatment. These differences
vis-à-vis traditional, pre-emancipation visual ideals sig-
nify the creative imput suggested by the Friedhofsreform.
Another interesting tomb showing pre-Emancipation pe-
riod motifs is the one of Pauline and Manuel Schwarz
(1859–1928, 1860–1920).
Three engaged matzevot-aedicule hybrids ending in
three lunettes that rest on six stylised Ionic columns
and three architraves show traditional motifs: The first
on the left features a bird and a bowl with vegetative
decoration, the middle one has the Tablets of the Law
topped by a crown and flanked by two meagre Judean
lions, while the third matzeva-like ending shows anoth-
er crown, grapes and vegetative ornament that is remi-
niscent of decorations at Gothic synagogues above the
men’s entrance. There are festoons in the side aedicules,
typical of the period.
The cemetery witnessed Berlin’s flourishing years during
the Weimar Republic, when further 37,000 people were
buried here. It was also the period of fledging architectur-
al Modernism, of which there are two important funerary
monuments in this cemetery, the one for Laura Perls, de-
signed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the last director of the
Bauhaus, and the other for Albert Mendel designed by Wal-
ter Gropius, the first director and founder of the Bauhaus.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed Laura Perls’ grave
in 1919, after creating for her son Hugo17 the Perls Haus,
a protomodernist, neo-Schinkelesque villa in 1911. The
tomb of Laura Perls consists of seventeen blocks of lime-
stone, which are layered in four rows over a rectangular
floor plan. The first and third layer have the same height,
the second is their double and the fourth is threefold of
the first and third. Each layer is a bit set back as with
the American recessed or set-back form of sky-scrap-
ers, dictated by the zoning-code revisions effective after
1916 and dominant in the interwar period. This feature
makes the tomb architectural, but at the same time, there
is a strong feature against the architectural logic: The
fourth, i.e. upper layer is made of a single, monolithic
large stone, which has the effect of an abstracted sarcoph-
agus.18 For Walter Gropius designing monuments was a
special task, as strict rationalism or at least its impression
could be left aside and form could be given its freedom.
His Denkmal für die Märzgefallenen (Monument to the
March Victims, Weimar, 1920–1922) is an expressionist
composition with sharp edges, a-tectonic, showing a hint
of Japanese origami – a Blitzstrahl aus dem Grabesboden
(lightening from the floor of the grave), as he put it. Af-
ter the modernist language had fledged in the Bauhaus,
his architectural language became more tectonic and
rational. Albert Mendel’s grave in this cemetery (1923)
is a synthesis of these two worlds: on the left there is a
crystalline, expressionistic-spiritual form, reminiscent of
sarcophagi or even the slanting lines of Chassidic Rabbi
graves, while the rest of the composition is tectonic, an
interplay of horizontals and verticals. More importantly,
the composition is asymmetric and it defines a space be-
tween the sarcophagus and the low perimeter wall on the
right side. The large cantilever over the back wall con-
tinues down to the floor, creating a strong L-shape that
frames the sarcophagus and the whole space. The stone
monument is complemented by the name of the deceased
in copper letters and a large six-pointed star. This is a
trend-setting modernist funerary monument that exerted
influence over the whole 20th century, but particularly on
late Modernism after World War Two.
Vegetation is the most important visual facet of this cem-
etery, being one of the first Jewish burial places with park
elements, consciously planted trees that create solemn
alleys, rounded circles and differentiate between vari-
ous places and sections of the cemetery. Its controversy
vis-à-vis Jewish tradition did not cause any major trou-
ble – people buried here held modern, secular views. In
addition to this planned vegetation in the past 120 years
wildly grown vegetation has joined in, creating a rich
dialogue between man-made and nature. Vegetation is
cleverly maintained, curbed only when needed, i.e. when
it poses a threat to the tombs, and thus the cemetery can
be considered as a model how to tackle this problem.
Notable people buried in the cemetery include Her-
mann Cohen, philosopher; Samuel von Fischer, pub-
lisher and founder of the S. Fischer Verlag; Micha Jo-
seph bin Gorion (Berdyczewski), Hebrew writer and
scholar; Louis Lewandowski, composer of synagogue
music; Eugen Goldstein, physicist; Stefan Heym, au-
thor; Max Hirsch, political economist and founder of
the German trade unions; Max Jaffe, biochemist; Ber-
22.06
The most important
distinguishing feature
of the Berlin-Weißensee
Jewish Cemetery from
other metropolitan Jewish
burial grounds is its park-
like layout with small
squares where longitudinal,
transversal and diagonal
lanes intersect.
210
22.07
thold Kempinski, Berlin wine merchant and founder of
the Kempinski Hotels.
The Berlin-Weißensee Cemetery can be considered as
the flagship of German Jewish cemeteries in its period
and one of the most significant European metropolitan
Jewish cemeteries of the Gründerzeit in exemplifying
the ideas of Emancipation in building material, architec-
tural space and landscaping. This cemetery has a unique
layout and funerary monuments of generally high artistic
value; furthermore, it contains the earthly remains of sig-
nificant personalities.
Fortunately, this cemetery survived the storms of 20th
century history. It is well maintained and very well re-
searched,19 it has good greenery, is very homogeneous,
has a significant ceremonial hall, gates and forecourt,
and some noted architects designed its funerary monu-
ments. Its integrity is exemplary, it represents its genre
authentically, and its buffer zone is sufficient. There is
only a slightly taller industrial building adjacent to the
entrance section, of which just the terminating wall and
a tall chimney are visible. All these adjacent buildings
do not disturb the visual integrity and in the long run are
probably removable.
The cemetery as a whole is a listed monument.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
01 Adolf Kober, Cologne (The Jewish Publication Society of
America), Philadelphia 1940, p. 5.
02 Carl Dietmar, Die Chronik Kölns, Kölner Stadtanzeiger,
1992, p.34.
03 Historical evidence proves the existence of Jewish
communities north of the Alps and Pyrenees as early as the
8th and 9th centuries. By the 11th century Jewish settlers,
moving from the Mediterranean, began to settle in the north,
along the Rhine, spurred by the new economic opportunities
and at the invitation of local Christian rulers who hoped that
the Jews would boost the economy, improve revenues, and
enlarge trade. And indeed, Jews settled close to the markets
and churches in German towns, where they came under the
authority of both royal and ecclesiastical powers, but they
were accorded administrative autonomy.
04 Not all Ashkenazi Jews found refuge in Eastern Europe
during the Middle Ages. Some of them went so far away
from their original heartland as the Balkans – the territory
of today’s Romania and Bulgaria, for instance.
05 While the term Bildung dates back to 16th century Pietistic
theology, it was Paracelsus (1493–1591), Jakob Böhme
(1575–1624), and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716)
who used the term in natural philosophy to refer to the
development or unfolding of certain potentialities within
an organism, i.e. a human being. In the 18th century,
The Berlin-Weißensee Jewish Cemetery 211

Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), the founding father of

the Jewish Enlightenment, used the term in the sense of
unfolding one’s potential in his influential essay in 1784,
Was ist Aufklärung? (What is Enlightenment?),
identifying Bildung with Enlightenment itself. He made the
aforementioned fruitful synthesis of Jewish and German
traditions. See Ehrhard Bahr (ed.), Was ist Aufklärung? –
Thesen und Definitionen, Ditzingen 1974, pp. 9–10.
06 See: Rudolf Klein, Judaism, Einstein and Modern
Architecture. In: Prostor, 20 [2012] 2 [44], pp. 220–235
07 http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.584490, last
download 17 March 2016.
08 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/10/young-
israelis-berlin-migration-antisemitism, last download 17
March 2016.
09 http://www.jewishjournal.com/travel/article/rebirth_of_jewish_
life_in_berlin_20120605, last download 17 March 2016.
10 Hugo Licht (1841-1923), German gentile architect, son
of a landholder. After finishing the Berlin Royal Prussian
Academy of Architecture and touring Italy extensively,
he established himself as a freelance architect. His
first significant project became the Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery. He also built the Neues Rathaus, the University
of Music and Theatre, the Municipal Butchery, the
Südfriedhof, and the Johanniskirche, all in Leipzig. In
1895 Ernst Wasmuth Verlag published his book titled
Architektur der Gegenwart. https://www.rookebooks.
com/product?prod_id=30060, last retreaved 23 06 2017.
In 1901 he edited Die Architektur des XX. Jahrhunderts
(The Architecture of the 20th Century) and from 1905
he became the editor of Der Profanbau (The Secular
Building). The same year he was awarded the honorary
doctorate (Dr.-Ing. E. h.) by the Technische Universität
Dresden and in 1906 he obtained the title of professor at
the Universität Leipzig.
11 In 1910 a new ceremonial hall was erected on the opposite
side of the cemetery, destroyed during World War Two.
12 Wilhelmine Germany is the era of Emperor Wilhelm II 22.08
(1888–1918), highlighted by Germany’s way to modernity, 22.09
called also Gründerzeit. It was the period of rapid change in
political, cutural, and social spheres, which not only became
manifest in the pluralistic and ambivalent society itself but 18 The once-coloured inscription is no longer present.
also in art and technology as well as in terms of mentality, 19 Johanna von Koppenfels, Jüdische Friedhöfe in
the rise of nationalism and in anti-Semitism. See Volker Berlin,Markus Sebastian Braun (ed.), Berlin 2000
Berghahn, Imperial Germany, 1871–1914: economy, (Berliner Ansichten, vol. 15); Jörg Haspel, Das Erbe
society, culture, and politics. Providence/Oxford 1994. der jüdischen Sepulkralkultur in Berlin – Perspektiven
13 Schmitz created among others the Kaiser- für eine Weltkulturerbe-Nominierung. In: https://
Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal in Kyffhäuser and the journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/icomoshefte/
Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig. article/viewFile/20232/14019, last download 12 April
2017.; research project titled Jüdischer Friedhof Berlin-
14 Demme, Roland: Der jüdische Kaufmann, Verleger und
Weißensee, led by Johannes Cramer, Tobias Rütenik.
Stadtplaner Sigmund Aschrott – eine Persönlichkeit des
In: http://baugeschichte.a.tu-berlin.de/bg/forschung/
19. Jahrhunderts. (Dissertation – KOBRA-DSpace der Uni
projekte/20jahrhundert/JFW_Pilotprojekt_A4klein.pdf,
Kassel), Kassel 2006.
last download 12 April 2017.
15 Cohen was one of the founders of the “Gesellschaft zur
Förderung der Wissenschaft des Judenthums”, which held
its first meeting in Berlin in November 1902.
16 In some cases, the two influences worked together. In the
funerary oeuvre of the Hungarian architect Béla Lajta
often the impact of German Friedhofsreform and the 22.08
influence of the Wiener Werkstätte went hand in hand.
Lawn in the cemetery
17 Hugo Perls, a lawyer and art collector shared with Mies the
enthusiasm for Carl Friedrich Schinkel, and indeed, Mies van 22.09
der Rohe’s architecture was partly anchored in the traditions 22.07 Vertical gravestones
of the great master of German neo-Classicism, not that much Section for Jewish soldiers integrated into the dividing
in terms of details as in terms of composition of volumes. killed in World War One wall, interwar period
212 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

22.10
22.11 22.12
The Berlin-Weißensee Jewish Cemetery 213

22.13
22.14

22.10
Corner funerary monument
of the Adam family,
late 1920s
22.11
Wrought-iron funerary
monument of the Lewinsohn
and Netter families
with floral decoration
22.12
Corner funerary monument
of Adolf Kohler
with pointed arches
22.13
Rich Gründerzeit
funerary monuments
22.14
Late Jugendstil
funerary monument
of the Arnstaedt family
214 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

22.15 22.17
22.16
22.18 22.19 22.20
The Berlin-Weißensee Jewish Cemetery 215

22.15
Large Gründerzeit
funerary monuments
along the perimeter wall
22.16
Wrought iron
funerary monument
22.17
Sigmund Aschrott’s
mausoleum; architect
Bruno Schmitz, 1915
22.18
Modern funerary monument
22.21
of philosopher and Jewish
22.22 22.23
thinker Hermann Cohen,
echoing graves of Hassidic
rabbis, 1918
22.19
Symbolic grave for
Leo Baeck, Jewish thinker
and leader
22.20
The tomb of
Micha Josef Bin-Gorion
(born Berdyczewski) echoes
pre-Emancipation graves
in a modern, simplified
form, 1921
22.21
Jugendstil funerary
monument at a corner
and with Ionic columns
22.22
Tomb of Louis Lewandowski,
synagogue music composer,
1894
22.23
Tomb of Leo Lesser Ury,
(1861–1931), German
Jewish Impressionist
painter and printmaker
216 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

22.24 22.25
22.26 22.27 22.28
22.29
The Berlin-Weißensee Jewish Cemetery 217

22.30 22.31 22.32

22.33
22.34

22.24
The Strauss family tomb,
one of the largest at this
cemetery, taking advantage
of the corner plots at
the intersection of lanes
22.25
This large tomb of the
Hermann, Lesser and
Henoch families exemplifies
the unified architectural
articulation of a wide plot.
22.26-28
Details of the tombs for
Manuel and Pauline Schwarz
22.29
The Schwarz tomb
exemplifies the
proto-modernist architecture
of the 1920s quoting
pre-Emancipation motifs
in the three lunettes
22.30
The inscription
on Albert Mendel’s tomb
22.31–32
Hexagram
on Albert Mendel’s tomb
22.33
Albert Mendel’s tomb
of 1922 was designed
by architect Walter Gropius,
the founder of the Bauhaus.
22.34
Albert Mendel’s tomb
in its context

The Bratislava Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
in Žižková Street (Ortodoxný židovský cintorín)
No other capital city exemplifies the multi-ethnic and
multi-confessional character of Central Europe better than
Bratislava, being at the intersection of German, Hungarian
and Slovak cultures, with a significant Jewish contribution
to this cultural melange. After the Great Moravian Empire
– of which neither the borders nor the capital city can be
substantiated – Hungarians took hold of the territory of
Bratislava around 1000. It remained part of the Hungarian
Kingdom with some interruptions until the end of World
War One, in some periods as the Hungarian capital, but
in practice it was never fully Hungarian. It was equally
marked by the presence of the German speaking Bürger-
tum and the vicinity of the imperial capital Vienna.
Bratislava is not the historic name of the city; it surfaced
in 1919, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and
the establishment of the Republic of Czechoslovakia. His-
torically the city was called Pressburg (German), Pozsony
(Hungarian), Prešporok (Slovak) and it was as multi-ethnic
and multi-cultural as Budapest, Prague, or Łódź. As the
home of the Hungarian Diet until 1848, it had a long record
of anti-Semitism, but also of prominent Jewish scholarship.
Before World War I, according to the census of 1910
the city’s ethnic constitution was as follows: 42% ethnic
German, 41% Hungarian, and 15% Slovak. After World
War I, on January 1, 1919, Pressburg was incorporated
into Czechoslovakia despite the resistance of the Hungar-
ian and German populations.01
The interwar period was beneficial to Bratislava, which be-
came the centre of the Slovak part of the new state. From
a Hungarian provincial town in the shadow of Budapest
and Vienna a modern city started to emerge with a nicely
preserved historic core. However, the Munich Agreement
resulted in the partition of Czechoslovakia and the estab-
lishment of Independent Slovakia under President Jozef
Tiso, originally a Catholic priest, who became the leader
of the Nazi puppet state and who assisted with the depor-
23.01
Modernist entrance to the
Orthodox Jewish Cemetery
in Bratislava;
architect Josef Konrad
CHAPTER 23
tation of Jews. The Soviets liberated Bratislava from the
Nazis on April 4, 1945. In the same year the deportation
of some 1.6 million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia
to what would be East and West Germany started.02 The
Hungarian population was also removed in the exchange
schemes with Hungary. After all the deportations and pop-
ulation swaps the original ethnic constitution of Bratislava
changed radically, the new population having to come to
grips with the old problems.
In 1948 the Communist Party seized power and Bratislava
together with Czechoslovakia became part of the Eastern
Bloc. In the wake of the Czechoslovakian attempt to liber-
alise the Communist regime in 1968, the city was occupied
by Warsaw Pact troops. Finally, the Czechoslovakian Vel-
vet Revolution in 1989 and the collapse of Communism
resulted in the withdrawal of the Soviet army. Soon af-
terward, Czechoslovakia fell apart, and in 1993 Bratislava
became the capital of the newly established Slovak Repub-
lic, which in 2004 joined the European Union.
The Jewish history was not less stormy than the gener-
al history of the city. Jews were first mentioned in the
High Middle Ages: the Memorbuch of the community of
Mainz commemorates the “martyrs of Pressburg” who
perished in the First Crusade (1096–1099). The first doc-
umentary mention of Jews in Bratislava dates from 1251.
In 1291, the Hungarian King Andrew III of the Árpád
Dynasty regulated by means of a municipal charter that
the Jews had the right to reside inside the city walls. They
were active in money lending, trade and craftsmanship.
In 1335, a synagogue is mentioned. As elsewhere during
the late Middle Ages and early modern times Jews were
expelled several times and continuous presence began by
the end of the 17th century. A synagogue was built in
1695; by 1709 there were 189 Jews living in Bratislava
and 772 by 1736. The Jewish quarter on the Castle Hill
or Schlossberg remained outside the municipal jurisdic-
220 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

23.02
23.03 23.04

23.02 23.03
View of the whole Entrance ramp
cemetery from the leading to the cemetery
hilltop – the slope ends
at the embankment 23.04
of the Danube The Holocaust memorial
The Bratislava Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Žižková Street
tion and, as elsewhere, Jews lived under the protection of
feudal lords, in this case the family Pálffy. At first there
was just a single row of Jewish houses, but in 1776 the
municipality permitted Jews to settle on land owned by
the city, opposite the already existing row of houses, thus
creating a traditional ‘Jewish street.’
The Jews in Bratislava pioneered the textile trade in Hun-
gary since the 18th century. Under the direction of Meir
Halberstadt the yeshivah became an important centre
of Jewish learning, while the authority of Moses Sofer
(1762–1839) made Bratislava a centre of Orthodoxy, sig-
nificant in a European context.
During the revolution and war of independence of the
Hungarians against Habsburg rule in 1848, anti-Jewish
riots broke out, followed by riots related to the blood li-
bel case in Tisza-Eszlár in 1882 and 1883. After the split
of Hungarian Jews into Neolog and Orthodox, Bratisla-
va’s Jewish Community remained a stronghold of Ortho-
doxy. Still, after 1871 a small Neolog congregation was
formed. A large part of the Jewish quarter was ravaged
by fire in 1913, but was later rebuilt. In 1930 the Jewish
population in Bratislava numbered 14,882 (12% of the
221
total population), 5,597 of declared Jewish nationality.03
In 1941–1942 and 1944–1945, most of Bratislava’s ap-
proximately 15,000 Jews were deported to concentration
camps, where most were killed or died before the end
of the war. The surviving Czechoslovakian Jews made
Aliya in 1948, and in the aftermath of the events of 1968
many of them left for Western countries.
Following the ‘Velvet Revolution’ of autumn 1989, the
Jewish community also revived. Many individuals who
had hidden their Jewish identity stepped forward. Today,
Bratislava has a small Jewish community of some 500
members with an intense religious and cultural life, a
beautiful interwar period synagogue, which houses the
Jewish Community Museum.
The first Jewish cemetery was established in Bratislava
probably before the construction of the medieval syn-
agogue in 1399. The Jewish community established a
graveyard near the river Danube, which functioned un-
til 1847. Since then, the Jewish community has used the
Orthodox (established in 1845) and Neolog cemetery
(established in 1873) located in Žižkova Street near-
by. In 1942–43 it was confiscated by the Slovak State.
222
In 1943 the cemetery was largely demolished to build a
road. Most of the graves were exhumed and reburied in
the Orthodox cemetery in a communal grave behind the
beit tahara. Only the most precious section, where noted
Bratislava rabbis were buried – 23 graves surrounding
Chatam Sofer’s tomb04 – was preserved at the original
site. Members of the Jewish community helped to reno-
vate the burial ground in the vicinity of Chatam Sofer’s
tomb after the war. The architect of the new Chatam
Sofer Memorial was Martin Kvasnica in 2002.
This cemetery of some 7,000 graves is the perfect ‘con-
trol group’ in the sense of statistics in relation to other
metropolitan Jewish cemeteries that are mainly Reform
or Neolog, as it is Orthodox and as such it serves as a
backdrop, against which the impact of Reform and the
Orthodox reaction to it can be viewed. This control group
status applies to the cemetery’s layout, the organic growth
on the gentle south slope, the scarce vegetation, the ho-
mogeneity and architectural coherence of the graves, and
the prominent position of the rabbis’ graves.
One enters the cemetery from its south-eastern tip, which
is at the same time the lowest part of the slope, on the
shorter side of the elongated rectangle. In the direction
of the entrance there is a paved bottom main lane of the
cemetery and a short paved lane perpendicular to it not far
from the entrance. However, most of the cemetery has no
formal lanes. The graves are positioned in lines, but they
do not form strict, geometrically exact rows as in Reform
Jewish cemeteries. Moreover, there are no stone markers
of rows, but there are large metal markers for the sec-
tions; instead of Arabic numbers they have Hebrew letters
marking the 18 sections, starting with aleph closer to the
entrance, i. e. at the western end of the cemetery.
The tombs are almost exclusively vertical slabs, most of
them traditional matzevot, apart from the ones for the rabbis
who are interred in complex compositions (see introductory
chapter) made of one or two steles or flat aedicules, which
are often connected with each other by a horizontal member,
similar to the way rabbi tombs used to be in other places.
Unlike the traditional Polish matzevot displaying reliefs
in the upper semi-circular part – Levite mugs, blessing
of Kohanim, books or chandeliers, tzedaka boxes, etc. –
here they just have Hebrew text. There may be hands of
the Kohanim or a willow tree, but not as a three-dimen-
sional representation, just carved lines.
In the period of Romanticism some special types ap-
peared: a matzeva with semi-circular ending that is
framed with a romantic decoration, ending with an
eight-pointed star.05 The latter is more a fashionable el-
23.05 23.07
Covered entrance Interior of the
to the ceremonial hall tahara house – in front
and tahara room the basin for washing
the corpses
23.06
Ceremonial hall and tahara 23.08
house; architects Friedrich Interior
Weinwurm and Ignác Vécsei of the ceremonial hall
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
ement of the period, than something related to Judaism.
Similar decoration dominates the synagogues of the pe-
riod – their brick façades, with inlays made of ceramics,
or the mullions of stained glass windows. The same dec-
oration appears on secular buildings and sometimes even
on Catholic churches. There is a variation to this matze-
va type which also shows an eightfold top element, but
this time it is circular. Some matzevot end in a polygon
with seven sides. Another frequent type of this cemetery
is a large aedicule ending instead of in a pediment in a
semi-circular arch topped with an acroterion-like decora-
tion.06 All these unique romantic tombs are made of sand-
stone, while the plaque with the inscription is of marble.
There is no historic explanation why these unique types
were used at an orthodox cemetery where they contra-
dicted the spirit of the place. The only plausible explana-
tion is that the craftsmen who created them were popular
among the members of the community.
By the end of the 19th century the richness of Romanti-
cism was replaced by the uniformity of the obelisk type
not made of sandstone or marble but of precious dark
stone, usually black Swedish granite. The plan of the
obelisks that are customarily set on a base could be strict-
ly quadratic or an elongated rectangle. It is quite rare in
other places of the Habsburg Empire and also beyond,
where the traditional ratio of the horizontal section of the
obelisk varies around 1:1.5.
The last type is the simple vertical slab, mainly with a
slightly shorter height than width, characteristic of mod-
ernism. This is a modest modernism and not the one of
Vienna’s New Jewish Cemetery in the Zentralfriedhof or
Prague New Cemetery or Zagreb Mirogoj.
The grouping of similar gravestones is also a significant
element of this cemetery, largely contributing to its ex-
traordinary coherence. Other segregation than that of the
rabbis is not visible.
Close to the entrance is the Holocaust memorial of 1963,
modest in the spirit of the cemetery, with a Hebrew inscrip-
tion and just one sentence in Slovak at the bottom.07 Along
the ramp is the other Holocaust memorial unveiled in 1996.
As is normal at an Orthodox cemetery, greenery is scarce,
but beyond the gentle slope, where the inclination of the
terrain rises, there is a small forest which visually com-
pensates for that and also frames the ensemble. There are
some lower bushes modulating the space and providing
orientation at the cemetery.
Stylistically it is the very conservative formal language
of the gravestones that makes this cemetery unique.
Some funerary monuments date back to the 1920s, the
period of high modernism, but their forms are reminis-
cent of traditional Jewish graves of the 18th century. The
only exception is the entrance building with the staircase,
the beit tahara and the ceremonial hall, which all show a
very restrained modernism and minimalist language, but
without the bold gestures of the avant-garde.
In contrast to this restrained architectural language there
is the nearby aforementioned Chatam Sofer Memorial,
a centre containing a covered part of the old cemetery,
along with the gravestones as well as additional educa-
tional and memorial facilities showing the trendy archi-
tectural idiom of early 21st century architecture.
The Bratislava Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Žižková Street
23.05
23.07
Notable people buried at the cemetery include Samuel
Benjamin Sofer (Ketav Sofer) (1815–1871), Orthodox
chief-rabbi; Simcha Bunim Sofer (Shevet Sofer), died
1907, Orthodox chief-rabbi; Phillip Bettelheim, died
1874, president of the Orthodox Jewish community;
Benjamin Wolf Pappenheim, died 1848, Jewish commu-
nity leader; Juraj Spitzer (1919–1995) and Alfred Wet-
zler (1918–1988), writers.
The integrity and authenticity of the cemetery is significant,
its buffer zone is generous and the whole ensemble provides
a nice view of the Danube – the river’s embankments – and
the wider landscape with trees and meadows on the other
side of the river. In artistic terms the funerary monuments
are fine; they reflect conservatism. It is their homogeneity,
the dialogue with the forest of the upper part of the slope
and the view to the south towards the Danube that make
this cemetery unique. The historic value of the cemetery as
one of the almost entirely preserved metropolitan Orthodox
Jewish burial places makes it a testimonial to European
Jewish culture. It is a protected historic monument.
223
23.06
23.08
01 Rebekah Klein-Pejšová: Mapping Jewish Loyalties in
Interwar Slovakia. Bloomington, Indiana, 2015.
02 President Edvard Beneš spoke about konečné řešení
německé otázky (final solution of the German question),
a paraphrase of the German Endlösung der Judenfrage,
which meant the forced deportation of some 1.6 million
ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia. In: Louis Armand
ed., Abolishing Prague: Essays & Interventions, Prague:
Charles University/Litteraria Pragensia, Prague 2014,
quoted after: http://www.pritomnost.cz/en/component/
content/article/24-salon-en/771-the-perennial-city, last
retrieved 25 January 2018
03 This distinction aimed, among others, at reducing the
percentage of the Hungarian speaking minority, as the Jews
who declared their Jewishness as nationality disappeared
from the list of ethnic Hungarians. Jewish nationality also
meant a better identification with the new state.
04 Chatam Sofer (Moses Schreiber or in Hebrew Moshe
Sofer) was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of
European Jewry in the first half of the 19th century.
As the Reform Movement took hold more and more
in Central Europe, conservativists feared the loss of
224 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

23.09
23.10 23.11 23.12
The Bratislava Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Žižková Street 225

traditional Jewish identity and they tried to counteract

religious reforms. Moses Sofer founded a yeshiva where
he educated future rabbis in this spirit very effectively.
Beyond that his vast amount of responsa regarding proper
Jewish life and thinking ceated an impressive body of
knowledge aiming at maintaining and reinforcing the
Orthodox traditions.
05 This grave of 1861 fully reflects the geometric decoration
of Romanticism in the Habsburg Empire, that occasionally
can also be found on gentile secular buildings in the form
of six-pointed stars decorating facades. Interestingly, at
that period Jewish sacred architecture avoided the David
Star on the façades, as element of discrimination. The six-
pointed star became widespread on synagogues only by
the end of the 19th century in Austria-Hungary.
06 See for that grave: Maroš Borský, Jana Švantnerová,
Znovuobjavené dedičstvo, Bratislava 2016, p. 98.
07 Inscriptions and symbols in this cemetery are dealt with in
the introductory chapters.

23.09
23.13 View of the cemetery from
23.14 its southern perimeter wall
23.10
Row of typical rabbi graves
23.11
The grave of Rabbi Simche
Bunim Sofer-Schreiber,
“Shevet Sofer,” 1842–1906,
the grandson of the famous
Rabbi Chatam Sofer with
“messages” of the pious
23.12
Richly decorated graves
with Romantic motifs
23.13
This tomb is a rare example
at this cemetery
of a gravestone with
flat ending resembling
an Ionic architrave
23.14
On the left a smaller tomb
features a semi-circular
ending, on the right
a major gravestone shows
a combination of shouldered
and oriental arch, topped
by a stepped pediment
226 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

23.15
23.16 23.17 23.18
The Bratislava Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Žižková Street 227

23.19 23.20
23.22 23.21

23.19
Two gravestones with
seven-foil top element
and two graves with
neo-Romanesque arches,
capitals and pediments,
topped by large acroteria
23.20
Tombs of rabbi-wives Gital
and Esther, with semi-
circular arches – both
23.15 eulogies start with words:
The gentle slope “Dear and important
of the cemetery, falling from lady…” referring to the
the north to the south significance of rebbetzins,
or rabbi-wives.
23.16
23.21
Two graves topped
with foil arches Gravestones with angle
acroteria and different
23.17 arches: three-pointed (front
Graves with semi-circular left) and semi-circular (front
arches topped by acroteria right), three-pointed (second
row left) and three-centred
23.18
(second row right)
Sarah’s tomb with
a semi-circular arch 23.22
topped by a large acriterion Hanah’s grave, topped with
and cantilevers (shoulders) an eight-pointed star from
on its sides the period of Romanticism
228 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

23.23 23.24
23.25
23.26 23.27
The Bratislava Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Žižková Street 229

23.23
View of the cemetery and the
landscape from the hilltop
23.24
Six modernist tombs, the
first three with only Hebrew
inscription, the last three
have also Roman letters
at the bottom of the
Hebrew text
23.28
23.29 23.30 23.25
23.31 23.32 Older marble
and more recent black
granite gravestones – the
latter are mainly flat obelisks
with saddle-roof ending
23.26
Newer Swedish granite
obelisks with
hip-roof ending
23.27
Gravestone of Joseph
Kellasch, son of Rabbi Akiva
haKohen in the form of a
natural stone, characteristic
of Reform Jewish
or Christian tombs
23.28
Stairs leading to the hilltop,
metal plaques signal sections
yod, waw (on the right)
and gimmel (in the centre)
23.29
Two gravestones with high
reverse ogee arches
23.30
Two gravestones with low
reverse ogee arches
23.31
Gravestone with low
reverse ogee arch, framed
23.32
Double gravestone for
a couple with low reverse
ogee arches – in some parts
of the cemetery there is no
gender segregation

The Bucharest Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery,
Known as the Philanthropy Cemetery
(Cimitirul Evreiesc Filantropia din București)
Jewish communities on the territory that would later be-
come 20th century Romania were established in the 2nd
century CE, at a time when Dacia was part of the Roman
Empire. The earliest Jewish (most likely Sephardic) pres-
ence in what would become Moldavia was recorded in
Cetatea Albă, in 1330. In Transylvania, Hungarian Jews
were recorded in Saxon citadels in 1492. The first Jews
living in Bucharest were attested in the 1550s.
Apart from Transylvania, which belonged to the Habsburg
Empire until World War One, Jews were in a much worse
position in Romania than in other European, even Bal-
kan countries. Jews living in Romania were denied cit-
izenship. The Allied Powers pressed Romania to grant
citizenship to Jews after the annexation of Transylvania
following World War One, i.e. as late as 1923, when the
constitution of Great Romania was drafted. However,
this normal status did not last long: under the impact of
Nazism, as early as 1937 Jews were excluded from pro-
fessional organisations. Due to pressure from the fascist
Iron Guard, King Carol II, who was considered a phi-
lo-Semite,01 adopted racial discrimination as the norm.
Nevertheless, Bucharest had a substantial Jewish com-
munity until the Shoa. The 1889 census registered 43,274
Jews and their number grew to 69,885 by 1930.
According to the Wiesel Commission report released by
the Romanian government in 2004, between 280,000
and 380,000 Jews were murdered by various means in
Romania, in the war zones of Bessarabia and Bukovina,
and in the Transdniestria Governorate. However, some
300,000 Jews survived and after World War Two these
were ‘sold’ by the communist government to the State
of Israel, just as ethnic Germans were ‘sold’ to Germany,
which secured a significant income for the ailing Roma-
nian economy, providing much needed hard currency.
The Filantropia Cemetery was established in 1865 with a
typical Ashkenazi arrangement, a rectangular grid. With-
24.01
Entrance to the Bucharest
Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery
known as the Philanthropy
Cemetery
CHAPTER 24
out major spatial divisions the cemetery is a single spa-
tial unit with relatively scarce vegetation, which makes
it transparent. It is connected with the street by a stern,
massive, stripped down, classicist entrance building with
some modernist and Art Deco elements, erected during the
renovations of 1934. In the entrance axis one encounters
the ceremonial building, which was constructed in stages
(1882 and 1910) and restored after a severe earthquake
on 10 November 1940. It reopened on 14 September
1941. This is a large and ornate ceremonial building with
an Italian neo-Renaissance interior, while the exterior is
a mix of neo-Renaissance details and the compositional
scheme of a Byzantine church. The aforementioned axis
is the spatial spine of the whole cemetery, which roughly
halfway is crossed by a shorter transversal axis.
The approximate pre- and post-World War Two size of
the cemetery is 9.6 hectares. More than 5,000 stones are
visible, mostly in their original position. Less than 25%
of the stones are toppled or broken. There are 19th and
20th century monuments of marble, granite, sandstone,
slate and concrete, with Hebrew, German, Romanian,
and French inscriptions. Many monuments have portraits
of the deceased on the stones or on metal fences around
the graves. There are no known mass graves. There is,
however, a monument commemorating the Jewish sol-
diers who died for Romania in World War One, behind
which small uniform matzeva-type gravestones of the
soldiers are lined up.
After visitors enter the modernist/Art Deco building they
are in a forecourt, characteristic of almost all metropoli-
tan cemeteries. This forecourt is defined by the entrance
building on its southern perimeter and the ceremonial hall
on its northern side. To the west there is a small park with
benches, some trees and a pergola that visually defines this
part of the forecourt. To the east this forecourt terminates
with sections consisting of graves. This forecourt contains
232
24.02
24.03
24.02
The entrance building and
tahara house of Philanthropy
Cemetery from the interwar
period, seen from the street
24.03
Carriage gateway of the
Philanthropy Cemetery, view
of the ceremonial building
24.04
Neo-Renaissance
ceremonial building (left)
and the modernist
entrance-office-tahara
building (right)
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
24.04
numerous benches, donated by individuals and fountains
also carrying the name and image of the donors.
The general impression of the cemetery in terms of its
graves is rather incoherent. There are older matzevot of
typical Eastern European provenance side by side with
interwar-period steles. For instance, in the central area of
the cemetery there are several graves for women with the
characteristic chandeliers referring to the women’s task
of candle-lighting on Erev Shabbat, a clear traditional
gender segregation which was later disregarded, but also
some gravestones removed and new children’s and fami-
ly graves inserted in this area.
24.05 The typological range of tombs is quite wide, from tra-
The vaulting and the dome ditional matzevot, steles, obelisks, columns, some lying
of the ceremonial hall slabs and pseudo sarcophagi to aedicules, organically
shaped stones, mausoleums and ohalim to combinations,
24.06
as well as an extensive use of wrought iron for framing
Entrance to
the plot of the grave. In some cases there are just little
the ceremonial hall
stone plaques fixed to the wrought iron frame, as on the
24.07 grave for Solomon Pinchus. It is unique that this ceme-
The ceremonial hall’s interior tery uses zinc finials on the vertical wrought endings of
The Bucharest Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery, Known as the Philanthropy Cemetery
the profiles, some of them cubes, but on the corners one
in the shape of a pomegranate. One tomb with a wrought
iron fence has a complete plaque made of zinc; it was
created in 1897 for Anna Feldmann (Hebrew name: Ha-
nah bat r. Zeidel). There are some graves with an interest-
ing combination of stone and metal, there are some cast
iron matzevot in combination with an iron grid.
From the interwar period there are a few modernist tombs.
They are simple black vertical slabs made of Swedish
granite. From the same period some other graves still use
233
24.05 24.06
24.07
the historicist vocabulary, but in a restrained manner or in
a mild Art Deco style, like the tomb for Felix and Paulina
Javitz of 1934. A further speciality of this grave is that
instead of a traditional inscription with block letters their
signatures are carved into the stone.
Tombs from the Communist period are simple vertical
slabs with the height being smaller than the width. Some
of them use a restrained orientalist vocabulary. As they
are usually apart from the previously occupied sections,
they create harmonious sections.
After the simple Communist period tombs, in the 20th cen-
tury old traditions were revived in a restrained postmodern
manner. There is a special double grave, a modern reinter-
pretation of the local Sephardi tradition in this Ashkenazi
cemetery. The Segal couple ordered a double horizontal
slab, slightly curved. Eugen’s name is first inscribed in
Romanian, Academician Prof. Dr. Docent Eugen Segal,
1933–2013, followed by the Hebrew text: Zalman ben
Yoseph Moshe zal.02 He was a chemist, member of the
Romanian Academy of Sciences, and in a circle there is
a book and a violin – referring to his scholarship and en-
thusiasm for music. His wife, on the left side, is still alive,
having also two inscriptions, mg. Sandra Segal, 1936–20,
a pharmacist, with a Hebrew inscription Sarah Rachel bat
Zvi – zal (blessed memory). Their neighbour, also a dou-
ble horizontal slab with a vertical slab, is the couple Re-
genstreif – Elise, 1922–2008, and Dan, 1925–2011. Both
names are in Roman letters topped by a menorah, while on
the horizontal slab are the Hebrew inscriptions, though not
of their Hebrew names, but the civilian name Regenstreif.
As a cemetery with a large number of pre-Emancipation
matzevot there is also a wide range of symbols on the
graves, such as pomegranate, torch upside down, bless-
ing of Kohanim, six leaves as hexagram, shaking hands,
Tree of Life, and numerous girdles. Inscriptions are He-
brew, German and Romanian, sometimes even French.
Storages of wrought iron glazed with opaque glass are a
speciality of this cemetery. The names of the donors are
234 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

24.08 24.09
24.10
24.11 24.12
The Bucharest Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery, Known as the Philanthropy Cemetery 235

24.08
The main lane with
the ceremonial building
at its end
24.09
24.13 Wide lane lined with trees
24.14 24.10
24.15 24.16
World War One
military section
24.11
Neo-Renaissance tombs
from the Gründerzeit
24.12
Narrow lane
marked by two old trees
24.13
Two columns topped
by eagles mark the entrance
to the World War One
military section
24.14
Graves of Jewish soldiers
who fell in World War One
24.15–16
Glazed iron storages
for gardening tools with
a plaque of the name
of the benefactor
236 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

24.17 24.18
24.19 24.20
The Bucharest Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery, Known as the Philanthropy Cemetery 237

displayed on stone plaques.03 Moreover, this cemetery has

a large number of benches with the names and photographs
of the people who donated them to the community. The
same applies to decorated fountains. Similar fountains can
be encountered in other Balkan countries, as for instance
in the Central Cemetery of Sofia, including its Jewish part.
Stylistically this cemetery reflects Central European Ash-
kenazi traditions. There are even some neo-Gothic inspired
tombs, which is an obvious western influence, as historic
Romania, apart from Transylvania, i. e. the so-called Ro-
manian Old Kingdom (Vechiul Regat), historically did not
have a Gothic period. The Free Style influence is repre-
sented in the details of obelisks and mausoleums, the latter
being far fewer than in other Ashkenazi cemeteries, which
signals a lower living standard than in Central Europe. Ori-
entalism was still in use in the interwar period in a stripped-
down version, as in the case of the grave for Jacques I.
Catz, 1924, and of the tomb of Loti and Leon Stark.
There are only a few graves of outstanding artistic value, but
the cemetery as a whole is a testimony to Romanian Jewish
history. The coherence of the cemetery is low and stylisti-
cally there is a slightly larger number of oriental-style mon-
uments than in most Jewish cemeteries of Central or East-
ern Europe. In terms of artistic achievement, the cemetery
is comparable to modest Ashkenazi cemeteries in smaller
towns of Central and Eastern Europe. There is no period
which would be dominant over the others. Artistically, the
interwar period graves are arguably of better quality. The
never seriously vandalized cemetery is maintained by the
Jewish Community. It is surrounded by housing blocks.

24.21
24.22 01 His lover, Elena Lupescu, was Jewish, as were a number
of his friends in government.
02 Zal is not part of the name, it means ‘his memory be blessed’.
03 See in detail in the introductory chapters.

24.19
Grave referring to the
Tablets of the Law (left) and
a Moorish style tomb with
the Tablets of the Law and
a Tree of Life motif (right)
24.20
The interior of the Goldberg
24.17
family mausoleum with
The grave of Adolf Hittler only Hebrew inscription
(1832–92), a Bucharest hat
maker, who was a “dear 24.21
man” (ish yakar) according Tomb as a natural stone
to the Hebrew eulogy. The formation, common at
gravestone is topped by Central European Ashkenazi
semi-circular arch and reform cemeteries
simplified angled acroteria.
24.22
24.18 A row of graves for women:
The Goldberg family Sephardi-type pseudo
mausoleum, an example sarcophagi topped
of late 19th century by Ashkenazi-type steles
classicising monument with classical elements:
of wealthy families acroteria, urns, festoons
238 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

24.23 24.24
24.25 24.26
The Bucharest Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery, Known as the Philanthropy Cemetery 239

24.27
24.28
24.29

24.23
Metal tombs: Wrought iron
railing running around the
perimeter of the plot, topped
on its shorter side by a very
thin gravestone ending
in reverse ogee arch
24.24
Wrought iron railing running
around the perimeter
of the plot, topped
on its shorter side by
a very thin gravestone
ending in engaged
semi-circular arches
24.25
Wrought iron railing running
around the perimeter
of the plot, topped on its
shorter side by a very thin
gravestone with flat ending
24.26
Wrought iron railing running
around the perimeter of the
plot, topped on its shorter
side by a cast iron plaque
with the inscription
24.27
Wrought iron railing running
around the perimeter of the
plot, framing a traditional
matzeva positioned
in the centre
24.28
Wrought iron railing running
around the perimeter of the
plot, framing a traditional
matzeva positioned in front
of the shorter side of the plot
24.29
Interwar period
modernist grave of
engineer Jacques I. Catz
with some Moorish elements
240 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

24.30 24.31
24.32 24.33
The Bucharest Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery, Known as the Philanthropy Cemetery 241

24.34
24.35
24.36
24.37

24.30
Modernist grave of the
writer Mihail Sebastian
with a tree-trunk fragment
as headstone
24.31
Modernist horizontal grave
of music critic Sava Segal
24.32
Modernist grave of the artist
H. M. Maxi made up of
a horizontal and vertical part
24.33
Modernist grave of the artist
Margareta Sterian made up of
a horizontal and vertical part
24.34–37
Benches with inscribed
names and photographs
of the donators

The Bucharest Sephardi Jewish Cemetery
(Cimitrul evreiesc de rit Sefard din București)
The Sephardic Jewish Cemetery in the Giurgiului resi-
dential neighbourhood, still in use, has a territory of some
four hectares and more than 5000 graves, of which some
25% are damaged. The plot of the cemetery is of irregular
shape, but it is divided by lanes which are laid out in an
orthogonal pattern. The cemetery is adjacent to the Luther-
an cemetery of Bucharest. The oldest known gravestone
dates from 1870. The graves, predominantly from the 20th
century and made of marble, granite, sandstone, slate, and
concrete carry Hebrew and Romanian inscriptions.
The cemetery has an impressive oriental-style entrance
building containing the ceremonial hall and tahara house.
The entrance building is dominated by a large central pro-
jection in the form of an iwan, the characteristic element
of pre-Islamic and Islamic architecture in the Middle East,
which is meant to refer to the oriental origin of the Jews.
This orientalism of the central iwan is reinforced by point-
ed arches and crenellations all over the building.
As with other Sephardi cemeteries in the Balkans, western
traditions, largely Ashkenazi forms of funerary art, charac-
terise the majority of monuments from the late 19th and from
the 20th centuries. Still, there are some older, traditional lying
Sephardic slabs aligned with the soil and with elaborate in-
scriptions and decorations. Some of these graves are topped
by an open book, as the one for Ernestine Isaac Cohen, from
the year 5671, i.e. 1912 according to the Gregorian calen-
dar. Some others feature torches shown upside down, which
is also a widespread motif of 19th century Ashkenazi and
Christian graves since the period of neo-Classicism. Often
the portraits of the deceased face the visitor from stones and
metal fences around the graves, similarly to Jewish funerary
monuments in other Christian Orthodox countries, such as
Russia, Ukraine, or Serbia in the 20th century, but here they
appear more frequently. On some obelisks, typical of Ashke-
nazi cemeteries of the period, textile imitations can be seen,
as in the Sephardi cemetery in Belgrade.
25.01
The main entrance
to the Bucharest Sephardic
Jewish Cemetery,
seen from the street
CHAPTER 25
There are also traditional curved Sephardic gravestones
with a parabolic cross section, which are typical of the Bal-
kans and North Africa and resemble mostly funerary mon-
uments in the great Jewish cemetery in Sarajevo from the
Ottoman period. Some of these may have a semi-circular
or even a polygonal cross section, or a half-hexagon. How-
ever, their inscription, which is exclusively in Hebrew, is
carved on the curved upper surface and the parabolic end
and not just at their end as in Sarajevo. Similar large lying
blocks can be found in Târgu Frumos (or Tîrgu Frumos)
in the north-east, the Moldavian part of Romania, but the
inscriptions are not legible anymore.
There are numerous fine lying slabs of white marble from
the 19th century with meander and floral decoration and
only Hebrew inscription. This tradition survived well into
the 20th century. The tomb of Veronica Porumbacu (1921–
1977) is certainly from the Communist period, and its fine
details and typefaces attest to high quality craftsmanship
even in the period of the harshest dictatorship.
Similar to its Ashkenazi counterpart, the Filantropia, this
cemetery is proof of a large but not particularly rich Jew-
ish community. Still, there are some small mausoleums,
some of them so modest that they resemble ohalim, but
in a Sephardi cemetery this is not a custom.
In the axis of the entrance gate there is a landmark, a
World War One monument with a strong vertical, an
obelisk set on a high pedestal and topped by an eagle,
surrounded by small matzevot for the soldiers. Along the
same axis there is an oriental-style fountain, probably
from the interwar period.
Most likely the most interesting part of this cemetery are
the large homogeneous sections created in the Commu-
nist period. Their tombs follow a common pattern, a thin
pseudo sarcophagus as horizontal member and a standing
slab as its vertical counterpart. Still, they are not made of
prefabricated stones, as each tomb is a bit different. There
244
25.02
25.02
The main entrance
to the cemetery
after evening closure
25.03
The main entrance
and office building
seen from inside the cemetery
25.04
The Atias family tomb with
photographs of the deceased
25.05
Memorial to victims
of World War One
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
are only a few trees in between that serve as a landmark
of this large area on the western side of this cemetery.
Apart from the entrance section and the long main lane,
the cemetery lacks architectural coherence and vegeta-
tion is scarce and sporadic. The cemetery is surrounded
by housing blocks from the Communist period and some
one-family houses built without effective urban regula-
tion. The cemetery is run by the Jewish community of
Bucharest. It is reasonably well kept, but some graves
are in poor shape, some of them show bullet marks from
World War Two.
The Bucharest Sephardi Jewish Cemetery 245

25.03
25.04 25.05
246 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

25.06 25.07 25.08

25.09 25.10 25.11

25.12 25.13 25.14

The Bucharest Sephardi Jewish Cemetery 247

25.15
25.16

25.06–14
Typical horizontal slab-type
Sephardic gravestones
25.15
Horizontal graves
overgrown by vegetation
25.16
Traditional lying
Sephardi gravestones with
semi-circular, parabolic
or polygonal cross section
248 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

25.17 25.19
25.18
25.20 25.21 25.22
The Bucharest Sephardi Jewish Cemetery 249

25.23

25.24 25.25 25.17

Proto-modernist
double family mausoleum
25.18
Proto-modernist
family mausoleum
25.19
Art Nouveau
family mausoleum
25.20–22
Funerary monuments made
of wrought iron with thin
gravestones integrated
into the metal frame
25.23
Obelisk-type graves with
photographs of the deceased
below the top
25.24
Broken column-type
funerary monuments
25.25
Obelisk-type graves
covered with drapery
250 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

25.26
25.27

25.26
Extraordinary harmony of
graves from the Communist
period reminiscent
of pre-Emancipation times
25.27
According to Jewish
tradition vegetation is
scarce and scattered, with
spontaneously grown trees
counterpointing the
horizontal character
of the site
The Bucharest Sephardi Jewish Cemetery 251

25.28 25.29
25.30

25.28
Memorial to the victims
of a fire on 4th March 1977,
Purim 5737
25.29
Fountain for ritual washing
near the entrance
25.30
Main lane – view of
the entrance building

The Bucharest New Jewish Cemetery,
Giurgiului Cemetery
The New Jewish Cemetery, also known as the Giurgiului
Cemetery, was established in 1929 and is the largest Jew-
ish burial place in Romania. It occupies 14 hectares and
by December 2012 35,000 people had been interred here.
It also contains older gravestones, which were transferred
to this cemetery from the old cemetery in Bucharest’s
Sevastopol Street, where burials were stopped in 1846
when there was no more burial space. It was officially
closed in 1913. Sevastopol Street Cemetery’s central lo-
cation hampered the city’s extension. In 1941, it was des-
ecrated by Romanian Legionnaires and then levelled by
the authorities, who had turned against it. However, the
Jewish community managed to save some stones, which
were moved to the other Jewish cemeteries, especially to
the one in Şoseaua Giurgiului Street 162.01
The New Bucharest Jewish Cemetery contains several
collective memorials: one dedicated to soldiers killed
during the First World War, another one built for the vic-
tims of the Holocaust, a third dedicated to the victims
of the Legionnaire Pogrom (21–23 January 1941), and
another commemorating 1,200 Jews who perished at sea
while attempting to flee the country in 1944–45, plus one
for female victims of the synagogue fire.
A railroad bisects the cemetery so that both plots have an
irregular form, but are organised on the basis of largely
rectangular grids. The western part contains the afore-
mentioned relocated gravestones. The rescued graves
from the Jewish Cemetery in Sevastopol Street create a
large lapidary which also contains Ashkenazi and Sep-
hardic gravestones. The Ashkenazi funerary monuments
are from Odessa, of which the most interesting ones are
of the tree-trunk type with cut-back branches, a motif
which can also be sporadically found in Eastern Europe,
where they have Polish/Hebrew/Yiddish inscriptions.
Here they have Cyrillic text, sometimes German inscrip-
tions, and usually images of the deceased. The Sephardic
26.01
Gate to Bucharest’s New
Jewish Cemetery
CHAPTER 26
graves are either the usual horizontal slabs or the curved
mummy-like massive stones with a curved, usually par-
abolic upper part, or a prismatic cross section, like their
Western European Sephardic counterparts, for instance
in Hamburg-Altona. They may have a semi-circular end-
ing as in Poland, with Torah Crowns, birds or lions.
The cemetery has a solemn entrance building beyond the
main gate, with a ceremonial hall, tahara house and offic-
es. It is an elegant, only one-storey-high building, domi-
nated by arcades with pointed arches, facing the entrance
rotunda with its fir trees. Its ceremonial hall is simple
and solemn, the walls are pierced by windows ending in
pointed arches, the floor is of yellow marble and the ceil-
ing has dark painted timber beams.
This cemetery has the most extravagant symbols of Bu-
charest’s Jewish cemeteries and probably well beyond. It
has a large, ohel-like funerary monument with an open
Torah scroll displayed on the architrave. There is a white
marble piano with a stool in front of it and three photo-
graphs of the deceased musician framed like icons, and
last but not least a turning lathe, also with a large photo-
graph of the deceased.
Except for the elegant entrance section, the cemetery
lacks architectural coherence, but it is a witness to Ro-
manian Jewish history. It is surrounded by non-disturb-
ing housing.
01 The only visual documentation we have about the
Sevastopol Cemetery in Bucharest are the drawings by
Lazar Zin, available in the Jewish archives in Bucharest.
254 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

26.02
26.03

26.02
View of the central part of
the cemetery from outside
26.03
Space in front of the
ceremonial hall
26.04
Fountain in the square in
front of the ceremonial hall
26.05
Window in the cemetery wall
26.06
Interior of the
ceremonial hall
The Bucharest New Jewish Cemetery, Giurgiului Cemetery 255

26.04 26.05
26.06
256 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

26.07 26.09
26.08
26.10 26.11
The Bucharest New Jewish Cemetery, Giurgiului Cemetery 257

26.12
26.13

26.07
Fountain in the square in
front of the ceremonial hall
26.08
Monument to the victims
of the pogrom of 21–23
January 1941 in Bucharest,
committed by the Romanian
Legionnaires
26.09
Monument to the victims who
perished in the Black Sea on
their way to the Holy Land
on 5 August 1944
26.10
Lapidary with gravestones
from Bucharest’s Sebastopol
Street Jewish Cemetery
26.11
Detail of the central building
containing the beit tahara
and the ceremonial hall
26.12
Monument to female
victims who perished in the
synagogue fire
26.13
View of the main lane
258 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

26.14 26.15
26.16
26.17 26.18 26.19
The Bucharest New Jewish Cemetery, Giurgiului Cemetery 259

26.20
26.21

26.14–15
Long horizontal Sephardic
gravestones with parabolic
cross-section
26.16
Long horizontal Sephardic
gravestones with polygonal
cross-section
26.17
Mausoleum of the interwar
period with an open Torah
scroll above the entrance
26.18
Tomb in the Art deco style
with image of the deceased
26.19
Tomb from after
World War Two in the shape
of a lathe with electric motor
and with large photograph
of the deceased
26.20
Diverse lying gravestones
26.21
Lapidary with branching
tree-type tombs from the
Sebastopol Street Cemetery

The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery
in Budapest (Salgótarjáni úti Izraelita Temető)
Hungary, historically the Kingdom of Hungary or Magyar
Királyság (1000–1946 with the exception of 1918–1920),
from 1686 part of the Habsburg Empire, from 1867 offi-
cially Austria-Hungary until its collapse in 1918, has had
a distinct Jewish history and culture, which remarkably
differ from that in the Holy Roman Empire or in the Pol-
ish lands. There has been an almost continuous Jewish
presence on the territory of the Hungarian Kingdom and
its successor states since Roman times. Gravestones bear
witness to Jewish presence here from the 3rd and 4th cen-
turies to our times. While Jews were expelled from the
German lands in the Middle Ages and early modern times,
in the Hungarian Kingdom, despite temporary expulsions,
significant Jewish settlements persisted in the High Mid-
dle Ages and late medieval and early modern times. In So-
pron two medieval synagogues have been preserved, one
public, built around 1250 and a similar, but private, built
around 1300, both located in the heart of the medieval
urban core on the main street historically called Jewish
Street, today Új Street. Jews were not confined to a Ghet-
to, they shared the street with gentiles, their community
synagogue was visible from the street, although it was
built in the courtyard of Jewish houses. Buda had one of
the largest Jewish communities of medieval Europe and
certainly the largest late Gothic synagogue.01 Its builder,
Jacob Mendel, was the treasurer of the great Renaissance
King Mathias Corvinus (Hungarian: Mátyás Király, 1443
Cluj/Kolozsvár/Klausenburg – 1490 Buda). Mendel was
allowed to ride in the procession of the King’s wedding
and to have a Jewish flag with a Magen David, which was
supposed to be the first public representative use of this
symbol in medieval Europe.
Jews persisted during the Ottoman occupation in Buda
from 1541 and they were expelled only during the lib-
eration in 1686 together with the Muslims, but about a
century later Jews returned to the country,02 albeit under
27.01
Gate building
of the Salgótarjáni Street
Jewish Cemetery in Budapest;
architect Béla Lajta, 1908
CHAPTER 27
different terms: they were protected Jews of feudal lords,
barred from royal free towns, and obliged to live on feu-
dal estates until 1840, when they were allowed to settle
freely in the cities.03
Interestingly, the breakthrough occurred due to a demo-
graphic anomaly of Hungary: ethnic Hungarians made
up 47-48% of the total population of the Hungarian
Kingdom. The 4-5% Jews were encouraged to declare
themselves as Hungarian speaking, making the host
nation’s majority in their own country. In exchange the
Jews got unprecedented economic and cultural opportu-
nities in the country. Similarly to other Eastern or East-
ern Central European countries, in Hungary the Jews
became essential in the 19th century modernisation of
the kingdom, fostering trade and commerce and later
also culture.04 Out of 13 Hungarian Nobel laureates eight
were Jewish.05
Thus, unlike German Jews, Jews in Hungary were able to
feel more relaxed and to maintain their Jewishness much
better than Jews in the German-speaking lands. In fact,
linguistically the Hungarian Jewish culture was mixed.
Jews spoke Yiddish, German, Hungarian, and the Sla-
vonic languages of the regions they came from (Czech,
Slovak, Polish, etc.) and they significantly contributed to
the multifaceted character of Budapest’s culture until the
interwar period.
By 1900 Jews constituted 5% of the general population
(around one million people in total) and roughly 23.6% of
the population of the capital city.06 In the 1930s the Pest Jew-
ish community numbered 250,000 members and made up
20.3% of the general population.07
After World War One Hungary lost two thirds of its
territory and almost all minority population. The Jews
were not needed as a balancing agent and their perse-
cution started. As early as in 1920 Jews faced discrim-
ination that peaked in the so-called ‘Jewish Laws’ in
262 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

27.02 27.03

the late 1930s, leading straight to the Holocaust. While
almost all provincial Jewry perished in the Holocaust,
as in the territories recaptured by Hungary,08 in the wake
of World War Two the majority of Jews survived in the
Budapest Ghetto and the so-called ‘protected houses’,
designated apartment blocks scattered all over the city,
but more intensely in the modernist Jewish Quarter
Újlipótváros. The Swedish, Portuguese, Swiss and oth-
er embassies provided Jews with so-called Schutzpässe
meant to protect them from Hungarian Nazis and their
German masters.09
However, later a good part of Budapest’s Jews fled the
Stalinist regime in 1956 for the Americas and Israel, re-
ducing the number of Jews in the Hungarian capital radi-
cally and ever since the number of Jews is estimated to be
around 100,000. They have an intense cultural life, run
schools and even a small university.
27.02
Gateway with
quasi-medieval elements 27.04
The honorary section after
27.03
rearrangement of 1908
Orientalising ceremonial
buildingand tahara house 27.05
(dome is missing); Old gravestones
architect Béla Lajta, 1908 from the 1870s
Budapest, nicknamed Judapest by Karl Lueger, the not
overtly philo-Semitic mayor of Vienna around 1900,
has six major Jewish cemeteries, two large ones from
the Gründerzeit. The one in Salgótarjáni Street is the
most spectacular testimony to the Hungarian Gründer-
zeit and the Jewish presence in it. The cemetery was
created in 1874 by splitting off the south-east tip of the
Kerepesi National Cemetery along Salgótarjáni Street,
on a territory of five hectares, with some 12,800 buri-
als. Its largely rectangular territory is divided into six
major and three smaller sections, of which the first
contains the entrance courtyard, defined by the gate
building, the ceremonial building, the wall to the ad-
jacent Christian cemetery and a wrought-iron fence to
the cemetery proper. Walking along the axis defined by
the entrance, one crosses the ceremonial building and
arrives at a little square with the most prominent funer-
ary monuments. While largely this section is also rec-
tangular, it has a lane that cuts the entrance axis under an
acute angle, which renders the space organic, with some
graves set along the main grid and some others along
the slanting lane. This planning irregularity, stemming
from an earlier layout that was altered in 1906, gave the
opportunity to create some monuments taking advantage
of this spatial variety. Recent research discovered that
crypts were built in advance, which defined the layout of
the honorary section.10
Typologically this cemetery is one of the richest in Eu-
rope. 19th century graves are of the matzeva type, fol-
The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest
lowed by typical late 19th century obelisks, after which a
multiplicity of types took over: steles, aedicules, columns
(mainly broken), and large architectural compositions.
A speciality of this cemetery is the parallel setting of old
and new tombs: along the lanes are new graves and be-
hind them the old ones, mainly from the late 18th to early
19th centuries.
In stylistic terms, there is a great variety from the 1890s
to the 1920s, with an emphasis on Art Nouveau and Wie-
ner Werkstätte, more so than in many other metropolitan
Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Still, the most prestigious
Jewish families never opted for the ‘rebellious Seces-
sion’. Due to the official conservative political elite of
the country, to which these Jewish families wanted to
belong, they would not have tolerated such a move. For
instance, Knight Ignaz Wechselmann’s grave was de-
signed by the rather conservative Hungarian star archi-
tect, the gentile Ignaz Alpár. Similarly, the richest Jewish
family of the kingdom, Weiss, commissioned an aca-
demically clean neo-classical monument, as did Baron
Hatvany-Deutsch, the industrial magnate and patron of
Hungarian modern literature. Upper middle class clients,
however, wholeheartedly accepted Art Nouveau, either
its Viennese edition, the Secession, or even its Hungarian
version, the Magyar szecesszió as well as the idiom of the
Wiener Werkstätte.
The language of inscription follows the cultural transfor-
mation of Hungarian Jews. Older graves, mainly those
taken from the older Budapest cemeteries, carry only He-
263
27.04
27.05
brew inscriptions. Graves after the opening of this burial
place have Hebrew and German inscriptions, and gradu-
ally German texts were replaced by Hungarian, while the
number of Hebrew inscriptions also gradually decreased,
often disappearing entirely in the 20th century. In some
cases, in Budapest there was also a revival of Hebrew
text as at Berlin Weißensee, but this was mainly limit-
ed to the tombs designed by architect Béla Lajta for the
Sváb family and for Vilmos Bacher.
The Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery is the metropolitan
Jewish cemetery in Europe with the most original funer-
ary monuments of outstanding artistic value, created by
leading Hungarian architects from 1900 to World War
One. The cemetery represents a harmonious ensemble
of resting places of leading Hungarian Jews (prominent
families, artists, rabbis in a separate lane), and the middle
classes. It has a unique gate building and an extraordi-
nary ceremonial hall with tahara house, both designed by
architect Béla Lajta.
This is one of two cemeteries with outstanding funerary
architecture. Here, Béla Lajta, the most spectacular and
the most prolific architect of Jewish funerary monuments,
designed his unique tombs from 1908 to 1918. They attest
to his evolution from massive Swedish granite, his Loo-
sian spell to his late Jewish revival work and his marble
matzevot. The Sváb family tomb (1909) quotes ancient
Mesopotamian architecture in which the characteristic La-
massus are shown as two stylized eagles symbolising the
gate motif, a passage from this world to the other. In this
264
27.06
27.07
grave he developed his special, modernist Hebrew fonts
that make up a frieze. The Brody family grave (1908–09)
has multiple quotations from architectural history. Located
on an acute intersection of lanes it is formed like a round
temple fragment with details recalling wood carvings from
north German Fachwerk (timber frame) houses. His Gut-
mann family tomb (1908) also quotes the gate motif, this
time with Judean lion heads, but here the material is not
black granite, but white marble. Finally, his swansong,
the tomb for Vilmos Bacher, the famous Jewish scholar,
returns to the matzeva tradition with its material, shape,
decoration and justified Hebrew script.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
27.08
Notable people buried at the cemetery include Ede Horn,
the leader of Hungarian emigration after the Revolution
in 1848 and later member of the government; József
Ullmann, M.P.; Vilmos Vázsonyi, M.P. and minister of
justice; Baron Manfréd Weiss, the most important in-
dustrialist of the country; Baron Lajos Hatvany Deutsch,
industrialist and patron of modern Hungarian literature.
Near the entrance, there is a lane of rabbis and Jewish
scholars, of which the most prominent were Mayer Kai-
serling, Mózes Bloch and Vilmost Bacher.
At the east end of the cemetery is a modest Holocaust
Memorial erected in 2002. (The monumental Hungarian
The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest
27.06
architect Béla Lajta, 1909
The crossing of two main
lanes in the cemetery
with the landmark The Guttman family’s
gravestone of architect
Vilmos Freund (1922) architect Béla Lajta, 1908
265
Holocaust Memorial is at the other large Jewish cemetery
in Kozma Street.)
The cemetery as a whole is protected by law and 24 fu-
nerary monuments enjoy special protection due to the
significance of the interred people. Some ten to fifteen
percent of the cemetery’s graves have been surveyed as a
pilot investigation for launching a major research project
aiming at a restoration of the cemetery, which would in-
clude minimal reshaping of the landscaping.
The cemetery is closed to new burials and possesses a
high degree of authenticity and integrity. It has a gener-
ously designated buffer zone and is adjacent to the na-
tional cemetery. It is also not far from the new House of
Fates, a sort of Holocaust museum, not yet open, which
will focus on the deportations to the death camps.
01 However, Jews faced expulsion in the Middle Ages from
numerous Hungarian cities, such as Sopron (Ödenburg)
and Bratislava (Pozsony, Preßburg, Prešporek, Požuna).
02 Mass Jewish immigration to the territory of Hungary
started only during the 18th century, from Lower
Austria (especially between 1700 and 1735), from
Moravia (1700–1835, but mainly around 1735) and
from Galicia (between 1787 and 1869). In Hungary,
between 1720 and 1825 the number of Jews increased
by 180,000 (from 0.5% to 1.8% of the total population)
and between 1825 and 1869 from 190,000 to 542,000
(1.8% to 4.0%). See: Walter Pietsch, “A zsidók
bevándorlása Galíciából és a magyarországi zsidóság”
(The Jewish Immigration from Galicia and the Jewry
in Hungary), Valóság, 1988/11, pp. 46–49.
03 In Hungary Jewish Emancipation occurred in three major
stages. In 1840 Jews were allowed to settle in towns and
cities (except mining towns). In 1867 they were granted
civil rights and in 1895 they were granted full religious
rights and confessional equality (Law of Reception).
04 Relatively few Jews worked in public services, these
professions remained largely closed to them: 5.7%
of state officials, 4.1% of judges, 45.2% of lawyers
(sic), 41.0% of official doctors, 39.5% of hospital
doctors and 62.1% of private doctors (sic) were Jewish.
They were also outstanding in literature and art. 24%
of private scientists and writers, 42.5% of editors
and newspaper writers, 16.5% of painters, 17.4% of
sculptors, 32.6% of singers, 15.4% of instrumental
musicians and 22.6% of actors were Jews. Beside the
intellectual careers, the proportion of Jews was 0.58%
27.09 in primary production (landowners), 60.1% in trade and
27.10 banking (independents), 54.8% were clerks and 33.1%
were assisting staff. Among craftsmen, the number of
Jews was significant for innkeepers (41.7%), butchers
(24.1%), tailors (21.0%) and especially book printers
(58.1%). Jews were few among sports coaches, police
and military officers. See: Péter Ujvári (ed.), Zsidó
27.07–08 lexikon (Jewish Lexicon). An edition of the Jewish
The Sváb family’s Lexicon, Budapest 1929, pp. 562–564.
funerary monument; 05 http://miertcion.blogspot.hu/2011/10/nobel-dijas-zsidok-
szama-szazhetvenre.html, retrieved 1 April 2016.
27.09–10 06 See: László Sebők, Zsidók Budapesten, RubiconOnline,
Történelmi Magazin, http://www.rubicon.hu/magyar/
funerary monument; oldalak/zsidok_budapesten/1/, last retrieved
20 January 2018
266 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

27.11 27.12

27.13 27.14 27.15

The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 267

27.11
The Bródy family’s
funerary monument;
architect Béla Lajta, 1908
27.12
Ensemble of large
Gründerzeit funerary
monuments along the
western perimeter wall
of the cemetery
27.13
27.16 Funerary monument of
27.17 Baron Manfred Weiss, 1922
27.18 27.19
27.14-15
Neglected neo-Classical
family tomb – exterior
and interior
27.16
The Baron Kohner
family tomb,
architect Béla Lajta, 1914
27.17
The Vilmos Freund family
funerary monument; architect
Emil Vidor, 1910 (in the
background the similarly
black granite Bródy family’s
funerary monument by
architect Béla Lajta, 1908)
27.18–19
The gravestone
of the noted Jewish scholar
Dr. Vilmos Bacher and his
wife Ilona Goldzieher;
architect Béla Lajta, 1918
268 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 269

27.20
View of the honorary section
(T-Section) from the north
270 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

27.21
27.23 27.24
The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 271

27.22

07 In that period, Budapest hosted the most populous

Jewish community in Europe, taking over the lead
from Warsaw that hosted the largest number of Jews
before World War One. See: A zsidók Magyarországon,
Stratégiai Szolgálatok Hivatala (Office of Strategic
Services), Kutatási és Elemzési Osztály, K & E sz. 2027,
Washington, 1944. október 19. Declassified material of
OSS, In: Múlt és Jövő, http://www.multesjovo.hu/en/
aitdownloadablefiles/download/aitfile/aitfile_id/772/, last
retrieved 27 January 2018
08 Redrawing Europe’s map resulted in the late 1930s in a
partial (re-)establishment of Historic Hungary.
09 Still, the Budapest Jewry suffered significant losses during
27.21 atrocities committed by Arrow Cross Nazi paramilitary
View of the honorary section units in the city and by men from forced labour camps.
from the start 10 In summer 2015 an inter-university collaborative research
of the rabbi lane between Szent István University’s Ybl Miklós Faculty
27.22 of Architecture and Faculty of Landscaping as well as
the Budapest Technical University’s architectural faculty
Double family mausoleum
resulted in diverse discoveries, the one mentioned
27.23–24 above probably being the most interesting. Via non-
Arcades with central invasive methods, meticulous surveying and sketching of
projection and dome graves, along with archival sources students came to the
for five buried families aforementioned conclusions.
272 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

27.25 27.26 27.27

27.28

27.25
Stairs leading to the cella of
the Baron Hatvany-Deutsch
mausoleum
27.26
View from the Baron
Hatvany-Deutsch mausoleum
to the lane leading south
27.27
Context of the Baron
Hatvany-Deutsch mausoleum
27.28
The Baron Hatvany-Deutsch
mausoleum
27.29
The interior of the
Brody family mausoleum
27.30
Papyrus capital from the
Brody family mausoleum
27.31
Detail of the plinth from the
Brody family mausoleum
27.32
The Goldberger family tomb,
the tallest Egyptian revival
monument in the cemetery
27.33
The Brody family
mausoleum, the largest
Egyptian revival monument
in the cemetery
The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 273

27.29 27.30 27.31

27.32 27.33
274
27.34
27.34
Tombs of Wilmos Grauer
and Károly Reusz, president
of the Chevra Kadisha.
These two tombs function as
gatewayto the honorary lane
27.35
Asymmetric Art Nouveau
tomb comprising a pillar
rising from a sarcophagus
and an easy chair on its left
27.36
The largest Art Nouveau
tomb in the cemetery
27.37
The Gavosdai Sváb Sándor
family mausoleum, architect
Béla Lajta, 1914
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
27.35
27.36
27.37
27.38
Middle section of the
cemetery, further away from
the main lanes, with older
graves of the matzeva type
27.39
The lane of rabbanim and
Jewish community leaders
of the Jewish Community
of Pest
27.40
Lane of mausoleums along
the northern perimeter wall
27.41
Lane of mausoleums along
the western perimeter wall
The Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 275

27.38
27.39 27.40 27.41

The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery
in Budapest (Kozma utcai Izraelita temető)
Established in 1893, this is the largest Jewish cemetery in
Europe. Today, it occupies some 80 hectares and has wit-
nessed some 300,000 burials. It is still functioning and is
diverse in terms of funerary monuments and landscaping. It
is adjacent to the city’s Rákoskeresztúr Central Cemetery –
their entrances are just two tram stops away from each other.
In 1926, the cemetery was enlarged by some 30 hectares
and parallel to that an Orthodox cemetery was established
along its eastern perimeter. The latter is strictly separated
from the large Kozma Street Cemetery and is called the
Gránátos Street Orthodox Jewish cemetery (Gránátos utcai
Ortodox Izraelita Temető). While the cemetery has a strictly
rectangular, gridded layout, in some smaller parts there are
diagonal and circular lanes. These parts are irregular rather
than planned, so the departure from the rectangular is not
perceived as an intention to create a complex geometry.
There is another irregularity: in section 1, the Jewish ceme-
tery is connected by a gate to the Christian cemetery, which
is, however, permanently closed.
In the Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery along the perimeter
walls the usual rich funerary monuments line up, some of
them designed by leading architects of the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, the most notable being Béla Lajta.
Half of his output can be found at this cemetery.
This cemetery is complementary to the other large one
in Budapest Salgótarjáni Street. While the Salgótarjáni
Street cemetery is more of a ‘Hungarian Jewish National
Pantheon’, this one is more plebeian with the graves of
the average Jewish population of the past 130 years in
the Hungarian capital. It is closer to the ideal of Jewish
cemeteries with scarcer vegetation in most of its parts
and it is also more diverse than its older sister in terms
of layout, content and formation of its diverse sections.
It has one of the largest ceremonial buildings and taha-
ra houses in Europe, comparable to the one at Berlin
Weißensee Jewish Cemetery and the New Jewish Ceme-
28.01
The entrance courtyard
and the ceremonial building
of the Kozma Street
Jewish Cemetery in Budapest;
architect Vilmos Freund, 1893
CHAPTER 28
tery in Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof. It was designed in 1893
by one of the first significant Jewish architects of the
Habsburg Empire, Vilmos Freund, who was among the ar-
chitects of the lavish Andrássy Avenue, the most splendid
thoroughfare in the centre of Budapest, today a UNESCO
World Heritage site. The ceremonial building has two cer-
emonial halls, of which today just one is operational.
This cemetery has probably the largest number of collec-
tive monuments among the Jewish burial places in Eu-
rope. The most exquisite is the one commemorating the
Jewish heroes of the 1848–49 Revolution and the War of
Independence, designed by Béla Lajta in 1913. This is
one of the earliest testimonies to Jewish heroism for a fu-
ture nation state in modern times marked by a collective
memorial. It was necessitated by the closure of two older
cemeteries01 where these Jewish soldiers had been initial-
ly interred. The shape of the relatively modest stele re-
vives the matzeva tradition and the custom of continuous
lettering from edge to edge, but instead of Hebrew on the
main side it uses Hungarian to describe the story of clos-
ing the two old cemeteries and of relocating the earthly
remains of the soldiers, ending with a poetic sentence
about their heroism and contribution to the freedom of
their new homeland – a leitmotif of Jewish assimilation
to local culture. The upper part of the matzeva ends in an
elegant bell-shaped form that features floral decoration
on its two sides and a roaring Judean lion in the middle.
This monument is a synthesis of Jewish traditional forms
and the decoration of the Wiener Werkstätte.
A special section of the cemetery section is devoted to
Jewish soldiers who fell for the fatherland in World War
One. In the middle of an open space a large obelisk-like
stone pillar towers with eagles and swords on its two
sides, with a Hebrew inscription below the top and a
Hungarian inscription above the base. Not far from this
monument stands one of the largest Holocaust memori-
278
28.02
als in the world, designed by Alfréd Hajós, constructed
immediately after the Shoa. It measures roughly 60 by
30 metres, is 20 metres high, and has a vast number of
names of Hungarian Holocaust victims on its walls. In
addition, this cemetery has several separate monuments
recalling pogroms in Hungary carried out by Hungarian
Nazis, independently of their German counterparts.
As mentioned, similarly to the Jewish cemetery in Salgótar-
jáni Street, this one also contains gravestones designed by
Béla Lajta. Here stands his first funerary work, the family
grave for Sándor Schmidl (1904) in the honorary section in
front of the entrance perimeter wall. It is a small mausole-
um built of blue glazed ceramics and richly decorated in the
spirit of Hungarian folklorist Art Nouveau called magyaros
szecesszió. It is a spectacular synthesis of Hungarian motifs
and Jewish symbols. At the bottom of it there are two mugs
that could be interpreted as the symbols of the Levites, but
instead of water they contain plants growing out of them
in a manner characteristic of local folklore. In the middle
there is a wrought-iron door with the motif of a willow tree,
which also quotes the Tablets of the Law. The keystone of
the arch over this entrance is a paraphrase of the pomegran-
ate, joined on the left and right side by wings of the cheru-
bim in a more naturalistic representation than on the ark of
synagogues of the period. Above this fruit there is a heart-
shaped mosaic with the inscription of the family’s name in
Hungarian, topped by a six-pointed star made of Hungarian
honey-cakes and two poppies. The façade and the section
of the small edifice – readable also as an ohel – are par-
abolic, referring to modern architecture of the period and
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
also to the stack, a favourite reference point of Hungarian
folklore. Unlike the Hungarian-Jewish mix on the exterior,
the inner space is more Jewish – as was the case with many
synagogues of the time –, only Biblical symbols, such as
life tree, Star of David, Lulav, etc., all in blue mosaic and
yellow/gold surfaces.
Not far from the Schmidl tomb, there is another nearly par-
abolic small edifice erected for the Griesz family (1907).
Here Hungarian folklore has disappeared, Expressionist
decoration covers the exterior and Jewish decoration the
interior that is topped by a small dome with a sun at its top
and a row of windows below it, all covered with blue-gold
mosaics, thus resembling the domes of synagogues of the
time. The pendentives are covered with palm tree branch-
es. Judean lions decorate the walls.
Farther from the honorary section, deep into the central
area of the cemetery, are four notable graves also related to
Béla Lajta. The first on the left is the tomb of Sándor Ep-
stein and Malvina Leitersdorfer (around 1904), apparently
in an avant-garde form, actually a rereading of a special
type of orthodox grave common at the Orthodox cemetery
of Bratislava.02 In the middle there is the tomb of Henrik
Lajta (1921, posthumous work), a return to the matzeva tra-
dition; on the right is the tomb of Teréz Ungar and Dávid
Lajta, the architect’s parents (1903), represented in an an-
drogynous form inspired by folklore. Across the lane, on
the far right is Béla Lajta’s own grave, designed by his
pupil, the famous architect Lajos Kozma (1921).
Notable people buried at the cemetery include architects
Leopold Baumhorn, who designed or restored 42 syna-
The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 279

28.03 28.04

gogues, Alfréd Hajós, who was also an Olympic champion

in swimming and Béla Lajta, who created over 40 Jewish
gravestones; playrights Sándor Bródy and Ernő Szép; Ig-
nác Goldziher, orientalist; Ernő Osvát, literary critic; and
Béla Komjádi, Olympic champion in swimming.
While the cemetery’s remote location warrants that the
sufficient buffer zone will remain intact, the cemetery
has lost some of its authenticity due to new burials in
the old sections. New gravestones, albeit not very numer-
ous, disturb the integrity of the 19th century sections with
their very small size and cheap materials. The cemetery
is owned by the Jewish Community of Budapest which is
able to profitably sell plots close to the entrance. This and
the lack of protection may lead to further deterioration.

01 These cemeteries were located on Váci Road and on Lehel

Street, both of which underwent intense urbanization in
the 19th century.
02 There is one tomb of this shape in Vienna’s
Zentralfriedhof, in the Old Jewish Cemetery.

28.03
The preburial
ceremonial hall for men
28.04
28.02 Detail of the ceremonial
Northern façade building – a torch set upside
of the ceremonial building down symbolising death
280 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

28.05 28.06
28.07
28.08 28.09
The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 281

28.10
28.11

28.05
Monument to Jewish soldiers
who fell in World War One
28.06
Fountain
of the Holocaust Memorial
28.07
The Holocaust Memorial;
architect Alfréd Hajós
28.08
Pylon
of the Holocaust Memorial
28.09
Memorial to the victims
of the raid of Arrow
Cross (Hungarian Nazi
paramilitary) troops
at Pusztavámi
28.10
Memorial to the forced
labourers murdered on their
way home in Kiskunhalas on
11 October 1944
28.11
Detail of the memorial to the
victims of the raid of Arrow
Cross troops at Pusztavám
282 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

28.12 28.13

28.14 28.15
The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 283

28.12
The Sándor Schmidl
mausoleum;
architect Béla Lajta, 1904
28.13
The Griesz family
mausoleum, around 1907;
architect Béla Lajta
28.14
Interior of the Sándor
Schmidl mausoleum;
architect Béla Lajta
28.16 28.17
28.15
28.18
28.19 28.20 Interior of the Griesz family
mausoleum;
architect Béla Lajta
28.16
The tomb of Teréz Ungar
and Dávid Leitersdorfer;
architect Béla Lajta, 1903
28.17
The tomb of Henrik Lajta;
architect Béla Lajta
28.18
Gravestone of the wife of
Miksa Szabolcsi (Szabolcsi
Miksáné, no other name
mentioned), 1911;
architect Béla Lajta
28.19
The tomb of Sándor Epstein
and Malvina Leitersdorfer;
architect Béla Lajta,
around 1904
28.20
The mausoleum of Samu
Proper and his family;
architect Béla Lajta, 1914
284 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

28.21 28.22
28.23 28.24
The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 285

28.21
The Weisz family tomb,
1915, one of the very few
oriental style monuments
28.22
The Weisz family tomb, detail
28.25
28.26 28.23
The tomb
of Zsigmond Lukács,
architect Béla Lajta, 1912
28.24
Detail of the tomb
of Zsigmond Lukács
28.25
Memorial to Jewish soldiers
of the 1848–49 revolution,
whose remains were
removed from the liquidated
cemeteries in Váci Road
and Lehel Road in 1910;
architect Béla Lajta
28.26
Detail of the memorial
to Jewish soldiers
of the 1848-49 revolution
286 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

28.27
28.29

28.27
Central area of the cemetery
with the oldest matzeva
type graves. This area is
surrounded by sections
with trees.
28.28
Winding lane in the inner
area of the cemetery – on
the right side is the grave
of architect Béla Lajta,
designed by his pupil,
Lajos Kozma
28.29
Edge of the central area
without trees, where
traditional Jewish cemetery
landscape meets sections
resembling park cemeteries
28.30
The main lane of the
cemetery that sets out from
the main gate and runs along
the cemetery’s entire length,
bypassing the memorial
to Jewish soldiers of
the 1848–49 revolution
28.31
View of the beginning of the
honorary lane from the space
in front of the ceremonial
hall ensemble
The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest 287

28.28
28.30 28.31

The New Jewish Cemetery in Cracow,
Miodowa Street (Nowy Cmentarz Żydowski w Krakowie)
During the late Middle Ages the geographical centre of
gravity of the Ashkenazim, together with their tradition-
al cultural life, shifted eastward, away from the German
lands into Poland and Lithuania, including present-day
Belarus and Ukraine. Until the Holocaust, Poland had the
largest number of Ashkenazi Jews and Jews in general,
some 3,500,000 people, c. 10% of the general population.
The Nazis murdered three million Polish Jews, roughly
the same number as Christian Poles. Just approximately
200,000 Jews survived the Shoa, of whom 136,000 re-
turned from the Soviet Union. Soon the majority of them
left the People’s Republic of Poland for the nascent State
of Israel and North or South America. The number of Pol-
ish Jews has been falling constantly even after the fall of
Communism and currently there are about 3000 Jews liv-
ing in the country.01 Still, the visitor gets a more optimistic
impression as ‘pseudo Jewish life’ – ‘virtually Jewish,’ as
Ruth Ellen Gruber puts it02 – is intense in tourist centres,
of which the most prominent is Cracow and its Kazimierz
neighbourhood. Łódź’s Jewish history compared to more
established ‘Polish Jewish cities’ – Cracow, Lublin, War-
saw, to name just a few – is short, but very intense.
Cracow, in Polish Kraków, was first mentioned in written
sources in 965. It was the capital of the Crown of the King-
dom of Poland from 1038 to 1569 and of the Polish–Lith-
uanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1596, and it is one of
the most important cities of European Jewish history. From
the 18th century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was
twice partitioned by its neighbours Russia, the Habsburg Em-
pire, and Prussia, a fact that in terms of Jewish cemeteries
created a very rich variety on the territory of today’s Poland.
Poland’s Złoty Wiek or Golden Age, the 15th and 16th
centuries, was the period when Cracow’s famous Jewish
quarter was founded. It was located in the north-eastern
part of the suburb of Kazimierz, with its famous main
square (actually a very wide street) called Szeroka Ulica
29.01
Entrance to the New Jewish
Cemetery in Miodowa Street,
Cracow, with the pre-burial
building
CHAPTER 29
(wide street) and synagogues, of which the late Gothic
Stara Synagoga (Stara Bożnicą), or Old Synagogue, is
the oldest Jewish place of worship in Poland, important
architecturally and a landmark of Kazimierz. It was the
Austrian Emperor Joseph II who changed the status of
Kazimierz as a separate city by turning it into a district
of Cracow in 1791. The richer Jewish families began to
move away. However, because of the injunction against
travel on the Sabbath, most Jewish families stayed rela-
tively close to the historic synagogues.
After the third partition of Poland in 1795, Cracow be-
came the seat of the Galicia province in the Austrian Em-
pire until its dissolution in 1918. This had an impact on
the city’s further development and made its Gründerzeit
similar to the one in other Habsburg provincial capital
cities. Still, the New Jewish Cemetery, particularly its
earlier layers, significantly differs from its counterparts
in other parts of the Habsburg Empire.
At the time of independent Poland from 1918 onwards Cra-
cow remained an influential centre of Jewish spiritual life,
with all its manifestations of religious observance from Or-
thodox, to Chasidic and Reform flourishing side by side.03
Before World War II, the city was home to some 60,000–
80,000 Jews (out of the city’s total population of 237,000),04
and following the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in
September 1939 the city became part of the General Gov-
ernment, a separate administrative region of the Third Re-
ich, and from 4 November 1939 its capital. The Nazis en-
visioned turning Cracow into a completely German town.
In an operation called Sonderaktion Krakau, more than 180
university professors and academics were arrested and sent
to the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps.
The Jewish population was first confined to a ghetto, where
many died of illness or starvation. Those who survived the
ghetto were later murdered or sent to the concentration
camps of Płaszów and Oświęcim (German: Auschwitz).
290
29.02
After the war, some 4,282 Jews resurfaced in Cracow.
By early 1946, Polish Jews returning from the Sovi-
et Union swelled the Jewish population of the city to
approximately 10,000. Pogroms in August 1945 and
throughout 1946 as well as a number of murders of
individual Jews led to the emigration of many of the
surviving Cracow Jews. By the early 1990s, only a few
hundred Jews remained.
The beautiful and famous tourist destination of Cracow
is probably the best place in Europe to emulate the once
intense Jewish life. Shops once owned by Jews received
inscriptions that allude to their previous Jewish own-
ers. However, they were not given back to their legiti-
mate owners or their inheritors. Gentile Poles, masked
with kipot or large black carets typical of haridim, play
Klezmer music, and the superficial visitor gets an impres-
sion of thriving Jewish life, but in fact there are only a
few actual Jews. Apart from this ‘virtually Jewish indus-
try’ there is a Jewish Community Centre bringing togeth-
er people of Jewish background as well as those inter-
ested in Jewish culture, religion and traditions. It hosts
regular exhibitions, shows, festivals, film screenings,
book promotions and lectures on the topics of Judaism,
Chassidism, Jewish law and religious principles.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
Adjacent to the old Jewish town of Kazimierz, the New
Jewish Cemetery was founded in 1800 on grounds pur-
chased by the Jewish Community from the Augustinians.
It was enlarged in 1836 with additional land purchased
from the monks. Following Polish independence, the
New Cemetery was soon nearly full and starting in 1932
burials were directed to a new plot bought in 1926 for
new cemeteries, though that plot no longer exists. The
New Cemetery on nine hectares contains over 10,000
tombs, of which the oldest dates from 1809.
Following the Nazi invasion of Poland in World War II, the
New Cemetery was closed to outsiders and the Germans
sold the most valuable stonework to local masons. Other
headstones, as well as slabs, were utilised as construction
material, mainly for paving the supply road to the Płaszów
Camp. Meanwhile, the old bones in the cemetery were often
left uncovered and scattered around. After the war ended,
Jakub Stendig, a camp survivor, recovered many tomb-
stones from the Płaszów Camp site, and arranged to have
them reinstalled in the New Cemetery. In 1957, the grounds
were renovated with funds from the Joint Distribution Com-
mittee. Following the collapse of Communism, on March
24, 1999 the cemetery, including the ceremonial hall, were
entered into the register of historical monuments of Cracow.
The New Jewish Cemetery in Cracow, Miodowa Street 291

29.03
29.04

The cemetery is fenced off from its relatively low-rise which connects the cemetery with the Old Jewish Town of
neighbouring houses by a fence approximately two metres Kazimierz. The cemetery’s relatively small entrance court-
high, allowing to see the high trees of the cemetery from yard is symbolically divided from the cemetery proper by
outside and the buildings around from inside. The two en- a retaining wall of some 120 cm in height with gravestones
trance gates, the one for vehicles and the smaller one for and gravestone fragments embedded in its surface, like the
pedestrians, are made of wrought iron and located not far perimeter wall of the cemetery that faces the railway line
from the red-brick ceremonial and tahara building. From and beyond it the old quarter of Kazimierz.
the street the visitor enters, as usual, the entrance forecourt The cemetery’s layout is also irregular. It has a main lane,
where the tall Holocaust monument is situated. In the ver- which is not parallel with the perimeter walls and slight-
tical direction this monument is divided into four zones, ly curved. There are secondary lanes cutting through the
the wider and some 60 cm-high basement, the next zone territory and defining sections, but these are not tradition-
significantly narrower and some 100 cm high and the up- al, regular cemetery sections. Throughout the cemetery
per zone, almost a cube, over which there is an unpropor- one has the feeling of an organically grown ensemble that
tionally narrow, gravestone-like spire with a menorah. The
whole monument is covered with gravestone fragments
from different periods and materials meant to emphasise 29.03
29.02
the common fate of Jews. However, it looks chaotic and The retaining wall between
as if glued together with cement, which in fact is the case. Panoramic view the forecourt and cemetery
of the cemetery’s forecourt proper, covered with broken
Once one has got over the discrepancy of form and materi-
with the large Holocaust gravestones rescued after
al, one will notice that the patchwork of inscriptions in He- Memorial, a patchwork Nazi acts of destruction
brew, German and Polish furnish an interesting, condensed of destroyed gravestones
historic insight into the history of Cracow’s Jews. from before the 29.04
The cemetery’s plot is an irregular wedge with the en- Emancipation until The ceremonial building
trance at its tip turned to the tunnel below the railway, World War Two and the tahara house
292
29.05
The curving, longitudinal
main lane of the cemetery
29.06
Old gravestones (right) and
gravestone fragments (left)
along a narrow lane
29.07
A row of post-World War Two
gravestones
29.08
Lane along
the perimeter wall
29.09
Gravestone fragments
along a curving lane
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
29.07
29.09
29.05
29.06
29.08
29.10
Retaining wall with
gravestones and fragments
from different periods
29.11
Perimeter wall with
memorial plaques,
mainly featuring names
of Holocaust victims
29.12
Small gravestone fragments
embedded into the
perimeter wall
The New Jewish Cemetery in Cracow, Miodowa Street 293

corroborates with the history of extensions. The older

gravestones are turned to the east, but some newer ones
look to the lanes directed north-south.
There are sections with gender segregation and others
without. The segregated parts are sometimes just smaller
parts than a section, sometimes only a couple of rows.
There are also buried Torah scrolls. Some older grave-
stones are quite traditional, matzeva-type with traditional
symbols, such as jugs, crowns, trees of life and blessing
hands of the Kohanim. There are obelisks and flattened
obelisk-type monuments, as well as the typical Polish
type of a vertical slab joined by a horizontal member,
as in Łódź or Warsaw. Later, post-Emancipation grave-
stones are similar to their counterparts in other parts of
Central and Eastern-Central Europe, such as steles, bro-
ken columns and occasionally even lying slabs. Large
mausoleums are absent, as are other signs of emphasised
social segregation. There is a section for the graves of
soldiers from World War One deeper in the inner part.
There are numerous monuments commemorating the
deaths of Jews killed during the Holocaust.
Those buried in the New Jewish Cemetery of Cracow include
many rabbis of official Judaism and two Tzadiks, as well as
one of the most famous Jewish Romantic painters, Maurycy
Gottlieb (1856–1879), plus some symbolic graves. Famous
people buried here include: Jakub Drobner (1827–1896), a
doctor who participated in the January Uprising; Ozjasz Thon
(1870–1936), a rabbi and MP of the Second Polish Republic;
Józef Sare (1850–1929), a civil engineer and vice mayor of
Cracow from 1905 to 1929; Jonatan Warszauer (1820–1888),
a doctor involved in charity work for poor Jews; Józef Oet-
tinger (1818–1895) and Józef Rosenblatt (1853–1917), pro-
fessors of the Jagiellonian University.
Despite war destruction, the cemetery’s integrity is rela-
tively good. The red brick ceremonial hall from 1903 has
been renovated. The post-war Holocaust memorial and the
retaining walls lessen the authenticity. The practice of using
gravestones as building material occurs in other Polish Jew-
ish cemeteries and actually also in the old Prague Jewish
Cemetery. However, in Prague the embedded stones have
preserved their autonomy and do not look like a collage.
The layout and topography of the cemetery are interesting,
it has unique features vis-à-vis other Polish cemeteries, and
represents an important location of Jewish funerary history. 29.10
29.11
There is no effective buffer zone, but no particular dis-
29.12
traction, except the railway line near the main entrance
and along the longer side of the plot. former ghettos and Jewish quarters; (2) The representation
of Jewish culture through tourism and museums; and (3)
the role of klezmer and Yiddish music as typical “Jewish
cultural products.”
01 Statistically, the number of Polish Jews may be on the rise,
but this is misleading: they do not live in their ancestral 03 Adam Dylewski: Where the Tailor Was a Poet See: http://
country, just succeeded in reclaiming Polish citizenship in www.diapozytyw.pl/en/site/slady_i_judaica/krakow, website
created under the aegis of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute,
addition to their Israeli citizenship for security reasons, or
Warsaw; chief editor: Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywinski; editorial
just to have European Union citizenship and to be able to
assistance: Dr. Anna Marta Szczepan-Wojnarska, and Kaja
settle freely in more prosperous regions.
Wieczorek from the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw.
02 Ruth Ellen Gruber, Virtually Jewish – Reinventing Jewish 04 Officially just 55,515 Cracow residents identified
Culture in Europe, S. Mark Taper Foundation Book in themselves as Jews in the Polish census of 1931; on the
Jewish Studies, Berkley, 2002. In this pioneering work eve of the war some 56,000 Jews resided in Cracow,
the author investigates how non-Jews embrace and enact almost one-quarter of a total population of about
Jewish culture in three domains: (1) The reclaiming of 250,000. See https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.
the built heritage, including synagogues, cemeteries, and php?ModuleId=10005169, last retrieved 22 March 2016
294 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

29.13 29.15
29.14
29.16 29.17
The New Jewish Cemetery in Cracow, Miodowa Street 295

29.18 A 29.18 B 29.18 C

29.18 D 29.18 E 29.18 F

29.13
Gravestones of soldiers
who fell in World War One
29.18 G 29.18 H 29.18 I 29.14
A row of mid-19th century
gravestones with their fronts
facing the lane
29.15
Densely positioned vertical
gravestones from the pre-
Emancipation period, joined
by horizontal stones; in the
foreground the grave of
29.18 J 29.18 K 29.18 L Rabbi Avraham Joseph (his
title is writtenin Hebrew as
‘ravenu’, ‘our rabbi’, hinting
at a closed, traditional
community)
29.16
A modernist, post-World War
Two monument
in the form of a wheel
29.17
29.18 M 29.18 N 29.18 O A pair of broken columns on
pedestals referring to minors
29.18 A–R
Decorative semi-circular
tops of old, matzeva-type
graves representing:
A-F: lions: G-K: birds and
other winged creatures;
L: Tree of Life; M-P: Torah
crown in conjunction with
the blessing of the Cohanim,
29.18 P 29.18 Q 29.18 R Torah scrolls; Q-R jugs

The Łódź New Jewish Cemetery in Zmienna/
Bracka Street (Nowy Cmentarz Żydowski w Łodzi)
Łódź, often nicknamed the ‘Promised City’ – a miracu-
lous place of the Industrial Revolution with the highest
growth of any Central or Eastern Central European city,
with the city’s population doubling every ten years be-
tween 1823 and 1873 – was a cosmopolitan place based
on the textile industry. After the second division of Po-
land in 1815 it was allotted to the Russian Empire, but
culturally it remained Mitteleuropa, with a sizeable Ger-
man, Jewish and Polish population. Despite all the hard-
ship Polish people suffered under the Tsar over the cen-
turies, belonging to Russia secured great advantages to
the city of Łódź. In 1850, Russia abolished the customs
barrier between Congress Poland and Russia proper and
industry in Łódź could now develop freely with a huge
Russian market nearby.
Jewish entrepreneurs along with their German counter-
parts and experts, as well as the mainly Polish workforce
accumulated great wealth. Despite the increase in wealth,
Jews were much less assimilated and kept their traditions
better than their counterparts in Berlin or Budapest. It
could be that there was no single culture to which to as-
similate, as in Germany or Hungary, and Jews were gen-
erally more traditional in all regions of Poland.
The New Cemetery, with its solemn entrance in Bracka
Street and its official entrance in Zmienna Street, was es-
tablished in 1892 and about 160,000 people are buried
there. Today the cemetery has an area of 40 hectares. Vic-
tims of the Holocaust are also buried here, in the “Ghetto
Field” (Pole Gettowe), actually a very large section for
some 43,000 victims from the Ghetto of Łódź, who died
of hunger and consumption. There is also a Holocaust
memorial (Pomnik ofiar getta łódzkiego) in the forecourt
of the cemetery.
The unique cemetery faithfully reflects this double con-
dition: the vast majority of graves stood halfway between
tradition and modernity. Their size, architectural lan-
30.01
Gate between the forecourt
and the cemetery proper at
Łódź New Jewish Cemetery
in Zmienna and Bracka Streets
CHAPTER 30
guage and material are modern, but the symbols used, the
homogeneity of the fabric of the cemetery’s sections, the
gender segregation and the emphasised rows of rabbis
all attest to a more traditional Jewish society. On top of
a massive lower middle class a thin layer of millionaires
stands out, like the Poznansky industrialist family and a
few others. Nevertheless, as a hallmark of Jewish tradi-
tion there are some ohalim for Chassidic rabbis.01 This
is probably the only major Jewish cemetery shared by
a great number of industrialists and numerous tzadikim,
although usually not in the same sections.
The most specific feature of this cemetery is the in-
dustrial language of architecture in the entrance part,
which is the hallmark of the whole city and which char-
acterises the gates as well as the ceremonial and tahara
buildings. This industrial idiom, the use of red façade
brick, wrought iron, and painted timber for trusses is
absolutely unique in Jewish funerary art. The funer-
ary monuments show a rich variety of symbols, gender
symbols, Biblical symbols, and symbols taken from the
Polish funerary tradition, but typologically and stylisti-
cally they are rather coherent. Most of the graves follow
a common pattern: they are flattened aedicules made of
sandstone, placed on a rectangular base, and composed
of two cannelured pillars supporting a pediment. In-
scriptions are found on two marble plaques, one narrow,
below the pediment with the name of the deceased and
a large, rectangular one with the eulogy, below which
there are further cannelures. Inscriptions are exclusive-
ly Hebrew, save the graves of the rich and graves erect-
ed after World War One. The pediment carries the gen-
der symbol, candlesticks for women – referring to their
role of lighting the Shabbat candles – or bookshelf, or
books, referring to the man’s role of reading the book.
The pediment or a lunette can also carry the symbol of
Levites or Cohanim.
298 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

30.02

Cannelures may be replaced by floral decoration and the planted only along the main allies, but in the meantime
pediment can be exchanged for a segmental lunette. An- trees grow wild.
other frequent type is a vertical slab of sandstone with bro- Łódź’s Jewish industrialists are buried here, like Bar-
ken oak tree, below which is the framed inscription. There ciński, Jarociński, Katsenberg, Kohn, Prussak, Rosen-
are some ohalim, one of them without a roof and made of blatt, Silberstein, and Stiller. In this cemetery are bur-
simple masonry, rendered, with a little metal plaque carry- ied Felicja and Isaac Rubinstein, the parents of Artur
ing the Hebrew inscription, ‘Rabbi Meir Bornstein’. In the Rubinstein, the famous pianist. The most outstanding
middle of this simple walled space lies a black horizontal of all is Izrael Kalmanowicz Poznański (1833–1900),
slab with a similar inscription. multimillionaire, philanthropist, and one of the three
Originally the greenery followed the Jewish tradition Łódź “cotton kings”. The mausoleum for his family oc-
of avoiding the geometrical layout of a park; trees were cupies almost a complete section in the main lane (Aleja
Glówna).
The cemetery’s Holocaust section is very impressive,
30.02 30.04
its vast territory and its simplicity capturing the visitor.
Outer wall of the cemetery The main interior There is no other cemetery in Europe where the trage-
in Zmienna Street of the ceremonial hall
dy is so simply and profoundly represented. Near the
30.03 30.05 entrance beside the Holocaust memorial there are other
Ceremonial hall The Holocaust memorial memorials relating to that era, including one for Gypsies
in the forecourt in the forecourt murdered by the Nazis.
The Łódź New Jewish Cemetery in Zmienna/Bracka Street 299

30.03
30.04
30.05
300 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

30.06
30.07

30.06
Row of graves of honour,
male
30.07
The two sarcophagi in 30.09
the Poznański mausoleum The Poznański mausoleum
30.08 30.10
The dome of the View from the cemetery
Poznański mausoleum proper to the forecourt
The Łódź New Jewish Cemetery in Zmienna/Bracka Street 301

30.08 30.09
30.10

The cemetery reflects a high degree of authenticity and integri-

ty with an excellent buffer zone around the whole compound.
It is in reasonably good condition and research has begun about
its history.02 The cemetery is itself a protected monument.

01 The most important include Elimelech Weissblum, son of

Abraham Icchak, who came from the family of Elimelech
the Great from Leżajsk, tzadik in Staszów; Meir Bornstein,
son of Zew Nachum, a member of Sochaczewski tzadik
Abraham Bornstein’s family; Jeszaja Szapiro, son of Jacob
Icchak, tzadik in Błędów; Eliezer Dawid Finkler, son of
Hilel, grandson of Dow Bera from Radoszyce, tzadik from
Radoszyce; Dawid Rabinowicz, son of Pinczas, grandson
of the Holy Jew from Przysucha, tzadik in Końskie;
Emanuel Wolfried, son of Abraham Mosze from Rozprza,
tzadik from Łódź.
02 The Momentum Iudaicum Lodzense Foundation carries
out research and maintains the cemetery. A database has
been compiled of people buried at the cemetery. The list is
available on the Foundation’s website,
http://www.jewishlodzcemetery.org/cmentarz.html
302 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

30.11 30.13
30.12
30.14 30.15
The Łódź New Jewish Cemetery in Zmienna/Bracka Street 303

30.16
30.17
30.18

30.11
Horizontal gravestone
resembling a mummy,
sarcophagus
with a vertical slab
30.12
Two vertical gravestones,
female, with the broken
oak tree motif
30.13
The gravestone of Simeon
Warschawski, in the lunette
the Levite symbol
30.14
Gate of the cemetery
in Bracka Street
30.15
View of the ceremonial hall
from the cemetery proper
30.16
A row of gravestones, male
– the bookshelf represents
erudition in Judaism
and a male gender role
30.17
A very homogeneous section
with similar
vertical gravestones
30.18
Gate detail, Bracka Street
304
30.19
The very large forecourt of
the cemetery from where the
cemetery proper is accessed
via the triumphal arch-like
gate. In the forecourt is the
white marble Holocaust
memorial.
30.20
The wall between forecourt
and cemetery proper serves
memorial purposes on both
sides: on the outer side
gravestone fragments
are fixed.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
30.20
30.21
30.21
Lapidary in front of the wall
between the forecourt and
the cemetery proper
30.22
Memorial plaques on
the wall between forecourt
andcemetery proper,
with graves in front
The Łódź New Jewish Cemetery in Zmienna/Bracka Street 305

30.19 30.22
30.23 30.24
30.25

30.23 30.24
A traditional grave for The lapidary in the forecourt
a woman – the chandelier in front of the wall
symbolising the lighting
of the Shabbat candle, 30.25
and the broken candle The ohel of
standing for death Rabbi Meir Bernstein
306 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

30.26
30.27
The Łódź New Jewish Cemetery in Zmienna/Bracka Street 307

30.29

30.26
Nameless symbolic graves
of Łódź Jews murdered
during the Holocaust
30.27
The large cemetery contains
an empty part due to the
death of Łódź Jews during
World War Two; it functions
as a Holocaust section
30.28
30.28
Metal plaques
30.30 30.32
with the names of
30.31 30.33
Łódź Jews murdered during
the Holocaust
30.29
Symbolic graves – some were
occupied, equipped with a
headstone and an inscription
of the name of the victim
30.30
An ohel erected
among symbolic graves
30.31
Memorial plaque to Czech
Jews perished in Łódź Ghetto
30.32
Memorial plaque to Jews
from Leer (Germany)
perished in Łódź Ghetto
30.33
Memorial plaque to 700
Gypsies from the province
of Burgenland (Austria)
who perished in Łódź Ghetto

The Prague New Jewish Cemetery
(Nový židovský hřbitov) in Žižkov
Jews have lived in Prague since 970 C.E.01 and their
community was established in the 11th century. Josefov
(Josefstadt), the traditional Jewish Quarter, located be-
tween the Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí) and
the Vltava (Moldau) River, an originally unhealthy area,
developed in the 13th century, when Jews were ordered
to vacate their homes in the centre and to settle in this
area. This relatively small territory became more and
more crowded, due to the influx of Jews expelled from
Moravia, Germany, Austria, and Spain. Jews suffered
persecution by the Crusaders in 1096 and 1142, by the
Church in 1179 that banned contacts between Jews and
Christians, as well as by the Fourth Lateran Council in
1215 that severely curtailed their freedom. In 1389 on
Easter Sunday some 1,500 Jews were massacred.
Emperor Charles IV and King Wenceslas allowed some
Jewish autonomy in exchange for money. The break-
through came with the 16th century Prague Renaissance,
when Mordecai Maisel (Mordechai ben Samuel in Hebrew,
Miška Marek Meisel or Majzel in Czech; 1528–1601), the
mayor of the Jewish Town, reportedly built the Jewish
town hall and adjacent High Synagogue (Hohe Synagoge,
Vysoká synagoga). Maisel, similar to his counterpart Ja-
cob Mendel in Buda about one hundred years earlier, was
the treasurer of Rudolf II (Vienna 1552 – Prague 1612),
the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Rudolf II also
allowed him to feature a David’s flag. At the time of may-
or Maisel the Prague Ghetto became a European centre
of Jewish mysticism. Its population numbered some 6000
people. As in many other places of the Habsburg Empire,
Maria Theresa terminated this Jewish flourishing.
In 1782 Joseph II announced his Edict of Tolerance, which
hallmarked the beginning of Emancipation. The Ghetto
was abolished in 1852; Prague’s 10,000 Jews were allowed
to own private property. In the 19th century Czech nation-
alism forced the Jews to do a cultural realignment, namely
31.01
Gate to Prague
New Jewish Cemetery, 1890
CHAPTER 31
to abandon the German and acquire the Czech culture, the
effects of which could be seen much later at the cemeter-
ies, basically in the 20th century. In 1900, 55.3% of the
30,000 Jews indicated Czech as their native language.
During World War Two 45,500 Czech Jews were deport-
ed to Terezín, of whom 89% died. After the war some
10,000 remained in the city, but the Aliyah decreased their
number, exacerbated later by Communist anti-Semitism
peaking in the Slánský trial.02 The fall of the Iron Curtain
improved the standing of the Jews, but the community re-
mained small, numbering some 3000 people.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries Prague was also a mul-
ticultural city, like Budapest or Łódź, with distinct German,
Czech, and Jewish populations. Due to a political situation
that was different from Budapest – where up to the late 19th
century Jews became largely Magyarized – Jews in Prague
predominantly belonged to the German Kulturkreis, as wit-
nessed by German inscriptions on Jewish graves until the
times of the Czechoslovak Republic. Moreover, the strong
Austro-German spirit is conveyed by the extensive use of
titles on the gravestones and an impressive architectural co-
herence. Here, one will seldom encounter such a rich het-
erogeneity as at the Budapest Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery,
or the organic heterogeneity of the Zmienna Street Ceme-
tery in Łódź. Instead, strict order rules the rhythm, size and
formal language of funerary monuments. In terms of histor-
ical time, the cemetery in Žižkov is also more continuous
than its aforementioned counterparts. While in the interwar
period both previously mentioned Jewish cemeteries and
their respective communities had passed their zenith – no
doubt, the Nazi takeover in 1933 had an impact on funerary
art at the Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery – in Prague
the period up to the Nazi occupation of 1939 was still very
prosperous and artistically fertile.
Prague New Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov, established in
1891, contains some 100,000 graves, many of them in late
310
31.02
Free Style and Art Nouveau, showing a strong influence of
the Jewish, Catholic, and Lutheran sections of the Zentral-
friedhof in Vienna: in Prague the graves also often turn their
backs to each other – a very special system to be found spo-
radically in some sections of the Lutheran and Jewish parts
of the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna. There are major lanes,
to which the richer graves are oriented and the somewhat
narrower lanes faced by the smaller monuments. As the
gravestones’ axes and sizes are not identical, there is a dis-
crepancy in the view between the rhythms of the two rows
of graves just 10–20 centimetres away from each other. In
some cases this leads to a picturesque grouping, in others it
is disturbing, but unique to Prague and Vienna.
Typologically all usual Central European types are pres-
ent, the matzeva – some of these matzevot are older than
31.02
31.05
The ceremonial building,
1890 Tomb erected in 2000 above
the remains of exhumed
31.03–04 bodies from the medieval
Memorial to the victims Jewish cemetery buried
of the Shoah in the 13th-15th centuries
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
the cemetery, transferred from liquidated Jewish cemeter-
ies – the obelisk, the pseudo sarcophagus, aedicules, up to
the very large funerary monuments along the northern pe-
rimeter wall, the most numerous being the peristyle types
from the proto-modernist and modernist periods.
The stylistic palette is also rich. Similarly to the Old Jew-
ish Cemetery in Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof there are some
towering neo-Gothic monuments, Free Style tombs, some
Art Nouveau graves, and modernist ones, too. Prague
New Jewish Cemetery is probably the richest Jewish
burial place of the interwar period in terms of funerary
monuments, particularly of the 1930s, besides the New
Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof. Cultural-
ly, Czechoslovakia was one of the leading countries of
interwar modernism in arts and architecture, which also
fused with some national idioms like Czech Cubism,
Rondo-Cubism and a special version of Expressionism.
Notable people buried in the cemetery include Franz Kafka,
Arne Laurin, Arnošt Lustig, Jiří Orten and Ota Pavel. Two
monuments for members of the Perutz family were designed
by Jan Kotěra, the most important early modernist architect
of the country, and the monument to artist Max Horb was
created by Jan Štursa in the form of a mourning peacock.
The Prague New Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov 311

31.03
31.04
31.05
312 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

31.06

31.07 31.08
31.09 31.10
The Prague New Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov 313

There is a collective monument to Jewish soldiers killed

in World War One, a Holocaust memorial, memorials to
the victims of transports to the Łódź ghetto, to those who
perished in the Terezín ghetto, and to the victims of the
Patria ship disaster of 1940, all near the entrance. The
south perimeter wall is covered with several memorial
plaques: a collective one to famous writers and artists
tortured to death in Nazi concentration camps; another
one with composers Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Hans
Krása, Erwin Schulhof, and Viktor Ullman, who perished
in the Holocaust. Further plaques commemorate famous
members of the Prague Jewry, who died abroad, like Max
Brod, Franz Kafka’s friend and editor.
The ceremonial building and a separate tahara house,
as well as the office building, have all survived and the
cemetery reflects a high degree of authenticity and in-
tegrity. It is also well maintained. Unfortunately, not far
from the southern fence of the cemetery there are large,
towering post-modernist buildings spoiling the view, and
the whole buffer zone is too crowded.
The cemetery in the Žižkov District has a unique layout
(graves turning their backs to each other), while inter-
esting inscriptions about professional achievement give
a vivid picture of society, as well as of the assimilated
Jews of the late Habsburg Empire with its cultural-ethnic
diversity. It is a protected monument.

01 Mentioned by Iberian Jewish merchant Ibrāhīm ibn Ya‘qūb

in about 970. Arno Pařík: Prague. In: YIVO Encyclopedia,
31.11 2010, http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/
31.12 prague, retrieved 31 March 2016
31.13 02 The Slánský trial (Trial of anti-state conspiracy centered
around Rudolf Slánský): in a typical Communist show trial
against members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia,
(KSČ), they were accused of having adopted the line of the
schismatic Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito (Tito split off the
Communist Block headed by Soviet Russia), and of being
part of a „Trotskyite-Titoite-Zionist conspiracy.” Rudolf
Slánský, General Secretary of the KSČ, and 13 other leading
party members, 11 of them Jews, were hanged in Prague
on 3 December 1952 and three of them were sentenced to
life imprisonment. (See Jonathan Brent and and Vladimir P.
Naumov, Stalin’s Last Crime, London 2003, p. 191.)

31.06
View of the ceremonial
building from the main lane
31.07
Clearing in the cemetery
somewhat east of the centre
31.08
Tombstones from the Jewish
cemetery in Uhříněves
31.09
The Brand family funerary
monument, 1913; the forms
resemble Czech early
modern architecture
31.10
The Eisenstein family
funerary monument, one of
the few Moorish style tombs,
1936
31.11
Wide lane in the central part
of the cemetery
31.12
Typical layout of this
cemetery: rows of
tombstones turn their backs
to each other
31.13
The Beck family tomb from
which a tree has grown, 1926
314 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

31.14 31.15
31.16 31.17
The Prague New Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov 315

31.18

31.14
The tomb of Adolf Glaser,
president of Prague’s Jewish
Community and his wife,
Hedvika Glaserová, 1928; a
typical modernist monument
31.15
The broken tree motif on
the gravestone of Hanička
Pollaková, who died in 1929
at the age of ten.
31.16
The tomb of Marie Reiser,
1915; a typical proto-
modernist monument in
the style of the Viennese
architect Josef Hoffmann
31.17
The Bondy family tomb
of 1906, a typical late
Jugendstil funerary
monument, erected
31.19 along the perimeter wall
31.20 31.21 of the cemetery
31.18
The tomb of Dr. Julius
Petschek, adviser of the
ministry of finance, 1932; a
modern classicist monument
31.19
The tomb of Dr. Isidor and
Camilla Petschek, 1919; a
typical large proto-modernist
monument
31.20
The grave of Franz Kafka,
1924; the crystalline shape
shows the influence
of Expressionism
and Czech Cubism
31.21
Memorial plaque for Max
Brod, Kafka’s friend and
editor of his works, who died
in Tel Aviv

The Jewish Cemetery
in Saint Petersburg – Often Called the Preobrazhenskoye
(Преображенское еврейское кладбище Санкт-Петербург)
The Russian Jewish community was once the largest in
the world, mainly due to the fact that the Pale of Settle-
ment incorporating considerable parts of historic Poland
and Lithuania belonged to the Russian Empire since the
reign of Catharine II. However, Russia proper was for a
very long time closed to Jews, who were restricted to live
in or emigrate to the Pale of Settlement. Still, historically
there is evidence of Jewish life in Russia proper.
Jews were present on future Russian soil since the an-
tiquity, primarily its southern regions, particularly in the
Crimea. At the time of the Kievan Rus (Рѹ́сьскаѧ землѧ,
late 9th to mid-13th century) – the historic core territory
of Russia, today Ukraine – the city of Kiev (in Ukrainian
Kyiv Київ, the capital of Ukraine) had a quarter called
Жидове (Zhidove, i.e. Jews), where Jews were oriented
towards Byzantium (Romaniots), but were also open to the
influence of Ashkenazim from the 12th century onwards.
A larger Jewish population was settled in the territory that
later Russia would acquire from the Polish ruler Casimir
the Great (1330–1370). These Jews lived in the almost
fully Jewish populated and autonomous Shtetls or in mid-
dle-sized towns. With the partitions of Poland these terri-
tories were allotted to the Russian Empire.
Escaping the pogroms in the Russian Empire, from 1881
to 1924 over two million Jews fled to the safety of the
United States. Most Jews were expelled from Moscow
in 1891 and therefore St Petersburg is the place where
there is some historical continuity of Jewish presence in
relation to the 19th and 20th centuries.
Moreover, there was no Holocaust in that part of the So-
viet Union – the Nazis could not capture the city then
called Leningrad. The Jewish cemetery of St Petersburg
lacks a Holocaust memorial, but equally any other kind
of collective memorial acknowledging Jewish partic-
ipation in wars waged by Russia or the Soviet Union.
The acceptance of the Jews as a distinct group did not
32.01
The entrance to the ceremonial building and
tahara house, 1912; architect Yakov Gevirts
Germanovich (Гевирц, Яков Германович)
(1879–1942), dean of the Architecture Faculty
at the Academy of Arts in the Soviet period
CHAPTER 32
reach the level of their acceptance in other countries of
the continent. Nevertheless, numerous Jews took part in
the Russian avant-garde and even in Soviet times some
of them succeeded in integrating into the Communist
system, despite the Stalinist persecution of the Jews.01
At the beginning of the 1930s, Jews made up 1.8% of
the Soviet population, but 12–15% of all university stu-
dents.02 Some 500,000 Jewish soldiers fought in the Red
Army against the Nazis, 200,000 of them were killed and
160,000 decorated, more than 100 became generals.
The Jewish Cemetery of St Petersburg was founded in
1875. Originally, the site was divided into sections for all
non-Orthodox believers, including Muslims, Catholics,
and Lutherans. However, by 1899 not a single Muslim
had been buried here as plots had to be paid for, which
goes against the Islamic tradition, while the Lutheran and
Catholic cemeteries were used by the poorest members
of those confessions, with often the most basic, if any,
tombstones on the graves. The Jewish Cemetery, on the
other hand, was well funded by St. Petersburg’s Jewish
community. Several of the tombs here are richly deco-
rated and in 1912 a beautiful stone building was erected,
containing a tahara house and a ceremonial hall, along
with several other elegant Art Nouveau structures, all de-
signed by the architect Yakov Gevirts.
This cemetery is quite different from all other metropolitan
European Jewish cemeteries, due to the different history
of Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union and due to local
influences. In terms of its plan it is made up of two parts,
both based on a grid, the older one with smaller sections,
represented on the plan in green colour and the newer one
with larger sections, painted blue. The green part has a sol-
emn entrance, stylistically in tune with the large ceremoni-
al building, while the blue part has its own entrance – not
in use today –, the latter not corresponding properly with
the new part’s cardo, called Centralnaya (Центральная).
318
32.02
At this cemetery the polis aspect of the necropolis is
strongly emphasised by calling the lanes streets and ave-
nues, quite unique in the case of metropolitan cemeteries.
The lanes can be wider and narrower – the ones running
south-north are basically the wider ones. Names refer
to the rank, as for instance Main Lanе (Главная), or to
a geographical location, e.g. Lvovskaya (Львовская),
a city called L’viv (earlier Lemberg), which is now
in Ukraine, оr to a historic personality, as Nevskaya
(Невская), referring to Alexander Nevsky (Алекса́ндр
Яросла́вич Не́вский), grand prince and saint, a key fig-
ure of Russian early history, after whom St. Petersburg’s
main avenue is named.
In parallel with local influences there stands the large,
proto-modernist ceremonial building with tahara house,
designed by the Jewish born architect Yakov Gevirts
(Гевирц, Яков Германович, 1879 Odessa – 1942 Lenin-
grad). Its large scale and elegant details, and the arcades
with pointed arches are reminiscent of the Central Euro-
pean architecture of the time.03
At the same time, the Christian Orthodox influence is
undeniable at this cemetery. There is no other Jewish
cemetery elsewhere that has as many photographs of
the deceased as this one. At some Jewish cemeteries
in the Balkans there are also photographs, but usually
one or two, while in St Petersburg there are many pho-
tographs – some graves look like family trees. One
can find little angel figures with praying hands and
many other Christian references. The Moorish style
is also more present than at Central European Jewish
cemeteries.
While the fabric of the cemetery is homogeneous, there
are some large funerary monuments, most of them like
small mausoleums. There is a special, very large horizon-
tal slab monument, surrounded by a wrought-iron fence
with no inscription. Reportedly, the wealthy entrepreneur
did not want an inscription, as he considered himself so
famous and important that everybody would remember
him for generations to come.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
The cemetery contains numerous storage huts, strongly
vertical, usually made of metal, but set up similarly to a
gravestone. This is a unique type of edifice, not found in
other metropolitan Jewish cemeteries.04
Typologically this cemetery shows a great variety of
tombs, different from other European metropolitan cem-
eteries. It also shows types that do not exist elsewhere.
There are few classical matzevot, some of them with the
traditional semicircular ending, others with an oriental
ogee arch. A very early double matzeva with two engaged
oriental ogee arches is from 1875, the opening year of
the cemetery, for a hero who received a solemn military
funeral, quite unusual for Jews.05 Oriental influence can
be found in the form of a turban set on the top of a stele.
Unique for this cemetery are tombs which can be related
to Central European pseudo-sarcophagi, but which are
rounded at one or both ends. Moreover, these tombs usu-
ally have a pillow stone with inscription, or even several
set years after the construction of the tomb due to new
burials. Another special local type is the cylindrical, ov-
en-like tomb with two to three zones above the base, each
getting narrower and ending in a flame.
The use of metal is quite widespread – usually there is a
cast-iron railing around one gravestone or around the tombs
of a family, but there are some small mausoleums made en-
tirely of iron which in the middle contain a lying slab as
tomb. Their decoration can be Free Style mixed with Art
Nouveau. There are some examples of tree-like tombs, as in
Poland or Germany, but here the middle trunk is un-propor-
tionally thick and the branches are cut back. There is even
one tomb of this type that follows the pentyrigion disposi-
tion of Orthodox churches: one thicker trunk in the middle,
surrounded by four thinner ones.
As this cemetery spans a period of roughly 140 years,
its stylistic spectrum is very wide, ranging from Goth-
ic revival to explicit postmodernism, which is unique
among European metropolitan cemeteries. Quite close to
the main entrance there is a Neo-Gothic chapel-like edi-
fice, considered by some to be as the old ceremonial hall,
The Jewish Cemetery in Saint Petersburg – Often Called the Preobrazhenskoye 319

32.03
32.04 32.05

which is strange in Russian architectural history, as this

country did not have a Gothic period. Gothic is a style of
Western Christianity in a period when Russia was large-
ly in formation, in a permanent struggle with the Tartars
and Mongols, far less developed than countries of West-
ern Christianity. (The St. Petersburg region belonged to
Sweden until the early 18th century.) The adoption of
Gothic testifies to Western influence, probably mediated
via some (Eastern) Central European cemeteries where
this type of building is not unusual, as for example in the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna or the New Jewish Cemetery 32.02
in Prague-Žižkov. The wall and the gate
The oriental style characterises a number of mausoleums, to the cemetery
as does the Free Style. The characteristic Soviet style, 32.03
Socialist Realism or sometimes nicknamed ‘Stalinist The tahara house and
Baroque’ is not represented significantly at this cem- ceremonial building;
etery. Probably it was considered to be too formal and architect Yakov Gevirts, 1912
related to the state. In the Stalinist period graves follow
32.04
previous styles and they are generally modest. The air
of Stalinism, however, emanates from the numerous Arcades of the tahara house
and ceremonial building
photographs: military and high-level decorations on the
jackets of the deceased. There are no interwar tombs in 32.05
the modernist style either – the Russian avant-garde was The old neo-Gothic
too brief, though there were many Jews among the artists ceremonial building
320 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

32.06 32.07
32.08
32.09 32.10
The Jewish Cemetery in Saint Petersburg – Often Called the Preobrazhenskoye 321

in that period.06 However, there are late modernist tombs

of high quality, usually erected for artists, scholars, and
other public personalities. The fall of the Iron Curtain is
signalled by some large post-modernist funerary monu-
ments not far from the entrance. This area is an informal
version of the honorary sections of other European Jew-
ish cemeteries of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
The landscaping is also unique, without planted trees,
just an organically grown forest, as is the planning of
lanes that are actually treated as streets with names re-
ferring to the location in the context of the cemetery,
toponyms and historic personalities. The cemetery has a
unique sewage system, resembling the one of East Eu-
ropean villages. The major lanes have ditches on both
sides for water collection and the sections are accessed
by small bridges, which reinforce the street character
of the lanes. In terms of landscaping the usual allies of
Reform Jewish cemeteries flanked by planted trees are
absent, even on the Gertsena Aleya (Герцена), which
functions as the ‘decumanus’ of the large ensemble of the
gridded ‘avenues’ and ‘streets’. There is no hierarchy of
greenery – dominant planted and spontaneous trees –, the
cemetery resembles the vegetation of a Russian forest.
The cemetery’s cultural significance lies in the mixing of
the Central European influence, exemplified in the style
and typology of graves, symbols used, with Russian or-
thodox traditions, such as the use of images on graves.
Unique is the stacking of plaques and slabs over exist-
ing graves – either on the same base or inside the same
wrought iron fence – instead of simply adding names,
usual for Central European Jewish graves. Moreover, this
cemetery has a unique entrance section, unusual ‘storage
monuments’, some interesting funerary monuments and 32.11
the mentioned ‘Russian landscaping’. 32.12
Although the front line between the Nazi German troops
and the Russian defenders was not far – in fact, the near-
by Christian cemetery had a couple of bunkers – the Jew-
ish cemetery did not suffer damage during World War
Two. In this respect it is also unique in the context of
Central and Eastern Europe.
Countless renowned medical doctors, artists and scien-
32.09
tists were buried at this cemetery with eulogies about their
Tree-trunk tomb with
achievements, such as Mark Antokolsky (Антокольский,
five elements, the central
Марк Матвеевич), one of the most significant Russian 32.06 stump being longer and the
sculptors of the 19th century dealing with Jewish top- Tombstone of Berka Burak composition resembling
ics; Moissei Altman Semenovich (Альтман, Моисей and Moshka Frisna, the pentyrigion of Russian
Семёнович), writer; Abel Aaron Itzkovich Ashansky the first tombstone orthodox churches
(Ашанский, Абель Аарон Ицкович), cavallery ser- in the Preobrazhenskoe
32.10
geant, veteran of the Russian Army and representative of Jewish Cemetery
the Jewish Community of St Petersburg; Avram Boriso- in St. Petersburg, 1875 Praying child, an unusual
figurine in a Jewish
vich Skomorovsky (Скоморовский, Абрам Борисович), 32.07 cemetery, placed
sculptor; Vera Klimentevna Slutzkaya (Слуцкая, Вера Mausoleum made of iron, on a prismatic base with the
Климентьевна), revolutionary of the Russian Rev- with small gravestones inside photograph of the deceased,
olution; Baron David Günzburg (Гинцбург, Давид Olsinka Krishtal
32.08
Горациевич), publisher and philanthropist.
Tomb of a millionaire who 32.11
The cemetery shows a high degree of integrity and au-
thenticity. Some basic historical research has been car- did not want to be named as Horizontal gravestones
he considered himself to be with headstones
ried out. The cemetery is well maintained and there is a
unforgettable (in the Jewish
fine buffer zone at the moment, but as the city is expand- tradition it is forbidden 32.12
ing and there are already construction sites not far from to have an anonymous Horizontal gravestone with
the cemetery, this buffer zone is in danger. gravestone) two mono-pitched stones
322 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

32.13
32.14 32.15
The Jewish Cemetery in Saint Petersburg – Often Called the Preobrazhenskoye 323

32.13
Typical lane in the cemetery:
raised walkway bordered by
two trenches for rainwater,
with boards serving as
bridges to the cemetery
sections
32.14
Horizontal gravestone
with broken column on a
32.16 32.17 cylindrical pedestal, to which
32.18 32.19 headstones for further family
members were later added
32.15
Metal storage shed with
saddle roof, typical
of this cemetery
32.16
Family tomb from the late
Stalinist period with “photo
collection” featuring a
decorated Soviet hero and
his family members, 1952,
last interment 2004
32.17
The Shifrin family tomb of
three generations with an
additional headstone of Yefim
in a general’s uniform from
the post-Soviet period
32.18
Art Nouveau tomb in the
form of a Russian stove
32.19
The tomb of Mikhail Yosifovich
Eppelbaum (Михаил
Иосифович ЭпелбЬаум),
a distinguished artist of the
Stalinist period (d. 1957), with
his photograph and his son’s
324 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

32.20 32.22
32.21

01 The early Soviet government outlawed all expressions In the Communist period he stopped designing, but he
of anti-Semitism, with the public use of the word “Yid” was member of numerous committees and in 1936 he
being punished by up to one year of imprisonment. It tried was nominated for the dean’s position at the architectural
to modernise the Jewish community by establishing 1100 faculty. http://www.ejwiki.info/wiki/Гевирц,_Яков_
Yiddish-language schools, 40 Yiddish-language daily Германович, retrieved 1 April 2016
newspapers, and by settling Jews on farms in the Ukraine 04 The Bucharest Ashkenazi Cemetery called Filantropia has
and Crimea. Similarly, the number of Jews working in comparable edifices, but they are glazed and somewhat
industry more than doubled between 1926 and 1931. In lower and much more decorated.
1926 an alternative to the Land of Israel was established
05 Unfortunately, both the Hebrew and Russian inscriptions
in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast with the centre in
are just partly legible.
Birobidzhan in the Russian Far East intended to become
a ‘Soviet Zion’. Despite efforts and propaganda, the 06 As for instance: Natan Altman, Mark Chagall, Joseph
percentage of the Jewish population never reached 30%, Chaikov, Issachar Ber Ryback, El (Eliezer) Lisitzsky.
characteristic for some Polish regions. During Stalin’s
purges in the mid-1930s (Great Purge 1936–37), many
ethnic and religious Jews became victims of Russian anti-
Semitism. From the Soviet-Nazi rapprochement and the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, Stalin even officially
targeted Jews to please his “German friends”. He promised
Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi Germany’s foreign
minister, to get rid of the “Jewish domination” particularly
aiming at the intelligentsia, which included the sacking of
Maxim Litvinov, born Meir Henoch Wallach-Finkelstein,
the Soviet minister of forreign affairs.
02 Yitzhak Arad: In the Shadow of the Red Banner: Soviet Jews
in the War Against Nazi Germany. Jerusalem 2010, p. 133.
03 This building was Gevirts’ first award winning project
in 1908, constructed until 1913, after which he was a
very successful architect. He created also the orangery
in this cemetery (1913). In 1912–13 he designed the Beit
Menahem Synagogue in Harkov (today Harkiv, Ukraine).
The Jewish Cemetery in Saint Petersburg – Often Called the Preobrazhenskoye 325

32.23
32.24

32.20
Monumental post-modernist
monument for Vladimir
Jakovlevich Rozenbaum
(Розенбаум Владимир
Яколлевич) in neo-classical
forms, 2005
32.21
Late modernist tomb
of Polina Aronova Cigelnik
(Полина Аронова Цигелник)
with relief, 1961
32.22
Soviet-period double tomb
with photographs of the
deceased, 1963 and 1984
32.23
Late modernist tomb
of Professor Kuslik Mikhail
Isakovich (Куслик Михаил
Исаакович), composed of а
marble cube with sculptured
hand on top, the base
with bench, 1965
32.24
Monumental
proto-modernist monument,
1913, with Hebrew and
Russian inscriptions.
The Hebrew reads: Natan
Dov Bar Moshe Shuster

The Sephardic Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo,
Old Jewish Cemetery of Sarajevo (Jevrejsko Groblje,
Španjolsko groblje, Spaniolischer Friedhof)
Sarajevo is one of the most exciting and diverse European
capitals with a rich cultural history, a true multi-cultural
place, where for centuries people of different ethnicity
and religion, including Catholics, Orthodox Christians,
Lutherans, Muslims, and Jews, lived together most of the
time more or less peacefully and built and shared the same
spaces. Still, as it lay in an area where empires and spheres
of interests collided, political and military conflicts could
not be avoided. Thus, Sarajevo01 changed hands many
times in history. First, it was Christian, then from 1429
came under Muslim rule as part of the Ottoman Empire,
with some interruptions until 1878, the beginning of Aus-
tro-Hungarian rule. At the peak of the Ottoman Empire,
Sarajevo was the biggest and most important Ottoman city
in the Balkans after Istanbul. By 1660, the population of
Sarajevo was estimated to be 80,000.
Austro-Hungarian rule from 1878 to 1918 was an in-
tense period of modernisation and Westernisation,02 after
which Bosnia-Herzegovina became part of the Balkan
state of the Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom, later
renamed as Yugoslav Kingdom, until its collapse during
the German Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1945 when a
very bloody civil war evolved between different national-
ities of the region. The Yugoslav Communist state came
into being in 1945,03 and fell apart in the 1990s during an-
other bloody civil war, and in 1995 Bosnia-Herzegovina
became an independent state, one of the purist in Europe.
The first Jews started to arrive in Sarajevo in 1541 mainly
from Salonika, today Thessaloniki, once a very import-
ant Jewish centre. They built El Cortijo (the courtyard),
the Jewish quarter in 1577, living as artisans, merchants,
pharmacists, and doctors. In 1697 Austrian troops burned
and destroyed the city’s Jewish quarter, including the
synagogue. In 1856 the Ottoman authorities granted
Jews equal status before the law. By the mid-19th centu-
ry, almost every doctor in Sarajevo was Jewish, and when
33.01
The entrance to
the Sephardic Jewish
Cemetery in Sarajevo
CHAPTER 33
educated Jews began arriving from Austria-Hungary
proper in 1878, Jewish children started to attend public
schools. Jewish communal organisations included La Be-
nevolencija, a humanitarian society; Lyra, a co-ed Ladino
singing group; active Zionist women’s organisations; and
the first Ladino weekly, La Alborada.
Jews fared well until 1941, when they numbered between
8,000 and 12,000 souls. That year the Croatian Nazi pup-
pet state started to deport Jews to concentration camps,
and by the end of World War Two 85% of the Jewish
population of Sarajevo had perished. Many who survived
emigrated to Israel in 1948 and 1949. Today, there are
only 700 Jews left in Sarajevo, out of a total population
of 400,000 and only the Ashkenazi synagogue is owned
by the Jewish community. Sarajevo’s most precious piece
of Jewish heritage is the Haggadah, one of the oldest
Sephardic Haggadot in the world, created in Barcelona
around 1350. Interestingly, it was rediscovered in 1894
when a poor child tried to sell it at school.
The Old Sephardi Jewish Cemetery witnessed Sarajevo’s
stormy history, its art serving as evidence of the changing
culture and its dominant tastes. It was established in the
south-western part of Sarajevo in the 17th century, prob-
ably around 1630, and was used until 1966. Originally it
contained only Sephardic graves, but in the 19th century
it also became the burial ground for Ashkenazi Jews after
they had arrived in Sarajevo, following the incorporation
of Bosnia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It contains
more than 3,850 tombstones and covers an area of 31,160
square metres.
The first burials in the cemetery started from the hilltop,
for which stone from the quarry of the aga, the Turkish
landowner, was used. Over time the cemetery expanded
down into the valley. The cemetery is divided into sev-
en sections, plus a forecourt containing the ceremonial
building with the tahara house, both under the same roof.
They were created in the interwar period, in a historicist
architectural language characteristic of Jewish commu-
nities that did not adopt modernism or the Art Deco style.
The Ashkenazi section has the usual gridded ground plan,
while in the Sephardic sections gravestones are arranged in
slightly curved rows, like seats in a theatre. The sections are
of irregular plan, following the topography. The main com-
munication links, lanes along which one climbs the hill, are
without stairs in the Sephardic part of the cemetery.
Between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardic sections is
the ‘main alley’ with wide stairs and landings leading to
the main Holocaust memorial, which is at the same time
the monument of the resistance movement against the
occupation by Croatian and German Nazis. The ceme-
tery contains four monuments dedicated to the victims
of Nazism: a Sephardic monument designed by architect
Jahiel Finci and erected in 1952, two Ashkenazi monu-
ments and one dedicated to the victims of the Ustashas
(Ustaša), the Croatian Nazi militants.
During the past centuries gravestones followed the organ-
ic layout until the 20th century and a special Sephardic
tradition of gravestones being 40–50 cm wide, 50–60 cm
high, and some two metres long. Their form is very char-
acteristic; the cross section is nearly parabolic, the upper
part of the stones facing the hilltop is rounded along its
longitudinal axis, the lower part looking towards the val-
ley and the city centre is cut in a perpendicular way creat-
ing a face. These faces, looking down towards the valley,
contain Hebrew inscriptions carved into the stone and
framed with a 4–6 cm wide protruding band. The form of
the gravestones can be related to some other Sephardic
cemeteries in the Balkans, for instance in Bucharest, and
to some North African Jewish funerary monuments.
In the last Balkan War in the 1990s, the Jewish Cemetery
was on the front line during the Siege of Sarajevo (5 April
1992 to 29 February 1996), when Serbian troops were
stationed on the hilltop and shot at civilians of Saraje-
vo in the valley. Gravestones were severely damaged by
bullets and fire caused by explosions. It was also heavily
mined, but was completely cleared in 1996.
Notable people buried at the cemetery include Rabbi
Samuel Baruh (first rabbi of Sarajevo from 1630 to 1650;
his grave is believed to be the oldest at the cemetery),
Rabbi Isak Pardo (rabbi from 1781 to 1810), Rabbi Avra-
ham Abinun (Grand Rabbi from 1856 to 1858), Laura
Levi Papo La Bohoreta (writer of the early 20th century),
and Isak Samokovlija, also a writer (1889–1955).
Absolutely unique gravestones, a unique setting on the
mountain overlooking the city, historical continuity from
the 17th century to this day, a very coherent context,
multi-cultural, Sephardic and Ashkenazi sections in a tra-
ditionally multi-confessional environment all make this

cemetery one of the most original and authentic Jewish
burial places in the world. Its integrity is remarkable; it
is relatively well preserved, bearing in mind the stormy
history of the region. Some research has been carried out.
However, the buffer zone is partly chaotic with residential
buildings having been constructed without permission.
01 Sarajevo is a Slavic word based on saray, the Turkish,
originally Persian word for palace, but the area was
significant before its Muslim period. A papal document
mentions a cathedral dedicated to Saint Paul built in 1238.
Whether or not the city that was the centre of the diocese
was located on the territory of modern-day Sarajevo is
still debated. The Ottoman period started in 1429, when
the governor of Bosnia, Isa-Beg Ishaković, transformed
the cluster of villages into a city, building a number of key
structures, including a mosque, a closed marketplace, a
public bath, a hostel, and of course the governor’s castle,
the ‘saray’, which gave the city its present name.
02 Austria-Hungary used the city as a testing ground for
modern inventions, such as tramways, established in 1885,
before installing them in Vienna. Architects and engineers
flocked to Sarajevo in order to turn it into a modern city.
Serbs cast their eyes on Bosnia and Herzegovina and in
1914 a Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the
Austrian Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand in the heart of
33.02
the city, which served Austria-Hungary as a casus belli.
World War One broke out, which was eventually lost by
the Austrians and Germans. Bosnia-Herzegovina became
again part of the Balkans.
03 Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1945 again became part of
the South-Slavonic state and Sarajevo began its third
Renaissance, signalled among others by the 1984 Winter
Olympics. From a post-war population of 115,000, Sarajevo
had 600,000 citizens by the end of Yugoslavia in 1992,
while today there are only about 370,000 people due to the
last Balkan war that again devastated the city and changed
its ethnic and confessional constitution. The Serbian siege
of Sarajevo lasted from 1992 to 1995 and peace came with
the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995. During
the years of the siege the Jewish Community provided the
whole population of Sarajevo with humanitarian help. Still,
many Jews left the city for Israel.
33.02
Panoramic view of the
cemetery, with ceremonial
hall and tahara house
in the forecourt
330 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

33.03 33.04
33.06 33.07
The Sephardic Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo, Old Jewish Cemetery of Sarajevo 331

33.05
33.08

33.06
Stairs leading upwards and
dividing the cemetery into a
33.03 much larger Sephardic part
Lombardy poplars in the to the right and a narrow
upper part of the cemetery Ashkenazi section
33.04 33.07
Traditional Sephardic The Holocaust memorial,
gravestones with their fronts also commemorating Jewish
facing the valley victims of the resistance
movement against
33.05
Nazism and Fascism
Irregular group of old
Sephardic gravestones, 33.08
roughly 2 m long, The grave of Moshe
40–50 cm high and Menachem Finci, a
30–40 cm wide, featuring a modern variation of 16th-
nearly parabolic 18th century Sephardic
cross section gravestones, erected in 1931
332 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

33.09 33.11
33.10
33.12 33.13
The Sephardic Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo, Old Jewish Cemetery of Sarajevo 333

33.14
33.15

33.09
Old gravestones
of parabolic cross section
33.10
Old Sephardic gravestone
with almost rectangular
cross section. The only
Hebrew name inscription,
Aharon Hayyon, confirms
that Sephardic Jews had
family names well before
the Ashkenazim
33.11
The retaining wall between
the forecourt and the
cemetery proper
33.12
The tomb of Samuel Papo, a
modern funerary monument
erected in 1941, echoing the
old oriental tradition with its
curved ending
33.13
Post-World War Two tomb
of Leon D. Finci, erected in
1955 on a triangular plan
and incorporating the motif
of the Tablets of the Law
33.14
The retaining wall and rows
of 20th century graves above
33.15
Menorah and six-pointed
star from the entrance gate

The Jewish part of the Central Cemetery
in Sofia (Централни софийски гробища)
The history of Jewish communities on Bulgarian soil dates
back to Roman antiquity. A Jewish settlement existed in
Macedonia (not a distinct political entity separated from Bul-
garia, as today) at the time of Emperor Caligula (37–41 C.E.)
and coins from the Bar Kochba Revolt (132–136 C.E.) were
found in the area. A mosaic floor from a second- or third-cen-
tury synagogue in Plovdiv is further evidence of Jewish life
on Bulgaria’s current territory.
Jewish presence continued after the founding of the Bulgari-
an state in 681. In 1335, the Bulgarian King Ivan Alexander
married a Jewess, called Sarah, who after her conversion
to Orthodox Christianity became the King’s consort Queen
Theodora.01 In the 14th and 15th centuries Ashkenazi Jews
from Germany, France, and Hungary found refuge in Bul-
garia. After the expulsion from Spain in 1492, some 30,000
Sephardic Jews settled in the country.02
The Ottoman Turkish conquest in 1396 opened the door
to ‘international’ trade for Jews in the lands of the vast
empire. In early modern times, three distinct communities
developed: Greek-speaking Romaniots, Sephardi Jews
from Spain and Portugal, and some Ashkenazi Jews. By
the 17th century, most of these Jews followed the Sephar-
dic ritual and tradition. As a result of Russia’s victory in
the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878, the Treaty of San
Stefano03 made Bulgaria an independent state in 1878.
After 482 years Jews had to readjust themselves to the
new nation-state. They were seen by the Bulgarians as
pro-Turkish, endangering their position in the country.
The Berlin Treaty04 insisted on the equality of Jews who
were barred from public service, for instance.
Uniquely, the Jews in Bulgaria, in a state that was an ally
of Nazi Germany, survived the Holocaust almost entirely
intact,05 but after World War II, approximately 90% of
Bulgaria’s 50,000 Jews emigrated to Israel. The remain-
ing Jews lived under the Communist regime. Religious
life was severely reduced and the political establishment
34.01
The main entrance to the
Central Cemetery in Sofia
CHAPTER 34
was detrimental to the Jewish communities of Bulgar-
ia and their synagogues. Since the fall of Communism,
the Jewish community has revived in Sofia and Plovdiv.
Today some 5,000 Jews make up the Jewish community
that succeeded in reclaiming properties confiscated by
the Communists.
The Jewish Cemetery in Sofia belongs to a group of Jew-
ish cemeteries that are not separated, i.e. walled off from
their Christian counterparts (or from their environs), like
the Jewish Cemetery in Zagreb, which is part of the Mi-
rogoj Cemetery, or the Old Jewish Cemetery in Vienna’s
Zentralfriedhof complex. However, while these two Jew-
ish cemeteries in Zagreb and Vienna have separate en-
trances, in Sofia the Jewish cemetery, actually the Jewish
sections of this large cemetery complex, is in the midst
of other denominations, without being walled off, just
separated by lanes. The Jewish sections are closer to the
northern perimeter and to a smaller, secondary entrance,
but the main, official and guarded entrance is open to ev-
eryone. While the main entrance is on the side of the city
centre, i.e. on the south perimeter wall, the secondary
northern entrance close to the Jewish sections is architec-
turally understated and unguarded.
The Central Cemetery in Sofia (Zavodskya St. 14; Bul-
garian: Централни софийски гробища, or Orlandovtsi
Cemetery, ‘Орландовци’) is the main cemetery of the
capital of Bulgaria. The tri-partite form of its main en-
trance gate paraphrases the contours of the domes of Or-
thodox churches, thus referring to the main denomina-
tion of this burial place. The gate carries the inscription
Централен Гробищен Парк, Central Cemetery Park,
but its planning arrangement is not related to the German
Parkfriedhof – it is simply gridded. Still, the sections are
not identical. There is a clear differentiation between the
sections of the state religion, i.e. Orthodox Christiani-
ty, and the minorities, the Catholics, Muslims, and the
Jews as well as the military sections. Both the Jewish
and Muslim sections are represented on the large map
near the entrance as if undivided by lanes, although these
separations exist. This is reminiscent of the way Jewish
quarters, actually Ghettos, were represented in the city
plans of Central Europe, hinting at a certain autonomy
or ex-territoriality of the Jews. The cemetery has several
chapels used by various Christian denominations, such
as a Bulgarian Orthodox church of the Dormition of the
Theotokos, a Roman Catholic chapel of Saint Francis of
Assisi, an Armenian Apostolic chapel, and a Jewish cer-
emonial building. The cemetery also features Russian,
Serbian, Romanian and British military sections.
The Jewish cemetery, i.e. the Jewish part of the Central Cem-
etery in Sofia, is a 50,000 square-metre section and includes
about 7,000 graves in different physical conditions. The green-
ery is relatively well managed so that all parts are accessible.
34.02
Panoramic view of the
Jewish Section
34.03
The ceremonial building
34.05
34.04 Traditional Sephardi
The central area of the horizontal gravestone with
Jewish Section parabolic cross-section
The Jewish section can be accessed in two ways, as
mentioned. A formal way is crossing the main entrance
from the south of the cemetery complex, walking along
the Alley of Ascension (Алея Успение Богородично),
circumventing the Christ Church (Християнски храм),
later crossing the Alley of Pope John Paul II (Алея Папа
Иоан Павел II), and finally reaching the Jewish part.
East of the Jewish section are the Muslim and the Cath-
olic sections. The informal and faster entrance is from
the back, i.e. the northern gate.06 However, this side of
the complex is rather poorly kept, populated with run-
down urn sections and with lots of very exotic Gypsy
funerary monuments – some Christian, some Muslim –
but in most cases there is a special formal language of
their graves, with curves and often shapes that resemble
flames or Indian art, which are somehow echoed in the
form of some graves in the Jewish section.07
The Jewish sections are centred around the ‘main square’ of
the Jewish part, marked by a late 19th century ceremonial
building, a polygonal timber pergola, a small pool and some
benches as well as a large black fountain made of artificial
stone, which is a donation of the Djerasy (Джераси) family,
erected in 1935. The large lancet arch surrounds a recessed,
flat surface from which the pipe comes out, in line with the
Ottoman tradition. However, contradicting the same tradi-
tion and following the Pravoslav (Православ) or Christian
Orthodox tradition of icons, four family members look at
the visitor in their elliptical photographs, framed by metal
mounts. Not only this duality shows the multicultural mi-
lieu of 19th and early 20th century Bulgaria; the images
are equally telling. The two members of the older gener-
34.03 34.02
34.04
34.05

ation are dressed in the traditional Muslim code, Miohas

(Миохась) wearing a fez on his head and being bearded,
Esther (Естерь) wearing a closed robe. Of the younger fam-
ily members, Avam (Аврам)’s face is shaved; he wears a tie;
and Roza (Роза) shows a décolletage.
Unlike most other European Jewish cemeteries, where
the rich and famous would be buried around such a
square and along the lanes that set out from it, this ceme-
tery looks more egalitarian, with only a handful of larger
graves following the funerary tradition of wealthy Cen-
338 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

34.06 34.07
34.08 34.09

tral European Jews, as can be seen in Vienna or Budapest.

Тhe tomb for the Arieh (Арие) family is a half circle tem-
ple fragment, composed of marble Ionic columns with an
architrave and a frieze set on a granite base, altogether 34.10
framing a pseudo sarcophagus made of granite. The latter 34.11
departs from the usual pseudo sarcophagi in the Balkans.
While looking timeless when seen from afar, a closer
scrutiny of the base proves that the monument was made
in the period of late Art Nouveau or in the geometrical
Art Nouveau of Josef Hoffmann. This corroborates with
the first interment of Iosiph R. Arieh in 1907. The last
burial of Raffael Issac Arieh was in 1948, at the begin-
ning of the big Aliyah, which depopulated the Bulgarian
Jewish community.
The majority of graves adheres to Sephardi traditions and
to the type of horizontal slabs with or without a pillow
stone – often circular with the framed image of the de-
ceased –, but some show fashionable architectural styles
of the interwar period. The tomb for Boris Bernstein, a
pharmacist, shows a large relief of a snake and bowl sym-
bolising his profession, framed by a typical zig-zag Ex-
pressionist circle. While he shows his Ashkenazi origins
with the German inscription Boris Bernstein, Apotheker,
Geboren 1878, Gestorben 1926, his wife’s name Белина

34.06–09
Details of the Jerassy fountain;
similar to tombs, family
members are represented by
photographs – the man of
the older generation wearing
Turkish fez and traditional
apparel, while the younger
generation looks Western.
34.10
Traditional Ottoman-type
fountain in the central
area of the Jewish Section,
donated by the Jerassy
(Джераси) family (1935) in
memory of Esther (Естеръ)
and Miohas (Миохасъ)
The Jewish part of the Central Cemetery in Sofia 339

34.12 34.13
34.14

Haim Gategno and Jacques Bite Gategno (Матилда Хаим

Гатеньо, Жак Бите Гатеньо), their names written only in
Cyrillic and without any Jewish symbols or Hebrew let-
ters, is typical of the Communist period. It is a vertical
slab with its right side slanting some 15–20 degrees, with
a Communist star engraved on its sharp upper left corner!
These Jews must have been Communist party members,

34.11
Tomb, similar to the ones
Леви Бернщаин, 1879–1961 (Belina Levi Bernshtain), is in Berlin or Vienna, of the
written in Cyrillic and in all likelihood, judged by name middle-class Sephardi Arieh
and look, she was of Sephardi origin. (Арие) family, 1907
A speciality of this cemetery is the integration of Com- 34.12
munist culture, due to the aforementioned cultural milieu. Tomb of the Ashkenazi
Post-World War Two graves gave up the Sephardi tradition chemist Boris Bernstein and
and followed general tendencies of the period when work- his Sephardi wife, Bellina
shops were identical for all denominations. Actually, there Levi Bernstein (Белина
Леви Бернщаин), 1926.
were hardly any denominations, as they were suppressed
in Communist societies. The Communist Party, however, Boris’ name and profession
is written in German
tolerated some Jewish activities. Unlike Christian church-
(Apotheker), Bellina’s name
es that represented a real threat to the dictatorship, Jews, in Bulgarian-Cyrillic. The
being a small group and acting on the ‘proper side’, as they central part of the tomb
did not collaborate with the Nazis, were somehow con- carries the symbol of his
sidered to be more reliable, as in many countries of the profession, framed with
Eastern Bloc.08 The grave for the married couple Matilda Expressionist decoration.
34.13
Two tombs of the family
Neger, the higher and older
grave of Sigmund Neger,
1913 with German and
Hebrew inscription, and the
newer one of Dr. Jacques
A. Neger, Lisa and Adolf
Neger (Жак А. Негер,
Лиза, Адолф Негер), 1938,
with Bulgarian-Cyrillic
inscription
34.14
Children’s graves on the
edge of an adult section,
1924. The older boy, Kani
Mordo Ashkenazi (Кани
Мордо Ешкенази) wears a
military uniform of the newly
established nation state
of Bulgaria.
340 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

and even prominent, because on other graves of the time

the Star of David would be engraved.
Inscriptions vary in language and typography. They are of-
ten bilingual, as for instance for the aforementioned Bern-
stein family. Bulgarian Cyrillic is dominant, but there are
some inscriptions only in Hebrew, e.g. the beautiful tradi-
tional horizontal Sephardi slab for Roza [?] (family name
illegible) with a portrait of the deceased over a six-pointed
star, wearing a fashionable hat with a bird feather.
Children’s graves do not have a specially allocated sec-
tion, nor any special architectural form, such as broken
columns in the majority of Europe’s Jewish cemeteries.
Just the size of the gravestone may give some hint, as
in the case of the grave for Neli D. Alkalai (Нели Д.
Алкалаи, 1924–1933), аn interesting Expressionist ver-
tical slab with a handsome typography.
An extraordinary tomb carries the name Albert Juda Al-
maleh (Алберт Юда Алмалех), born in 1899 (the date of
death is illegible, probably in the 1920s or 1930s). It is an
organically shaped stone, resembling Ashkenazi irregular
stones, built in accordance with the Sephardi tradition. It
is topped by a metal pyramid, a unique combination.
Probably the most valuable element of this cemetery is the
partly spontaneously grown vegetation, trees creating on
the one hand larger spaces, on the other some more inti-
mate spaces, but in any case the transparency of the whole
cemetery is retained in accordance with Jewish traditions.
The cemetery also contains several ohalim and a memo-
rial grave for Jews killed by the fascists. Although the
Central Israelite Spiritual Council looks after it, the com- 34.15 34.16
munity lacks the funds to maintain the site properly. Veg- 34.17
etation and drainage constantly cause problems.
02 Among them was Joseph Caro, the famous scholar,
who lived in Nikopol, 1523–36, later settled in the
01 Legends regarding her fidelity to the Jewish cause vary. Holy Land.
Some attribute to her the period of flourishing of the 03 Treaty of San Stefano (now Yeşilköy), a village west of
Bulgarian Jewish Community. Unlike other Jewish İstanbul, Turkey, 1878, was the peace treaty between
heroines, she was not an advocate of her people, but Russian and the Ottoman Empires, at the conclusion of
became a strong supporter of the Orthodox Christian the last of the Russo-Turkish Wars, in which Bulgaria
Church and contributed to the persecution of her fellow as a state reappeared on the map. This treaty was the
Jews. Interestingly, however, in Bulgaria this church first step of a Post-Ottoman arrangement of good part of
remarkably differed from its Russian counterpart or the Balkans, in which they started to return to Christian
even from the Catholic church. Clergymen were among
foundations after nearly five centuries of Muslim rule.
the most ardent supporters of saving the Jews from
While at first it seemed beneficial for the Balkan nations
deportation to the Nazi concentration and death camps, or
and their modernisation, it induced a set of periodical wars
killing the Jews in situ, as in Lithuania or the Ukraine.
until our days.
04 The Treaty of Berlin, 1878, decided about the fate of
post-Ottoman Bulgaria and it accorded special legal status
to some non-Christian religious groups, such as Jews and
Muslims.
05 However, Jews from Macedonia, which was annexed by
Bulgaria, were readily delivered to the death camps. The
supporters of the Bulgarian Jews included intellectuals,
Orthodox Church leaders and the vice president of the
34.15
parliament, Dimitar Peshev, as well as King Boris III, who
Traditional horizontal previously had forged the alliance with Nazi Germany, but
34.17
Sephardi gravestone now told his masters that he needed the Jews as workforce
Father and son on a
34.16 traditional lying Sephardi for building roads and sabotaged their deportation.
Detail of a traditional gravestone, the former 06 Interestingly, it is unguarded and therefore officially
Sephardi gravestone: wearing a traditional Turkish closed. Accordingly, large Cyrillic letters state Затворен,
photograph of a fashionable fez, the latter in Bulgarian i.e. closed, but it is open – not far from it a Gypsy couple
lady with a bird feather military uniform sells flowers.
The Jewish part of the Central Cemetery in Sofia 341

34.18 34.19 34.21

34.20
34.22
34.20
Modernist Sephardi tomb
of Zelma Azriel Almaleh
07 Almost all major Gypsy graves have engraved (Зелма Азриел Алмалех) and
representations of the deceased, sometimes with a bottle of Leon Albert Almaleh (Леон
Алберт Алмалех) with a
whisky (not a national drink of the Bulgarians), a mobile 34.18 representation of a portable
phone and a Mercedes car, preferably a cabriolet. Often Modernist Sephardi radio set and a Communist
the graves are fenced off and covered with a metal frame chlidren’s grave of Nelly D. star – the photographs with the
and glass roof, like modern day Jewish ohalim. Alkalay (Нели Д. Алкалај) metal frame have been stolen.
08 There is a large bibliography on Jewish involvement in 34.19 34.21
Communist parties and culture in general, particularly Modernist Sephardi tomb Grave for an adult in the
in countries with a large Jewish minority, as for instance Nissim Moissei Yachiel form of a broken column
in Hungary and the Soviet Union. In the Hungarian (Нисим Моисеи Яахиел)
Communist Party, officially Hungarian Socialist Workers’ and Emil Nissim Yachiel 34.22
Party, the number of Jews and their influence were (Емил Нисим Яахиел) with General view
above average. a Communist star of the Jewish Section

The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna,
Gate One (Israelitische Abteilung des Zentralfriedhofs)
The first Jew mentioned in Vienna was Schlomo in 1194,
the mint master of Princes Leopold V and Friedrich I. In
1204 a synagogue was mentioned, surrounded by a hos-
pital, ritual bath, and communal buildings.01 In the second
half of the 13th century there were about 1,000 Jews in
the community, making it a leading Jewish centre in the
German-speaking countries.02 In 1250 the Viennese Jew-
ish Town at the site of today’s Judenplatz represented a
typical Central European medieval Jewish settlement until
1420–21, the Viennese Gesera, when Jews were chased
away or murdered, some of them even committing suicide
in the synagogue in order to avoid compulsory baptism.03
For two centuries, Vienna officially became judenrein.04
After 1624, Jews were once again permitted to settle
down in Vienna, but were again expelled in 1669–70 un-
der Leopold I. The second Ottoman Turkish siege of Vi-
enna necessitated Jewish financial help and in 1683 Sam-
uel Oppenheimer was appointed as financier to the court.
Following the expulsion of the Ottoman Turks from the
Kingdom of Hungary in 1686, Austria extended its ter-
ritory over significant parts of the Hungarian Kingdom,
after 1711 to Transylvania and in 1772 annexing parts of
divided Poland (Galicia and Lodomeria). The Habsburg
Empire became the second largest country in Europe, af-
ter the Russian Empire. Officially, Jewish Emancipation
started gradually only after the Edict of Tolerance issued
by the enlightened Emperor Joseph II in 1781–82, and
accelerating spectacularly in the 19th century.
The Revolution of 1848 prompted the Emancipation of
Jews, although Jews were granted actual civil rights only
after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise (1867): Jews
were accorded the unrestricted right to reside, own pri-
vate property and to practice their religion throughout
Austria-Hungary in the 1867 constitution.05
As the imperial capital, Vienna attracted Jews more and
more in the industrial era, their number amounting to
35.01
Gate One,
the main entrance
to the Old Jewish Cemetery
at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
CHAPTER 35
2617 in 1857 (1.3%), 40,277 in 1869 (6.6%), 99,444 in
1890 (12.1%), 175,294 in 1910 (8.6%), and falling well
below 10,000 (0.5%) after the Holocaust. Their integra-
tion in different professional groups varied from occupa-
tion to occupation.
Emperor Francis Joseph I (in German: Franz Joseph I,
1830–1916) was often nicknamed the Judenkaiser (em-
peror of the Jews), due to his tolerance towards the Jews
that was the result of clever considerations: apart from the
thin layer of German-speaking bureaucracy throughout
the vast empire, Jews became increasingly the cementing
factor of the multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-con-
fessional Austria-Hungary, plagued by secessionist polit-
ical forces from the mid-19th century onward.
As elsewhere, Jewish acculturation and assimilation made
Jewish presence in towns and cities increasingly notice-
able: Architecturally, the Tempelgasse Synagogue, erected
between 1853 and 1858 visibly in the street,06 highlight-
ed the economic breakthrough of Viennese Jewry. Due to
its numerous Jewish developers, the grand new Viennese
boulevard around the old city core of Vienna, the Ring-
straße, was even nicknamed Zionstraße in its time.07 Lat-
er, around 1900, Jews also played a decisive role in the
creation of the Viennese Secession and the Wiener Werk-
stätte.08 However, it was just the “tip of the iceberg” that
hallmarked Viennese Jewry: Jews were represented in the
wide range of the middle class09 and of intellectuals.10
The Jewish Barons of the Ringstraße were buried at the
Zentralfriedhof, the newly opened central cemetery of the
imperial capital. Their tombs and major funerary monu-
ments became trendsetters of Jewish funerary art in the
Habsburg Empire and neighbouring regions. Certainly,
besides Berlin Vienna was the most important cultural hub
of modern funerary art of the German-speaking Jewry.
Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof opened on All Saint’s Day in
1874, has a size of almost 240 hectares and contains
344 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

330.000 graves. By 2006 it had three million interments,

almost twice the number of the inhabitants of Vienna to-
day.11 In its time it was the largest cemetery in Europe,
today it is the second after Hamburg’s Ohlsdorf Ceme-
tery measuring four square kilometres. It is divided into
confessional parts, of which the largest is the Catholic,
centrally located with its tall church of St Charles Bor-
romeus12 as a landmark for the whole ensemble.13 Con-
fessional parts are all walled off from each other, except
the Old Jewish Cemetery open to the Catholic section.
Despite good intentions to create a hygienic and monumental
ensemble for the imperial capital, the whole Zentralfriedhof
was unpopular at the beginning, as Père Lachaise Cemetery
had been in Paris 70 years earlier, due to a similar reason: the
distance from the city centre. The Zentralfriedhof required
an hour-long journey from Vienna’s centre. Authorities re-
interred the earthly remains of some dignitaries, for instance
Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, in order to make
the new cemetery complex more attractive.
The Zentralfriedhof is unique among European metro-
politan cemeteries as it contains two Jewish cemeteries
on its eastern and western ends, flanking the Catholic
and Lutheran sections. However, the opening of the old-
er Jewish cemetery was not without controversy due to
the anti-Jewish sentiment of some circles in the predom-
inantly Catholic population. Two weeks before the offi-
35.02
cial opening of the Zentralfriedhof some Catholic circles
protested against the Jewish Community which secured
a substantial portion of land for itself for a significant from which three large gates open to the forecourt of the
amount of money.14 The situation was so tense that the cemetery that once contained the ceremonial building,
whole ensemble of the Zentralfriedhof was inaugurated also erected in 1877. The main entrance of the ceremonial
in a clandestine ceremony in the early morning of 31 Oc- hall was in the axis of the main, central gate, which thus
tober 1874, attended by a small number of invitees and served as ceremonial route for the deceased, while the
only two dignitaries, Vienna’s Mayor Baron Cajetan von other smaller gates on the same semi-circular wall were
Felder and Cardinal Joseph Othmar Rauscher, in order to for people visiting the cemetery unrelated to a burial. The
avoid an escalation of the public controversy regarding two-storey high ceremonial hall stood in the middle of
the size and location of the Jewish part. The contested the forecourt, flanked by green surfaces on all its four
Jewish part is indeed quite substantial, some 26 hectares sides. The main lane starts from the axis of the entrance
large and it is the section closest to the city centre. gate, ceremonial hall and forecourt. It is the spine of the
The old part of the Catholic and the old Jewish cemetery cemetery, called Ceremonial Lane (Zeremonieallee) and
have an overarching geometrical concept, with a gridded connects the Jewish sections, i.e. 5b, 6, 7, 8, 19, 20, 49,
plan and some diagonal lanes as well as circular ones. 50, 51, 52, 52b, 53b, and 76b, thus creating an irregular
The old Jewish Cemetery, however, lacks internal diag- form in the context of the whole ensemble.
onals and circles in tune with the Jewish funerary tradi- The forecourt, rectangular in plan, is enclosed on all four sides
tion. (It is just its north-eastern tip that touches a diagonal by large areas of vegetation. Unlike many other metropolitan
lane unfolding in the Catholic section.) The New Jewish Jewish cemeteries, there is no gate between the forecourt and
Cemetery (1917), the Lutheran part (1906), and the ex- the cemetery proper, most probably due to the street-widen-
tension of the Catholic part depart from this 19th century ing which already functions as part of the cemetery.
pattern and adopt simple grids, which however are laid In contrast to the majority of metropolitan Jewish ceme-
out at different angles to each other and to the main grid teries of the period, honorary graves are not concentrated
of the ensemble, emphasising spatial independence. In at one or two locations close to the main entrance; instead
the 19th century parts, both Catholic and Jewish, wider they are scattered over the whole territory, i.e. in sections
lanes contain the family tombs (Grüfte) and in the Jewish 5b–6, 19–20, 52–52a, and 76b. In front of the perimeter
part also this type can be found along the perimeter walls. walls, elsewhere so important, one does not find the tombs
Officially, the Jewish Community (Israelitische Kultus- of the most prominent families. The most prominent hon-
gemeinde) became the owner of the plot three years after orary section is at the beginning of the main alley which
the opening, in October 1877, and the first burial took sets out from the space in front of the ceremonial hall, de-
place in March 1879. Until its closure for new burials in stroyed in the Nazi period. Here towers the monument to
1916 this cemetery witnessed 80,000 interments. Salomon Sulzer, hazzan (cantor) and composer.15
As seen on the map of 1879, Gate One has in front of it a Not far from Sulzer stands the tall monument to Dr Ad-
monumental semi-circular widening of the Reichstrasse, olf Fischhof (1816 Óbuda, today Budapest – 1893 Vi-
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 345

35.03
35.05 35.04

35.04
Perimeter of the forecourt
(Gruppe 5b) with
the largest tombs
35.02
35.05
The forecourt of the
cemetery, in the centre stood Perimeter of the forecourt
the ceremonial hall until near the Ceremonial Lane
its destruction by the Nazis with smaller graves – the
one in form of the Tablets of
35.03 the Law with only Hebrew
The perimeter inscription is the grave of
of the forecourt with graves Rabbi Arieh Schwartz, head
of famous people of the rabbinic school
346
35.07
35.06
Square at the southern tip
of the Jewish sections, where
they meet Catholic sections –
groups 52-53-75-76 – not far
from Gate XI
35.07
The Ceremonial Lane,
middle part – steles and
larger monuments line up
intermittently
35.08
The Ceremonial Lane,
tombs from the Gründerzeit
unanimously made of
black Swedish granite
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
35.08
35.09
35.09
The Ceremonial Lane,
middle part – the row of
steles is interrupted by larger
tombs
35.10
The beginning of the
Ceremonial Lane – on
the left are the graves of
Salamon Sulzer, Adolf
Jellinek, and Adolf Fischhof
35.11
The Ceremonial Lane,
view to the north
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 347

enna), Hungarian-Austrian writer and politician, one of

the leaders of the revolutionary movement of 1848 and
later an advocate of the federal organisation of the Austri-
an Empire, which could have saved it from collapse and
protected its small nations and two million Jews from
excessive German and Russian influence. History was to
prove him right.
Still around the former ceremonial hall, but a bit to the
west of the former two monuments is the modernist grave
of Arthur Schnitzler, the playwright who raised many
eyebrows in fin-de-siècle Vienna, and his brother Julius
Schnitzler, the famous medical doctor. Their neighbour
is Oskar Strnad with his wife Matilde. Along with Joseph
Frank, who was also Jewish, Strnad was a key figure of
interwar Viennese modern architecture.16 Strnad’s grave
is a modernist rereading of the Sephardi funerary tradi-
tion with a white, horizontal marble slab. A bit further
away from the honorary rows, matzevot and larger graves
are often arranged in double rows turning their backs to
each other. Thus, one of the most significant elements of
Jewish funerary tradition was abolished, the universal
eastern/southern orientation of graves, which is based
on resurrection and return to Jerusalem, the latter being
south-east of Vienna.
35.06 Children are not in a separate section or represented by a
35.10 broken column as elsewhere, but in the ‘family circle’. An
35.11 interesting example is the monument of the Familie K. u.
K. Hofrath Samuel Ritter von Hahn, where little Franz,
grandson of the pater familias, received a small white
marble obelisk at the end of the aedicule in front of the
black plaque of Swedish granite with the names of the de-
ceased adults. The pomp of Catholic Vienna is represented
not only in the lavish architecture, but also in the text em-
phasising Samuel’s spectacular advance from a Moravian
Shtetl milieu to Vienna’s Leopoldstadt and to his villa in
Baden designed by Otto Wagner, the father of Viennese
Secession. Ritter von Hahn made his name as commer-
cial director the Südbahn Railway Company and director
general of the newly founded Catholic Länderbank. This
‘Jewish Johann Buddenbrook’ buried his only son and
grandson; a good part of the ensemble of the famous villa
in Baden was torn down after his death.17
While the most conspicuous graves dominate the cer-
emonial lane, the majority of the cemetery consists of
harmonious fields populated by traditional matzevot and
their formal derivates.
Stylistically, almost all major neo-styles are represent-
ed. Probably the most controversial being Neo-Gothic,
the ‘Christian Style’ as exemplified by the new City
Hall on the Ringstraße and the Votivkirche, the parish
church erected after Emperor Francis Joseph survived
an assassination attempt, both buildings designed by
architect Friedrich von Schmidt.18 His Jewish associate,
Max Fleischer, who erected several tombs and Jewish
community buildings in Vienna, also used Neo-Gothic,
including for his own funerary monument at this cem-
etery.19 The latter looks like a small chapel built of red
brick with an emphasised stepped gable on the entrance
side. The tombstone is inside, hidden behind a heavy
black metal door. There is no inscription on the exterior,
one has to peep into the dimly lit interior in order to
348
35.12
35.14
see who are buried there. Interestingly, despite all this
explicit assimilation, the first text on the marble plaque
with names is in Hebrew.
Neo-Gothic tombs are not concentrated to a certain sec-
tion, but can be found mainly insularly. Probably, the Old
Jewish Cemetery of the Zentralfriedhof has the largest
number of Neo-Gothic tombs and monuments among its
European counterparts, far more than at Berlin-Weißens-
ee Cemetery, where the ‘German style’ would be logical,
but due to its later opening, Neo-Gothic had become ob-
solete in Central Europe.
The Rundbogenstil, the Central European simplified
Neo-Romanesque, yet another ‘Christian’ and ‘Ger-
man style’, was much more popular among Jews than
Neo-Gothic. Many synagogue architects opted for this
style also for its combinability with the so-called Moor-
ish style.20 Rundbogenstil tombs are also scattered all over
this cemetery. On the ceremonial alley stands the family
memorial to Imperial Advisor Adolf Lichtblau, erected
in 1904 when this style was already obsolete and usually
replaced by Free Style and some kind of Art Nouveau.
As was the custom at that time, it was a family grave –
Familiengruft – as is written on the monument itself, in
which the family is highlighted by the glory of its pater
familias, Adolf, the Kaiserlicher Rat (imperial advisor).
Just the plaque with names is precious stone, the rest is
brick masonry imitating stone, with Romanesque capi-
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
35.13
35.15
tals, pediment, and a blind rose window from which the
mortar is peeling off. Still, his social position requested a
Gruft that he could not build of adequate material.
Moorish style monuments are relatively rare, exemplified
by the so-called Turkish Section (Gruppe 7), in which
the oriental architectural language was not merely fash-
ion as elsewhere at Ashkenazi cemeteries in Europe, but
it referred to the Spanish origin of Jews in Vienna who
arrived from the Iberian Peninsula via the Turkish Em-
pire.21 The monument of Jacques Menachem Elias shows
details from the Arabic parts of the Alhambra.
The dominant architectural style is, however, not me-
dieval revival, but Greek and Roman Neo-Classicism
coupled with expensive materials, usually Swedish
granite. One of the most prominent Neo-Classical mon-
uments belongs to architect, MP, and Baurat22 Wilhelm
Stiassny (1842–1910), albeit it is made of white mar-
ble. Its form quotes the large Tomb of Zechariah, carved
into the stone in Jerusalem’s Kidron Valley. Unlike the
ancient tomb, Stiassny’s crepidoma is not below the sty-
lobate, but below the pedestal on which the crepidoma
stands, and the two Ionic half columns are left out of
the stylobate. Interestingly, the whole architectural quo-
tation from Jerusalem rises from a giant matzeva-form.
Stiassny, born in Bratislava (then Pozsony or Preßburg)
in the year when Jews were entitled to settle freely in
the Habsburg Empire, exemplifies the successful archi-
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 349

35.16
35.17 35.18
35.19 35.20

35.12–14
A wide lane perpendicular
to the Ceremonial Lane,
unpaved
35.15
A larger, paved lane
perpendicular to
the Ceremonial Lane,
surrounded mainly
by smaller graves
35.16
Graves are set in double
rows in many sections
35.17–18
The most frequent type of
tomb is the simple obelisk
35.19
Small mausoleum
with Egyptian motifs
35.20
Tomb with Egyptian motifs
350
35.21 35.22
tect, entrepreneur, and public figure of his period. Un-
like many successful Jews, he abstained from baptism
and remained faithful to Judaism and fostered Jewish
culture.23 Borrowing the form from the significant Je-
rusalem monument of Herod’s period is not by chance.
His identification with Zechariach is visible in the in-
scription on the pedestal: Ich bin kein Prophet sondern
ein Ackersmann denn ich habe Menschen gedienet von
meiner Jugend auf. Sacharja 13.5.24
Sporadically there are some larger tombs using elements
of Egyptian architecture in its pure form or in conjunc-
tion with other idioms.
Secession or Art Nouveau and Proto-modern Classi-
cism play a subordinate role, usually for smaller or mid-
dle-sized tombs. Metal mainly characterises the period of
Secession and Wiener Werkstätte.
Modernism is represented by the tomb of the aforemen-
tioned Arthur Schnitzler and of the more traditional, but
also modernist tomb of Arieh Schwarz, with only He-
brew inscription, albeit not with his Jewish name, i.e.
patronymic, but with the German family name written
in a Hebrew transcription, like Yiddish. This semi-con-
servative approach is visible on the form, which is a dou-
ble-matzeva at its top, but actually a single stone with
a minimalistic, asymmetric inscription: peh-nun,25 Arieh
Schwarz, rosh beith midrash harabanim, tav-nun-tsadi-
bet-hei (abbreviation), i.e. here lies A. Sch. the head of
the rabbinic school, may his soul be bound up in the bond
of eternal life.26 Interestingly, there are no dates, neither
written in Arabic numbers nor embedded into Hebrew
letters in the traditional way.
Besides traditional matzevot and architecturally con-
ceived tombs, there are some free-form stones, some-
times mimicking the natural stone form, sometimes mim-
icking tree fragments, sometimes a combination of these
two. Inscription varies in these cases from carved-in let-
ters – almost exclusively Roman letters without even the
usual Hebrew abbreviations – to metal letters or simple
metal plaques fixed to the stone.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
35.23
While the ceremonial lane is dominated by larger and more
complex tombs, in the rows behind there are simple matzevot,
creating harmonious fields, called in this cemetery Gruppe.
While not typical of this cemetery, which is more reform
than traditional in any respect, there are some ohels of fa-
mous Chassidic rabbis, even close to the main lane.
In some sections of this cemetery tombstones are set in two
lines, turning their backs towards each other, similarly to
the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague-Žižkov that followed
this pattern after Vienna and the New Jewish Cemetery at
the Zentralfriedhof. Still, here these rows are usually not
that close to each other and this disposition is less frequent
as in the case of the two aforementioned newer burial plac-
es. This disposition, which is a blatant refusal of Jewish
traditions, may have originated from the neighbouring Lu-
theran cemetery in the Zentralfriedhof.
At the back of this cemetery there is a section of Viennese
Jewish solders who fell in World War One. This section is
filled with simple, uniform matzevot that, however, differ
from traditional matzevot in that their vertical cross sec-
tion tapers upwards.
The Nazis destroyed the ceremonial hall during the
Reichskristallnacht of 1938;27 today there is a green sur-
face. In 1941–42 Jewish cemeteries were confiscated by
the Nazis in order to be kept as museums. At the same
time this was the only “park” where Jews were allowed
to be present.
In 1945, missing their target, bombs of the Royal Air
Force and the United States Army Air Forces destroyed
3000 tombs, of which the relatively well preserved and
unidentifiable remains were later collected. In sections 8
and 19 there are numerous graves with bullet holes, tes-
tifying that this cemetery was also a battlefield. Roughly
30–35% of the entire cemetery was destroyed. In some
places, lost graves have not been replaced, and grass
grows over their remnants; in some other sections, there
are uniform pseudo-matzevot marking the lost graves.
Thus, the cemetery looks more park-like than before the
Holocaust, to which high trees also contribute.
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 351

35.24 35.25 35.26

35.27 35.28

35.21
Neo-Romanesque
Regarding vegetation, some trees were planted, others (Rundbogenstil) tomb – the
grave of Adolf Jellinek,
grew spontaneously, contributing to the spatial variety of
rabbi, scholar, and reformer
this burial place. In addition, maintenance differs from of synagogue service
section to section and bushes, shrubs and a variety of
trees create a great horticultural and spatial experience 35.22
in the cemetery. Small neo-Romanesque
mausoleum of the
Since 2008, the city of Vienna has renovated some honor-
Kohn-Langsfelder family
ary graves located in the ceremonial lane (Zeremonieal-
in front of the perimeter wall
lee) and in some side alleys. The cemetery is owned by
the municipality and a significant part of it is well kept, 35.23
visited by relatives of the deceased and used as a park by Neo-Romanesque tomb
citizens and tourists. of family Adolf Lichtbau
35.24–26
Neo-Gothic family tombs
35.27
The neo-Gothic mausoleum
of Wilhelm Ritter von
Guttmann, one of the largest
in the cemetery
35.28
Architect Max Fleischer’s
neo-Gothic ‘small chapel’
(1905) refers to his three
synagogues in Vienna
and to the one in Budweis
(today: České Budějovice),
all designed in this style
352
35.29
01 Max Grünwald: Geschichte der Wiener Juden http://ldn-
knigi.lib.ru/JUDAICA/Grunwald.htm, Its archeological
site with remains of the bimah and the Arka are visible in
the museum complex at Judenplatz.
02 The influence of the ‘Sages of Vienna’ spread far beyond
the limits of the city itself and continued for many
generations. Of primary importance were Isaac B. Moses
“Or Zaru’a”, his son Chayyim “Or Zaru’a”, Avigdor B.
Elijah Ha- Kohen, and Meir B. Baruch Ha- Levi. At the
time of the Black Death persecutions of 1348–49, the
community of Vienna was spared and even served as
a refuge for Jews from other places. Quoted from Beit
Hatfutsot Database, http://dbs.bh.org.il/place/vienna, last
retrieved 15 June 2017.
03 Synagoge, Mikwe, Fleischbank: Die mittelalterlichen
Judenviertel in Wien und Wiener Neustadt. In: Österreich.
Geschichte. Literatur. Geographie (ÖGL) 60/3 (2016),
Städtisches Leben im spätmittelalterlichen Österreich, hg.
von Herwig Weigl, pp. 265–277, and Erfolgsgeschichten?
Die jüdische Einwanderung aus Böhmen und Mähren
in die österreichischen Länder des Spätmittelalters.
In: Helmut Teufel, Pavel Kocman, Milan Řepa (Hg.):
„Avigdor, Benesch, Gitl“ – Juden in Böhmen, Mähren und
Schlesien im Mittelalter. Samuel Steinherz zum Gedenken
(1857 Güssing – 1942 Theresienstadt), 27–29. 11. 2012,
Brünn, Essen 2016, pp. 357–361.
04 Still, as in many other towns, this ban was circumvented,
in Vienna quite blatantly: a new Jewish cemetery was
established in the Seegasse in 1582.
05 History of the Jews in Vienna – Wikipedia, https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Vienna,
accessed 11 June 2017. Still, mining towns, considered
strategically important, remained closed for them.
06 The previous large Vienne synagogue, the Stadtempel
(1826) was hidden in the courtyard of the Jewish
Community building in the Seitenstettengasse in the First
Quarter (Erster Bezirk) of Vienna.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
35.30
07 See Fredric Bedoire: The Jewish Contribution to Modern
Architecture, 1830–1930, New Jersey, 2004, chapter on
Vienna pp. 296–330.
08 Jorn K. Bramann, John Moran: Karl Wittgenstein, Business
Tycoon and Art Patron, https://faculty.frostburg.edu/phil/
forum/KarlWittgenstein.htm1/, last retrieved 1 June 2017.
09 The Jewish contribution to Vienna’s economy was
significant. The following data stem from the interwar
period (1934) and signify the percentage of Jews in each
occupation: medical doctors 51.6%; pharmacists 31.5%;
credit bureaus 82.0%; driving schools 13.0%; bakers and
bread makers 60.0%; banks 75.0%; drug stores 26%;
butchers 9%; photographers 34%; hairdressers 9.4%;
garages 15.5%; jewellers 40%; café operators 40%;
cinemas 63%; furriers 67.6%; milliners 34%; opticians
21.5%; traders of leather goods 25%; lawyers 85.5%;
advertising bureaus 96.5%; pubs 4.7%; locksmiths
5.5%. See: Georg Glockemeier: Zur Wiener Judenfrage.
Leipzig / Wien 1936 (Auf Grundlage der Volkszählung
1934). and Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Wien
1930–1935 (Neue Folge, 3. Band) published by the
Magistratsabteilung für Statistik.
10 Jewish medical doctors contributed significantly to
Vienna’s medical school. For example, Ludwig Bárány
was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1914, Otto
Loewi in 1936. Sigmund Freud opened new horizons in
psychiatry and psychology. Wolfgang Pauli was awarded
the Nobel Prize in 1945, Max F. Perutz in 1962. The
Jewish contribution to classical music was probably the
most momentous, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schönberg,
Alexander Zemlinsky, Erich Wolfgang Korngold being the
most famous. Viennese literature would be unthinkable
without Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal,
Richard Beer-Hofman, Peter Altenberg, Karl Krauss,
Franz Werfel, Joseph Roth, etc. Modern philospohy owes
a lot to Viennese Jewish philosophers, such as Ludwig
Wittgenstein, Karl Popper, and Martin Buber.
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 353

35.29
The neo-Renaissance was
the most popular revival
style among Reform Jews;
it referred to the Florentine
Renaissance, the beginning
of the modern era (Guttman
and Ritter von Hahn family
tombs)
35.30
The interior of the Ritter von
Hahn family tomb – the small
white obelisk stands for little
Franz, the grandchild
of the knighted Samuel
35.31 35.32
35.33 35.31
35.34 35.35 The tomb of architect
Wilhelm Stiassny is
a quotation of the tomb
of Zechariah in Jerusalem’s
Kidron Valley. Stiassny’s
identification with the
prophet is reinforced by
a quotation on the
tomb’s pedestal.
35.32
The family tomb of Michael
Stern features neo-
Classicism as the style of the
Enlightenment – Baroque
as the style of Counter-
Reformation was omitted
at the cemetery
35.33
The double tombs of the
Thorsch family features
two not entirely identical
neo-Renaissance aedicules
connected by a
semi-circular arch
35.34
The Strasser family tomb
represents the so-called
oriental style, a rare revival
style used in Vienna’s
Jewish cemeteries
35.35
An ohel of a Hassidic Rabbi
in front of the perimeter wall
features neo-Classicism, the
style of reason, controversial
for a “holy man” of mysticism
354
35.36
11 The cemetery was designed in 1870 according to the plans
of the Frankfurt landscape architects Karl Jonas Mylius
and Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli who were awarded the per
angusta ad augusta (from dire to sublime) prize.
12 It is also called Dr. Karl-Lueger-Gedächtniskirche (Karl
Lueger Memorial Church) due to the crypt of the former
mayor of Vienna below the high altar.
13 Catholicism remained state religion in the Habsburg
Empire until 1868 (1868/LIII regulation) and this fact
is well reflected in the layout of the whole ensemble.
In 1868, five Christian denominations became official
and theoretically equal, Catholic (Greek or Latin),
Calvinist, Lutheran, Unitarian, and Greek Orthodox. In
1895, Judaism also became official. Still, many social
privileges of the Catholic Church and circles remained
and for a successful carreer conversion to Catholicism was
advisable, as the cases of architects Friedrich Schmidt and
Otto Wagner as well as the case of Gustav Mahler proves.
14 It was almost 37,000 Austrian Crowns.
15 Salomon Sulzer (1804 Hohenems – 1890 Vienna) was
a hazzan (cantor) and composer who modernized the
ritual and introduced a choir to the Jewish service. He
reorganised the song service of the synagogue, retaining
the traditional chants and melodies, but harmonising them
with more modern approaches.
16 Oskar Strnad 1879–1935, Jüdisches Museum Wien, Palais
Eskeles, Dorotheergasse, Wien. Exhibition Catalogue,
edited by Iris Meder and Jüdisches Museum Wien,
Salzburg 2007.
17 http://www.jewishcommunity.at/Familien/Hahn.htm
18 Schmidt, 1825–1891, was of German descent, a Protestant
who converted to Catholocism in order to facilitate his
carreer in Catholic Vienna. He was rather liberal, one of the
most important Ringstraße architects, with two prominent
Jewish students, Max Fleischer, and Wilhelm Stiassny.
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
35.37
He served even as a witness to Fleischer’s wedding in the
Seitenstettengasse synagogue. See: Ursula Prokop: On the
Jewish Legacy in Viennese Architecture – The Contribution
of Jewish Architects to Building in Vienna 1868–1938, p.19,
www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=612510,
last retrieved 14 June 2017.
19 Max Fleischer (1841–1905) created at this cemetery
mausoleums for Wilhelm Ritter von Gutmann, Wiener von
Welten, Hofrat von Hahn, Moritz Hirsch Engel, and Moritz
Bauer, large family graves (Grüfte) for Ritter von Leon, von
Pfeiffer, Max Freiherr von Springer, and von Kallier; graves
for Fischhof, Sulzer, and others. In Vienna, he built synagogues
in Schmalzhofgasse (1883–1884), Neudeggergasse 12
(1903), and Müllnergasse 21 (1888–1889); all destroyed in
1938, just like the ones in České Budějovice, Pilgram, and
Lundenburg. In all these edifices Gothic was a statement
about Jewish acculturation, acceptance of Christian, German
values, and architectural style as the vehicle of their expression.
See: Patricia Steines: Hunderttausend Steine. Grabstellen
großer Österreicher jüdischer Konfession auf dem Wiener
Zentralfriedhof, Tor I und Tor IV. Wien 1993, p. 85.
20 Probably the most prominent examples are the synagogues
designed by Ludwig Förster in Vienna, Budapest, and
Miskolc. All of them looked rather Moorish regarding
their main facades, while the southern, eastern and
northern facades are/were in Rundbogenstil.
21 These Jews, Sephardim, were expelled from Spain in
1492 and from Portugal in 1496, and found refuge in
the Ottoman Empire, enjoying the protection of the
Sultan. Still, they had to pay to be tolerated, as among
the Christians, but enjoyed more economic and political
freedom in the vast Ottoman Empire.
22 Title is written in front of his name.
23 He built the Israelitisches Blindeninstitut in Wien-Döbling,
1872; the Rothschild-Hospital in Wien-Währing, 1873; the
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 355

35.38
35.39

35.36
On this tomb the traditional
neo-Renaissance
composition is clad with
Secessionist decoration
35.37
The tomb of the Gerngross
family, owners of the
department store, resembles
similar imposing graves at
Weißensee Jewish Cemetery
in Berlin regarding size,
composition and
Jugendstil decoration
35.38
The ohel of Schmuel Aharon
Prammel is far away from
the central area of the
cemetery, located among
modest graves. Ohels prove
that besides assimilated Jews
there were also traditional
Hassidim in Vienna.
35.39
Art Nouveau stele with floral
decoration overgrown
with vegetation
356
35.40 A
35.40 E
35.40 A–H
Individual graves in the
form of uncut stone – some
of them have a plaque or
book representation with
inscription, on some others
letters are cut into the stone
directly.
35.41–42
The Steinhof family tomb
(1906) exemplifies late
Secessionist, proto-modernist
classicism
35.43
The tomb of Moriz Schwarz
(1905) - Secession in Vienna
evolved into proto-modern
classicism in the first decade
of the 20th century
35.44
Markers in the form of
matzeva, made of reinforced
concrete substitute graves
lost during Nazi times
35.40 B
35.40 F
35.45
The grave of architect
Oskar Strnad and his wife
exemplifies modernist
horizontal graves of
prominent intellectuals
35.46
The tomb of Arthur
Schnitzler, the playwright,
his brother Dr. Julius
Schnitzler and his son,
Heinrich Schnitzler, actor
and director, exemplifies
modernist vertical graves
with a horizontal part of
prominent intellectuals
35.47
The Springer family tomb
(1928) exemplifies the larger,
modernist burial places of
upper middle class Jews
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
35.40 C 35.40 D
35.40 G 35.40 H
synagogue in Malaczka (today: Malacky), 1886–87; the
synagogue in Jablonec nad Nisou, 1892; the Polnische Schule,
Orthodox synagogue at Leopoldgasse 29, Vienna, 1892–93; the
Stanisławów Synagogue, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine 1895–99;
the Jubilee Synagogue, today Jerusalem Street Synagogue in
Prague, 1904–1906; the synagogue in Wiener Neustadt, 1902;
the ceremonial hall in the Jewish section of this cemetery near
Gate One. He also built more than 100 apartment buildings and
many tombs, among them the tomb for the Austrian branch of
the Rothschild family. In 1895, Stiassny founded the Society
for the Conservation and Preservation of Art and Historical
Monuments of Judaism, the world’s first Jewish museum. He
also served as head of the Jewish Colonization Association in
Vienna. See: Satoko Tanaka, Wilhelm Stiassny (1842–1910)
– Synagogenbau, Orientalismus und jüdische Identität, PhD
thesis, Universität Wien, 2009.
24 The quotation is from Luther’s Bible translation, i.e.
Lutherbibel 1912. In the King James version it says: “I am
no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep
cattle from my youth.” It is interesting to note that all English
translations – just like the German Textbibel of 1899 – miss
the word gedienet from Luther’s text or the idea of serving,
which is the point for Stiassny: the architect is not a prophet,
but someone who honestly serves people’s needs.
25 The peh-nun abbreviation means “poh nikbar” or
“nikberet” for women, meaning here lies.
26 Abbreviation of a verse from the Bible, first book of
Samuel, 25:29.
27 For decades, it stood as a ruin and was finally pulled down
in 1978. http://www.viennatouristguide.at/Friedhoefe/
Zentralfriedhof/Tor1_start...
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Gate One 357

35.41 35.42 35.43

35.44 35.45 35.46
35.47

at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
By the end of the 19th century, the Old Jewish Cemetery
had reached its maximum capacity; therefore, in 1911 Vi-
enna’s Jewish Community purchased 24.37 hectares of
land for 1,089,382 Crowns on the east side of the Zen-
tralfriedhof ensemble.
Similar to the Old Jewish Cemetery of the Zentralfriedhof,
the New Jewish Cemtery is accessible from an extension
of the Simmeringer Hauptstraße, formerly Reichstraße.
This extension is not circular as its older counterpart, but
rectangular and much larger: there is a very long and thick,
not transparent wall, perforated only by three monumental
entrance gates topped by pointed arches.
The plan of the New Jewish Cemetery is also gridded,
like the one of its older counterpart, having a main lane
roughly in the middle.01 However, unlike its predeces-
sor, it is not part of the general geometrical pattern of
the complex. Moreover, its autonomy is emphasised by
the slight rotation of its grid vis-à-vis the grid of the ad-
jacent Lutheran Cemetery to the west and the extension
of the old Catholic part to the south. The main lane sets
out from the courtyard of the ceremonial hall complex.
The cemetery proper is set apart from the courtyards by
symbolic gates, all topped by pointed arches.
While traditional Jewish cemeteries had a continuous
grid, if an emphasised grid was present at all, here the
distance between the lanes vary, as does the emphasis of
their intersections. Generally speaking, the layout is a
synthesis of 19th century park-like cemeteries, just like
the Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof com-
plex or the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin Weißensee, and
of the traditional Jewish cemetery layout. The tradition-
al element is the strict regulation regarding the size and
placement of tombs, be they small or large, while the
modern element is the creation of well defined, larger
rectangular cemetery spaces defined by lanes and high
trees along them.
36.01
The main entrance to the
New Jewish Cemetery
at the Zentralfriedhof
in Vienna – Gate Four
CHAPTER 36
The New Jewish Cemetery
A competition was announced in 1913 for the design of
cemetery buildings and architect Adolf Oberländer won
the competition, but nothing architecturally significant
was built due to World War One. Only a temporary cer-
emonial hall was erected which later became the stone
cutting workshop, designed by the popular synagogue
and Jewish community architect Jacob Gartner and built
in 1916–17. Using this ceremonial hall, the cemetery was
opened on 19 April 1917, but in the aftermath of World
War One major construction work was halted.
A new competition was announced only in 1926 and won
by architect Ignaz Reiser (1863–1940). The foundation
stone of the ceremonial hall was laid in the same year
and the building was inaugurated on 12 September 1928,
ten years before the Anschluss, the Nazi annexation of
Austria. This is the most monumental Jewish ceremonial
building of all at Europe’s metropolitan cemeteries.
Its Expressionistic architecture may be related to the cre-
matorium (Feuerhalle Simmering, 1922) vis-à-vis the Zen-
tralfriedhof on Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, created by
architect Clemens Holzmeister, which became a trendset-
ter for funerary buildings of interwar Central Europe. Rei-
ser’s02 ceremonial hall, however, exceeds the size and mon-
umentality of Holzmeister’s crematorium, highlighting the
last blossoming of Vienna’s successful Jewish community.
The large ceremonial building, a landmark of the eastern
side of the whole Zentralfriedhof complex, towers over
the axis of the entrance, topped by an octagonal dome. It
houses a ceremonial hall, which can hold 500 people, of-
fices, two tahara houses, one for the infective and one for
the non-infective deceased, and a large number of prem-
ises for administration. Two internal courtyards with their
monumental arcades lead to the cemetery proper, provid-
ing a ceremonial access to the cemetery sections.
While in terms of architectural style the ceremonial hall
and its ensemble is Expressionistic, the modulation of
360
36.02
space, linking exteriors to semi-exteriors and the gradation
of spatial density are already modern. Modern is also the
garden element of this ensemble, which, however, draws
on the Italian layout of cemeteries with cypresses in a row
in front of the arcades. Passing the ceremonial hall or the
courtyards of its complex, one enters the cemetery proper.
This is a gradual, ceremonial process, during which the
sequence of courtyards gradually dissolves, ushering the
visitor into the large central exterior space of the cemetery
proper, into sections 13, 7A, and 7, framed by the southern
façade of the great hall and by rows of trees on the other
three sides. This space is populated with rather harmoni-
ous ensembles of larger, predominantly modernist graves,
all of which have a horizontal slab and a vertical one ris-
ing from the end of the former. The only slight exemption
from this rule is the post-modernist grave of family Edle
von Portenschlag-Ledermayr with angels blowing fan-
fares and flowers made of metal.03
The principle of arranging tombs in double rows continues
from the Old Jewish Cemetery and extends to large sections
of this burial place. Similarly to its predecessors, the New
Jewish Cemetery contains larger graves in its central section
and more modest ones a bit further.
Not far from the central square on the southern side of
the ceremonial hall is a section commemorating graves
from disused cemeteries with small uniform stones giv-
ing names and titles with dates of death, the latter ranging
from the late 18th to the mid-19th centuries.
Mirroring the wide social spectrum of Viennese Jewry in
the first part of the 20th century, this cemetery also has a
traditional part with small graves and ohalim. In Sections
3, 4, and 5 are rather traditional graves in terms of size and
they also contain ohalim for Chassidic rabbis. This part of
the modern cemetery is not meant to be the showcase of
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
the affluent and influential who are rewarded. Instead it is
for the traditional holy men, as for instance Rabbi Joseph
Angell, who were far from mainstream modern society.
Stylistically, this cemetery is narrower in scope than
its older counterpart, starting with belated Art Nouveau
graves, like the one for the Geldwachs family, and rang-
ing up to post-Modernism. There are just a few orien-
tal-style tombs as the one for Rafael and Sida Israel, both
from Sarajevo where orientalism is native. Their white
marble tomb has a central, iwan-like mass, flanked by
columns resembling the ones in the Lions’ Court of the
Alhambra, a pivotal topos of the Moorish style. Judging
from their family name they may have been of Sephar-
dic origin for which this architectural style stands in the
interwar period. Earlier, mainly in the mid-19th centu-
ry, Ashkenazim also used orientalism, but more often in
synagogue and secular architecture than in funerary art.04
Besides Modernism proper, Art Deco is also represented
in the case of the grave of Samuel Pollak, which is unique
also in terms of typology: it is formed in the spirit of the
pseudo-sarcophagus type, a type rare in Vienna.
While this cemetery is dominated by interwar modernist
graves, there are some reflecting the later modernist ar-
chitecture of the 1950s and 1960s. The grave of Wilhelm
Epstein erected in 1955 uses the architectural vocabulary
of the period. A traditional vertical slab is emphasised by
a frame perforated on each side by bull’s eyes character-
istic of secular buildings of the period, like for instance
the entrance gate to apartment blocks.
This cemetery witnesses the ‘ethnic shift’ of Vienna’s Jew-
ish population from the 1980s, the immigration of Soviet
Jews. This is not just a matter of changing names on the
graves, but an impact of Russian Orthodox culture and
Soviet and post-Soviet currents in Russian art, unseen be-
The New Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
fore in Central Europe. Interestingly, this impact is much
more subdued in Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery than
here – Vienna has always been a liberal melting pot: in
Habsburg times there were the Hungarians, Czechs, Poles,
Slovaks who flocked to Vienna, including their Jews; now
it is more Eastern Europe, pre-eminently from Russian and
former Soviet-Russian territories. The grave of Riva and
Rubin Rutman, born and died in the same year, exempli-
fies this genre. The vertical slab (black Swedish granite)
has the shape of two kissing swans, representing the old
couple, the horizontal part being an open book with a heart
shape in its centre. Apart from the pe-nun and tav-nun-tza-
di-beit-hey Hebrew abbreviation, the text is half Russian,
half German. The names are written in Roman script, but
the main inscription in the centre is Russian. It starts as
follows: Он и Она, муж и жена – Ривчик и Рива – папа
и мама, дедуля-бабуля, брат и сестра!05 On the heart
shape the text goes on in the same vein in German: Zusam-
men geboren, gelebt, gestorben, sie waren eins in Pech
und Schwefel – Seite an Seite – ein ganzes Leben lang.
Auch nach dem Tod für immer und ewig vereint.06
The ceremonial hall was devastated by the Nazis in 1938
and restored by 1955. New stained-glass windows were in-
stalled in the ceremonial hall representing the “Destruction of
the Temple” (Zerstörung des Tempels), “Theresienstadt”07,
“Deathcamp” (Todeslager) and “Angels carrying the Meno-
rah to Glory” (Engel tragen die Menora zur Glorie).
Next to the ceremonial hall Torah scrolls, desecrated by
the Nazis, were buried in 1987. Not far from it, also lo-
cated in the forecourt, stands the memorial to fallen Jew-
ish soldiers (1948–1998).
The monument to ‘Christian Jews’ (Judenchristen) in
Section 18K, predominantly baptised, some just non-reli-
gious, commemorates 800 Jews who died between 1941
361
36.03
and 1945 and whose burial was prohibited at Christian
cemeteries of Vienna by the Nazi authorities. They were
buried in the Old and New Jewish Cemeteries. More than
140 of them committed suicide after Jews were obliged
to wear yellow stars.
On a corner plot of Section 8A lies a collective memorial
of the martyrs murdered before the liberation from Na-
tional Socialism. A large vertical wall made of block car-
ries the names and in front of it are small graves around a
paved surface of which there is an urn-like gravel holder
in the centre.
Architecturally, the New Jewish Cemetery of the Zentral-
friedhof is the most impressive 20th century European met-
ropolitan cemetery. This cemetery has one of the most har-
monious World-War-Two period sections, comparable with
the harmony of Jewish cemeteries in Bucharest, but here it
is not the harmony of poverty, but the harmony of wealth.
The cemetery’s environment is adequate, there are no dis-
turbing buildings around, just other sections of the Zen-
tralfriedhof, the entrance properly represents the ceme-
tery to the passer-by of Simmeringer Hauptstraße, and
this cemetery perfectly complements the older sections.
It is authentic both in terms of architecture and vegeta-
tion. The cemetery is owned and maintained on a high
standard by the Jewish Community of Vienna.
36.02 36.03
The monumental rectangular Entrance
widening of Simmeringer to the internal courtyard
Hauptstraße with the three of the ceremonial building
gates to the cemetery complex
362 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

36.04 36.05
36.06
36.07

36.04
Detail of the drum and dome
of the ceremonial hall
36.05
The ceremonial building
and the arcades leading
to the cemetery proper
36.06
The assembly hall
of the ceremonial building
36.07
The arcades
around the courtyard
36.08
Geniza of the remains of
Torah scrolls desecrated,
torn apart and burnt
during the Nazi pogrom of
November 1938
36.09
Monument to the fallen
Jewish soldiers 1948–1998
The New Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna 363

36.08
36.09

01 At the Old Jewish Cemetery the ceremonial lane was on

its west side due to the disposition, the far end and the
geometry of the whole Zentralfriedhof.
02 Ignaz Nathan Reiser (1863 Magyarbél – 1940 Vienna) was
one of the leading Jewish architects in Vienna, building
synagogues and residential buildings, of which almost all
were destroyed either during World War Two or after. His
wife and three children also perished in the Holocaust.
See: Heide Werner-Clementschitsch: Der Architekt
Ignaz Reiser. Leben und Werk. In: Die Steine sprechen
39/3.2000, no. 118, p. 3.
03 The inscription of names is unusual in the context of
Jewish funerary culture: Jewish names are in parentheses,
for instance Martha (Miriam), Josef (Jehuda).
04 See Rudolf Klein: Oriental-Style Synagogues in Austria-
Hungary: Philosphy and Historical Significance. In: Ars
Judaica, vol. 2, 2006, pp. 117–134.
05 Translation from Russian: He and she, husband and wife
– Rivchik and Riva – father and mother, grandfather and
grandmother, brother and sister.
06 Translation from German: They were born together, lived,
died, they were one and united – side by side – a whole
lifetime. Even after death united forever and all times.
07 Theresienstadt was a concentration camp established
by the German SS-units during World War II in the
garrison city of Terezín located in German-occupied
Czechoslovakia. Tens of thousands of people died there,
either brutally killed or dying from malnutrition and
disease. More than 150,000 people were kept there for
months or years, before being sent to the deathcamps at
Treblinka, Auschwitz, and others.
364
36.10
Axial view of the central
space in front of the
ceremonial hall complex
36.11
The memorial to the nine
martyrs murdered by the
Nazis immediately before
liberation on 10 April 1945
36.12
Gravel holder provided by
the Chevra Kadisha of the
Jewish Community of Vienna
36.13
Very harmonious late 20th
century ensemble of graves
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
36.10
36.11
36.12
36.14
An ensemble of modernist
graves from the interwar period
36.15
Modernist grave of Adolf
Weisse, director of the
Deutsches Volkstheaterand
his wife Rosine
36.16
Small tombs referring to
19th century burials
at other locations
36.17
Diagonal view of the
central space in front of the
ceremonial hall complex
The New Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna 365

36.13
36.16
36.14 36.15 36.17
366 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

36.19 36.20
36.21 36.22 36.23
The New Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna 367

36.18
36.25
36.27

36.18
Modest graves in remote
areas of the cemetery
36.19
An ohel on the periphery of
this Reform Jewish cemetery.
36.20
The Epstein family tomb
features late modernist
architectural motifs, the
typical entrance doorframe
with bull’s eyes of the 1950s
36.21
Workshop used
as ceremonial building
before the erection
36.24 of the monumental
36.26 ceremonial complex
36.22
Pseudo-sarcophagus grave
from the Art Deco period
36.23
The grave of Rafael and Sida
Israel from Sarajevo showing
the Moorish style as a token
of their Sephardi identity.
The Hebrew inscription
reads: Rafael ben Moshe.
36.24
The grave of Elise Elizza
Frei, opera singer; the
bronze relief showing the
Vienna State Operaand a
branch with a singing bird
36.25
The grave of Julius Epstein,
pianist and professor,
teacher of Gustav Mahler
36.26
The grave of Leo Fall, the
popular composer
of operettas
36.27
Professor Rudolf Braun,
a pianist and composer born
blind whoalso composed
for Karl Wittgenstein

The Užupis Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius
(Užupio Senosios Žydų Kapinės)
Lithuania, a large duchy in the Middle Ages, stretch-
ing from the Baltic to the Black Sea, today is a small
country that changed hands many times since its foun-
dation. The Kingdom of Lithuania was created in 1253
and during the next century it would become the largest
country in Europe, comprising territories of present-day
Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland as
well as Russia. In 1569 Lithuania and Poland formed
the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that lasted until
1772–95, after which the Russian Empire annexed most
of Lithuania’s territory. The country was given back its
independence after World War One, but lost it with the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and became part of the Soviet
Union. Soon after the latter’s collapse, in 1990–91 Lith-
uania restored its sovereignty and in 2004 joined the
European Union.
The Jewish history of Lithuania and its capital Vilna or
Vilnius spans some six centuries. In 1323 Grand Duke
Gediminas invited Germans and Jews to settle in the
capital in order to foster trade and craftsmanship. Jews
had already established an organised community in
1568, after which Jews from the Czech lands, Germany
and Poland joined and the city became a leading centre
of Jewish scholarship and rabbinical study. Jews also
played an important role in diplomatic missions and in
defence. In the 18th century, the Gaon of Vilna, Elijah
ben Shlomo Zalman (1720–1797), a Talmudist, halakh-
ist and kabbalist was one of the most important Jewish
scholars of his time. With the emergence of Hasidism he
joined the ‘opponents’. Nothing illustrated his enlight-
enment better than his endeavour to involve Jews in the
study of secular sciences. He even translated geome-
try books to Yiddish and Hebrew, among them Sefer
haEuclid (Euclid’s Book). According to legend, it was
Napoleon who termed the city as ‘Jerusalem of the North’
when passing it in 1812.
37.01
Symbolic entrance to the site:
one surviving gate-pillar
joined by a wall created
from matzevot or
matzevot-imitations
CHAPTER 37
Vilnius’ excellence in Orthodox Jewish scholarship had
to face the encounter with the Haskala, the Jewish en-
lightenment in the 19th century. In the interwar period,
already under Polish jurisdiction, the YIVO01 became a
leading institution for the study of the Yiddish language.
Before the Holocaust Vilna was home to some 100,000
Jews,02 45% of the general population, who attended
some 105 synagogues and prayer houses and who could
read six daily Jewish newspapers in the city.
World War Two and the Holocaust eradicated Jewish
culture in the city. At the outbreak of World War II, Vil-
na (then Wilno), part of Poland from 1922 to 1939, was
seized by the Soviet Union and transferred to Lithuanian
rule. In July 1940, the city was annexed, with the rest of
Lithuania, to the Soviet Union, and on 24 June 1941 Vilna
was captured by the German army. During the Soviet rule
Jews were deportated to Russia and during the German
Nazi rule Jews were murdered in the Ponary Forest near
the city or deported to death camps. Only 24,000 Jews sur-
vived the Shoa and according to the official census of 2005
just 2000 Jews live in the country, although the Diaspora
Museum’s website states there are 5000.03 The difference
may be the result of Israelis who regained Lithuanian citi-
zenship, but do not live in the country all the time. Vilnius,
sometimes called ir ha-em or Mother City in Hebrew, is
home to the majority of Lithuanian Jews.
The oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in Vilna was es-
tablished in the 15th century in the Šnipiškės (Yiddish:
Shnipishok) suburb, by the Neris River, opposite the Ge-
diminas tower and fortress. This cemetery was closed by
the Russian Tsarist authorities in 1831. It was destroyed
by the Soviets in 1949–50, during the construction of
the Žalgiris Stadium. The Palace of Concerts and Sports
(Lithuanian: Koncertų ir sporto rūmai) – today a ruin –
was built in 1971 in the middle of the former cemetery.
In 2005, apartment and office buildings were built at the
site. The project was condemned by international Jewish
organisations and resulted in a motion being passed in
the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008, condemning
Lithuania for its “failure to protect the historic Jewish
cemetery in Vilnius.”04 In August 2009, the Lithuanian
government reached an agreement with Jewish organisa-
tions regarding the boundaries of the cemetery and grant-
ed it protected status, promising to demolish buildings at
the site, which has not happened yet.
The second cemetery was located in Užupis. It was in use
from 1830 to 1948 and also destroyed by the Soviets in the
1960s, following the destruction of the Great Synagogue of
Vilna. Tombstones from the two old cemeteries were used
for stairs in various construction works around the city, for
the wall of the power transformer, etc.05 A memorial was
erected at the location of the former entrance to the ceme-
tery, using old, recovered gravestones.
The third and last Jewish cemetery was opened in the
Šeškinė district near Sudervė Cemetery (Suderves Road
Jewish Cemetery). Some graves of famous people, includ-
ing that of the Vilna Gaon, were transferred to the new burial
site before the destruction of the old cemeteries. Currently,
the latest cemetery has about 6,500 Jewish graves.
Vilnius’ Užupis Old Jewish Cemetery has been chosen
for this survey despite its desolate condition, because it
is an example of what happens if hostile forces decide to
eradicate Jewish heritage in one of its historically most
important European locations. It is also an example of
how (or rather how not) to memorise a once significant
cemetery, if and when almost everything tangible has
vanished. At the same time, it completes the survey of
this book, in which more or less preserved cemeteries
have been presented.
The Užupis06 Cemetery was founded in 1828 by the Vil-
nius Jewish Community funeral brotherhood after burials
ceased at the cemetery in Šnipiškės near the Neris River.
The new burial place included a large mortuary in the
centre and tree-lined avenues and other planned path-
ways. The more than 70,000 people who were buried at
this site included prominent poets, publishers, scientists,
bankers, educators, and religious leaders. Burials at the
Užupis Cemetery ceased in 1948.
The Užupis Cemetery is interesting for numerous reasons
beyond its historical significance as the Gründerzeit cem-
etery of Vilna. In topographical terms this is one of the
few major 19th century Jewish burial places located on a
 37.02
steep hillside. This cemetery is also interesting in terms of
the typology of graves and of its extraordinary coherence
which is hard to find in its European counterparts. There
was an overwhelming presence of matzevot with semi-cir-
cular tops, but some had a flat top, as medieval vertical
slabs. According to archival evidence there were also ae-
dicule-like graves with a single plaque or less frequently
double plaques with inscription. In both cases these aed-
icules had no columns, pilasters or allettes on their sides,
but they were topped by pediments that also carried He-
brew inscription like the darker plaques in the centre of the
aedicules. A further interesting feature was siting: although
all these monuments faced the same cardinal direction,
they did not form rows; their irregular placement greatly
contributed to the romantic, picturesque character of this
cemetery. Furthermore, the cemetery had some ohalim de-
spite the initially anti-Hassidic sentiment from the time of 37.02
the Vilna Gaon. The ohalim were also irregularly placed in
General view of the ruins
the context of the cemetery. They show a remarkable for- of the cemetery. Dalildžių
mal coherence, basically a simplified variation of classical Road cuts through the middle
forms. The gate was probably of a later date with one main of the cemetery and a new
entrance for vehicular transport and two narrower entrances Christian funeral hall was
for pedestrians. erected on part of the site.
372 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

37.03 37.04
37.05 37.06

After all the devastations the Užupis Cemetery had suf-

fered, the new Lithuanian democracy in the 1990s still
could have created a memorial site of high historic rele-
37.03 vance and extraordinary artistic achievement. The site is
The (pseudo-)matzeva wall: 37.06 an exceptional place, a southern slope, with remains of
Few of the matzevot have The memorial: the gate- gravestones and high trees. Unfortunately, a large road
inscriptions and look pillar carries a memorial (Dalildžių) cuts through the middle of the site and a new
genuine, the others are text about the history of the Christian funeral hall was erected on part of the site.07
replicas. cemetery and Jews in the Thus, the original site has been truncated and the oppor-
37.04 city in general, ending with tunity has been missed to correct this mistake. The afore-
the list of benefactors who mentioned road destroys the original site and gives it a
Remains of the tombs contributed to the erection
overgrown by grass transitory character, to which the hillside with the grave
of the memorial.
fragments serve as a backdrop.
37.05 37.07–09 The gate has partially survived and was restored, although
The (pseudo-)matzeva wall Details of the only one gate-pillar exists today as part of the memorial
seen from the hilltop (pseudo-)matzeva wall erected in 2004 by the United States Commission for the
The Užupis Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius 373

Preservation of America’s Heritage abroad and the Vilni-

us City Municipality with the generous support of some
individuals. This pillar is joined by a wall created from
matzevot or matzevot-imitations.
While the restoration of a gate pillar may have been
successful and justified, the use of matzevot as build-
ing material – even in a Jewish memorial context – is
problematic semiotically, architecturally, and from the
perspective of respect for the deceased. Matzevot repre-
sent individuals, they were meant to be individually set
up with space around them. If they are placed against a
wall as in many post-World War Two Polish cemeteries,
or if they are used as bricks, this contradicts their original
meaning and architectural-artistic intention.
Few of the matzevot have inscriptions and these are the
ones that look genuine. The other matzevot look like
a fake, and even if they are not, such an authenticity
breach or virtual authenticity breach clashes with the
idea of respect.
The single gate-pillar carries a memorial text about the
history of the cemetery and Jews in the city in general,
ending with the list of benefactors. The text runs in Lith-
uanian, Hebrew, and English, each on another side of the
gate-pillar that looks a bit like an advertising pillar.
The new road degrades the memory and the architecture
both of the gate and the monument as a whole, includ-
ing the (pseudo-)matzeva wall. These precious remains
of a once thriving Jewish community are reduced to
roadside signs, similar to an advertisement for a road-
side restaurant. 37.07
It is rather ironic that parallel to the destruction of the 37.08
site, in 1993 the Užupis Jewish Cemetery was listed on 37.09
the Cultural Heritage Register, though cultural heritage
officials showed little understanding of the historical and
religious significance of the site. The Jewish Community
led an effort to gain recognition and protection for Jewish
cemeteries and mass grave sites throughout the country,
but the recognition by the state was just a lip service to
the religious and artistic significance of the site.
As for the greenery, according to archival photographs it
was already present in the form of tall trees already be-
fore the Holocaust, i.e. before it grew wild. Although tall
trees and the forest actually contradict the age-old Jew-
ish tradition of avoiding ‘spaces’ created by vegetation,
this is the least disturbing element of the present setting.
What is missing the most are the historic contours of the
cemetery, which could have helped to visualise the orig-
inal size and setting of the cemetery. The integrity of it
is also missing, the road should have been closed and
dismantled and authentic ruined graves should have been
kept in situ. The missing ones could have been visualised
in some way, for instance as in Vienna or just by subtle
gardening elements. The ‘restored’ gate-fraction lacks
authenticity; it looks like an advertisement for something
that does not need advertising. Not the fact of the mon-
ument is objectionable, but its execution and message.
374 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

01 The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research aims to

document and study Jewish life mainly in Eastern
Europe in all its aspects: language, history,
religion, folkways, and material. It was founded
in Vilna in 1925 under Polish jurisdiction.
World War II and the Holocaust forced YIVO’s
relocation to New York in 1940. Its collections in
Vilna were looted by the Nazis.
02 Numbers regarding the pre-World War Two
Jewry of Vilna differ significantly in sources.
The Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv estimates
there were 80,000 people (http://www.bh.org.
il/5388-2/, retrieved 2 April 2016), on the
monument, the restored gate to the cemetery one
can read only 50,000, which is probably
an attempt to downplay the significance of the
Jewish Community of Vilna. Dates in sources
also show some inconsistency, but this study
cannot clarify what the reasons are.
03 http://www.bh.org.il/5388-2/, last retrieved
30 May 2017
04 “Lithuania retracts plans to build on old Jewish
cemetery”. Haaretz. quoted by https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Jewish_cemeteries_of_Vilnius
05 Tomas Venclova: Vilnius: City Guide, translated by
Aušra Simanavičiūtė (6th ed.). Vilnius 2006, p. 198.
06 Užupis (Belarusian: Зарэчча, Polish: Zarzecze,
Russian: Заречье) means in Lithuanian ‘the other
side of the river’ and it is a neighbourhood located
in Vilnius’ old town, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
07 In many official documents and even today,
the place is referred to as the “former Jewish
cemetery”, when in fact it is still a Jewish cemetery.

37.10–15
Remains of the tombs
37.10
37.16 37.11
General view of the hill with 37.12
the remains of the graves 37.13
The Užupis Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius 375

37.14 37.15
37.16

The Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street, Warsaw
(Cmentarz żydowski w Warszawie)
Warsaw’s history was turbulent; it changed hands several
times in history. The equivalent of today’s Warsaw was
established about 1300, at a time when Cracow served as
Polish capital. Thanks to its central location between the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’s capitals of Cracow
and Vilnius, Warsaw became the capital of the Common-
wealth and of the seat of the Crown of the Kingdom of
Poland when King Sigismund III Vasa (a Polish-Swedish
king) moved his court from Cracow to Warsaw in 1596.01
After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Warsaw be-
came part of the Kingdom of Prussia. The Napoleonic
Wars made it briefly the official capital of the Grand
Duchy of Warsaw, but soon after the Congress of Vienna,
in 1815, it became part of Russia, the so-called ‘Con-
gress Kingdom’, regaining its independence only after
1918 for two decades as the new capital of the indepen-
dent Republic of Poland, until the Nazi invasion in 1939.
Warsaw was liberated by the Soviet Red Army that re-
mained stationed there until the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Despite official independence, Poland was again under
Russian influence, officially as part of the Soviet Bloc. It
was only in 1989 that Poland became independent, rising
into an economically and culturally significant country
that joined the European Union in 2004.
The first documentary evidence of Jews in the city dates
from 1414, when Jews probably lived in Żydowska Street
(Jewish Street) in the Old Town. They built a synagogue
on Wąski Dunaj Street.02 Between 1498 and 1524 Jews
were either entirely or almost entirely driven out of War-
saw, but they returned in 1527. According to a ruling,
Jews were allowed to reside in Warsaw two weeks before
and after the meeting of the Sejm, the Polish parliament.
However, similarly to other European countries, feudal
lords could settle Jews on their estates, independently of
the rulings of cities, where the burghers saw competition
in the Jewish presence. These Jews from feudal estates
38.01
Original gate to the Jewish
Cemetery in Okopowa Street,
Warsaw, where all other
buildings were destroyed
by the Nazi occupiers
CHAPTER 38
could enter Warsaw with a ticket system to stay a fort-
night. However, with the establishment of the Prussian
rule, after the partition of Poland, the standing of the Jews
improved, as they received unrestricted access to towns.
Attempts of Poles to exclude most Jews from the Old
Town of Warsaw were ineffective, but nevertheless Jews
remained concentrated in the northern part of the city.
The number of Jews grew: in 1792 it was 6,750 (8.3%),
in 1810 it was 14,600 (18%). With the establishment of
Congress Poland under Russian rule in 1815 their number
grew further in Warsaw, so that in 1816 they numbered
15,600 (19.2%) and in 1864 72,800 (32.7%).
The Polish uprising against the Russians in 1863 was
abortive, but economically the abolition of the tariff bar-
rier between Congress Poland (1850) and the rest of the
Russian Empire unleashed an unprecedented economic
development of which not only Łódź, but Warsaw also
became the beneficiary, including its Jews, whose number
and percentage grew further: 210,500 (33.7%) in 1897
and 337,000 (38.1%) in 1914. At the outbreak of World
War One they were joined by perhaps 150,000 ‘Litvaks’,
Lithuanian Jews. Legal emancipation occurred in 1862.
Thus, Warsaw had the largest number of Jewish citizens
among European metropolises from the late 18th centu-
ry onwards until the Holocaust, both in absolute numbers
and in percentage of the entire population, being ahead
of Budapest by some 5% until the time of Polish inde-
pendence in 1918. In the interwar period Budapest took
over the lead from Warsaw, harbouring the largest Jewish
community in Europe until the Holocaust. However, while
Budapest consisted of a mix of Hungarians, Germans, Slo-
vaks, Czechs, and Serbs (Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist,
Greek Orthodox, Greek-Catholic, Armenian Orthodox), in
Warsaw Jews faced an almost monolithic Polish, Catholic
majority. Thus, while in Hungary since the Vormärz peri-
od many Jews were eager to spearhead the magyarization
378
38.02
process, their counterparts in Warsaw were more reluctant,
fostering Yiddish culture, although they also made signifi-
cant contributions to Polish culture.
While the Jewish masses remained traditional, Jewish ac-
culturation began. Progressive Jews established their syn-
agogue on Daniłowiczowska Street in 1802, called by tra-
ditionalists di daytshe shul (the German synagogue), even
though it was not.03 Around 1900 over 80% of the Jews were
Yiddish-speaking and some two thirds of the synagogues
Hasidic, which is visible in the organisation and grave ty-
pology of the cemetery. After World War One, the modern
Polish republic was established and in the interwar period
Jewish culture was blooming. It came to an abrupt ending
with the Nazi occupation of Poland and the extermination of
Jews. However, this interwar blooming is not evidenced at
the cemetery as intensely as for instance at Zagreb Mirogoj
Cemetery or at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, so that modernist
graves are relatively few. This difference may be due to the
traditional nature of Jewish culture in Warsaw vis-à-vis the
modernist orientation of the aforementioned centres.
The Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street was established in
1806, making it one of the oldest metropolitan Jewish ceme-
38.02
The forecourt of the Jewish
Cemetery in Okopowa Street,
Warsaw; in the foreground
the foundations of the
preburial house, which
included both tahara and 38.03
ceremonial hall, Section of symbolic graves
destroyed by the Nazis of Holocaust victims
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
teries in Europe. It occupies 33 hectares of land and contains
over 200,000 marked graves, as well as mass graves of those
who died in the Warsaw Ghetto. It is the second largest Jew-
ish cemetery in Europe after the Kozma Street Cemetery in
Budapest. Many of these graves and crypts are overgrown
by greenery, having been abandoned after the German inva-
sion of Poland and the subsequent Holocaust. The cemetery
was closed down during World War II; after the war it was
reopened and a small portion of it remains active, serving
Warsaw’s small remaining Jewish population.
As the cemetery was established to replace many small-
er cemeteries closer to the city centre, it was designed to
serve all Jewish communities of Warsaw, regardless of
their affiliation. Because of that it is subdivided into sever-
al districts dubbed quarters (kwatery), historically reserved
for various groups. Among them are three Orthodox quar-
ters (for men, women, and one for Holy Scriptures) and
others for Reform Judaism, children, military, and those
who lost their lives during the Ghetto Uprising.
During the war the cemetery was partly demolished. Ger-
man forces used it for mass executions and for the burial
of those who died in the Warsaw Ghetto, during the War-
saw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944,
as well as for the victims of various mass murders. Those
burials included both Jews and non-Jews. Following the
defeat of the Ghetto Uprising, on 15 May 1943 the Nazis
blew up all buildings in the area of the cemetery, includ-
ing the ceremonial hall and tahara house.
The cemetery is surrounded by a red brick wall of about
three metres height with an architecturally understated
entrance. Over the fence the visitor can see the tall trees
that give a hint to the content of the compound.
The Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street, Warsaw
As almost all metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Europe,
this one also has a large forecourt where the foundations of
the ceremonial building and the tahara house are still visi-
ble, just as the gate fragment of the original entrance with
a memorial plaque. One enters the cemetery practically at
its corner where the visitor encounters a wide view of the
cemetery space, the very large forecourt and the cemetery
proper, which is visually differentiated from the forecourt
by being elevated a couple of steps and by the long re-
taining wall that was covered with matzevot and matze-
va fragments after World War Two, a common practice in
some Polish cemeteries. On top of the retaining wall there
is a railing that protects people from falling down from the
upper level and emphasises the spatial division. Behind it
one sees post-Emancipation gravestones under large trees.
Almost in the axis of the entrance there is a lane that in-
vites visitors and takes them along the vast cemetery. The
beauty of this lane is its irregularity, it bends to the left
and right from time to time and slightly changes its ground
level – it is the silent guide through the historic and artistic
richness of this burial place. The contrast of the forecourt,
which is empty just here near the entrance, and the fullness
of the cemetery proper is very attractive, as is the edge
created by the retaining wall.
Unlike a number of metropolitan Jewish cemeteries that
offer a homogeneous space in terms of spatial limitation
and landscaping, this cemetery is rich in visual changes
due to its divisions and different treatment of the vege-
tation. A historic starting point is the court of tradition-
al matzevot that show an extraordinary coherence and
richness of traditional Jewish symbolic representations
(see chapter 14 of Part One). In accordance with Jewish
379
38.03
tradition, these matzevot are placed in a separate section
without high vegetation and fenced off from the rest of
the cemetery by red brick walls overgrown with vege-
tation. These walls have openings, offering views from
the traditionalist section towards the post-Emancipation
parts and vice versa.
Other special sections include the ones for the victims of
World War One, the symbolic graves of the Holocaust
and many others. In these and in other parts of the cem-
etery one can find monuments for the Jewish officers
killed by the Soviet N.K.V.D. in 1940 in the Forest of
Katyń, e.g. the one for Janus Korczak,04 and for the chil-
dren victims in the forecourt, the monument to the Jewish
soldiers and officers of the Polish Army who died in the
defence of Warsaw in 1939, the monument in memory of
the Jewish soldiers who served in the Polish armies, the
fighters of the Ghetto, and the partisans who fell in the
fight against Nazism during World War Two and whose
place of burial is unknown.
The cemetery is very rich in terms of tombstone types.
Early tombs are matzevot and typical Polish graves with
a vertical slab and a horizontal member connected with
metal bars, followed by obelisks, pseudo-sarcophagi
(mainly the symbolic graves of the Holocaust section),
trilithons, aedicules, tree-trunks with cut-back branches,
vertical slabs framed by cast iron railings running around
the perimeter of the grave, pillar stones, columns and bro-
ken columns – some of them of metal – , winged angels
as independent elements or parts of major compositions,
small mausoleums, and even some ohalim. A speciality
of this cemetery is a larger number of monumental cast
iron tombs.
380 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

38.04 38.06
38.05
38.07
The Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street, Warsaw 381

Stylistically, all major 19th century styles are present; in

the old parts some ‘vernacular neo-Classicism’ is visible,
but only in details of framing. Medieval Christian styles
in their revival forms are practically absent, albeit in the
adjacent Christian cemetery neo-Gothic is strongly rep-
resented, as is at some Jewish cemeteries of the period.
Art Nouveau is present, but high modernism is underrep-
resented as at many conservative Jewish cemeteries – in
fact, high modernism was not particularly popular either
in Polish gentile architecture of that time, in contrast to
Czechoslovakia, Austria, or Yugoslavia.
There are some monuments of the Emancipation period
for persons with the symbols of their profession. Proba-
bly, the most interesting and significant is the monument
in memory of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, the ophthalmol-
ogist and inventor of Esperanto, which has a five-pointed
star mainly of coloured mosaic, symbolizing the global
aim of the movement and standing out from the context
of Jewish graves. Similarly, Edward Flatau (1868–1932),
the famous neurologist, also has an impressive grave with
a strong emphasis on the professional symbol. Other very
significant personalities interred at this cemetery include:
Solomon Anski, author of “The Dybbuk”; Meir Balaban,
outstanding historian of Polish and Galician Jews and the
founder of Polish Jewish historiography; Esther Rachel
Kaminska, the “mother of Yiddish Theatre”; Aleksander
Lesser, painter and art critic; Isaac Loeb Peretz, one of
the most important 19th century Yiddish language writ-
ers; Chaim Soloveitchik, founder of the Brisk rabbinic
dynasty and the ‘Brisker method’ of Talmudic study.
Great historical continuity from the early Emancipation
to the Gründerzeit and to 20th century styles, an inter-
esting topography, a great variety of sections in terms
of composition of graves and in terms of vegetation, a
wealth of symbols and harmonious fields as well as nu-
merous notable personalities of Jewish history buried
here make this cemetery significant.
However, the missing ceremonial building and tahara
house, i.e. the integrity of the ensemble, as lapses in terms
of authenticity of post-World War Two interventions, and
the inadequate buffer zone lessen the cemetery’s value.
Most problematic are the high-rise buildings, which are
visible from the forecourt and the cemetery proper. Nev-
ertheless, it is a well maintained and researched cemetery
that already attracts tourists.
38.08
38.09
01 http://warsawtour.pl/en, 28 March 2016
02 http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Warsaw, 38.08
last retrieved 23 March 2016 38.04 Monument to Janusz
03 This was not a ‘reform’ synagogue of the type then Lane leading to the forecourt
Korczak, originally Henryk
developing in Germany, but the arrangements for worship Goldszmit, a doctor, head of
had a number of modern features, including a sermon, 38.05 an orphanage who rejected
initially given in German and from the late 1850s in Polish. Lane along the perimeter wall freedom and followed
04 Janusz Korczak (originally Henryk Goldszmit), a writer, the orphans to Treblinka
38.06 extermination camp
children’s author, director of an orphanage in Warsaw,
refused freedom and stayed with his orphans when Lane between graves
38.09
the institution was sent from the Ghetto to the Treblinka of the late 19th century
The children’s memorial
extermination camp during the Großaktion Warsaw of 1942. 38.07 – the wall section with
View of the inner part the barbed wire is a
of the cemetery reconstruction
382 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

38.10 38.12
38.11
38.13 38.14 38.15
The Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street, Warsaw 383

38.10
A sarcophagus-like tomb on
four steps, a mix of tradition
and modernity: Hebrew
inscription (Shmuel Avraham
Yitzhak Yaakov Poznansky),
Polish eulogy, traditional
decoration and
Art Nouveau forms
38.11
Cast iron tomb
with Hebrew inscription
38.12
Large cast iron funerary
monument with
38.16 Egyptian motifs
38.17
38.18 38.19 38.13
Art Nouveau funerary
monument with
wing decoration
38.14
Funerary monument
in the form of a tree trunk
38.15
Funerary monument in the
form of a mourning angel
38.16
Typical Polish gravestones:
matzeva with
a horizontal stone
38.17
Traditional matzevot
38.18
The grave of Shlomo Alter
with traditional form
and Hebrew inscription
38.19
Modern funerary monument
with a mourning angel
384 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

01 02 03 04 05

11 12 13 14 15

21 22 23 24 25

31 32 33 34 35

41 42 43 44 45

51 52 53 54 55

01–20 21–26 27–30 31–36

Gravestone decoration
featuring Judean lions –
alone or in combination with
Torah crowns, Tablets of the
Law, ram’s horns, etc.
Gravestone decoration Gravestone decoration Gravestone decoration
featuring birds, cherubim featuring blessing of the featuring jugs that refer to
and other winged creatures Cohanim the Levites
The Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street, Warsaw 385

06 07 08 09 10

16 17 18 19 20

26 27 28 29 30

36 37 38 39 40

46 47 48 49 50

56 57 58 59 60

37–40 41–46 47–49 51–60

Gravestone decoration Gravestone decoration
featuring broken tree motifs representing bookshelves
filled with books, sometimes
even study rooms, which
refer to Jewish scholarship
Gravestone decoration Gravestones with flat ending
representing lamb and deer and decoration representing
similar motifs as the
50
gravestones with semi-
Gravestone decoration circular ending above
representing generosity

The Old Jewish Cemetery in Wrocław in Ślężna Street
(Stary cmentarz żydowski we Wrocławiu)
Wrocław (Latin: Vratislavia; German: Breslau; Czech:
Vratislav; Hungarian: Boroszló), the capital city of the
province of Lower Silesia, is a typical Central European
city, belonging to different states throughout its multifar-
ious history – the Kingdom of Poland, Bohemia, Hunga-
ry, the Austrian Empire, Prussia, and Germany. The city
was probably named after Wrocisław or Vratislav, often
believed to be Duke Vratislaus I of Bohemia. It has had
Hebrew (Vrotsláv) and Yiddish (Bresloi) names too. It
became part of Poland in 1945, as a result of the border
changes after the Second World War.
Wrocław has been an important city of European Jewish
history. The first reference to Jews in the city dates back to
before 1153. The oldest Jewish gravestone discovered is
from 1203, hinting at the possibility of a permanent Jew-
ish settlement at that time. The first privilege was granted
to the city in about 1273 by Duke Henry IV Probus, and
at that time Wrocław had the largest Jewish community
in Eastern Central Europe after Prague. Jews were usu-
ally money lenders, traders and, to some extent, artisans.
As in many cities in Central Europe, Jews were expelled
by the end of the Middle Ages, in Wrocław in 1453. From
that time, Jews could visit the city only during fairs, as
Wrocław remained one of the most important centres of
international trade for Polish Jews.
After Silesia was annexed by Prussia in 1744, King Fred-
erick II approved the existence of a Jewish community
in Wrocław, officially defining its status. The number of
Jews grew from a total of just 534 in 1747 (1.1% of the
total population) to 3,255 in 1810 (5.2%). By the end
of the 18th century, Wrocław had become an important
Haskalah centre. Integration processes intensified fol-
lowing the Emancipation Act of 1812, which granted
most civic rights to Prussian Jews. Breslau was home to
the Jewish Theological Seminary, established in 1854,
which became a prototype of an academic institution for
39.01
The gate between the
forecourt and cemetery
proper of the Old Jewish
Cemetery in Ślężna Street,
Wrocław
CHAPTER 39
Conservative Judaism and a centre of Jewish studies, or
Wissenschaft des Judentums.01
Interestingly, demography shows that Wrocław’s Jewish
Community had its apex in the second half of the 19th
century, when Jews amounted to 7.3% of the general
population (1867), although their absolute number had
grown to 23,240 by 1925 (then 4.2%). This corrobo-
rates with the cemetery’s funerary art that also peaked
in the Gründerzeit. From November 1941 to the summer
of 1944, Jews from Wrocław and Lower Silesia were
deported in eleven transports to the camps of Sobibór,
Bełżec, Terezín, and Auschwitz. Some Jews were tem-
porarily sent to labour camps. After 1945 the cemetery
slowly turned into ruins, but as early as 1975 it was put
on the city’s monument list and has been regularly main-
tained from then on. It is open to tourists.
Located in Ślężna Street in the south-eastern part of the
city, it opened in 1856 and was extended twice. Today
it has some 12,000 graves on a territory of 4.6 hectares.
During the extensions the former walls were preserved,
which provided ample opportunity for the accommo-
dation of large funerary monuments along the walls, a
preferred genre for upper middle class interment. From
the outside, the cemetery is fenced off by tall walls over-
grown with greenery. The interior consists of two major
parts and a third narrow part for the very rich, which is
the second extension. The oldest part with slightly larger
sections (I–IV and VII–VIII) is along the north-eastern
perimeter wall, while the other sections are smaller. The
last section, the so-called millionaires’ section, is practi-
cally one lane where large monuments are lined up.
The cemetery contains major types of 19th century fu-
nerary monuments, from the simple matzeva-type up to
large mausoleums. More importantly, these two extremes
are well separated. In the older part there are smaller
tombs and just along the perimeter wall are major mon-
388
39.02
uments, so they do not disturb the visual continuity/
homogeneity of this part. Lanes are relatively far from
each other and sections are consequently larger. Tradi-
tional matzevot are relatively few, some in pairs for mar-
ried couples. The most widespread type is the obelisk of
different proportions. Basically their ground plan is an
elongated rectangle, tapering upwards under different an-
gles. Some of them are flat and actually more steles than
obelisks. The tree trunk motif can be found in different
versions. An original reinterpretation consists of a low
part of a trunk, represented strictly naturalistically, cut
off about 1.8 metres above the ground and approximate-
ly 70–80 centimetres above the ground there is a wreath
made of roses and ox-eye daisies, standing diagonally. A
bit further there is another atypical tree trunk, quite thick
without much bark-plasticity as if made of a sycamore.
There is a number of cylindrical tombs in the form of
stocky columns with medallions carrying the inscription.
Along the southern perimeter wall of the large old section
there are major tombs that do not project significantly from
the wall’s surface. They are built mainly in restrained Free
Style, which is a characteristic of this cemetery.
In terms of landscaping, this part of the cemetery is some-
how halfway between the scarce vegetation of traditional
Jewish cemeteries of the pre-Emancipation period and
the later German-type park cemetery. Its greenery suc-
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
cessfully contributes to the variety of spatial experiences.
The narrow honorary section is just the opposite of this
relatively modest part of the cemetery. It is an oblong
space, dominated by a wide paved lane, on each side of
which are large monuments, each with an emphasised
three-dimensionality – small huts, peristyles, miniature
Egyptian temples, etc. Here, the planted vegetation is
also richer, so this is a bit of a German Parkfriedhof-like
section, with a dramatic dialogue between nature and
architecture. The most dramatic spots are the gates that
connect the large ‘plebeian’ part with the ‘aristocratic’
part that offers great views.
Stylistically all major periods from Romanticism and
Free Style up to Art Nouveau and modernism are well
represented. There are some Egyptian pyramids, com-
mon for the period around 1900 in some Jewish cem-
eteries,02 here more in their three-dimensional version.
The most attractive edifice is a gate building in the ac-
ademic neo-Romanesque style – the German ‘national
style’ referring to the medieval Kaiserdome of Worms,
Speyer and Mainz – that functions as a gate between the
two parts of the cemetery. Sporadically, there are some
Expressionist tombs and even modernist ones, albeit this
was a period when the city’s Jewry had passed its zenith,
which explains the relative scarcity of these styles.
During World War II, the cemetery became a fierce battle-
The Old Jewish Cemetery in Wrocław in Ślężna Street
ground, the marks of which are still visible on many tomb-
stones. It lost its ceremonial building and tahara house.
The cemetery contains the graves of dignitaries of the 19th
century, including the noted historian Heinrich Graetz,
professor of history at Wrocław University, and Ferdinand
Lassalle, a thinker and socialist politician who was in close
contact with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
A unique layout, some harmonious sections and especial-
ly the ‘alley of millionaires’ separated from the rest of the
cemetery containing very large and elaborate funerary
monuments make this cemetery significant. However,
its integrity is compromised by the loss of the ceremo-
nial building and the beit tahara. The cemetery is well
maintained and has a generous buffer zone. Preservation
began in the 1970s and the cemetery has been a protected
monument since 1975. In 1991 it was opened as Museum
of Jewish Cemetery Art.
01 “Wissenschaft des Judentums” (literally the Science on
Jewry, in fact a new kind of “Jewish Studies”) was a 19th
century movement promising critical investigation of
Jewish literature and culture, including rabbinic literature,
using scientific methods to analyze the origins of Jewish
traditions. The Verein für Kultur und Wissenschaft der
Juden (Society for Jewish Culture and Science), was
389
39.03
39.04
founded by Eduard Gans (a pupil of Hegel) and his
associates around 1819. They attempted to create a
construct for the Jews as a Volk or people – ethnicising
the Jews, making them independent of their religious
traditions in the way Johann Gottfried Herder defined the
German people. “Wissenschaft des Judentums” was an
update and a reduction at the same time. See: Michael A.
Meyer, “Jewish Religious Reform and Wissenschaft des
Judentums: The Positions of Zunz, Geiger and Frankel”,
in: Leo Baeck Institute Year Book 16 (1971), pp. 19–41;
George Y. Kohler, “Judaism Buried or Revitalised?
‘Wissenschaft des Judentums’ in Nineteenth Century
Germany – Impact, Actuality and Applicability Today”, in:
Daniel J. Lasker (ed.), Jewish Thought and Jewish Belief,
Beer Sheva 2012, p. 27–63.
02 Generally, in European architecture Egyptian motifs
characterise neo-Classicism around 1800. This use of
pyramids is not necessarily related to that period.
39.03
View of the cemetery
near the entrance
39.02
The forecourt of the 39.04
Old Jewish Cemetery Large funerary monuments
in Ślężna Street, Wrocław along the perimeter wall
390 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

39.05 39.06
39.07
39.08 39.09
The Old Jewish Cemetery in Wrocław in Ślężna Street 391

39.05
39.10 The main lane in the older
part of the cemetery
39.11 39.12
39.06
Gate between the section
of the wealthy and the rest
of the cemetery
39.07
View of the section
dominated by
Jugendstil graves
39.08
Large funerary monuments
along the eastern perimeter
wall towards the forecourt
39.09
Graves covered by greenery
39.10
The single-lane courtyard
of the wealthy
39.11
Dilapidated trilithon
39.12
Gründerzeit period graves
integrated into the wall
392 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

39.13 39.15
39.14 39.18
39.16 39.17 39.19
The Old Jewish Cemetery in Wrocław in Ślężna Street 393

39.13
Expressionist grave with
stylised menorah
39.14
Early modernist trilithon
39.15
Harmonious row
of Gründerzeit obelisk-type
gravestones
39.16
Cylindrical pedestal-type
twin tombs for
39.20 39.22 a married couple
39.21
39.17
39.23
Broken tree-trunk tomb
39.18
Interwar twin-type tomb for
a married couple with bullet
holes from World War Two
39.19
Interwar tomb with menorah
for a married couple
39.20
Older gravestones
in the first courtyard
39.21
Large family mausoleum
facing two sections of the
cemetery with Egyptian
columns
39.22
Family mausoleum featuring
Egyptian motifs
39.23
Monumental
neo-Romanesque
family mausoleum

The Jewish Section of the Mirogoj Central Cemetery
in Zagreb (Groblje Mirogoj, židovski dio)
For most of its history, what is today Croatia was not
an independent state, apart from its early medieval in-
ception, its independence as a Nazi puppet state during
World War Two, and since 1992.01 Culturally it is made
up of a Mediterranean and a continental part, of which
each was for a substantial period under different rule,
hence the multifaceted character of its culture – Medi-
terranean and continental, Balkan and Central European
– and its mixed, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, Jewish history.
While on the seashore that today belongs to Croatia there
was a remarkable Jewish history – Dubrovnik had been
a significant trade hub with a big Jewish community – in
continental Croatia, to which Zagreb belongs, Jewish his-
tory only really started in the 19th century. The number
of Jews was low in Croatia compared to other, more pros-
perous parts of the Habsburg Empire: 1840: 380; 1870:
10,000; 1880: 13,488; 1890: 17,261; and after World War
One 20,000 that doubled in twenty years.02
Although a bishopric from 1094 and a royal free town
from 1242, Zagreb has no Jewish history stretching
back a long time. Jews settled there mainly in the 19th
century, as in the whole country, except for the sea-
shore. Jews predominantly came from Hungary proper
and partly from Bohemia and Moravia, when Zagreb
became a regional industrial hub of the Habsburg Em-
pire. Interestingly, although coming from Hungary, they
were not properly Magyarized, albeit their given names
and sometimes even family names often sounded Hun-
garian. In 1880 55.6% of the Croatian Jews listed Ger-
man as their mother tongue, 30.3% Croatian, and 11.7%
Hungarian; at the turn of the century 42% of the Jews
listed German as their mother tongue, 35% Croatian,
and 21% Hungarian.03 The assimilation was significant-
ly faster in the city of Zagreb (in 1900 54.1% of the
Jews in Zagreb listed Croatian as their mother tongue).
In what was Yugoslavia in the interwar period, Zagreb
40.01
Entrance to the arcade
of the Jewish section
at Mirogoj Central Cemetery
CHAPTER 40
became a small Jewish centre with a growing popula-
tion: in 1921 there were 5970 Jews (5.47%); in 1931
12,315 (6.63%).04
In the Second World War and during the Holocaust some
80% of the Jews of Zagreb perished. Most of them were
killed in Croatia by the Ustasha (ustaša, literally insur-
gents) – the Croatian Nazis – during the first year of the
war, primarily in the camp of Jasenovac (some 20,000
Jews), and other killing fields, while the rest (approx.
5000) were deported to concentration camps in Germany
and Poland in 1942. Today Zagreb has some 1700 Jews,
divided into three communities.
Despite the relatively low percentage of Jews in the city,
the majority of the city’s architects from the 1880s to
World War One and to some extent even until World War
Two were Jews.05 This is remarkable if we consider that
major Jewish centres in the Habsburg Empire, like Vi-
enna or Budapest, had a much larger Jewish population
– several hundred thousand – and that the percentage of
Jewish architects was much lower than in Zagreb, where
it amounted to about 80%06 around 1900. Moreover,
while in Vienna and Budapest there was a very fierce
competition between Jewish and gentile, predominantly
German-speaking architects, in Zagreb Jewish architects
were practically without competition – some Budapest
gentile architects receiving sporadic commissions for
public buildings, as for instance Ernő Foerk and Gyula
Sándy for the Central Post Office, but this was the excep-
tion and not the rule. There were a few famous gentile ar-
chitects in Zagreb, like Viktor Kovačič, but economically
they could not really compete with the Jewish majority of
architects in the city.
Due to this consistent and ‘relaxed’ situation, Zagreb’s
architecture from the 1880s to World War Two was very
coherent and always state of the art, without historicist
overstatements so characteristic of Budapest and to some
396
40.02
extent of Vienna too. Zagreb’s Jewish heyday was in the
interwar period; hence modernism is its best stylistic pe-
riod, both in terms of secular architecture in the city and
funerary art at Mirogoj Cemetery.
At Mirogoj Cemetery, created in 1876, members of all re-
ligious groups are interred: Catholic, Jewish, Greek Or-
thodox, Muslim, Protestant, Latter Day Saints, and secular
graves can all be found. The arcades are the last resting
places of many famous Croatians and prominent Jews.
Architect Hermann Bollé designed the main building
(1879–1929), the arcades with their ten cupolas, two of
which are topped by six-pointed stars and eight by Latin
and Greek crosses, for the Jewish, the Catholic, and the
Greek Orthodox populations, respectively. The form of
the cupolas also differs slightly for each denomination.
The cemetery management wanted to preserve the ecu-
menical character of the institution and its harmonious
appearance. Therefore, it did not allow the erection of
fences between the different denominations, just allotting
different sections for each of them. Probably an arrange-
ment similar to that at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof would
not have been possible due to the small number of Prot-
estants and Jews.07 The Jewish part is in the cemetery’s
southern, triangular tip and Jews occupy two of the mon-
umental arcades’ eleven sections.
The arcades provide a large urban accent, an edge in
the Lynchean terminology,08 from which space extends
freely towards the East. In the arcades each family has a
The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe
plaque or sometimes even a relief or sculpture (!) set in
the long wall of the arcades.
Most of the late 19th century prominent Jewish families
up to World War One were buried in these arcades, while
in front of the arcades rows of large tombs for burials in
the first half of the 20th century were placed.
The most prominent Jewish architects of Free Style, Art
Nouveau, and early modernism are buried here, including
Julio Deutsch, Leo Hönigsberg, Hugo Ehrlich, Rudolf Lu-
binski and Vladimir Šterk. Notable Jewish people buried
at the cemetery also include Vatroslav Lisinski, born Ignac
Fuchs, the composer of the first Croatian opera, which is
full of national fervour, devoted to a Croatian hero, Ni-
kola Zrinjski Šubić, a Croatian-Hungarian nobleman, who
fought for Christianity against the Muslim Turks.
The cemetery has a major Holocaust Memorial at its
southern tip. Probably, this is one of the few Jewish cem-
eteries in Europe, where the Holocaust Memorial is very
far from the more frequented parts of the cemetery, tucked
away in front of the perimeter wall. A white marble pla-
teau, raised two steps above the grass, carries a long and
low black stone wall with only a Hebrew inscription. On
the right side there is a lower stone for placing candles.
Pebbles are put on the long black wall.
As mentioned, under the arcades the most prominent
families are buried, their graves being marked by very
diverse architectural and sculptural elements. The buri-
al place of the Stern and Alexander families is centred
The Jewish Section of the Mirogoj Central Cemetery in Zagreb 397

40.03
40.04 40.05

around a highly placed aedicule that frames the plaque
with the names of the first interred family members active
in the Gründerzeit. Around this aedicule are the plaques
of younger family members. According to the Croatian
inscription roughly half of them were medical doctors,
some of them even university professors.
The section of the Müller family is unusual. There is a
modernist pedestal on which one reads the first two gen-
erations’ names buried here, and on which a large bronze
sculpture is set, a worker walking between bricks – a brick-
layer? – with a hat in his right hand. The statue is typical
of interwar socialist, actually social democratically tuned
representations, but it is odd to have it on a Jewish grave,
as it violates the ban on representation of humans.09 There
is no reference to the profession of the interred people.
An interesting family history is displayed in the section
of the ennobled family Deutsch Maceljski. The original
Jewish family name was Deutsch, but in the process of
ennoblement the name Maceljski was added, meaning
from the town of Macelj, similarly to the German ‘von’
or ‘zu’. In the monument’s top zone under the arcades
are the family’s coat of arms and below the names, each
name having the abbreviation PL between family name
and given name. PL stands for plemenit, meaning noble-
man or noblewoman. The last four rows are still enno-
bled family members with PL, but there is a cross in front
of their names and they already dropped the original fam-
ily name of Deutsch and used only Maceljski, which is
a firm evidence of assimilation and baptism. This is not
usual for other Jewish cemeteries. Neither of the three
above-mentioned monuments has a Hebrew text, even the
traditional peh-nun is missing, which shows an extreme
case of assimilation. Needless to say, Christian family
members were buried later, in Communist times, when
the rabbinate had little influence and religion played an
unimportant role. However, the Catholic Church had a
balancing function to the Communist party, similarly to
Poland, and emphasising ennoblement displayed besides
the names was an act of defiance to the official political
line of the Communist state.
Another special funerary monument is that of the family
Makso Mayer from the interwar period. Above the base
which cantilevers from the wall of the arcades there is
a sculpture of two old men, whose bodies are somehow
40.03
The street façade of the
arcades and the entrance to
the Jewish section
on the right
40.04
The inner side of the arcades
40.02
The main entrance to the 40.05
Mirogoj Central Cemetery The dome of the arcades
in Zagreb topped by a six-pointed star
398 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

40.06 40.07
40.08 40.09 40.10
The Jewish Section of the Mirogoj Central Cemetery in Zagreb 399

united sculpturally and may be interpreted as Moses and

Aaron. In addition to that there are two six pointed stars
on the base.
Probably the most curious Jewish tomb of the whole ceme-
tery is the one of Andrija Hebrang, whose bust is on the right
side of the vertical slab! In the upper three rows are interred
family members, in the four rows below the ones murdered
by the Croatian Nazis in the camp of Jasenovac and below
is the name of Andrija Hebrang with an inscription of the
Croatian martyr (hrvatski mučenik) who survived the Nazis
in the ranks of Communist partisans, but after World War
Two fell victim to sectarian fighting in the Communist party
between the Titoists and Stalinists. The inscription states:
He was bestially tortured and murdered by the Belgrade Re-
gime – meaning: the Serbs10 –, even the precise date of his
death is not known. Judging from the form of the slab this
tomb was erected in the period after the Serbo-Croatian war
in the 1990s, hence the politically and nationalistically heat-
ed text, which nevertheless highlights an unusual Jewish
fate: A middle class Jew succeeded in fleeing his Croatian
fellows, joined the Communist partisans and after the lib-
eration fell victim to sectarian fights of the Yugoslav Com-
munist party, and as a result was murdered by the Serbs in
Belgrade, his previous rescuers from Croatian Nazis.
The typology of the graves is somewhat limited to new-
er types; there are no matzevot, obelisks, aedicules, just
some vertical or horizontal slabs, making this cemetery
particularly coherent.
Stylistically, in a European context the most interesting
period is the 1920s and 1930s, when Jewish funerary
monuments almost exclusively followed Modernism
and Art Deco, which is absolutely unique: most Jewish
cemeteries of this period display Historicism along with
Modernism or without it. It is also noteworthy that Miro-
goj is the only major Jewish cemetery without the usual
mausoleums or large peristyles dominating other Jewish
reform cemeteries, such as those in Berlin, Budapest,
Prague, Vienna, or Wroclaw. The most likely reason is
the existence of the imposing arcades, which automat-
ically signal belonging to the upper class, all the more
so as they also house gentile celebrities. Another reason
for the absence of mausoleums in the 1920s and 1930s,
during the heyday of the Jewish Community of Zagreb, 40.11
when the arcades were already full, during the heyday of 40.12
the Jewish Community of Zagreb, was that mausoleums
were not fashionable anymore in European cemeteries.
The vegetation, as everything else at this cemetery, is 40.06 40.10
subordinated to the large arcades. Trees appear irregular- Burial place of the Stern Tomb of the Siebenschein
ly, but there are geometrically cut bushes that modulate and Alexander families family with Art Nouveau
the space between the rows of graves. relief featuring a female
40.07 figure and a child
The Jewish section of the Mirogoj Cemetery is authen-
Tomb of the Müller family
tic, but its integrity suffers from new interments and in- 40.11
ter-confessional mixing. Namely, in recent decades there 40.08 Pendentives and dome above
has been a mixture of graves where just a six-pointed Tomb of the Mayer family the entrance to the Jewish
star, a Latin cross, or a Communist star indicates the con- with sculpture section of the arcades
fession of the deceased. This is not so much a sign of of Moses and Aaron
40.12
liberalism as rather of mixed marriages, which become 40.09 Tomb of the Schwartz
inevitable when a minority shrinks.
Tomb of the Freund family; family; a typical Gründerzeit
The Jewish section of Mirogoj Cemetery is nicely main- a typical interwar modernist monument with torches
tained, just as the whole compound, has some valuable monument with elegant sans turned upside down and
tombs and is a protected cultural monument. serif fonts made of copper Star of David at its top
400 The Cemeteries Surveyed in Central and Eastern Europe

40.13 40.14
40.15
40.16 40.17 40.18
The Jewish Section of the Mirogoj Central Cemetery in Zagreb 401

40.19
40.20
40.21

01 Duke Branimir was the first Croatian ruler recognised by

the Pope in 879. Tomislav was the first king from 925. The
medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak in the 11th
century under Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Dmitar
Zvonimir (1075–1089). From 1102 in the framework of a
personal union of Croatia and Hungary the country came
under the Hungarian crown. After Hungarians succumbed
to the Ottomans following the battle of Mohács in 1526,
Croatia came under Habsburg rule in 1527, remaining
there until the collapse of the Habsburg Empire in 1918.
Then, Croatian became part of the south Slavonic SHS-
Kingdom, later named Yugoslavia, until its collapse in
1992. Croatia declared independence in 1992 and in a
series of bloody wars it succeeded in becoming really
independent.
02 Ljiljana Dobrovšak, Povijest nacionalnih i vjerskih
zajednica u Hrvatskoj od 1868. do 1941. godine, http://
www.azoo.hr/images/izdanja/manjine/02.html, last
dowload 17 April 2017.
03 Židovi, In: Hrvatska Enciklopedija, Leksikografski zavoda
Miroslav Krleža, Zagreb, http://www.enciklopedija.hr/
natuknica.aspx?id=67720, last download 17 April 2017.
04 Ljiljana Dobrovšak, op. cit.
05 Aleksander Laslo, Graditelji modernog Zagreba –
podsjetnik na doprinos židovske zajednice, public
lecture at Zagreb Jewish Community, 18 Hešvan 5767,
PowerPoint, pp. 21–25, See also: Snješka Knežević,
Aleksander Laslo, Židovski Zagreb, Zagreb 2011.
06 While it is difficult to determine accurately in Budapest
which architectural office was Jewish and which was
not, some very free estimates suggest a percentage of
around 50%, amid a very fierce competition from gentiles,
predominantly German architects.
07 In the Zentralfriedhof, each denomination has its walle-off
part, except the Old Jewish Cemetery that borders on its
Catholic counterpart without a division wall. 40.13 40.17
08 Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, Cambridge, 1960. The tomb of Rabbi Dr. Moše Grave of the Szarvasy family
09 The image reluctance of Judaism kept sculpture out of Margel with his full name and
Jewish culture, particularly in synagogue architecture and eulogy in Hebrew, and his 40.18
funerary art. The representation of the human figure is shortened name in Croatian Tomb of the Mayer and
particularly controversial in the Ashkenazi culture. While below the Hebrew text Straus families, and the
from time to time one encounters reliefs on Jewish graves, symbolic grave with the
40.14
such a large, free standing sculpture is against the customs head of Andrija Hebrang,
of Judaism. Tomb of Vatroslav Löwy anti-fascist hero, killed in the
and his family, an Art Deco purges of 1948–49
10 There is a long standing, historic antagonism between two
interwar funerary monument
little nations sharing almost the same language and sharing 40.19
with relief representinga
roughly the same territories on the Western Balkans, the
women and child The Holocaust Memorial
Catholic Croats and the Greek Orthodox Serbs. After
World War One, they were forced to live together in what 40.15 40.20
was the Serbian dominated Yugoslav Kingdom. In World The Šterk family grave The Kraus family grave
War Two they fought against each other, then again had with female figure and jug
to share the same country, Communist Yugoslavia that 40.16
fell apart in 1992 in a new blood bath, when Hebrang’s A Sephardic-type horizontal 40.21
monument was erected. Andrija Hebrang was one of the slab monument of the Modernist gravestone of the
most important Jewish politicians in Tito’s Yugoslavia. Tencer family Kraus family

In this book twenty metropolitan Jewish cemeteries have
been presented and analysed, which differ in their cultur-
al-historical and artistic significance, in their importance
for Jewish history, their prominence in the history of re-
gions and Europe as a whole, their time of opening, use
and closure, their urban macro- and micro-location, to-
pography, their typology of graves and in the morphology
of the cemetery as a whole, in the landscaping, physical
condition, authenticity, and integrity as well as in their ed-
ucational and tourism potential. In this summary, some
common and some specific characteristics will be pointed
out as elements of the regional variety of Jewish funerary
culture in Central, Eastern Central, and Eastern Europe,
as well as in the Balkans, mirroring Jewish life, Jew-
ish-Christian relations, and Jewish, regional, and general
European history. Comparing cemeteries of different re-
gions elucidates the trajectories of influence between the
centre and the periphery of Europe, the spread of the En-
lightenment and the Industrial Revolution as well as the
Jewish Emancipation across the old continent during the
long 19th century. Case studies point out good practice
and may help in the decision-making process regarding
restoration, presentation and maintenance of other cem-
eteries in the regions dealt with in this book and beyond.
Last but not least, the presentation of these 20 metropoli-
tan Jewish cemeteries pays tribute to a culture lost in the
whirl of the stormy history of the 20th century.
Cultural-Historical Importance
This book has shown that – strictly speaking – Jewish
metropolitan burial places in the second half of the 19th
and in the first four decades of the 20th centuries are not
really “Jewish” anymore. They don’t rigorously follow
Jewish traditions of grave typology and size, cemetery
On the opposite page
Gate to the Mausoleum of
the Baron Hatvani Deutsch
family, Salgótarjáni Street
Jewish Cemetery in Budapest
Summary
morphology, inscriptions, gender and social segregation,
the ban on vegetation, the urban context, and many other
aspects. During that period, Jews became official citizens
of empires or nation states in Europe and acquired some
kind of national or regional identity of the country they
inhabited. Consequently, the entirety and the richness
of pre-Emancipation Jewish ethnicity were officially re-
duced to a supposed ‘Jewish denomination’. Jews became
Germans or Hungarians of “Mosaic faith”01 in a secular
Europe. Although officially Jews did become Germans,
Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, etc., in ethnic terms, in prac-
tice many Jews retained some elements of their former
ethnicity and good parts of their collective memory that
set them apart from the gentile majority. Thus, after the
Emancipation, in spite of the official nomenclature the
term ‘Jewish’ meant not only denomination, but some
ethnic features, besides undeniable anthropological fac-
ets – way of thinking, attitudes, body language, some
words or phrases from ‘Jewish languages’ in their inter-
nal communication (Yiddish, Judeo-Spanish, or other
languages on the way to assimilation, such as German or
Polish in the Hungarian Kingdom or in Bohemia, Hun-
garian in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, or in the Soviet
Union, etc).
Funerary culture could not escape the fate of the chang-
ing ethnicity and identity of the Jews, its more and more
complex nature: the once compact genre of Jewish ceme-
teries became multi-faceted, protean, dialogical with the
gentile environment and extremely rich in form, deco-
ration, inscription, landscaping, etc. One may argue that
the aforementioned changes applied to reform Jewish
communities and their cemeteries only, while the Ortho-
dox strictly held on to their traditions. While there is no
doubt that Orthodox Jews and their communities were
more cautious regarding innovation and more conser-
vative in accepting it, they were not entirely immune to
404 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
the Europe-wide changes. In the chapter on Bratislava
Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, we have seen that Orthodox
tombs also changed in the course of the long 19th centu-
ry: they became larger, adopted certain types favoured by
the Neolog (reform Jews in Hungary); they also adopted
elements of Romanticism, the Moorish style, and others,
thus echoing the modern Zeitgeist.02 Orthodox cemeter-
ies, however, abstained from the urban compositional
techniques and landscaping of their reform counterparts.
Still, their grave typology also became richer than before.
The entrance section of the mentioned Orthodox Ceme-
tery in Bratislava was extended in a pronounced modern-
ist style in the interwar period.
Jewish-Christian dialogue, or in the visual domain rather
Christian-Jewish, prompted Jewish stonemasons to use
elements from the Christian or Greco-Roman tradition
and adapt them to the needs of Jewish funerary art. How-
ever, borrowing from neighbouring cultures had been a
practice since the beginnings of Jewish history, due to
the image-reluctance of the Judaic tradition, the worship
of the invisible God, the primacy of ethical over the aes-
thetical. Living in modern European societies, Jews had
to give up a good part of their heritage. The once isolated
and despised minority could afford a partial, or some-
times almost total isolation, but the enlightened minority
could not – modernity excluded this possibility. Modern
life presupposes a nearly full integration of the actors of
economy and culture in a given society. In order to be-
come modern, Jews had to relinquish numerous elements
of their visible identity and their material culture, includ-
ing the artistic/architectural language of their places of
worship and of their cemeteries.
This book proves that the transformation of Jewish ma-
terial culture during the long 19th century varied from
cemetery to cemetery and from country to country, de-
pending on religious orientation and coherence of the
Jewish community, the expectations of the gentile en-
vironment; it also varied locally and on the level of the
country or the region in Europe. Certainly, the gentiles in
the German-speaking regions expected a higher degree
of acculturation from the Jews than in the less bourgeois
and less urban Slavonic regions. The Jews of the German
Reich and their counterparts in Austria proper (provinc-
es with a German-speaking majority) were more assimi-
lated than other Jewish subjects of the Habsburg Empire,
i.e. in the non-German regions of Cisleithania03 or of the
Hungarian Kingdom, as well as in the neighbouring Sla-
vonic-speaking regions of Europe. Accordingly, the Old
Jewish Cemetery at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof complex
and the Berlin Weißensee Cemetery set the standards for
the adoption of gentile patterns at metropolitan cemeter-
ies in Europe to be followed by the rest of the continent.
However, this following could either be stricter or more
liberal in artistic terms. Usually, the further away one
got from the imperial centres – geographically or spiri-
tually – the more liberal the handling was. Thus, while
the Žižkov New Cemetery in Prague strictly followed
the Viennese model (images 31.11–12 and 35.08–11,
35.16), Budapest’s large Jewish cemeteries did not, par-
ticularly not by the end of the 19th century. Hungarian
Secessionist tombs and mausoleums, as we have seen at
the Salgótarjáni and Kozma Street Cemeteries in Buda-
pest, became sui generis types and were an indication
of Jewish-Hungarian allegiance in the increasingly un-
stable Habsburg Empire (images 27.08, 27.10, 28.12,
28.13). Interestingly, the Orthodox and particularly the
Neolog cemetery of Bratislava – then called officially
Pozsony (Hungarian) or Preßburg (German) – appropri-
ated a middle-way solution, i.e. a very mild use of Seces-
sion and more modest statements in terms of size and ac-
cents of the graves. Certainly, it was not just the distance
from the focal points of the Austro-German Kulturraum
that played a role, but also the religious orientation of a
given Jewish community. The latter was somehow relat-
ed to the geographical position, but there was a certain
deviation from this rule. Generally, far away from the
traditional Jewish hubs of orthodoxy on the periphery
of the Kulturraum, Jews gradually became more secular
and liberal, following the Jewish migration route from
the north-eastern traditionalist territories (Pale of the
Settlement, Galicia, Bukovina) to regions further south
and west, during which a gradual assimilation took
place. Still, there were traditionalist communities even
in Vienna and Budapest – in fact, the most prominent
conservative one was in aforementioned Bratislava. At
the older metropolitan Jewish cemeteries, different sec-
tions and layers bear witness to the degree and process
of assimilation. Further away from the fancy centres of
the Central European Kulturraum, as in Warsaw – which
in that period was part of the Russian Empire04 –, cem-
eteries could be an indication that there were parallel
Jewish worlds. At the Okopowa Street Cemetery, for
instance, there are layers in the sections with traditional-
ist and with more modern graves (images 38.16–19 and
38.13–15), even family mausoleums side by side with
traditional ohalim.
This book substantiates that assimilation was taking place
not only along the north-east to south-west Jewish migra-
tion route, but also on the southern fringes of the Kultur-
raum (cultural area), in the regions of the fast transforming
post-Ottoman Balkans, also coupled with migration. This
time, the migrants were not traditional “Eastern Jews”
(Ostjuden) but educated and highly entrepreneurial Ashke-
nazim. This was a real Jewish interfaith encounter of West-
ern Enlightenment, represented by the Ashkenazi Haska-
la, and the more conservative Sephardi world dominated
hitherto by the Muslim traditions existing in the Balkans
during the Ottoman Empire. The once mighty Turkish Em-
pire weakened in the 19th century – due to political Islam,
it lacked the Western-type Enlightenment or its Jewish
counterpart, the Haskala – and slowly declined until its
total collapse in the aftermath of World War One. This
explains how and why the Austro-German Kulturraum
spilt over to the previously Sephardi territories, as can be
witnessed at the presented metropolitan Jewish cemeter-
ies in the Balkans, such as the three large Jewish burial
places in Bucharest and the ones in Sarajevo, Sofia and
Belgrade. The Belgrade cemetery shows the most intense
Austro-German influence as it is located on the border of
Central Europe (Habsburg Empire) and the Balkans (Ot-
toman Empire), on the confluence of the empire-dividing
rivers of Danube and Sava.
Summary
As presented in chapter 21 of this book, the Belgrade
Sephardi Cemetery has strictly traditional graves, Bal-
kan-type Jewish tombs, i.e. mainly horizontal slabs and
pseudo-sarcophagi, and some others, explicitly Western,
vertical Austro-German types rooted in the ‘matzeva
tradition’. From these more complex forms evolved, as
if adopted from Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof or Budapest’s
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery to the Serbian cap-
ital. The imposing tomb of the well-off Sephardi Buli
family (image 21.12) with intense Austro-Hungarian ties
adopted Ashkenazi patterns. Certainly, the assimilation
of the Western funerary tradition was linked to social sta-
tus, i.e. belonging to the upper social strata of the Jewish
community of Belgrade, Sarajevo, Bucharest, or Sofia.
All Balkan capitals had both Sephardi and Ashkenazi
populations, but the former was larger, albeit the Ashke-
nazim started to dictate the public taste often even among
the Sephardim.
As we have seen in the chapter on Belgrade’s Sephar-
di Cemetery and partly on the Ashkenazi Cemetery in
Bucharest, the Ashkenazi tradition was not limited to
tomb typology only. These burial places have a clear
‘urban’ structure with main streets, adjacent narrower
lanes, central square and traditional sections enabling
segregation and social contrasts without making them
overtly conspicuous. This is a clear influence of Vien-
na’s Zentralfriedhof and Berlin’s Weißensee Cemetery.
Along these main streets are the Ashkenazi-type graves
of the rich and mighty, and along the perimeter walls
are the modest, more traditional, i.e. horizontal Sephar-
di graves. Moreover, in Belgrade there is a strong land-
mark embodying pessimism: the impressive Holocaust
memorial crowns the central axis of the cemetery, as
if the Shoa had been inevitable – a strong statement of
an Orthodox Christian-born Communist architect, Bog-
dan Bogdanović, buried here in ashes together with his
wife Ksenija some 59 years after the construction of the
monument.05
The Ashkenazi-Sephardi dialogue, or in this case the cul-
tural exchange had an impact on some Jewish cemeteries
inside the Austro-German Kulturraum as well, namely
on its south-eastern fringes, in what is today Croatia,
Serbia (province Vojvodina), and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
These were countries with historically mixed Sephardi
and Ashkenazi populations – Slovenia and the conti-
nental parts of Croatia were predominantly Ashkenazi,
while the Adriatic Coast and Bosnia-Herzegovina were
traditionally Sephardi. This question, together with the
phenomenon of orientalism as part of the Ashkenazi-Se-
phardi dialogue, has been dealt with in the section on the
significance of metropolitan Jewish cemeteries from the
viewpoint of Jewish history.
Probably the most spectacular Jewish burial place in the
Balkans is the Great Sephardi Cemetery in Sarajevo,
which is also a proof of the Ashkenazi-Sephardi dialogue.
The upper parts of the slope are dominated by traditional
horizontal prismatic stones, set in an organic order, while
at the bottom of the slope an Ashkenazi section emerged
(images 33.03–05 and 33.12–13), crowned by the power-
ful Holocaust memorial, which is a modernist monument
that in its proportions quotes the Sephardi tradition. The
405
architect was also Sephardic, Yahiel Finci. The architec-
ture of the ceremonial building cum tahara house, built
in the interwar period, tried to level the differences.
The most intense Christian-Jewish dialogue in the Aus-
tro-German Kulturraum occurred in the Jewish section of
Zagreb’s Mirogoj Cemetery in Croatia. As we have seen in
the case study on this burial place, the Jews in Zagreb had
abandoned the custom of separating their cemetery from
the Christians with a fence. Moreover, they consented to
have a unifying, intense architectural accent connecting
the Jewish and Christian sections: huge arcades created
by Hermann Bollé. This edifice introduces the separation
of the rich from the others. The arcades (images 40.01–
05) unite all the rich – Jews, Catholics, Protestants, and
the Greek Orthodox – in a large architectural statement.
Inside this arcade-like space, each family in each of the
confessional sections installed their plaques, and in some
cases even sculptures. It is important to stress, however,
that the arcades are divided into confessional sections,
marked by six-pointed stars and different crosses on top
of the domes. The large arcades play another interesting
role: they comprise a time-span of almost a century. Un-
der the arcades built in the Free Style there are matzevot
integrated into the wall that show elements of 19th cen-
tury Free Style, Art Nouveau, and interwar modernism.
These are represented by large sculptures, which contra-
dict the Jewish tradition (images 40.07–08). This is a real
Christian-Jewish dialogue, while in a similar setting of the
Central Cemetery in Sofia there are – side by side – Jew-
ish and Christian graves as well as graves of Ashkenazim
and Sephardim.
Studying the message of Jewish funerary art presented
in this book may lead us to the following summary in
terms of cultural history. Customary terms of Jewish and
of European both lost their traditional meanings during
the long 19th century. Not only the Jews ceased to be
an isolated minority strictly following its own traditions.
Concomitantly, the gentile environment also lost part
of its former identity and cultural roots. European, as a
designation of an intellectually and culturally compact
civilisation based on Greco-Roman Antiquity and Chris-
tianity, transformed into a more open system that facili-
tated Jewish-Christian or Christian-Jewish dialogue. In
the 19th century, intercontinental trade and colonialism
undermined the compact character of the West – the so-
called Faustian culture.06 This was caused by increasing
encounters with other civilisations often considered less
developed, which unwittingly ‘hit back’ and thus grad-
ually changed the West – its views, self-perception and
attitude vis-à-vis the ‘others’, including the Jews. Thus,
liberal capitalism was the agent that deconstructed both
Jewish and European in their traditional meanings and
contributed to a certain amalgamation of these two con-
cepts. This in turn brought about, among others, Jewish
graves and cemeteries presented in this book.
One may also conclude by reading this book and look-
ing at the illustrations that the period from the Gründer-
zeit to World War Two represented a departure from the
two-millennia-long European funerary heritage and the
much older Jewish sepulchral traditions: simple graves
gave way to large-scale tombs and mausoleums both in
406 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Christian and Jewish cemeteries, thus heralding the great
transformation of the West and its Jews. The change
was not just quantitative, i.e. larger and more expensive
graves of the middle classes, but later also qualitative:
after Historicism, Art Nouveau tried to sever ties with
Western art and culture and started to incorporate ideas
and forms of cultures beyond its boundaries. 20th cen-
tury Modernism went even further by integrating ideas
and forms of faraway civilisations: Chinese, Japanese,
etc. Thus, Western civilisation not only dismantled its
external boundaries, but also its internal ones, most
prominently the ones vis-à-vis the Jews. This inevitably
led to the appearance of a hybrid on all levels of artistic
creation, profane and sacred, Jewish and gentile, and
included funerary art.07
Artistic Significance
Browsing this book, one gets the impression that 19th
century metropolitan Jewish cemeteries are the ones that
not only offer the most spectacular artistic achievements,
but also an unprecedented degree of Jewish emancipation
and assimilation. While all this is true, a more profound
scrutiny reveals that many of the striking aspects of 19th
century Jewish cemeteries regarding Jewish assimilation
to the non-Jewish environment surfaced much earlier,
some of them even in Antiquity, albeit on a much smaller
scale. Despite the strong emphasis on text and the preva-
lence of ethics over aesthetics in Judaism and Jewish cul-
ture in general, visuality was seldom entirely excluded
from Jewish funerary art. It was most severely curtailed
in the Middle Ages when the Ashkenazim were harshly
oppressed by the Christian majority population. Jewish
graves in this period most often did not have any visual
elements beyond beautiful Hebrew letters. This is quite
a striking contrast to Antiquity, during which Jewish
graves, on the one hand, were richly decorated, and on
the other, opened to non-Jewish sources of form and text.
The artistic richness of the Antiquity returned to Jewish
funerary art only in modern times.
In the Ashkenazi regions of Europe that make up the
bulk of this book, it was the early modern period that
reintroduced visuality, the artistic dimension in the
modern sense of the word at Jewish cemeteries peaking
in the second half of the 19th century under the influ-
ence of Christian art and the competitive atmosphere of
liberal capitalism. The public taste of liberal capitalism
favoured richness, amassing different elements of archi-
tectural history with diverse references and meanings.
This became an ideal vehicle for the Jews who through
the arts wanted to convey to their gentile compatriots
and to themselves the desired meanings of their polit-
ical agenda: strict neo-Romanesque stood for genu-
ine ‘German identity’ (image 06.05) to which German
Jews subscribed; neo-Gothic as a gesture of opening
towards Christian culture and architecture was used
quite often, although it was controversial because of its
connotations with Jewish suffering in the Middle Ages;
the folklore style of the Hungarian peasants expressed
loyalty of Jews to the Hungarian struggle against the
Austro-German Kulturraum (images 28.12–17). In
all these endeavours, aesthetics and the notion of arts
had an extraordinary social and political significance:
the visual arts were the language that the gentiles un-
derstood best, the language by means of which ‘Jew-
ish ethical’content/meaning could be translated into the
‘Christian aesthetic’ content/meaning.08
The wish for pomp abated somewhat during and after the
period of Art Nouveau and with the German Friedhofs-
reform that turned away from excessive decoration and
large scale (images 22.05, 27.18, 28.23, 28.25, 31.20).
This was further curbed by high modernism, when in
terms of scale and richness Jewish graves returned to the
times before the overstatements of the Gründerzeit. This
process was gradual and in some cases Art Nouveau still
produced very large tombs, as we have seen in the cas-
es of the Aschrott family mausoleum (image 22.17) or
the Poznański mausoleum (images 30.07–09), the latter
probably being the largest Jewish funerary monument in
the world. In both cases, Art Nouveau – actually the Ger-
man Jugendstil – is mainly a language of form and not a
new philosophy in art and architecture, and it is directed
against Historicism.
After the Art Nouveau and proto-modern periods, mod-
ern funerary art of the interwar period also advocated a
more modest size and outfit that was particularly popular
among Jews, the most valuable ensembles being found
in Prague’s New Jewish Cemetery and on a smaller scale
also in the Jewish section of Zagreb’s Mirogoj Central
Cemetery as well as in the New Jewish Cemetery of the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna. Compared to Christian burial
places, Jewish cemeteries have significantly more ex-
plicitly modernist tombs in the successor states of the
Habsburg Empire and the German Reich. It is well known
how eagerly Jews welcomed modernism, starting with
Adolf Loos up to Erich Mendelsohn and many others well
into the 20th century.09
In most European countries, the Holocaust represents a
watershed in Jewish funerary art, but there are excep-
tions, like the Preobrazhenskoe Jewish Cemetery in St
Petersburg, a city that the Nazis were not able to capture
and therefore there was no Holocaust. The Holocaust
that killed nearly six million European Jews created a
demographic vacuum that made many existing cemeter-
ies redundant for interment. Relatives of already buried
Jews were murdered and the graves of their parents and
grandparents needed care. Occasionally, this care is being
provided by gentiles as an element of piety.
However, these practical matters are dwarfed by the spir-
itual effect of the Holocaust that impacted Jewish funer-
ary art: Jews lost their faith in gentiles, in the Enlighten-
ment, in modernity, in liberalism, and the entirety of the
Faustian culture with which they so enthusiastically had
identified themselves earlier. After the Holocaust, Jews
stopped pursuing the Jewish-Christian dialogue and with
that the main basis of modern Jewish funerary art lost its
significance. This shock lasted for decades after the Sho-
ah – visible in post-World War Two Jewish funerary art –,
and while its effect seems to abate, the previous momen-
tum of Jewish-Christian cultural dialogue on European
soil has been lost forever.
Summary
Jewish funerary art in modern Israel has never intended
to be as innovative and communicative as its European
counterparts had been at the time of Emancipation. Jews
living in their own country do not have to prove alle-
giance to others, show good faith to their Christian neigh-
bours, their business partners, clients, patients, readers,
audience, etc. Israeli Jews are happy to be back on track
after almost two millennia of exile. Thus, the tenor of this
culture is not dialogue with others – Christians, Muslims,
Hinduists, Buddhists, etc. –, but an internal dialogue of
Jews stemming from all these exiles, bridging the gaps,
creating a common denominator between them, achieving
a cultural platform acceptable for all, making the new-old
homeland a melting pot, and restoring the lost unity. Un-
der these circumstances, tradition plays an extraordinary
role and funerary art follows millennia-old Jewish cus-
toms and forms in Israel. Thus, while National Socialism
did not succeed in exterminating all Jews, it succeeded in
destroying Jewish funerary art in the Faustian culture and
well beyond. The notion of Faustian culture in Oswald
Spengler’s reading is relevant for Jews too. He used the
word Faustian when describing Western culture, equating
it with the tragic figure of Goethe’s Faust, who sold his
soul to the devil to gain greater power. In Oswald Spen-
gler’s reading Western man sold his soul to technology,
turning culture into civilisation.10 Continuing and ex-
tending the Spenglerian thought to modern, emancipat-
ed Jews, it becomes clear that they sold their tradition in
order to become European. This attitude ended tragically,
more so than the Faustian culture itself.
Reading this book, it becomes clear that a cemetery is not
simply a work of art comprising architectural and sculp-
tural elements, but that gardening also plays a significant
role in the case of reform Jewish cemeteries (images
18.02–18.33, 27.20 ). Furthermore, while palace gardens
and many parks in towns are designed by one landscape
architect or a team, in the case of cemetery gardening,
“authorship” works on several levels – on the level of
the cemetery as a whole, created by a landscape architect
and maintained by the Chevra Kadisha or municipal au-
thorities running the cemetery; on the level of individual
plot or grave owners; and, last but not least, on a sponta-
neous level of uncurbed nature. This third aspect became
quite significant after the Holocaust: as abandoned Jew-
ish cemeteries in certain places are beyond the main pri-
orities of local authorities, the third layer in the garden-
ing/landscaping, the spontaneous growth of vegetation,
becomes a decisive factor of aesthetics, but also for the
existence of the cemetery, as trees and ivy threaten the
stability of graves. Certainly, the long timespan, includ-
ing the period of abandonment, is the most interesting
element of the aesthetics of Jewish cemeteries.
The aesthetics of an abandoned or not well-maintained
cemetery are a special case. Some cemeteries in our sur-
vey owe their aesthetic value just to the degree of neglect,
the way nature regains the territory, wilfully frames man’s
creation, single graves, ensembles and the cemetery as
a whole. The Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery in Budapest
radiates this romantic beauty, an Ankor Wat-like quality
of harmony and balance between man-made and nature.
A similar phenomenon is at work at the Užupis Ceme-
407
tery in Vilnius, where the man-made slowly and irrevo-
cably retreats, and nature conquers the territory (images
37.02–07). It is an important question how to proceed with
such cemeteries, where to stop nature, if at all. Consid-
erations comprise aesthetic ones, ecologic dilemmas and
finally halachic considerations and ideas of the collective
memory of both the gentiles and the Jews.
Thus, the aesthetic aspects of cemeteries comprise the fol-
lowing elements and facets of Jewish funerary culture in
the period of Emancipation: (a) artistic qualities of a single
grave – calligraphy, two-dimensional and sculptural deco-
rative elements, composition of the tomb (size of stones,
their proportions and mutual relationship), main materi-
al of the tomb and materials of smaller elements (metal
joints, letters, sculptural elements); (b) artistic quality of
ensembles – rows, crossings, larger or smaller sections or
homogeneous parts of sections, landmark buildings and
monuments and other morphological elements; (c) aesthet-
ic qualities of vegetation and topography – planted trees
and bushes, spontaneously grown vegetation on paths and
lanes of the cemetery, parasite vegetation on graves and
other built elements, changes of levels of the soil, stairs
and railings; (d) aesthetic qualities of edifices, ceremonial
buildings and tahara houses, benches, pergolas, fences,
gates, and collective monuments.
Taking these aesthetic categories into consideration,
we may sum up the artistic significance of the studied
cemeteries as follows:
In terms of artistic quality of the single tombs of the
traditional, pre-Emancipation type, the Warsaw Oko-
powa Street Cemetery is the most significant; for the
Gründerzeit the Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery
excels, together with the Old Jewish Cemetery at Vien-
na’s Zentralfriedhof and the Jewish cemetery museum in
Wroclaw. For the Art Nouveau period, the Salgótarjáni
Street Cemetery and the Kozma Street Cemetery, both in
Budapest, are the most remarkable. The prominence of
interwar period modernism is shared by Prague’s New
Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov and the New Jewish Ceme-
tery at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof.
Each and every cemetery may excel artistically in one or
more of the aforementioned categories. Some cemeteries
may show a more balanced picture in these terms, for
example Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery, the Jewish
cemeteries at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof or the Budapest
Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery, while others may
be more special in just a couple of these aspects, as for
instance the Bracka Street Jewish Cemetery in Łódź with
the exceptional industrial architecture of its ceremonial
building ensemble and entrance gates as well as due to
the extraordinary homogeneity of many of its sections.
In terms of artistic quality of smaller ensembles, the
Bracka Street Cemetery in Łódź is one of the leading
Jewish burial places due to the extraordinary harmony
of its sections, followed by Berlin’s Weißensee Jewish
Cemetery and Prague’s New Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov.
Park-like planning is the most prominent in the trend-set-
ting Old Jewish Cemetery of the Zentralfriedhof in Vien-
na, in Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery and Belgrade
Sephardi Cemetery, which is exceptional in the context
of the Sephardi tradition.
408 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
In terms of artistic prominence of ceremonial buildings
or building ensembles, the New Jewish Cemetery at Vi-
enna’s Zentralfriedhof represents the flagship in Europe,
followed by Berlin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery, the
Preobrazhenskoe Jewish Cemetery in St Petersburg and
Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest.
In terms of aesthetic qualities of vegetation, the Ber-
lin Weißensee Jewish Cemetery and Salgótarjáni Street
Cemetery in Budapest are the most prominent. The for-
mer excels in well-planned lanes, small squares, the latter
in the wild, lush beauty of nature that complements the
large graves artistically. In this respect, the Užupis Jewish
Cemetery in Vilnius is a very special case: nature has tak-
en over and graves appear just in rough shapes below the
grass and bushes. At the same time, topographically this is
also the most interesting Jewish burial place together with
the Sephardi Cemetery in Sarajevo.
The artistic significance of Jewish cemeteries is a more
complex matter than the artistic significance of syna-
gogues, for instance. This is because a cemetery and its
look result from decades if not centuries-long processes,
during which aesthetic priorities and the position of the
Jews in a certain region or town change. At a cemetery,
different layers of time accumulate and interact with each
other, creating a unique harmony or just a lack of it. The
artistic value should be estimated in the context of place
and time. As for time, often there is no single dominant
stylistic or historic period, which makes an evaluation
complex and difficult. As for place, local and regional dif-
ferences are quite significant, as can be seen if we com-
pare the cemeteries in Berlin-Weißensee, Łódź Bracka
Street, Vilnius-Užupis or Sofia-Central.
The art of Jewish graves reveals the dual nature of Jew-
ish life in the diaspora: fidelity to Jewish heritage and
openness to external influences, such as Greco-Roman
Antiquity, medieval European and Islamic art, the early
modern world, the Enlightenment, etc. As this book has
tried to point out, Jewish funerary art often only shows
‘differential Jewishness’, perceivable only as the Der-
ridean différance vis-à-vis the art of the majority gentile
population. There are fine nuances readable only in the
widest cultural and artistic context of place and time.
Importance for Jewish History
Jewish cemeteries are probably the most multi-faceted
genre of Jewish art, compared to synagogues and their
wall-paintings, or illuminated manuscripts or Judaica.
All these genres depend on the visual arts of the gentile
environment, some of them more, some less. It is known
that synagogues were usually built by gentiles up to the
last third of the 19th century, and that Judaica were of-
ten partly produced by gentiles as well.11 The gravestone
production, however, at least in the last centuries, was
mainly in Jewish hands – usually manufactured in work-
shops near the Jewish cemeteries, either along the road
leading to the main entrance (Kozma Street Cemetery
in Budapest) or sometimes inside the cemetery proper,
as is the case at the Old Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s
Zentralfriedhof.
Jewish tombs are an indication of the Jewish-Christian,
Jewish-Muslim or even Jewish-Christian-Muslim rela-
tionships, as in medieval Spain under Muslim rule. The
Ashkenazim often referred to the oriental architectural el-
ements of medieval Spain for their synagogues in order to
comply with the Austro-German concept of Jews as the
‘Asians or Orientals of Europe.’ The use of Islamic deco-
ration on Jewish graves, both at Ashkenazi and Sephardi
cemeteries, served the same purpose12 (images 21.22–24,
21.26, 22.12, 23.14, 25.01–03, 28.21–22, 32.06, 34.10,
35.34, 36.23). It is important to stress that this adoption
or quotation of oriental motifs was not a real dialogue, but
rather a set of arbitrary citations of some architectural or
decorative motifs put together along Ashkenazi, i.e. West-
ern structural principles with the intention of proving the
supremacy of Ashkenazim over Sephardim in the cultural
realm in the post-Ottoman Balkans and other European
territories under Muslim rule at an earlier stage.13 How-
ever, the use of the oriental style was not merely “cultural
colonialism” on Sephardi territories, but also an element of
pride and distinction in the context of the modern world,
stressing the historic significance of the Sephardim and
their kinship to the Arab world as well as the significance
of Sephardi-Ashkenazi cultural exchange within Jewish
culture as a whole, both in the advanced Western countries
and in the emerging peripheries of Europe.
On the other hand, as we have seen in chapters (Chapters
21–22, 24–26, 34), along the fringes of the Austro-Ger-
man Kulturraum there was a significant Ashkenazi-Sep-
hardi dialogue that went beyond the adoption of decora-
tive elements. Sephardim acquired the modern, Ashkenazi
way of life, which encompassed Western-style housing,
fashion, attending the theatre and concerts, as well as
architectural features of their synagogues, the types of
graves and the planning methods for their cemeteries, as
was the case in Belgrade, Bucharest, Sarajevo, and Sofia.
At these cemeteries there is an interesting phenomenon:
traditional horizontal Sephardi slabs and pseudo sarcoph-
agi did not have orientalist14 decoration, but in the Balkans
in the 19th and 20th centuries, a number of monumental
Moorish-style tombs were erected at Sephardi cemeteries.
In the honorary section of Belgrade Sephardi Cemetery,
there is a group of richly decorated oriental-style tombs
for prominent members of the Jewish community. (imag-
es 21.22–24). In other words, oriental motifs returned to
the Orient with a detour via the Occident, reinterpreted by
the westernised, emancipated Ashkenazim.
Almost all elements of funerary art are relevant for Jew-
ish history. Probably the most universal and longest in
history are the inscriptions. The inscription is the spine of
Jewish funerary culture in terms of its content, language
and even typography, an art that avoids traditional repre-
sentation, but helps to convey a meaning also in visual
terms. Inscriptions shed light on cultural and inter-cul-
tural circumstances of a Jewish community and its mem-
bers. Historically, the primary language was and is He-
brew, which may be accompanied by vernaculars, Greek,
Roman, Arabic, Spanish, German, Polish, Hungarian,
Russian, etc. In the late phase of the Emancipation, the
use of Hebrew inscriptions decreased and the local ver-
nacular increased, but there are very few Jewish graves
Summary
without any Hebrew inscription – at least the names of
the deceased are usually written with Hebrew letters. The
way of writing is usually patronymic, the fathers’ Jew-
ish given name – permanent family names for Jews are a
European tradition, acquired first by the Sephardim and
later by the Ashkenazim –, plus the given name of the
deceased. In some areas of Ashkenazi Europe, as for in-
stance in parts of the Hungarian Kingdom or in Galicia,
it may be sometimes the mother’s name instead of the fa-
ther’s. After the Emancipation, Jews were obliged to have
permanent family names, which is usually displayed in
the local language. However, there are many exceptions
to this rule. There may be a Hebrew/Yiddish translitera-
tion of the originally Roman or Cyrillic letters of the sec-
ular names. At Orthodox Jewish cemeteries, community
elders mainly have transliterated Hebrew inscriptions of
their secular name, usually after the traditional Hebrew
patronymic. All this variety of inscriptions and of writ-
ing names testifies to the multifarious character of 19th
century Jewish life and to different stages on the road to
acculturation and assimilation. It is an uncensored and
vivid testimony to Jewish attitudes and values from the
Gründerzeit to the Holocaust.
In some regions, besides the name the profession is
also mentioned, either in the text or in symbolic repre-
sentations in relief. The gentile environment played an
important role in this. For instance, in Belgrade, where
many people have the same surnames and names derived
from the patronymic, the profession is a distinctive ele-
ment. Both in the Sephardi and Ashkenazi cemeteries in
Belgrade, in addition to the Jewish and secular name the
profession is also mentioned.15
Originally, eulogies were written in Hebrew in Central
and Eastern Europe, but with the Emancipation, vernac-
ular languages tended to be used, if long eulogies were
still used at all. Traditional eulogies changed not only in
terms of language but also in their content and length, as
social priorities also changed. Pre- and early Emancipa-
tion eulogies emphasised the traditional moral values of
Jews, such as solidarity, piety, generosity, and knowledge
of ‘Jewish science’ for men, and kindness, family values,
and helpfulness for women. For both men and women,
belonging to a family with some office in Jewish commu-
nal life played a significant role, which was emphasised
in inscriptions, as witnessed in the Orthodox Cemetery in
Bratislava (image 15.03).
Assimilation to the culture of liberal capitalism changed
eulogies, too. In this book, we have seen that secular
success replaced Jewish values. Moreover, this success
in worldly life was celebrated in the same way as tradi-
tional sacred values before, with the same zeal and ex-
citement (images 14.15, 16.02, 16.04, 16.06). Howev-
er, the expression of the social success of Jews in 19th
century Europe found most frequently on graves is the
ennoblement.
The ennoblement of Jews in the Habsburg Empire and in
the German Reich had an impact on names and inscrip-
tions. Traditionally, Christian nobility had a reference to
its estate or place of birth. In German it was marked by
the ‘von’, in Hungarian the ‘y’ ending, in Slavonic lan-
guages ‘od’ or ‘Z’, which usually all referred to existing
409
toponyms. As there were few new toponyms available in
the 19th century, ennobled Jews sometimes chose fictive
ones – places that they were not related to –, sometimes
even awkward toponyms that betrayed their origin. The-
oretically, Jews were ennobled on the basis of some ser-
vice to the country or town, or for a significant secular
achievement. Practically, the title of Baron was awarded
to the most prominent families who could show enough
generosity vis-à-vis the municipality or the state. Enno-
bled Jews were given a family crest with inscriptions and
references to the noble status were also reflected in other
inscriptions (images 27.16, 27.28, 28.31). Moreover, be-
yond the textual marking, the crest was often displayed
in the central upper area of the gravestone (image 27.16).
Ennoblement was the best indicator of the social advance
of any not-inherited nobility, be it gentile or Jewish. The
percentage of ennobled Jews in the Hungarian Kingdom
at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was the highest
in Europe and indicated their spectacular success.
More often than with gentiles, Jewish inscriptions have
been multilingual since Greek and Roman times, as we
have seen in the introduction to this book. At the cem-
eteries presented here, there are also many vernacular
languages – the most multilingual inscriptions can be
found in Bucharest and Belgrade –, which substantiates
the multicultural orientation of Jews in some parts of the
European periphery. While in the territories with a Ger-
man-speaking majority the language of the inscription is
German, showing clearly the direction of assimilation,
in Slavonic, Hungarian, Romanian, and mixed territo-
ries, inscriptions are an indication of the multilingual and
multicultural orientation of the Jews. Multilingualism
may characterise the whole inscription, and it may even
have an impact on the name of the deceased. Sometimes
we find in Romania a French name in combination with
a Hungarian, Romanian, or German surname (image
24.29). The most ‘French country’ in the Balkans was
Romania (French was the second language until the end
of the 20th century), although Serbia also received French
support in the Versailles Treaty as an extension of French
influence on South-Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, at the
Jewish cemeteries of Belgrade, Bucharest, and Sofia, we
encounter German or Hungarian inscriptions, as some of
these Jews stem from the Austro-German Kulturraum.
(images 20.12, 34.12–13) Somehow, cemeteries revealed
Jewish attitude and values more openly than synagogues
standing in the midst of the gentile world. Jewish ceme-
teries were more or less considered an internal matter of
the Jewish communities.
After the inscription, the system of segregation is the
second most important lesson cemeteries teach us about
Jewish history. Segregations are the best indication of
the values and hierarchies of a given community in a
given period. As we have seen in the case of some Pol-
ish cemeteries in our survey, gender segregation was
present even in the 20th century, as in the case of Brac-
ka Street Jewish Cemetery in Łódź. Gender separation
reinforces the strict division of gender roles of tradi-
tional societies. Still, unlike in other traditional cultures
where women are clearly subordinate to men, Jews did
not have a clear value-based hierarchy between men
410 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
and women. Not all important roles in society and in
the families were only assigned to men. It was the cem-
etery which reinforced gender roles with its symbols
and rules of segregation. The most important event in
Jewish everyday life, the celebration of the Shabbat and
the associated gender roles were clearly displayed on
the graves. At the cemetery in Łódź, women’s graves
are adorned above the textual part with a chandelier re-
ferring to the lighting of the candles on Shabbat. In the
same zone of the gravestones, which incidentally are
of equal size, made of the same material and decorated
identically, men’s graves have their own gender sym-
bol, the book. The warmth/light and the book standing
for knowledge of the Scripture symbolised the very
foundation of society and its basic values. Gender seg-
regation was not pursued geographically and always in
different sections. Instead, there are usually groups of
graves for men and women in each section.
As we have seen several times in this book, there was
not just gender segregation, but also segregation ac-
cording to the importance of the deceased in the life of
the Jewish community in the early phase of Emancipa-
tion. Later, this referred to the place of the deceased in
gentile society into which the Jewish community was
integrated. These two types of segregation may run par-
allel at some cemeteries, as for instance at the Salgótar-
jáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest. At this burial
place there is a large honorary section for the richest and
most successful people, and independently of it, there is
a more modest lane for rabbis and community leaders
and elders. Similar, but somewhat less conspicuous is
the division of the spiritual figures of Berlin’s Jewish
community at Weißensee Cemetery, near the ceremonial
building, where in a modest lane we find Micha Josef
Bin-Gorion (born Berdyczewski), Hermann Cohen, Ury
Lesser, Louis Lewandowsky, and many others. A bit
further along the solemn alleys and circular spaces, we
find the rich families, such as the Aschrott, Kempinsky,
and many others. Such arrangements are a mixture of
retaining the tradition of honouring spiritual people and
artists, and also of accepting modern mundane values.
So, once again there is the old formula of Jewish history,
tradition and flexibility vis-à-vis innovation.
We have seen that families or extended families of-
ten tried to bury their dead as close to each other as
possible, either by placing single graves close to each
other or by choosing family tombs. Strictly speaking,
this clustering does not belong to the traditional forms
of segregation, but it has been present since Antiquity
and from the second half of the 19th century it became
the dominant type of non-class and non-religious seg-
regation at reform Jewish cemeteries. Sometimes, as in
the case of Salgótarjáni Street Cemetery in Budapest,
these interrelated families built arcades in which each
family occupied a bay. At Berlin Weißensee, it was a
tradition of long double family graves (images 22.11,
22.25) or even triple graves. This type of placement
gives a clear picture to posterity about family relation-
ships and preferences, a web that certain families cre-
ated in the context of a Jewish community, providing
information to historians much beyond that provided
by family trees. The position of these ‘clusters’ in the
entirety of the cemetery often reveals the power struc-
ture in a certain community, often less visible through
other historical sources.
Besides single or groups of graves, central buildings
of a Jewish cemetery also give historians clues about
the religious orientation of the community, the finan-
cial strength, the political orientation and the position
in the context of the gentile society. Size and style of
these edifices tell us something about the self-image of
the community. Nothing proves this better than the in-
dustrial architectural language of the ceremonial build-
ing ensemble at the Bracka Street Jewish Cemetery in
Łódź, which shares the same architectural language
as the industrial plants owned by the most prominent
Jewish community members, just with the addition of
some slight oriental decorative elements referring to
the origin of the Jews.
Smaller elements around the central buildings, such as
collective monuments related to the Holocaust, Jewish
heroes of major wars, or tragedies in the community, as
well as gates, benches, wells, and pergolas all provide
little footnotes to the history of a Jewish community and
even to Jewish society at large.
Thus, each cemetery in the diaspora enables historians to
have at least two readings: one about the community, its
specifics, aspirations, and religious orientation; and an-
other one about the wider milieu, including local gentile
traditions and Jewish-gentile dialogue.
Significance for the History of Regions
Tolerance of minorities is a key indicator of any soci-
ety, and hardly anywhere else this tolerance is as clear-
ly readable as in the relationship between Jewish and
Christian cemeteries. This rule applies particularly to the
19th century when new Christian cemeteries, actually
large, multi-confessional burial places, were relocated
to sites far away from the city centres, for the interment
(in clusters) of Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Greek
Catholics, Greek Orthodox, and Jews, sometimes even
Muslims. These create a wider ‘cemetery landscape’ in
the large cities: the two Jewish cemeteries in the con-
text of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, the Salgótarjáni Street
Cemetery in Budapest with the National Cemetery on
Kerepesi Road, the Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery and
the Central Rákoskeresztúri Cemetery in Budapest, the
Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery and the Powązkows-
ki Cemetery in Warsaw, the two Jewish and two gentile
cemeteries in the New Cemetery Complex in Belgrade,
and many others.
It is interesting to see what happens across the dividing
fences of these burial places. The more similar the gen-
eral picture of the Jewish and Christian cemeteries is, the
closer the Jewish and the gentile milieu stood to each oth-
er. This does not only apply to grave typology, but also
to the morphological elements of the cemeteries, includ-
ing the vegetation. There may be a major convergence in
grave typology, as is the case with the obelisk types or
the pseudo-sarcophagus, but a lack of such convergence
Summary
does not necessarily mean the contrary, i.e. a rift between
gentiles and Jews: Both Jewish and Christian cemetery
traditions had their historically established types that
were kept for a long period, untouched by the conver-
gence of the two confessions in political, economic and
cultural terms.
The best way to illustrate differences across the fenc-
es is to compare the Christian and Jewish parts of Vi-
enna’s Zentralfriedhof with the Okopowa Street Jew-
ish Cemetery and its Christian neighbours in Warsaw,
i.e. the cemetery complex in Warsaw encompassing
the National Polish Cemetery (Cmentarz Powązkows-
ki, opened in 1792), the Lutheran Cemetery (Cmentarz
Ewangelicko-Augsburski), and the Calvinist Cemetery
(Cmentarz Ewangelicko-Reformowany). While in Vi-
enna the Jewish part is hardly distinguishable from its
Christian counterparts in most tomb types, except for the
simple matzevot or crosses, in Warsaw the differences are
remarkable, particularly vis-à-vis the Catholic section in
terms of size and typology of the graves, general ceme-
tery morphology and vegetation. The differences in the
graves could also be ascribed to differences in the so-
cial position of Jews in the context of Congress Poland
vis-à-vis Christians buried in the national cemetery. Mor-
phological differences are also due in part to the special
status of Powązkowski Cemetery. Similar to Vienna, in
Budapest the National Cemetery on Kerepesi Road has a
common fence with the Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cem-
etery. When one looks across the fence, one recognises
that the differences are minimal, which leads us to the
conclusion that Budapest’s Jews were better integrated
into the Hungarian elite than their Warsaw counterparts.
It is true that the part of the aforementioned cemetery
bordering with the Hungarian National Cemetery is the
honorary section, which is richer than the rest of this
burial place. In Warsaw, even the rich parts of the Oko-
powa Street Jewish Cemetery cannot be compared with
the Powązkowski Cemetery from the period of Congress
Poland. Consequently, the core of the Austro-German
Kulturraum shows the most significant convergence of
Jewish and gentile burial places.
Tolerance of the majority population towards minorities
is an important indication of the history of a region, and
therefore Jewish cemeteries can give clues to general his-
tory. This is not just in terms of general tolerance and
personal freedom of members of minority populations,
but also with regard to the Jewish contribution to nation-
al/imperial elites, represented by the graves of families
like the Kempinsky and Aschrott (Berlin), the Todesco
and Rothschild (Vienna), Manfred Weiss and Hatva-
ny-Deutsch (Budapest), etc.
As a general rule, the upper social strata of Jews opt-
ed for tomb types used by all confessions. Most often,
these were inspired by Greco-Roman Antiquity and re-
interpreted in the spirit of Neo-Classicism as a style of
Enlightenment and rationalism. Middle or lower-class
Jews usually preferred traditional forms – matzeva,
obelisk, etc. – or opted for fashionable styles, like Art
Nouveau. A Jewish baron could not identify himself
with the rebellious style of the Secession.
411
European Perspective: Spheres
of Influence, Interregional Trajectories,
and Their Synthesis with Local Traditions
The culture of secular Jews in Europe reflected the in-
tellectual currents of the leading countries and the way
their influence spread towards the peripheries. Jews were
among the first to receive, process, sometimes even to
amplify these influences and to mediate them to local
cultural bodies, Jewish and gentile.
Accordingly, as we have seen in this book, the dynam-
ics of centres and peripheries in the 19th century had an
impact on the evolution of Jewish metropolitan cemeter-
ies. Breakthroughs occurred in the centres and rippled
through the whole continent. The French Revolution
was the biggest single breakthrough in modern European
history, in which Napoleon granted civil liberties to the
Jews, being the first to do so in modern history. However,
the Code Napoléon had limited impact on the lives of the
majority of European Jews. France had a relatively small
Jewish population compared to the countries in Central
and Eastern Europe until the Holocaust. For instance,
in 1900, France was home to only 86,885 Jews out of
8,977,581 in Europe, which was less than one percent
of the Jewish population of the old continent. In con-
trast, the three large empires of the long 19th century, the
Habsburg, the Russian, and the German Empires, togeth-
er had more than six million Jews, the largest number of
Jews a single region had ever had and the largest Jewish
population in the whole world at that time.
As the researched cemeteries testify, the two Ger-
man-speaking empires, the Habsburg Empire and the
German Reich, formed the core of modern Jewish culture
in Europe, each in its own way. The first steps of Jewish
Emancipation were unquestionably made in Prussia – the
core and centre of what would become the German Reich
after the unification in 1871 –, where in 1812 citizenship
was awarded to Jews. Even earlier, from the mid-18th
century, it was Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786) who
initiated the Haskala that enabled the Jews to be legally
emancipated.
Still, in terms of Jewish population, the German Reich
lagged behind the Habsburg and Russian Empires. Jews
in the German Empire in 1900 just numbered 586,948,
while in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the same time
they amounted to two million. They received full civ-
il rights more than half a century later than their Ger-
man counterparts, namely during the Austro-Hungarian
Agreement, the Ausgleich in 1867. From that period until
the end of World War One, Jews in that empire enjoyed
a very favoured position.16 It was not only the fact that
there were four times more Jews than in the German Re-
ich which explains their extraordinary impact, but also
the multifarious character of the Habsburg Empire in
ethnic and cultural terms, a sort of mini-Europe with 55
million inhabitants before World War One. The sparkling
imperial capital of Vienna and the utterly diverse Lande-
shauptstädte (regional capitals), like Budapest, Prague,
Trieste, Brünn, Cracow, Lemberg, Czernowitz, Graz, Za-
greb, Fiume, Laibach, Sarajevo, etc., as well as the shtetls
412 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
in Galicia and the market towns of the Great Hungarian
Plain represented an extraordinary diversity of heritage,
languages and denominations. Their encounter became
the fertile soil on which Jewish culture thrived, produc-
ing figures like Gustav Mahler, Alexander von Zem-
linsky, Arnold Schönberg, Arthur Schnitzler, Sigmund
Freud, Franz Kafka, and many others. Moreover, while
the German Reich possessed a highly advanced German
Bürgertum, a good part of the Habsburg Empire was still
semi-feudal, with Jews often playing the role of the mid-
dle class – a substantial percentage of the entrepreneurial
bourgeoisie of the eastern half of the Habsburg Empire
was Jewish, apart from some pockets with a significant
German or Czech population. This middle-class role of
the Jews differentiated the Habsburg Empire from the
German Reich and offered Jews easier access to resourc-
es and less need for total assimilation than in the German
lands. In other words, due to its inhomogeneous nature
and lower degree of development, the Habsburg Empire
relied more on the Jews as a cementing factor tying to-
gether the rather patchy and diverse provinces. The more
homogeneous German Reich and the Russian Empire did
not offer this to their Israelites.
The Russian Empire was home to the largest number of
Jews during the 19th century, amounting to four million
people.17 However, they did not enjoy civil rights, and
even if they got them officially, they were not integrat-
ed into mainstream society to the same extent as in the
two German-speaking empires. Jews were concentrated
mainly in the Pale of Settlement – a limited territory, a
buffer zone between Russia proper and Europe. In com-
parison, in Austria-Hungary, the Jewish network in the
territory of the vast empire was as densely knit as its
railway network, providing economic and partly cultural
infrastructure. Still, Jews played an important role in the
transfer of Western ideas to the Russian Empire, as we
have seen in the chapter on St Petersburg, changing di-
rection only in the early Soviet period18 during the time of
the Russian avant-garde. Jews played an active role in the
Russian avant-garde and also in its spread in Central Eu-
rope and beyond.19 This mediation can also be observed
sporadically in the Jewish funerary art of the 1920s and
1930s in the German-speaking countries.
The two German-speaking empires – the ethnically
homogeneous German Reich and the ethnically utter-
ly inhomogeneous Habsburg Empire – created a Kul-
turraum, in which Jews moved rather freely and found
opportunities to integrate economically and culturally,
sometimes even politically. Yiddish, based on medieval
German, and the official German in these empires ce-
mented a feeling of solidarity among Jews, regardless
that by the end of the 19th century some of them had ac-
quired elements of the Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Slova-
kian, or Croatian identity. As witnessed by the presented
cemeteries in this book, this large Kulturraum, probably
the largest of all periods on European soil, became a
fertile soil for the Jewish contribution to modernity and
artistic modernism. Moreover, this Kulturraum exceed-
ed by far national or imperial borders, as we have seen
with the surveyed Jewish cemeteries in the Balkans. For
instance, gravestone types in the German Reich and in
Austria-Hungary were also used freely in the east – in
the Russian Empire (not just in the Pale of Settlement
that was also culturally a buffer-zone) – and equally in
the south, e.g. in the Balkans, newly liberated from Is-
lamic rule and eager to be reconnected with the Chris-
tian culture of the West. Jews as mediators played an
extraordinary role in this, as could be seen in the grave
typology, morphology and greenery of the cemeteries in
Bucharest, Belgrade, Sofia, and Sarajevo.
It was the decline of the fourth large empire, the Otto-
man Empire, that enabled the Balkans to partially fall un-
der Austro-German influence. Bosnia and Herzegovina
were practically annexed to the Habsburg Empire after
the Berlin Treaty,20 but the free post-Ottoman states of
the Balkans, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Montene-
gro also experienced German influence via Austria-Hun-
gary. The native Sephardi Jews of the Ottoman Empire,
the (Turkish) Sephardi Jews, had to confront the highly
mobile, entrepreneurial Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, and
Polish Ashkenazi Jews in the new Balkan kingdoms of
Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The impact of the aforementioned German Kulturraum
was in a dynamic relationship with local communities
and their traditions. Generally, at any given place and
time two elements determined the funerary culture in the
three empires and in the post-imperial Balkans in the 19th
and early 20th centuries: (1) local Jewish and gentile tra-
ditions in the village, town, or region; (2) inter-regional
influences of the Austro-German Kulturraum, inside the
empires and beyond their borders.
Probably the best example of how these two factors creat-
ed a metropolitan Jewish cemetery during the 19th century
is furnished by the Okopowa Street Cemetery in Warsaw.
Established in 1806, this is the only metropolitan Jewish
cemetery comprising entire sections from pre-Emancipation
times, from the period when Jews in the Polish capital lived
more or less the traditional life of Jews in the Pale of Set-
tlement. As described in chapter 20, near the southern pe-
rimeter of this cemetery are the partially walled-off sections
with traditional matzevot, set in orderly rows and adorned
with traditional Jewish and regional symbols. The central
parts of the cemetery show the strongest German influence
in using metal for tombs, but in this rather modern space
traditional ohalim (images on pages 446 and 452-453) can
also be found as witnesses of the religious heterogeneity of
Warsaw’s Jewish community in the 19th century.
The other old Polish Jewish cemetery in our survey,
the one in Miodowa Street, Cracow, is even a bit old-
er, being established in 1800, but here no such compact
pre-Emancipation sections have survived. Still, the cem-
etery near Kazimierz in Cracow also furnishes evidence
of the amalgamation of local and interregional traditions.
In this case, the interregional traditions are not from the
German or Russian Empire. Instead, they are a mixture
of pre-Emancipation traditions with the modernity of
the Habsburg Empire, to which Cracow belonged from
1795 to 1918. At the Miodowa Street Cemetery in Cra-
cow, the sections further away from the entrance emanate
the organic world of pre-Emancipation cemeteries, while
in front of the retaining wall that separates the forecourt
from the cemetery proper are tombs which echo the
Summary
Habsburg-type modernity in their architectural language
and distribution. The third Polish Jewish cemetery in our
survey, the one in Bracka Street, Łódź, is as modern as
the city itself. Still, the compact Jewish culture of the
Pale of Settlement is visible in the strict harmony of the
graves and sections, albeit the matzevot here are much
taller than the traditional ones, comparable to those in the
German lands. Łódź was a meeting place for Germans
– entrepreneurs and technical staff – and Poles, as well
as for Jews. On the other hand, as could be seen in chap-
ter 30, the middle and lower-class Jews in this industrial
city strictly adhered to gender segregation, topped by ex-
treme social segregation: the wealthiest Jewish family,
the Poznański, erected their oversized mausoleum in the
longitudinal axis of the cemetery, just like the focal point
of a via sacra in Christian churches. Their tomb is sur-
rounded by other tycoons of the Gründerzeit, towering
amid the graves of the lower middle classes.
St Petersburg’s Preobrazhenskoe Jewish Cemetery is also
a place where the impact of the Austro-German Kultur-
raum could be strongly felt, supplemented by local influ-
ences. The older tahara house is built in a strict, bookish
neo-Gothic style. Incidentally, there are no neo-Gothic
tombs at this cemetery, as this style never existed in the
territory of the Russian Empire proper – not counting
some occupied territories where Western Christianity
was the ruling religion, like parts of modern Poland. Rus-
sia’s architecture adopted Western styles consciously,21
mainly in the 18th century when Peter the Great moved
the imperial seat to St Petersburg as an explicit expres-
sion of westernisation and modernisation of the huge
empire. However, the new tahara house is an even stron-
ger ‘pro-European’ statement with its proto-modernist,
slightly Moorish-Expressionist architecture. In the cen-
tral area of the cemetery, there are graves with sculptures
of angels, also a tradition adopted from abroad, as neither
Judaism nor the Orthodox Christian culture allows such
a naturalistic three-dimensional depiction of the human
figure. The use of metal tombs and cast-iron fences is
related to Austrian and German tradition.
However, when one moves away from the central area,
the cemetery shows Russian elements on the levels of
individual graves and of landscaping. Orthodox Chris-
tian traditions are reflected in the use of images of the
deceased, which sometimes form a small family gallery.
These images, similar to small icons, are framed in metal
on the stones. In terms of grave typology, Eastern Euro-
pean types, e.g. the shoe type and cylindrical stones are
used much more than at Central European Jewish ceme-
teries. Another local speciality is the piling of stones on
an existing tomb (images 32.14, 32.17, 32.22). Younger
family members are remembered by plaques put on the
old stone of the pater familias, sometimes even three
generations. This is different from the Austro-German
family tomb tradition of the middle classes. In Commu-
nist times no plaques were added. Instead, for a new in-
terment another small image was attached to the existing
tomb (images 32.16, 32.19).
In terms of landscaping, the cemetery is a Russian or-
ganically grown forest – no rows of trees as in Berlin
or Vienna. Lanes have street names and a paved central
413
area some 1.5 metres wide, flanked by two narrow water
ditches, over which little bridges lead to the graves.
The interaction of the Balkan and the Central European Jew-
ish burial tradition is best exemplified at the Sephardi Cem-
etery in Belgrade. Moreover, it is not just the Ottoman past
that encountered modern German elements of sepulchral tra-
dition. Instead, Orthodox Christianity also played a certain
role, as can be seen at the Preobrazhenskoe Jewish Cemetery
in St Petersburg mentioned in the cultural-historical section
of this summary.
In summary, the Old Jewish Cemetery at Vienna’s Ze-
ntralfriedhof complex and later the Berlin Weißensee
Jewish Cemetery could be defined as initiators of mod-
ern Jewish funerary art that spread first within the em-
pires, like for instance to Prague, Budapest, Cracow, and
then further east, to Łódź, Warsaw, and St Petersburg.
With a time lag of one to two decades, it also spread to
the Balkans, as testified in the metropolitan cemeteries
of Belgrade, Sarajevo, Bucharest, and Sofia.
Preservation and Maintenance
of Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries,
Significance for Tourism and Education
The case studies in this book have shown that there is
no magic formula regarding maintenance. The owner-
ship of a cemetery plays an important role, i.e. whether
a cemetery is still owned by a Jewish community, if it is
commensurate to the community’s size, or if it is owned
by someone else, such as a municipality, a museum or
directly by state bodies. Due to the Holocaust, a very
large cemetery may today be owned by a tiny Jewish
community that cannot cope with its maintenance, as is
the case in Łódź, for instance. However, there may also
be relatively large Jewish communities with almost com-
mensurate cemeteries, as with the Kozma Street Jewish
Cemetery in Budapest. It serves a Jewish community of
roughly 100,000 souls,22 but the burial place is neverthe-
less in danger due to inappropriate management. While
there is plenty of space for new burials, the cemetery ad-
ministration sells plots near the entrance, as they fetch
much higher prices than plots further away. Therefore,
old graves are removed and small, serially produced,
Asian-made tombs are placed near the historic architec-
tural monuments of the honorary lane. In Budapest, there
is another example of unsatisfactory maintenance. Sal-
gótarjáni Street Cemetery was taken away from the Jew-
ish community of Budapest by the state in Communist
times and later given to the municipal burial company
that did not care about it. Four decades of neglect caused
big losses. Three years ago, some citizens’ initiatives
started cleaning up, doing research on the cemetery’s
history, and providing information to tourists. Two years
ago, a governmental organisation, the National Heritage
Institute, took over the burial place from the Jewish com-
munity of Pest that had not owned the site, but had taken
care of it nonetheless. The new owner cleaned, surveyed
the cemetery, and started restoring some of the most
important tombs.23
414 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
The maintenance and restoration of the Orthodox Jewish
Cemetery in Bratislava are a success story. It is still in
the hands of the city’s small Jewish community which
took the initiative to preserve its heritage. Unlike in Bu-
dapest, here new burials are at the end of the plot, the old
parts of the cemetery thus remaining undisturbed. Due
to the generosity of international donors and skilful local
professionals and activists, many graves and the entrance
section as well as the ceremonial building have been
beautifully restored.
The presented Jewish cemetery in Wrocław is a good
example how to maintain a burial place. The existing
Jewish community is a fraction of the one before the
Shoah; therefore, it wouldn’t be able to maintain it. The
state stepped in and turned the burial place into a ceme-
tery museum, which in Communist times meant a lot: it
saved the cemetery from decay. The cemetery remained
a burial place, but was closed for new interments. The
great virtue of this “museum” is that it has just preserved
the graves, keeping the balance between man-made and
nature, curbing vegetation only to the necessary degree,
keeping a good balance between the safety of the graves
and mausoleums and the romantic appearance of an
abandoned Jewish cemetery.
Even if a Jewish community handles its cemetery with
piety and the municipality or the state is benevolent
and generous, there are still significant professional di-
lemmas, such as the degree of preservation: how much
should be preserved, to what degree should one restore,
how does one achieve the balance between the safety
of the graves and letting the vegetation grow freely? At
some cemeteries where a significant number of graves
were destroyed during the Nazi era, the dilemma is how
to represent destroyed graves, i.e. how to visualise ab-
sence. At the Old Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentral-
friedhof, which is in municipal ownership, professionals
decided to manufacture uniform, thin matzeva replicas
as references to the destroyed tombs. Quite obvious-
ly, they are not real graves but indicate the position of
the lost graves. While halachically, the nameless pseu-
do-matzevot pose a problem, from the aesthetic point of
view, this approach restores the rhythm of the tombs at
the cemetery and visualises the loss.
A different visualisation of loss was chosen at Bracka
Street Jewish Cemetery in Łódź. The burial place has
plenty of free space, and a family originating from Łódź
but now living abroad decided to donate a whole Holo-
caust section to be built in this empty space of the ceme-
tery. Reinforced concrete frames were manufactured and
laid in a constant rhythm in this large space. The project
is still unfinished. Fortunately, vegetation has started to
cover these frames, so over time it will become a roman-
tic ruin overgrown with grass and shrubs. At the same
cemetery, also in the empty section, metal plaques were
installed with the names of the victims.
Another professional dilemma is how to proceed with
such radically destroyed cemeteries as Vilnius Užupis.
Grave fragments are overgrown by vegetation, grass,
bushes and high trees. While it looks very romantic at the
moment, in a few decades the remaining fragments will
have completely disappeared. It is a halachic question
and a moral dilemma whether to take action, to freeze
the current state, or to let the cemetery disappear entire-
ly. The local authorities are not eager to preserve Jewish
heritage. Significant international pressure was needed to
persuade the municipality to erect a memorial at the site
of another lost cemetery that used to be situated opposite
the castle of Gediminas, a beautiful stabilised medieval
ruin in Vilnius. This cemetery was destroyed during the
Soviet era, graves were levelled, and a sporting facili-
ty was built that in the meantime has fallen into decay.
Lately, real estate agents have cast their eyes on this plot
as it is a valuable property on the riverside. There is little
chance that Jewish heritage will be given priority in the
form of a large memorial park.
The most famous Jewish cemeteries, as the ones in Ber-
lin, Cracow, Prague, Vienna have been saved (i.e. pre-
served); for the rest, there is little awareness of their value
for Jewish history and the heritage of the local commu-
nity. It can be concluded from the previous paragraphs
that it is important if the cemetery is still Jewish-owned,
and if it is, that the community is morally, economically
and professionally strong enough to maintain it. How-
ever, the upkeep of Jewish cemeteries owned by local
municipalities can also successful, if there is enough
goodwill, financial strength and professional aptitude.
The worst case is complete negligence, an unresolved
legal situation or lawlessness. The latter applies to the
valuable Jewish cemetery in Niš, Serbia, where a shanty
town, called Mahala,24 was erected over the graves. De-
spite initial success, neither the Jewish community nor
the municipal authorities have succeeded in relocating
the migrant Roma population completely.25
The Significance of Jewish Metropolitan
Cemeteries for Tourism and Recreation
The significance of Jewish metropolitan cemeteries for
tourism and recreation is generally not given sufficient
attention. Reasons may be the reluctance of many peo-
ple to visit cemeteries, sometimes the local belief, which
does not consider local Jewish tradition as part of the na-
tional heritage, the poor condition of some Jewish cem-
eteries, and many others. Still, some of these surveyed
cemeteries contribute to the public good in different
ways. The largest non-ritual visits could be observed in
Berlin and Vienna. Visitors of the Weißensee Cemetery
go there for recreational and cultural reasons, locals visit
it because they are interested both in the built and nat-
ural environment. They don’t regard visiting a Jewish
cemetery as any form of apostasy, something contrary to
their cultural tradition. The Weißensee Cemetery is in the
hands of Berlin’s Jewish Community and is open to new
burials. It has great tourist potential – being artistically
sophisticated, relatively easy to get to by public trans-
port, well maintained, and interesting for enthusiasts of
cultural history.
The Old Jewish Cemetery at the Zentralfriedhof is in-
tensely visited during the weekends by gentiles, while
the New Jewish Cemetery at the same site has a more
communal character, with visitors being predominantly
Summary
Jewish. Both cemeteries have significant tourist potential
due to the artistic quality of the tombs and the histor-
ic role of some of the people buried there. The distance
from the city centre is considerable, but there is frequent
public transport.
In Wrocław, the Jewish cemetery has museum status and
accordingly visitors are museum visitors, while many lo-
cals enjoy the opportunity of being able to do research on
the Jewish heritage in this practically judenrein city.26 Its
maintenance is exemplary and it possesses considerable
tourist potential, mainly for its historic significance.
Cracow enjoys intense tourism, including Jewish tour-
ism; it is a prominent location of the emulation of Jewish
life, or as Ruth Gruber puts it, it is “virtually Jewish”.27
On the streets of the city, tall gentiles are wearing the
caftan and black hat, playing klezmer and klezmer-like
music, selling Jewish food in this industry. In this con-
text, the Miodowa Street Jewish Cemetery is part of this
“retro business” and has little to do with the real Jewish
life of the city. There are informal tourist guides special-
ised in this segment of Jewish history. The location of
this cemetery is very fortunate, being quite close to the
neighbourhood of Kazimierz where all this “virtually
Jewish” life takes place.
In Łódź, the situation is quite different, as the cemetery
is further away from the centre, there is practically no
Jewish life, neither genuine nor virtual, and the cemetery
is a place for researchers and relatives of the deceased
mainly from abroad. The cemetery, just like the whole
city, has tourist potential which is not yet well exploited.
The city only became important in the 19th century, at
the time of the Russian rule. Therefore, it has little na-
tional significance compared to the cities with substan-
tial medieval past – Cracow, Lublin, Warsaw. In a coun-
try that was torn apart by its neighbours for a substantial
part of its modern history, there is strong patriotism and
Jews with their history are mainly interesting if they are
part of the general national discourse, e.g. on the suffer-
ing during the Nazi or Soviet occupation. Thus, it is not
likely that this cemetery will ever reach the popularity of
its counterparts in Cracow or Warsaw.
In Warsaw, the Okopowa Street Cemetery has Jew-
ish tourists as visitors and some locals. It is part of the
national narrative, as Polish Jews and gentiles suffered
here in the same way under Nazism. Therefore, Janus
Korczak’s monument in the forecourt (image 38.08) is
both Jewish and national. Near the entrance, visitors can
acquire printed material about the cemetery in numerous
languages, which facilitates tourism.
After the wars and atrocities in the Balkans in the late
20th century, Belgrade has become an emerging tourist
hub in South-Eastern Europe, a city lacking the Gründer-
zeit harmony of the cities of the Austro-German Kultur-
raum, but offering instead a variety of peripheral influ-
ence – Ottoman traditions, periods of alignment with the
West, acceptance of some Austro-Hungarian influence
before World War One, French cultural dominance in
the interwar period, and an original Communist period,
Communism being not so much the Soviet-Russian type,
but mainly homegrown, based on the local leftist intelli-
gentsia of which a significant part was Jewish. The Sep-
415
hardi Jewish Cemetery, looked after by the local Jewish
community, is one of the most beautiful in the region and
reflects the cultural variety of the city and its Jews; it is a
showpiece of Ashkenazi-Sephardi interaction and shows
the impact of the local Orthodox Christian environment.
It also has one of the most original Holocaust monuments
(images 21.07, 21.14). Its location in the large cemetery
complex consisting of four cemeteries would be ideal for
people interested in funerary traditions. However, it is
visited mainly by locals.
Mirogoj Central Cemetery in Zagreb enjoys national sta-
tus, it is well visited generally, but its Jewish section is
rather understated, particularly the Holocaust memori-
al which is ‘hidden’ along the southern perimeter wall,
away from the more frequented parts of the cemetery (im-
age 40.19). Despite some tombs of considerable quality,
particularly from the interwar period, the Jewish section
lacks the critical mass to become a tourist destination in
its own right. However, as part of the whole ensemble
it adds valuable information about the local Jewish his-
tory, including the brutal persecution of Jews and other
non-wanted nationalities during the period of the Inde-
pendent State of Croatia (Nezavisna država Hrvatska),
actually a Nazi puppet state.
Bucharest’s three large Jewish cemeteries are very differ-
ent in terms of artistic value and degree of maintenance,
albeit historically they all are important. The Ashkenazi
Jewish Cemetery is relatively close to the city centre and
may become a tourist destination, while the Sephardi
and Giurghiului Cemeteries lie further away and are not
maintained well enough to become tourist attractions.
They also lack the critical mass in the artistic value of
the graves and the cemeteries are largely without major
morphological or landscaped attractions.
The Jewish section of Sofia’s Central Cemetery is yet an-
other historically interesting, but artistically less attrac-
tive location, also it is far away from the central areas of
the Bulgarian capital.
Vilnius’ Užupis Cemetery ruins may become a tourist
attraction if and when presented and promoted in the
right way. The significance of it lies in the fact that this
Jewish cemetery is a vivid example what happens in the
case of gross neglect. Alone, this element would not be
enough – Eastern Europe being full of Jewish cemetery
ruins –, but the location has a dramatic topography and
historic significance; which contributes to the value of
this location.
Budapest’s two large Jewish cemeteries represent two dif-
ferent cases. The older one, in Salgótarjáni Street, is quite
close to the city centre and to a future Holocaust centre,
also to a closed-down historic railway station that was used
as a hub for the deportation of Jews in 1945 and is current-
ly being converted into a memorial centre. This cemetery
is home to the artistically most valuable and historically
most significant tombs. It is adjacent to the Hungarian Na-
tional Cemetery (Nemzeti Sírkert) where prominent gen-
tile people are buried. It has great tourist potential if we
bear in mind that the Dohány Street Synagogue complex
has some 350,000 to 400,000 visitors per year. A signif-
icant percentage of these visitors would be eager to visit
this cemetery if presented and marketed properly.
416 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
The Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery is the largest in Eu-
rope, but it is roughly an hour’s drive from the city centre.
It is administered by the Jewish community of Budapest.
New burials in the historic area increasingly threaten the
authenticity and integrity and it is an unlikely destination
for general tourism. No doubt, a large number of relatives
would visit the place and it would remain a spot for me-
morial tourism as it contains the vast Holocaust memorial
with the names of the victims, the largest monument of this
type in Europe. It also contains some ohalim visited by the
pious and a number of unique tombs which are important
monuments of the architectural history of Hungary and of
the general history of Jewish funerary art.
The Educational Potential of Metropolitan
Jewish Cemeteries
The educational potential of Jewish cemeteries is very
significant, both from the Jewish and gentile point of
view. Education for traditional Jews is not just a means
to facilitate life and to make individuals more useful for
society. Education is almost an end in itself; it is a mis-
sion. Traditionally, Jewish boys are sent to school at three
years of age, and education does not cease in their twen-
ties. Learning is lifelong, regardless that this learning is
not secular; so, motivation is not rational; it is devotion.
Religious Jews don’t even work in the traditional sense
of the word; they are supported by those who do in or-
der to be able to study the Scripture. As mentioned in
the introductory section, during the haskalah this Jewish
learning tradition mingled with the German bourgeois
tradition of Bildung, creating the basis for modern Jewish
learning. This was the cultural springboard for the Jewish
Renaissance during the Gründerzeit.
For traditional Jews, the cemetery is also part of the Jew-
ish cosmos, an important element of the large, all-en-
compassing world, full of important details and hints.
Religious Jews visit cemeteries in other countries or
continents to be reconnected with the world of the great
Jewish thinkers of bygone times.
However, Jewish burial places are not only educational
facilities for Jews only. For the gentiles, Jewish cemeter-
ies are also unedited history books. Namely, historiogra-
phy in each period or in each place has its paradigms that
implicitly or explicitly prioritise some elements at the
expense of others. Objective history is often a fiction, a
conclusion one draws when, for instance, reading history
books from different times, or even of the same period
but from two schools or two countries. One inevitably
encounters a ‘plurality of truths’.
Cemeteries, however, furnish the unedited, non-interpret-
ed facts, from which one is free to construct one’s view of
the past. This was the reason why Soviet-Russian politics
were very hostile towards Jewish cemeteries and destroyed
many of them, as they did not fit into the leading official
political narrative. However, not just dictatorships were
disturbed by cemeteries. Even emancipated Jews often
tried to rewrite Jewish history in order to fit better into the
leading political discourse of the time. Condemnation of
traditional Jewish life was commonplace among the bour-
geois “Israelites” of the German and Habsburg Empires of
the Gründerzeit. This condemnation included traditional
Jewish cemeteries, which just like the traditional Jewish
world, were considered as backward. However, posterity
will not only have access to the official publications of
assimilated Jews, but also to the ‘unedited schoolbooks’,
i.e. to the cemeteries which will explain what the Jewish
universe was like a century or two ago.
For the gentiles, Jewish cemeteries are also important as
elements of material culture. After the Shoah, Jews are
often identified with the Holocaust, as ‘the extinct race’,
as if the Nazis really succeeded in their intentions. On the
Jewish side, the opposite discourse is dominant, Europe
being the scene of permanent suffering and of relentless
subordination to the hostile forces. No doubt, there was
a cultural rift between Jews and Christians in the period
when Jews were Jewish, and Christians were Christian in
the traditional sense of the word. There is also no doubt
that there were persecutions and murders and that Jews
suffered a lot. However, when visiting cemeteries, even
the ones dating back to difficult periods for Jews, one en-
counters Jewish life, Jewish everyday life, historical con-
tinuity, and some elements of Jewish-Christian dialogue,
the gist of diaspora existence, which is encountering the
others. During visits to cemeteries from the pre-Emanci-
pation period, such as the one in Frankfurt Battonstraße
or Prague Josefov, one encounters a rich Jewish life –
rich in the literal and metaphorical sense. Touring Jewish
cemeteries of the industrial period, one can marvel at the
speed with which emancipated Jews became full mem-
bers of modernity, how their Messianism turned secular,
and how they tried to work for the benefit of all, as indus-
trialists, scientists, artists and philanthropists. 19th cen-
tury Jewish optimism radiates not only from synagogues
and Jewish secular buildings, but also from cemeteries.
Often, they possess the same architectural language –
the architecture of Vienna’s Ringstraße is also reflected
at the Old Jewish Cemetery of the Zentralfriedhof; the
red brick architecture of industrial buildings in Łódź –
including the triumphal arches – line up in the Bracka
Street Jewish Cemetery; the architecture of Budapest’s
Andrássy Avenue was taken up again at the Salgótarjáni
Street Jewish Cemetery; and Prague’s splendid Pařížská
Street repeats itself at the New Cemetery in Žižkov.
Jewish cemeteries should remain history books in situ,
unedited, tangible evidence of once flourishing Jewish
life. They are witnesses of an aspiring and optimistic mi-
nority fuelled by ‘secular Messianism’, and at the same
time of liberal societies that allowed and sometimes even
encouraged the integration of Jews, who at that time were
seen as the forerunners of Christianity and as one of the
pillars of a civilisation in expansion, in economic and
spiritual terms, in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
01 For example, in German: Staatsbürger mosaischen
Glaubens, in Hungarian: Mózes vallású magyarok,
in Croatian: Hrvati Mojsijeve vjere, in Serbian: Срби
Мојсијеве вере, etc.
Summary
02 The same applies to synagogues, but on a much larger scale.
The first reform synagogues were those that abandoned
the small scale and started to contain over 500 or even
1000 seats, sometimes even reaching the sizes of medieval
cathedrals. Reform Jews were also eager to build in the
most fashionable architectural styles of the period. By and
by, however, the Orthodox also enlarged their synagogues
and adopted new architectural styles, but with a time delay
of some 20 years. In other words, the reform Jews started
to build in the Moorish style in the 1860s at the latest,
while their Orthodox fellows followed suit from the 1880s
to 1900. The same applies to 20th century modernism,
accepted first by the Reformists, and with a considerable
time lag also by the Orthodox. See Rudolf Klein:
Synagogues in Hungary 1781–1918, Budapest 2017.
03 Cisleithania (German: Cisleithanien, Hungarian:
Ciszlajtánia, Czech: Předlitavsko, Polish: Przedlitawia)
was the common yet unofficial denotation of the northern
and western part of Austria-Hungary, to be distinguished
from the Hungarian Kingdom, called in this context
Transleithania. Linguistically, Transleithania was
theoretically Hungarian-speaking (de facto only 52–53%
of the general population after 1900) and Cisleithania was
German-speaking in theory, but de facto only 33%, besides
Czech (22%), Polish (15%), Ruthenian (12%), Slovene
(5%), Italian (3%), and Croatian (3%). The official
name of Cisleithania was Die im Reichsrat vertretenen
Königreiche und Länder (The Kingdoms and Lands
Represented in the Imperial Council). A German majority
existed only in the provinces of Austria proper, i.e. roughly
in the territory of today’s Austria.
04 The Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery was opened in
1806, the year of the Napoleonic ‘liberation’, but a good
part of it dates back to the period of Congress Poland
(1815–1914), i.e. the time of Russian rule, marked by
mixed fortunes of the Poles under the whimsies of the
Tsars and the cultural Russification.
05 A special permission was issued by the local rabbinic
authority to bury a non-Jew, whose final wish was to
be buried here, at a place untainted by the supposed
nationalism that he felt to encounter in his country of birth.
Indeed, Bogdanović, who was an important architect and
a public figure as mayor of Belgrade, was harassed by the
Milošević regime in the 1990s and left for France. In his
exile, he was disappointed by the Serbian expats there and
went to Vienna where he spent the last years of his life
enjoying the support of Vienna’s mayor Helmut Zilk. As
a professor, he also supervised the doctoral studies of the
author of this book.
06 Faustian culture is understood here in the sense Oswald
Spengler used this term to denote Western civilisation.
In analogy to Goethe’s Faust, who had to sell his soul
to the devil to gain greater power, Western man sold
his soul to technology. If Western man sold his soul,
Western Jews sold their traditions, and in a Spenglerian
line of thought, they were also destined to decline – a
classical standpoint of Orthodox Jews vis-à-vis Reformists
and modernity in general. See Oswald Spengler: Der
Untergang des Abendlandes. Umrisse einer Morphologie
der Weltgeschichte, München 1923.
07 See Rudolf Klein: Oriental-Style Synagogues in Austria-
Hungary: Philosophy and Historical Significance. In: Ars
Judaica, vol. 2, 2006, pp. 117–134.
08 Aestheticising became part of the Jewish discourse about
synagogues, emphasising style as an element of Jewish
identity. In some cases, as with the so-called Hungarian
417
Art Nouveau or magyar szecesszió, Jews contributed
to the spread of an architectural idiom of “fidelity to
the Hungarian nation.” They did it so well that some
anti-Semitic architects accused them of ‘selling’ Jewish
folklore in the Pale of Settlement as the supposed magyar
szecesszió. See Secession: Un goût juif? – Art Nouveau
Buildings and the Jews in some Habsburg Lands. In:
Jewish Studies at the CEU V, 2005–2007, 2009, pp.
91–124.
09 See Rudolf Klein: Judaism, Einstein and Modern
Architecture. In: Prostor 20 (2012), pp. 221–235.
10 In this context Spengler confesses his roots: Goethe who
provided him with the method and Nietzsche with the
questioning faculty. See: Oswald Spengler: The Decline
of the West (https://archive.org/stream/Decline-Of-The-
West-Oswald-Spengler/Decline_Of_The_West#page/n12/
mode/1up). vol. 1, 1926, p. xiv.
11 In Central Europe, silver and other metal ritual objects
were produced more often, sometimes up to 80 percent
by non-Jews due to the restriction imposed by the guilds.
However, textile and shiviti plates were Jewish-produced.
In the Pale of Settlement, even synagogues were built by
Jewish carpenters due to the far-reaching autonomy that
the shtetls enjoyed.
12 Amalia Reisenthel: Orientalismus als Mittel zur
Identitätsfindung: Sepulkralarchitektur auf dem Jüdischen
Friedhof Breslau, Lohestraße, Münster 2015.
13 The use of orientalism as a political statement was not
limited to the Jews. When Bosnia-Herzegovina was
annexed to the Habsburg Empire, the new city hall of
Sarajevo was designed by architect Karel Pařík in 1892
in a supposed ‘oriental style’ in front of the real oriental,
Turkish-Ottoman charshiya (Baščaršija).
14 In this context, ‘orientalist’ means a citation, a neo-oriental
language of ornaments or larger architectural details.
Sephardic graves may have real, historic oriental elements.
15 Some prestigious professions were represented visually all
over the Ashkenazi territories researched in this book: At
Warsaw’s Okopowa Street Cemetery, the graves of many
medical doctors and pharmacists are identifiable through
symbols, just as at the Jewish cemeteries of Wroclaw,
Bucharest, Sofia, and many other places.
16 After that, in some successor states of the Habsburg
Empire, Jews started to experience discrimination from
the 1920s onwards (for instance, the Hungarian Kingdom
– already kingless in that period – introduced the numerus
clausus, limiting the number of Jewish students at
Hungarian universities. In contrast, Jewish life in Germany
flourished in the Weimar Republic, Jews playing the most
important political role in their history. These good times
ended with the Nazi takeover, which then also ruined
Jewish life in some successor states of the Habsburg
Empire, like Austria proper after the Anschluss and in
Czechoslovakia, and then a couple of years later in almost
the whole of continental Europe.
17 Including the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania),
Belarus, Moldova, Russia (including Siberia) and the
Ukraine.
18 On Russian territory, Jewish integration started mainly in
the Soviet Union – another imperial space –, but due to
the whims of dictator Joseph Stalin this period could not
furnish the security and prosperity Jews had enjoyed in the
former German-speaking empires, although a good part of
the Soviet Jews survived the Holocaust.
418
19 For instance, Marc Chagall, Nathan Altman, Eliezer
Lissitzky.
20 Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the
Treaty of Berlin declared that Bosnia and Herzegovina
nominally remain under the sovereignty of the Ottoman
Empire, but de facto they were ceded to Austria-Hungary,
which unleashed an unprecedented modernisation of this
backward part of Europe. See Ljubomir Zovko: Studije iz
pravne povijesti Bosne i Hercegovine: 1878–1941 (Studies
from the History of Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina),
Mostar 2007. The official annexation occurred in 1908,
destabilising the Habsburg Empire and paving the way for
the outbreak of World War One.
21 As a matter of fact, Romanesque details can be discerned
on Byzantine-style churches, just as the Northern
Renaissance is also visible in some palaces; but this was
more an organic phenomenon than a conscious orientation,
as in the case of Peter the Great was inviting Western
architects to build the new capital city.
22 There are other active Jewish cemeteries in the city, but the
Kozma Street Cemetery is the most significant.
23 The Institute for National Heritage (Nemzeti Örökség
Intézete) was established in 2014, following governmental
decree No. 144/2013 (V. 14.).
On the opposite page
Storage for gardening tools,
1875. Ashkenazi Cemetery,
Bucharest
Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
24 Mahala or Mahalla originates from the Arabic mähallä
and was used in the territory of Ottoman Turkey, meaning
neighbourhood.
25 In 2004, a major clean-up operation removed tons of
garbage and waste that had covered the site to a height
of 1.5 metres. A sewage system for the Roma village was
installed. However, the cemetery has received little care
or maintenance since. Moreover, one third of it is still
occupied by the Roma, who erected permanent structures
that are now home to 70 families, or between 700 and
1,500 people. There is no reliable census. Warehouses,
a restaurant, and other illegal industrial construction
have encroached on the rest of the space, tombs have
been bulldozed and the area has been closed off with
an illegal four-metre-high wall, making access difficult
and sometimes impossible. See Serbia — Niš Cemetery
Report, posted on 14 April 2012 by Ruth Ellen Gruber.
In: Jewish Heritage Europe, http://jewish-heritage-europe.
eu/2012/04/14/serbia-nis-cemetery-report, last retrieved
15 January 2018.
26 Still, there is a small local Jewish community that uses
another cemetery for burials.
27 Ruth Ellen Gruber: Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish
Culture in Europe, University of California Press, 2002.
 10
08
01

07
06
05
04
03
02
Nr.

09
420

City, Quarter/Street Name

Bucharest New

Budapest Kozma

Cracow Miodova
Berlin Weißensee
Appendix

Belgrade Sephardi

Bucharest Sephardi
Belgrade Ashkenazi

Bratislava Orthodox

Bucharest Ashkenazi
Protection status: built (B), natural (N), cultural

B
B
B
B
01

No
No
No
No

Budapest Salgótarjáni B, C
or historic heritage (C), no protection (No)

B, N, C

5
6
43

80
14
02

9,6
1,2
Size (hectares)

0,23

N/A
Overview of Main Data

03
Number of burials (B)/graves (G)

5k G
5k G
4k G
1k G

12k B
7,3k G
115k B

300k B
Type: Sephardic (S), Ashkenazi – Orthodox (O),

S
S

R
R
R

N
N
04

35k B R, S

10k G R, O
Neolog (N), Reform (R)
Dominant periods: Pre-Emancipation (P),

05

G, M
G, M

P, G,
M, A
M, A
Gründerzeit (G), Early Modern (M), After Shoa (A)

P, G, M

G, M, A
G, M, A
G, M, A

P, G, M

G, M, A
Open (O), closed for visitors (C),

O
O
O
O
O

O
O
O
06
open upon request (R)
Strict planning (S), Planned with spontaneous parts (P),

S
S
S

P
P
P

S
P
P

O
07
and Characteristics of Surveyed Cemeteries

Mainly spontaneous-organic (O)

Landscaping: mainly designed (D),

S
S
S

S
S
S
S
D
D
08
mainly spontaneous (S)

S
S
S

S
S
S
S
R
R
R
09
Researched (R), research started (S), nothing (N)

Plans (P), burial records (R),

P
P

P
P
10

P, R
P, R
P, R

P, R
PI, R
either of them in process (I)

11
The ratio between individual and family graves

70:30
50:50
25:75

50:50
30:70
80:20

70:30
20:80
20:80

PI, R 50:50
Significance of funerary art: moderate (M), strong (S),

S
E
E
M

M
M
M

M
12
extraordinary (E)
Cultural and historic significance: moderate (M),
Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

S
S
E

S
S
S

E
M

M
13

strong (S), extraordinary (E)

 Compliance with requirements of nature protection:

N
N

Y
Y

Y
Y

Y
14
yes (Y), no (N)

Memorial places: WW1 (W1), WW2 (W2), Shoa (S),

-
15

W1
W1

W1
S, T

S, P
S, M

S, M

W1-2,
W1-2,

W1-2,
S, P, T
pogroms (P), buried Torah scrolls (T), mass graves (M)

S, P, M

S, M, T
War damage: moderate (M), strong (S),

S
N
N
N

M
M
M

M
16
extraordinary (E), none (N)
Damage/desecration by the Nazis: moderate (M), strong

S
N
N
N
N

N
N

N
N
17
(S), extraordinary (E), none (N)
Communist period demolitions, neglect damage:

S
S

S
S
N

N
M
M

M
M
18
moderate (M), strong (S), extraordinary (E), none (N)
Treatment of traces of history (Nazi, Communist):

N
19

NR
NR
NR
NR
NR

NR
NR
Appropriate (A), not appropriate (N), not relevant (NR)
Present condition, care of graves and surfaces:

E
E

G
G

A
A
A

G
20
exemplary (E), good (G), acceptable (A), poor (P)
Plan for preservation and maintenance: yes (Y),

N
N
N
N

N
N
21
in process (P), no (N)
Integrity: excellent (E), very good (V), good (G),

E
E
E

V
V

A
A

A
22
acceptable (A), poor (P)
Authenticity: excellent (E), very good (V), good (G),

E
E
E

E
G

V
V

V
23
acceptable (A), poor (P)
Buffer zone: excellent (E), very good (V), good (G),

E
P

E
G
V

V
V

A
A

A
24
Appendix – Overview of Main Data and Characteristics of Surveyed Cemeteries

acceptable (A), poor (P)

Attitude of the owner regarding world heritage:

P
P
P

P
25

N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A

N/A
positive (P), negative (N)
Attitude of politics regarding world heritage:

P
P
P

P
26

N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A

N/A
positive (P), negative (N)
Attitude of the citizens regarding world heritage:

P
P
P

P
27

N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A

N/A
positive (P), negative (N)

N
N
N
N

N
N
N

N
N
28
On the tentative list? yes (Y), no (N)

N
N
N
N

N
N

N
N
29

Applied for the tentative list? yes (Y), no (N)

421

Willingness to apply for a serial nomination with Berlin?

Y
Y
Y

Y
30

N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A

N/A
yes (Y), no (N)
 11

21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
Nr. 422

Vienna Old,
Prague New

Vienna New,
City, Quarter/Street Name

Sofia Central
Łódź Zmienna

Vilnius Užupis
Zentralfriedhof
Zentralfriedhof

Zagreb Mirogoj
Wrocław Ślężna
Sankt Petersburg

Warsaw Okopowa
Sarajevo Sephardic
Protection status: built (B), natural (N), cultural

B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
01

No
No
No
or historic heritage (C), no protection (No)

33
25
26
27
21
42
02

4,6
2,8
3,1
Size (hectares)

N/A
N/A
Overview of Main Data

03
Number of burials (B)/graves (G)

N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

12k G
3,8k G
100k B
Type: Sephardic (S), Ashkenazi – Orthodox (O),

R
R
R

N
O
04

S, A

200k G R, O
150k B R, O

60k G R, (O)
80k B R, (O)
Neolog (N), Reform (R)
Dominant periods: Pre-Emancipation (P),

G
05

M,A
P, G,

G, M
G, M
M, A
G, M
G, M
Gründerzeit (G), Early Modern (M), After Shoa (A)

P, G, M

G, M, A
G, M, A
G, M, A
Open (O), closed for visitors (C),

O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
06
open upon request (R)
Strict planning (S), Planned with spontaneous parts (P),

S
S
S
S

P
P
P
P
P

O
O
07
and Characteristics of Surveyed Cemeteries

Mainly spontaneous-organic (O)

Landscaping: mainly designed (D),

S
S
S
S
S
S

S
S

D
D
08
mainly spontaneous (S)

S
S
S

S
S
S

R
R
R

N
09
Researched (R), research started (S), nothing (N)

Plans (P), burial records (R),

P
P
P
10

P, R
P, R
P, R

N/A
P, RI

P, RI
either of them in process (I)
11
The ratio between individual and family graves

90:10

10:90
40:60
30:70
70:30
95:05
10:90
30:70

50:50
25:75
P, RI 90:10 Significance of funerary art: moderate (M), strong (S),

S
S
S
S
S

S
E
S

M
12

extraordinary (E)
Cultural and historic significance: moderate (M),
Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

S
S
E
E
E
E
E

E
E

M
13

strong (S), extraordinary (E)

 Compliance with requirements of nature protection:

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
14
yes (Y), no (N)

Memorial places: WW1 (W1), WW2 (W2), Shoa (S),

S
15

none
none

none
none

W2+

W1-2,
pogroms (P), buried Torah scrolls (T), mass graves (M)

P, T, M
S, W2,

W1-2, S
T, M, P

W2, S, T

W2, S, M

destruction
War damage: moderate (M), strong (S),

S
S

E
E
N
N

N
M
M
M
16
extraordinary (E), none (N)
Damage/desecration by the Nazis: moderate (M), strong

S
N
N
N
N

N
N

M
M

M
17
(S), extraordinary (E), none (N)
Communist period demolitions, neglect damage:

-
-

E
N
N

N
M

M
M
M
18
moderate (M), strong (S), extraordinary (E), none (N)
Treatment of traces of history (Nazi, Communist):

A
A
A
A
A
19

NR
NR
NR

NR

NR
Appropriate (A), not appropriate (N), not relevant (NR)
Present condition, care of graves and surfaces:

P
E
E

G
G
G

G
A

A
G
20
exemplary (E), good (G), acceptable (A), poor (P)
Plan for preservation and maintenance: yes (Y),

P
P

P
P

N
N
N

N
N

N
Y
21
in process (P), no (N)
Integrity: excellent (E), very good (V), good (G),

P
E
E
E
E

A
A

A
22
acceptable (A), poor (P)
Authenticity: excellent (E), very good (V), good (G),

P
E
E
E
E

G
V

V
A

A
23
acceptable (A), poor (P)
Buffer zone: excellent (E), very good (V), good (G),

E
E
E

E
E

V
A
A

A
A
24
Appendix – Overview of Main Data and Characteristics of Surveyed Cemeteries

acceptable (A), poor (P)

Attitude of the owner regarding world heritage:

P
P
P
P

N
25

N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A
N/A
positive (P), negative (N)
Attitude of politics regarding world heritage:

P
P
P
P

N
26

N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A
N/A
positive (P), negative (N)
Attitude of the citizens regarding world heritage:

P
P
P
P
27

N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A
N/A
positive (P), negative (N)

N
N

N
N
N
N
N
N

N
N
N
28

On the tentative list? yes (Y), no (N)

N
N

N
N
N
N
N
N

N
N
N
29

Applied for the tentative list? yes (Y), no (N)

423

Willingness to apply for a serial nomination with Berlin?

N
N
Y

Y
Y
Y
Y
30

N/A
N/A

N/A
N/A
yes (Y), no (N)
424 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

Plans of the Urban Context of Cemeteries

Belgrade

Berlin Weißensee

Bratislava Žižkova
Appendix – Plans of the Urban Context of Cemeteries 425

Budapest Salgótarjáni

Budapest Kozma

Cracow Miodova

Park, forest
Residential area Jewish cemetery Railway
or agriculture
Clean industry and Sports Christian Ceremonial
commercial area and leasuire or other cemetery building

River or lake Main road Main entrance

426 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

Plans of the Urban Context of Cemeteries

Łódź Zmienna

Prague Žižkov

Sankt Petersburg
Appendix – Plans of the Urban Context of Cemeteries 427

Sarajevo Sephardic

Sofia

Vienna

Park, forest
Residential area Jewish cemetery Railway
or agriculture
Clean industry and Sports Christian Ceremonial
commercial area and leasuire or other cemetery building

River or lake Main road Main entrance

428 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

Plans of the Urban Context of Cemeteries

Vilnius

Warsaw Okopowa
Appendix – Plans of the Urban Context of Cemeteries 429

Wrocław Ślężna

Zagreb Mirogoj

Park, forest
Residential area Jewish cemetery Railway
or agriculture
Clean industry and Sports Christian Ceremonial
commercial area and leasuire or other cemetery building

River or lake Main road Main entrance

 430 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

Plans of Cemeteries

Berlin Weißensee Budapest Salgótarjáni

Sankt Petersburg Warsaw Okopowa

Wrocław Ślężna Cracow Miodova Bucharest New

Vienna Zentralfriedhof Vienna New Vienna Old Bucharest Philantropy

Appendix – Plans of Cemeteries 431

Łódź Zmienna Prague Žižkov Budapest Kozma

Bratislava Žižkova Zagreb Mirogoj

Bucharest Sephardic Sarajevo Sephardic

Belgrade Sephardi Belgrade Ashkenazi Sofia


ALMEMMOR see BIMAH
ANTI-SEMITE, ANTI-SEMITISM. Taken literally, the
anti-Semite is the enemy of the Semitic race, but the term
refers to a social and/or political enemy of the Jews. An-
ti-Semitism is an ideologically based prejudice against or
hatred towards Jews. Some of its aspects were present in
ancient times, but without a racial element; instead, mostly
due to economic reasons. In the Middle Ages, the Christian
Church contributed significantly to the creation of an ideo-
logical foundation of the hatred towards Jews (“murderers
of God”), but economic reasons (Jews as economic rivals
of urban tradesman and artisans) increasingly came to the
fore in early modern times and particularly after the Enlight-
enment. Anti-Semitism in modern times aimed to curb the
civil right of Jews in order to ensure that they were no longer
competitors of the gentile middle classes. With the progress
of anthropology in the 19th century appears the racial foun-
dation of anti-Semitism. (J. A. de Gobineau differentiated
between the Aryan and the Semitic races, labelling the latter
as inferior.) Nazi anti-Semitism was multi-faceted – cul-
tural, economic, and racial. Communist anti-Semitism was
based on the suspicion and envy of under-educated party
functionaries, often of humble origin, while the educated
Jews spoke foreign languages and maintained internation-
al ties that single-minded Bolshevik party members found
threatening. (Still, Jews were severely overrepresented in
the Communist parties of the Soviet Union and Eastern Eu-
rope.) In the second half of the 20th century, psychological
reasons were also given: some analysts suggested that an-
ti-Semitism stems from a subconscious remorse of the gen-
tiles for killing Jews during the Holocaust.
ARK, TORAH ARK (ARON HA-KODESH for Ashkenaz-
im, (H)EKHAL for the Sephardim). A chest for keeping the
Torah (scrolls), placed in the eastern wall of the synagogue
On the opposite page
Gravel on the tomb
of Arthur Schnitzler,
Old Jewish Cemetery of the
Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.
Glossary
a few steps above the floor, with a richly decorated curtain,
called parochet. It is the holiest place inside the synagogues
with significant architectural prominence by being raised a
couple of steps above the floor of the synagogue. The ico-
nography of the Ark varies considerably; most often it fea-
tures doors and a parochet decorated with the Tablets of the
Law, Mount Sinai, crowns, lions, the blessing of the Co-
hanim, etc. In the Ashkenazi world, Arks from the Baroque
period are often framed by a painted canopy, which even-
tually disappeared in the period of Romanticism. Modern
Torah Arks are sparsely decorated; their prominence comes
from precious stone and elegant proportions.
ARON HA-KODESH see ARK
ASHKENAZI or ASHKENAZIC JEWS or in Hebrew
Ashkenazim literally means “the Jews of Germany”, in
practice the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, origi-
nally the Jews of the Holy Roman Empire, formed as a
community around the end of the first millennium. The
traditional language of Ashkenazi Jews consisted of var-
ious Yiddish dialects.
After the Emancipation, from the late 18th century on-
wards, and particularly in the course of the Gründer-
zeit, the Ashkenazim contributed disproportionately and
remarkably to humanity and to European culture in all
fields of philosophy, literature, music, arts, mathematics,
and sciences. The Holocaust, the mass murder of approx-
imately six million Jews during World War II, devastated
the Ashkenazim and Yiddish culture as well as the Sep-
hardic culture in Europe. Today, most Ashkenazi Jews
live in the United States (five to six million), in Israel
(2.8 million) and in Europe (circa one million). Their lit-
urgy, customs and language are different from those of
the Sephardic Jews. Some experts assert there are also
anthropologic differences between the two groups.
434 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
ASSIMILATION is the acceptance of the civilisation and
culture of the social environment. Since Jews in the dias-
pora have always lived as a minority, a certain degree of
assimilation has been unavoidable. Assimilation has been a
constant process but with significant differences in appear-
ance and depth, depending on the attitude of the surround-
ing people or nation(s) towards the Jews. Assimilation was
known in the Hellenistic age and the Roman Empire, but
disregarding the horror-stricken assimilation following
the Inquisition, it only assumed considerable proportions
as from the Age of Enlightenment and the Emancipation.
Some opposite tendencies can also be observed among
Jews, especially among conservatives and Zionists.
BEITH MIDRASH. Beth Midrash or Bet ha-Midrash in
plural Batei Midrash, “House of Learning,” refers to a
Jewish study hall located in a synagogue building, in a
yeshiva, kollel or in other buildings. It is distinct from
a synagogue, although many synagogues are also used
as Batei Midrash and vice versa. It means high school,
literally ‘house of study’, or place where the students of
the Law gather to listen to the Midrash, the discourse
or exposition of the Law. It is used in contradistinction
to the Bet ha-Sefer, the primary school which children
under the age of 13 years attended to learn the Scripture.
Today, Bet ha-Sefer denotes schools in Israel.
BEITH TAHARA. A separate edifice or part of a major
cemetery ensemble of buildings for the pre-burial cleansing
of the corpse and the preparation of the burial ceremony.
BIMAH (TEVAH, ALMEMMOR). A platform on a
square or polygonal plan, enclosed by a low rail, with
a table for reading the Torah. (In medieval synagogues,
the rail can be a complete grid-box with ceiling and two
entrance doors.) It can be found in the centre of the syn-
agogue (traditional Ashkenazic interior arrangement), in
front of the Ark (Ashkenazic reform design), or at a dis-
tance from the centre of the interior towards the western
perimeter wall (Sephardic arrangement).
BLOOD LIBEL, BLOOD ACCUSATION. In European
history, particularly in the Middle Ages, Jews were often ac-
cused of torturing Christian children as a ritual sacrifice and
of using the children’s blood for making matzot for Passover.
About 150 such cases are known to historians, in the course
of which Jews were murdered en masse by angry mobs or
after false trials. Both human sacrifice and eating blood con-
tradicts Jewish traditions, but Christians disregarded this,
making blood libels part of their anti-Jewish propaganda. The
reported victims were venerated in England and in Russia;
one victim was even canonised by the Orthodox Christian
Church. There were also blood libels in modern times, but
due to better forensic expertise the corpses were identified
and the accusation was proved as false, such as in the case of
Tiszaeszlár in the Hungarian Kingdom.
BRIT MILAH see MOCHEL
CEREMONIAL BUILDING. A large building close to
the entrance of a Jewish cemetery that may serve only for
ceremonial purposes, as for instance at Prague’s New Ce-
mtery in Žižkov, or may contain facilities for cleansing
the corpse, and even administrative offices. Some cere-
monial buildings are quite large, as for instance those at
Berlin Weißensee, Budapest Kozma Street, or at the New
Jewish Cemetery of Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, which is
the largest in Europe. Other ceremonial buildings may
be small, as at the Great Sephardi Cemetery in Sarajevo.
Embellished ceremonial buildings became widespread in
the second half of the 19th century; in addition, they be-
came ever larger.
CHANUKIAH (plural Chanukioth). The Chanukiah
is the nine-branched chandelier used for Hanukkah. It
should not be confused with the seven-branched Meno-
rah. Chanukioth are commonly made of metal, or more
rarely of stone. Customarily the eight branches have the
same height, but the ninth, called Shamash (Shames in
Yiddish), is not of the same height in order to differenti-
ate it from the others. The Shamash candle serves to light
the others. On the first night of Hanukkah the Shamash
and one of the other eight candles are lit. Every subse-
quent night, another candle is lit, until, on the eighth and
final night of Hanukkah all the branches of the Chanuki-
ah are lit. The candles commemorate the original Hanuk-
kah miracle of one container of oil burning for eight days
at the time of the Maccabees.
CHEVRA KADISHA. Literally ‘holy society’, the insti-
tution of every Jewish community in charge of burials,
rituals related to cleansing the corpses, guarding them,
etc. Its origin goes back to the time of the Talmud. Two of
the main requirements are showing proper respect for the
deceased and the ritual cleansing of the body and subse-
quent dressing for burial. It is usually referred to as burial
society in English. Historically the Chevra Kadisha was
always set up immediately after the establishment of a
Jewish community and it consisted of prestigious mem-
bers of the community.
CONCENTRATION and EXTERMINATION CAMPS.
German Konzentrationslager were first erected in Ger-
many in March 1933 immediately after Adolf Hitler’s
election victory. Holocaust scholars differentiate between
concentration camps and extermination camps. The lat-
ter were established by the Nazis for the industrial-scale
mass execution of the predominantly Jewish ghetto and
concentration camp populations, but they also murdered
in smaller numbers Gypsies and (supposed) political
enemies of the Nazi regime. Concentration camps were
not a German invention, however. They had been used
in the past by the U.S. against Native Americans and
by the British in the Second Boer War. After the expan-
sion of Nazi Germany some 1200 camps were operating
throughout Eastern Europe and in the Balkans near the
centres of dense populations: large Jewish communities,
Polish intelligentsia, Communists or Romani (Gypsies).
In 1942, the Nazi SS built a network of extermination
camps in order to systematically kill millions of prison-
ers by gassing. The extermination camps (Vernichtung-
slager) and death camps (Todeslager) were camps whose
Glossary
primary function was genocide. The Nazis themselves
distinguished between concentration and extermination
camps. The British intelligence service had information
about the concentration and extermination camps, and
the allied powers did little to destroy them and free the
captives until the end of World War Two.
DIASPORA. The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora) means
‘scattering’ and refers to the Greek diaspora along trade
routes in the 6th century BCE. The Jewish diaspora re-
fers mainly to the expulsion and scattering of the Jews
from the Holy Land. Its use began to develop from this
original sense when the Hebrew Bible was translated into
Greek. The word diaspora was then used to refer to the
Northern Kingdom exiled from Israel by the Assyrians
between 740 and 722 BCE, as well as to Jews, Benjami-
nites, and Levites exiled from the Southern Kingdom by
the Babylonians in 587 BCE, and from Roman Judea in
70 CE by the Roman Empire. Today, the majority of Jews
live outside the State of Israel in the diaspora.
EMANCIPATION means the long process of legal, social,
and cultural acceptance of Jews by the Christians, roughly
from the late 18th century to the 1920s. Emancipation dif-
fered from country to country. First France granted Jews full
rights that allowed them to become citizens in 1791; Greece
granted citizenship to Jews in 1830; Jews were emancipated
in the United Kingdom in 1858; in 1862, Jews were giv-
en equal rights in Russian-controlled Congress Poland; in
Hungary in 1867, in Italy in 1870, and in Germany 1871.
Norway emancipated Jews in 1891, Russia in 1917, and fi-
nally Romania in 1923, after the annexation of Transylvania
that had a substantial Jewish population protected under the
terms of the Versailles Treaty. This late emancipation then
applied to the old territories of the Romanian Kingdom as
well, so that all European Jews finally enjoyed legal eman-
cipation by the late 1930s. However, their civil freedom was
severely curbed in many countries throughout the continent
under Nazi influence.
Emancipation created opposition not only among the mem-
bers of the recipient nation, but also among traditional Jews,
because of the loss of their political and cultural autonomy
and the mixing with the gentile population. Modern, mid-
dle-class anti-Semitism developed after the social affirma-
tion of the Jews following their emancipation.
ETERNAL LIGHT (ner tamid). This is a lamp hung from
the ceiling of the synagogue in front of the Ark in remem-
brance of the perpetual light of the Temple of Jerusalem.
It also signifies the connection to the holiest place of the
Jews. It is interpreted as the symbol of God’s presence,
of His Spirit and His Law. It is lit on the occasion of the
consecration of a synagogue after the Torah scrolls have
been placed in the Ark.
GENIZAH. Genizah (plural genizot) is a storage room
designated for the temporary accommodation of worn-
out Torah scrolls, prayer books and papers on religious
topics – all that may contain the Lord’s name – prior to
proper cemetery burial. Genizot may be in the synagogue
building, in the attic or basement, in thick walls or buried
435
underground – sometimes even in the prayer hall, hidden
in the bimah. They may also be in adjacent Jewish com-
munity buildings, in one of the cemetery’s edifices or in a
storage among the graves.
Because even personal letters or legal documents may
start with an invocation of God, the contents of genizot
may contain writings of a secular nature, with or with-
out the customary opening invocation, and texts in other
“Jewish languages” using the Hebrew alphabet (Yiddish,
Judeo-Spanish, Judeo-Arabic or Judeo-Persian). Genizot,
when found undamaged, can be an excellent source for
research in the field of Jewish history or Judaism.
GHETTO. Ghettos were compulsory residential quarters
for the Jews in the cities during the Middle Ages and ear-
ly modern times. The word has probably come into use
on the model of the ‘Ghetto nuovo’ in Venice, where Jews
were compelled to go by Pope Paul IV. The ghetto could
be inside the fortifications of the town or along the walls,
usually separated from the gentile neighbourhoods by a
wall and a gate, that was closed from the outside by the
authorities at night, so Jews could not leave it from sun-
set to dawn. One of the characteristic features of ghettos
was that they were often flood areas or other unhealthy
places (Venice, Rome, Prague). They gradually ceased to
exist after the French Revolution, and only reappeared
for a short time during the Holocaust. In many coun-
tries Jews were obliged to live in ghettos but in some of
them they lived freely even during the Middle Ages. For
instance, Jews in Hungary seldom lived in ghettos (Ei-
senstadt/Kismarton being an exception), but from 1944
until the deportation to the concentration/death camps the
country had a large number of makeshift ghettos, often
in and around industrial buildings. Oriental Jews lived in
conditions similar to the ghettos, namely in the mellahs
of Muslim towns. These were often located close to the
residence of the ruler, who granted Jews his protection
– a situation similar to some Ashkenazi locations during
the time of feudalism.
HASKALAH (‘enlightenment’ or ‘education’, also called
‘Jewish Enlightenment’) was an extensive intellectual
movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Eu-
rope from the 1770s to the 1880s. The Haskalah’s main
motivation and aim was the modernisation of Jewish life,
in accordance with the rationalistic and liberal ideals of
the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Haskalah advocated the integration of the Jews into
their surrounding societies, encouraging among others
the adoption of the local language and culture, secular
studies and economic integration. The more moderate
activists did not propagate religious reform and emanci-
pation in the sense of the word of emancipation obtained
later, but merely adding modern secular knowledge to the
curricula of Jewish schools. The more radical activists,
however, tried to break with Jewish life altogether known
hitherto. This caused the split of Jewry into Reform and
Orthodox camps mainly during the 19th century.
The Haskalah also advocated a Jewish cultural revival,
of which the creation of modern Hebrew literature was
an important part. Moses Mendelssohn, a Jewish philos-
436 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
opher acknowledged even by Immanuel Kant, advocated
entire freedom only in the spheres not bound by rites –
first of all, in the sphere of thinking. More radical reform-
ers, on the other hand, saw the essence of Jewry in ‘ratio-
nal religion’ (Vernunftreligion) and its ethical substance.
The Vernunftreligion was a radical reduction of Judaism
to its ethical aspects with the intention of synchronising
it with the ideas of Enlightenment. The advocates of Has-
kalah, the Maskilim, advocated and implemented social,
educational and ideological reforms in the private and
public spheres of Jewish society. Seeking transformation
while maintaining Jewish separateness, they clashed both
with the conservative rabbinical elite, which attempted
to preserve traditional values in their entirety, and those
who aspired to total assimilation.
HASSIDISM. Hassidism is an East European breakaway
Jewish sect founded by Israel ben Eliezer, called more
often Baal Shem Tov, acronym ‘Besht’, (c. 1690–1760,
born in what is today Moldavia). Due to its pantheist el-
ements and the role of rabbis (sometimes socially very
influential) as mediators between humans and God, Has-
sidism contradicts official rabbinic Judaism. Based partly
on Lurianic Cabbala, on the idea of the immanence of
God in the universe, Hassidism teaches that all of cre-
ation is suffused with divinity. It is popular, but based
on strict hierarchy, at the top of which is the Rebbe, the
‘holy rabbi’. Frequently, the Rebbe is worshipped and
strongly followed by the commoners, who completely
submit themselves to his authority. Since the time of its
formation, Hassidism was strongly condemned by offi-
cial, rabbinic Judaism. Hassidism spread mainly in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, having less influence
on the Jews of Central Europe. Today the number of Has-
sidim is estimated to be around half a million worldwide.
Their specific beliefs and way of life impact synagogue
and funeral art.
HEBREW LANGUAGE. West Semitic language spoken
in the Holy Land from about the 10th century BCE un-
til the 2nd–4th centuries CE. It survived into the Middle
Ages as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic litera-
ture, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. In the 19th cen-
tury, it was revived as a spoken and literary language and
today is the main official language of the State of Israel.
Outside of Israel it is spoken by some 200,000–300,000
expats. Before the Emancipation, most Ashkenazi Jews
spoke Yiddish in their everyday life. After the Emanci-
pation, the great majority of Central and Eastern Europe-
an Jewry did not understand Hebrew, except some basic
terms, prayers, and benedictions.
HOLOCAUST, Shoa, (Hebrew haShoa, literally ca-
tastrophe) is the extermination of Jews in death camps of
National Socialism. It was considered to be the ultimate
solution or Endlösung of the ‘Jewish question’ by the
German Nazis. It was based on the 1935 Nuremberg Law,
in which the Nazis defined precisely who was considered
to be Jewish. Although they distinguished between full
Jews and mixed Jews (Mischlinge) of first (50 percent
Jewish) and second grade (25 percent Jewish), they ex-
terminated all people with one Jewish grandparent. Be-
fore Jews were murdered, they were humiliated, subject-
ed to forced labour, sometimes to medical trials, and to
torture mainly in concentration camps. German National
Socialism resulted in the deaths of some six million Jews
in Europe and others, such as Roma, Poles, homosexuals,
and political opponents of Nazism in Germany and some
occupied countries during World War Two.
ISRAELITE. This term has numerous meanings, denot-
ing Jews from biblical texts until the present day. In the
context of this book and its 19th century use in Central
and Eastern Europe, it denotes people of Judaic faith. This
concept differs from the previous predominantly used no-
tion of ‘Jew’, which also contains ethnic aspects of being
Jewish. In the second half of the 19th century, in numerous
societies it became somehow politically incorrect to use
the term ‘Jew’ as it hinted at the previous discrimination
Christians practiced against Jews from the Middle Ages
until the early/mid-19th century. As in the spirit of equality
and religious tolerance the term ‘Jewish’ sounded discrim-
inatory, it was replaced in official use – census, legislation,
state administration – by the term ‘Israelite’ or ‘Israelitic’
(Israelitisch in German). However, Jews among them-
selves continued to use the term ‘Jew’ and ‘Jewish’ in al-
most all European languages (Jude, zsidó, Žid, Żyd, Židov,
evreu, Јеврејин, Jevrejin, etc).
In the Hebrew Bible, the term ‘Israelites’ refers to the di-
rect descendants of any of the sons of the patriarch Jacob,
or of the people called Israel, and of a worshipper of the
God of Israel, YHVH. At the time of the divided kingdom
it referred only to inhabitants of the northern part, and was
extended to refer to the people of the southern kingdom in
post-exilic times. Other terms sometimes used include the
‘Hebrews’ and the ‘Twelve Tribes’ (of Israel).
JEW, JEWRY. The Jews or the Jewish people are an eth-
no-religious group that originates from the Israelites, or
Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The particularity of
Jews vis-à-vis other people of the antiquity, but also of
the present day is that ethnicity, nationhood/peoplehood,
and religion are strongly interrelated. It is also significant
that territoriality is much less significant among Jews than
among other peoples of any period. From about the 10th
century BCE until 70 CE, with some interruptions and
since 1948 Jews have also enjoyed statehood, albeit not
all of them live in that state. Ethnicity, nationhood, and
religion have not always been equally present throughout
history, i.e. in a specific given time or place, but these
three elements span a period from about the 10th century
BCE until the present day. Sometimes one constituent is
stronger than the other two, depending on the environ-
ment and the historic period. Until the Emancipation,
Jews had a particular ethnicity besides their religion,
which after their assimilation, during which they became
part of other nations, weakened, but retained some ele-
ments of ethnicity nevertheless. Judaism is the traditional
faith of the Jewish people, while its observance varies
from strict adherence to complete non-observance.
Since the Enlightenment and until the Nuremberg Law of
the Nazis, gentile societies did not define precisely who
Glossary
could be considered as a Jew. According to Jewish tra-
dition (halacha), everybody who was born to a Jewish
mother or who has converted to Judaism is a Jew. Legal-
ly, in some countries Jewry is considered as a nationality,
while in others as a denomination (the latter view coin-
ciding with that of assimilated Jewry, according to which
Jews, for instance living in Hungary are in fact Hungar-
ians of Israelite religion). While this was the dominant
view of emancipated Jews until the Holocaust, after that
it lost its appeal and validity. Moreover, in the first half
of the 20th century in some multi-ethnic European coun-
tries, based on political calculations Jewry was consid-
ered as an ethnic and not primarily a confessional group.
Czechoslovak authorities wanted to reduce the number of
ethnic Hungarians and Germans in the new pan-Slavonic
country by declaring the Hungarian and German Jews as
purely Jewish. To a certain extent, this was similar in the
Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom. In Germany or in
Hungary, where the Jews considered themselves as Ger-
mans or Hungarians, respectively, racial laws created a
serious identity crisis among assimilated Jews. The athe-
istic officialdom of the Communist period in the Soviet
Union and its allies wanted to eradicate the Jewish identi-
ty due to the Communists’ hostility to anything religious
or national. However, Stalin’s pathologic anti-Semitism
created waves of anti-Jewish hysteria, including show
trials with expulsion from cities to forced labour camps
in Siberia and executions. Unintentionally, this helped
preserve some Jewish identity.
JEWISH CEMETERY. At a Jewish cemetery, members
of the Jewish community, i.e. people of Jewish faith are
buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. On the entrance,
one often finds the Hebrew inscription beit ha-hayyim,
a euphemism meaning ‘the house of living/life’, or beit
ha-olam, in Aramaic beit almin, meaning ‘the house of
eternity’. In common parlance beit kvarot, ‘the house of
graves’, is used, or simply kvarot or in Yiddish kvores.
Customarily kohanim are not allowed to get into contact
with a corpse or to enter a traditional Jewish cemetery in
order to avoid being under the same roof with the corpse,
unless a kohen is the mourner himself. However, they
are not entirely deprived of mourning their relatives and
friends in the sequence of events related to burial. They
stand outside, behind an imaginary separation (ezrat ko-
hanim). Sometimes, in order for kohanim to be able to
enter the cemetery, a special path between the graves and
separate from the regular path is built (derekh kohanim),
usually paved with bricks. At very strictly orthodox cem-
eteries kohanim are not allowed to enter. Interestingly,
if there are trees at the cemetery, they are not allowed to
cover a space of the lane/path entirely where kohanim
walk. Therefore, they are trimmed in order not to make a
‘roof’ which will put the kohanim and the corpses under
the same ‘roof’. If the cemetery is totally overgrown, ko-
hanim should not enter them at all.
Theoretically, the graves of kohanim and their families
should be placed near the cemetery gate, so that they can
easily visit the graves. In practice, particularly at 19th and
20th century metropolitan cemeteries, this is seldom the
case – instead, kohanim are buried practically everywhere
437
and not segregated. This is due to the way plots were sold
in the 19th century, to the spread of family graves and to
grouping the graves along family relations. Segregation
is, however, almost always complied with for leaders of
the Hevra Kaddishah and theoretically for the Levites; but
again in practice it never happens. At pre-Emancipation
cemeteries the graves were assigned in the order of death.
Theoretically, graves should be placed some 15 cm away
from each other and if there is not enough space available,
solid partitions should be installed. Often the metal grid/
railing at Polish cemeteries and sometimes in Germany was
set up with an aesthetic intention and to signal the borders
between graves.
Known in Hebrew as ‘house of eternity’, the land of the
cemetery is considered holy and a special consecration cer-
emony takes place at its inauguration. Establishing a ceme-
tery is one of the first priorities for a new Jewish communi-
ty. A Jewish cemetery is generally purchased and supported
with communal funds. Historically burial was never free
of charge in Jewish history. The Bible attests that patriarch
Abraham had to pay for the burial of his wife Sarah. How-
ever, new metropolitan Jewish cemeteries changed the mag-
nitude of this income that was also necessitated by the new
expenses Jewish communities had to face due to the reform
movement, which prompted a complete restructuring of the
finances of the Jewish communities, in which cemeteries
started to play a significant role.
JEWISH COMMUNITY, JEWISH RELIGIOUS COM-
MUNITY (German: Glaubensgemeinde, Hebrew: KEH-
ILA OR KEHILLAH, Yiddish: KEHILE, KILE). Today
the Jewish (religious) community in the diaspora is an
organisation with ritual, cultural and humanitarian func-
tions, encompassing the Jews of a town or district. They
have been often called religious communities since the
Emancipation (before the Latin term communitas Iudae-
orum was used to denote Jewish communities). Howev-
er, after the Holocaust the old name resurfaced in some
countries where Jewry has the status of an ethnic group,
not only of a denomination.
Before the Emancipation the communitas Iudeorum en-
joyed significant autonomy from Christian authorities, its
judge and elders negotiating terms with the gentile world
and settling internal Jewish affairs. There were instances
when Jewish community leaders were close to royals; e.g.
the head of the Buda Jewish Community in late medieval
Hungary, Jacob Mendel, was the financier and confidant
of King Mathias Corvinus. Almost always Jewish com-
munities were obliged to pay extra taxes in order to be
tolerated. Distribution of this tax was an internal matter
of the community as was the solidarity between its mem-
bers, rich and poor. Well-off members were expected to
show extraordinary generosity for which in exchange they
enjoyed a prominent social status in the community and
often beyond, with important community institutions car-
rying their names in modern times.
In modern times Jewish communities had to take care in-
creasingly of the elderly and the poor, as well as cover the
rising costs for the modern education of Jewish school-
children and the expenses for newly established rabbinic
schools. These schools gradually took over the task from
438 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
the traditional system of Yeshivot and the old way of fund-
ing. In former times, wealthy Jewish families had taken
care of the wellbeing of students, the Yeshiva bochers,
following the centuries-old tradition of Jewish religious
education. Liberal capitalism changed the means whereby
Jewish communities and their finances were managed.
JEWISH NEW YEAR see ROSH HASHANAH
JEWISH QUARTER. The Jewish quarter was/is part of a
multi-confessional town or city where Jews live perma-
nently. Known since antiquity, Jewish quarters differ in
terms of exclusivity (many of them had Christian inhabi-
tants as well) and in terms of separation from non-Jewish
parts of a settlement. While in the Middle-Ages separa-
tion was usually strict, in modern times it was liberal,
with no walls around the Jewish quarter and non-Jews
also living there. Jewish quarters came into being be-
cause the majority society wanted to separate Jews from
Christians or Muslims, but also because Jews wanted to
stick together for practical reasons, such as the closeness
of synagogues, Jewish schools, and kosher shops, as well
as for spiritual and defence considerations. Large Euro-
pean and American cities usually had or still have Jewish
quarters, in some cases two or three of them; they can be
either orthodox or liberal. In Muslim surroundings, Jews
lived in Jewish quarters called mellah, a counterpart to
the Jewish ghetto in Europe. Mellah literally means salt
and refers to the Jewish pursuit of trade with salt. During
periods of anti-Jewish campaigns Jewish quarters often
became a handy target for the mob or for organised/or-
chestrated anti-Jewish actions.
In lesser towns with a smaller Jewish population there
may be just one or a handful of Jewish streets scattered
around the settlement, usually close to the synagogues.
Inside mixed quarters, in some cases there is a special
Jewish settling pattern, i.e. a special way Jews purchased
plots to communicate independently of the streets.
JUDAISM. Judaism is principally the religion of the Jew-
ish people, but actually it is a much broader notion com-
prising distinctive characteristics of the Jewish ethnos:
religion, philosophy, culture, and way of life of the Jewish
people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic religion, with
the Torah as its foundational text and supplemental oral
tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash
and the Talmud. Religious Jews consider Judaism as the
covenantal relationship between God and the Children
of Israel.
In its more than three millennia-long history it has
changed in certain respects, but its substance – uncom-
promising monotheism as the opposite of polytheism and
idolatry – has remained unchanged. It rejects the Trinitar-
ianism of Christianity since this contradicts the precept
of the indivisibility of God, and also disapproves of the
latter’s anthropomorphism.
JUDENHOF, also JÜDENHOF (German), JEWISH
COURTYARD. Traditionally the Judenhof was a hous-
ing block or courtyard consisting of densely knit Jewish
houses (in a row) or flats (an enclosed block with court-
yards) with additional (work)shops. Judenhöfe existed
from medieval up to modern times in towns and cities.
Usually they were only demolished in the 20th century.
They normally contained facilities for social and religious
life, such as synagogues, kosher butcheries, schools, etc.
One of the most important historic Judenhöfe besides the
one in Speyer was the Großer Jüdenhof in Alt-Berlin in
the 13th century. One of the largest Judenhöfe in modern
times (from the late 18th century until its demolition in
1936) was the Orczy Ház or Orczysches Haus in Pest,
where Jews created a ‘town in the town’, renting the large
block from Baron Orczy, which besides flats included two
synagogues, a ritual bath, kosher shops, and coffee shops.
JUDENTEMPEL (German), JEWISH TEMPLE. The term
was used by the Reform/Neolog Jewry to denote large, sol-
emn synagogues of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Ash-
kenazi Europe. The linguistic resemblance to the name of
the Temple of Jerusalem is not accidental: many Jews gave
up the hope/wish of returning to the Land of Israel, and they
saw the final achievement of Jewry in the diaspora. These
splendid houses of worship stood for the Emancipation and
sometimes even pretended to be substitutes for Solomon’s
Temple in terms of architectural form and embellishment.
While these buildings could not be overlooked by the gen-
tiles, they were not the only places of Jewish worship. In
many countries, the majority of Jews gathered in smaller
synagogues and prayer houses throughout the 19th centu-
ry. After the Holocaust, a great number of large synagogues
survived and stood empty for decades until their demolition
or conversion for secular purposes.
KADDISH. Kaddish or qaddish literally means ‘holy’ in
Aramaic. This is a basic prayer praising God in the Jew-
ish prayer service or during burials, the Mourner’s Kad-
dish. In “saying a kaddish” one refers unambiguously to
the rituals of mourning.
KOHEN. Originally, kohen (plural kohanim) means
priest, a descendant of Aaron, the brother of Moses.
Priests officiated in Solomon’s Temple and had cer-
tain functions to perform even after the destruction of
the Temple in 70 C.E. The Jewish family name Cohen,
common both among Sephardi (Mizrahi) and Ashkenazi
Jews, usually denotes that its forefathers were priests,
which often can be genetically proven with some ele-
ments that characterised this tribe.
At the time of the Temple no one could have been admit-
ted to the priesthood unless he could prove his priestly
descent. Later this rigorous proof was no longer possi-
ble, so that kohanim today act as such on the basis of
presumptive status – the mere fact that a family tradition
believes it is formed of kohanim is sufficient to estab-
lish its status as such. The Jewish law forbids a kohen
to come into contact with a corpse unless it is of a near
relative (Leviticus 21:1–4). He may not marry a divor-
cee, either (Leviticus 21:7). It is the kohen’s privilege
to be the first of the persons called to the reading of the
Torah. Kohanim also recite the priestly blessing in the
synagogue. The aforementioned rules are followed by
all Orthodox Jews, while Reform and Neolog Jews re-
Glossary
ject them. Conservative Jews are less categorical in this
matter. On their graves, kohanim often have the sign of
two blessing hands. At some traditional cemeteries, they
may be segregated in separate fields or rows. However,
in typical 19th and 20th century Reform cemeteries this
segregation was usually given up.
KOLEL or KOLLEL, plural: kolelim, a ‘gathering’ or
‘collection’ of scholars is an institute for full-time ad-
vanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like
a yeshiva, a kolel features shiurim (lectures) and learning
sedarim (learning sessions), but unlike yeshiva students,
the students of a kolel are married men, supported by oth-
ers to foster Jewish scholarship.
KRISTALLNACHT. Kristallnacht or Reichskristallnacht,
sometimes also called Reichspogromnacht, in English
“Crystal Night”, refers to the debris of broken glass that
covered the streets of towns and cities in Germany and an-
nexed Austria after the windows of Jewish-owned stores,
buildings, and synagogues had been smashed by SA para-
military forces in the night of 9 to 10 November 1938. The
death toll of this pogrom mounted to hundreds of Jews.
Nearly all major synagogues, over 1,000, were burned and
over 7,000 Jewish businesses destroyed or damaged. The
Kristallnacht was the starting point of the systematic per-
secution and murder of the European Jews by the Nazis.
LEVITES. Levites are the descendants of the Tribe of
Levi, originated from Levi, the third son of Jacob and
Leah. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Ca-
naan (Joshua 13:33), the Sons of Levi were the only Isra-
elite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be
landowners “because the Lord the God of Israel Himself
is their inheritance” (Deuteronomy 18:2). Levites ful-
filled particular religious duties for the Israelites and in
return, the landed tribes gave tithe to support them. The
kohanim among the Tribe of Levi were the high priests,
who officiated in Solomon’s Temple, and the other Lev-
ites played music in the Temple or served as guards.
On gravestones Levites can be identified by a mug or a
mug and a vessel, referring to the custom of the Levites
of pouring water on the hands of the kohanim prior to
their blessing. The symbol is usually in the upper part
of the matzeva, similarly to the blessing hands of the ko-
hanim. From the late 19th century onwards, mugs also
may appear in a sculptural representation.
LITURGY. The Jewish service was essentially different
from the liturgies of other religions of antiquity and is also
different from most modern liturgies of other confessions.
While the basic principle of the pagan service was “do ut
des”, i.e. a religious performance that God would honour,
very early the Jewish service lost its value and effect as
soon as the person praying was not the absolute and devoted
servant of God. (“Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices, as obeying the voice of the Lord?” –
Sam. I 15:22. The psalmist says: “Then shalt thou be pleased
with the sacrifices of righteousness” – Psalms, 51:19.)
Observant Jews pray (daven) in formal worship services
three times a day, every day: in the morning (Shacharit),
439
in the afternoon (Minchah) and in the evening (Ma’ariv).
Daily prayers are printed in a book called a siddur. In addi-
tion to the daily prayers, there is service on Friday evening
and on Shabbat as well as on religious holidays. Unlike
most of its Christian counterparts, the Jewish service is
long, sometimes many hours on holidays, and requires spe-
cial provisions in synagogues and prayer houses. Unlike in
many churches where historically believers had to stand,
Jewish believers are seated in synagogues according to a
special seating order. Archaeologists have changed their
views on seating order and gender separation in the syn-
agogues of antiquity, but from the Middle Ages onwards
there is firm evidence about seating, gender segregation,
and the character of Jewish sacred space.
The service consists of prayers and blessings, set by content
and timing, and the reading of the Torah (first five books of
the Bible and the Prophets), also strictly codified. The Torah
is divided into 54 sections and each of these sections is read
and studied for a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, Sabbaths,
and some holidays. The section numbers are often displayed
in the interior of the synagogue in front of the eastern wall.
The Torah is carried around festively inside the synagogue
before it is brought to the bimah, where it is read. This
‘procession’ defines the architectural arrangement of the
interior of the synagogue, allowing the aforementioned
movement, in which the Torah makes a circle, to be taken
out from the Ark, carried up to the bimah, and back to the
Ark after reading. Its ascent and descent from the bimah
occurs via different stairs, and therefore the bimah has two
short flights of stairs, often one on its south and the other
on its north side. In the case of a closed bimah, like the one
of the Altneuschul in Prague, there are small metal doors
on the south-eastern and north-western corners.
This description refers to the traditional and Orthodox
Ashkenazic service, but the Sephardic service has a sim-
ilar structure. However, in the case of the latter, the bi-
mah is located closer to the western side of the interior and
sometimes there are even two bimot, one on the ground
floor on the west side and another one on a higher place.
Sephardim use different music, and have a few variations
in their choice of psalms, hymns, and prayers.
The Ashkenazi Reform service, although much shorter, fol-
lows the basic structure of the aforementioned and contains
shorter versions of the same prayers with a few significant
changes in content (for example, in one blessing of the Shem-
oneh Esrei, instead of praising God who “gives life to the
dead”, they praise God who “gives life to all” as they don’t
believe in resurrection). The Conservative rite is quite similar
to that of the Orthodox, and contains only minor variations in
the content of the prayers (similar to the Reform example).
Moreover, the Reform and Neolog services often con-
tain secular or semi-secular elements, when the rabbi in
his speeches connects biblical times and events to current
social and political matters. In large synagogues called
Jewish Temples (German: Judentempel), there are often
separate pulpits away from the bimah and the Ark, usually
in the nave, sometimes even two for rival rabbis as in the
Dohány Street Synagogue in Pest (1854–59), where rabbis
preached about current topics.
There are a few significant differences in the way services
are conducted in different movements, including seating
440 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
order and visual barriers between men and women: In Or-
thodox and Hungarian Neolog synagogues, women and
men are seated separately, women usually on the women’s
gallery; in Reform and Conservative synagogues they sit
together on the ground floor, on each side of the interior
or even mixed. (In very rare cases even Neologs may be
seated on the ground floor, but separately, as is the case at
the Heroes Temple in Budapest). In Orthodox and usually
Conservative synagogues, service is entirely in Hebrew.
In Reform synagogues, part of the service is in the local
language. In Orthodox rite, the person conducting the ser-
vice turns his back to the congregation and prays facing
the same nearly eastern direction as the congregation; in
Conservative and Reform rites, the rabbi faces the congre-
gation, i.e. approximately west. Conservative and Reform
services are strictly structured in terms of time: everybody
shows up and leaves at the same time, like in Christian ser-
vices, and strictly follows the procedure, doing the same
thing at the same time as the others. The Orthodox rite is
somewhat more free-form: people show up more freely
in time, catch up to the already present believers at their
own pace, often do things differently in terms of time and
intensity than everybody else. This behaviour was heavily
attacked by the reformers, because it represented a signifi-
cant departure from being in unison with Christianity.
LULAV, LULOV, LULAB. Lulav is a closed frond of the
date palm tree, one of the Four Species used during Suk-
kot. This motif is often used in the ornamentation of the
interior of the synagogue, mainly of the Ark, but it also
appears on graves, albeit it is not a historic tradition, but
rather a neologism.
MATZEVAH is a Hebrew name for ‘pillar’, actually ‘sa-
cred pillar’, which also means headstone or tombstone
marking a grave. In common parlance, matzevah means
the simple vertical Jewish gravestone with semi-circular,
segmental, ogival, triangular, or flat ending. The flat end-
ing is the rarest and can usually be found on the oldest
matzevot in Ashkenazi Europe.
MATZO, MATZAH is a thin, three to four millimetres
thick, unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during
the Passover festival, when chametz (leaven in bread and
other foodstuff) is not allowed. Passover commemorates
the exodus from Egypt during which Jews could not wait
for their bread dough to rise and this bread, when baked,
was the matzah (Exodus 12:39). Various interpretations
explain the symbolism of matzah. A symbolic explanation
says matzah represents redemption and freedom, but it is
also lechem oni, the ‘poor man’s bread’. The flour can be
made from five grains: wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats.
Historically, while there was no taxation for the synagogue
building at the same compound, matzo bakeries were
obliged to pay, being considered commercial buildings.
MENORAH is a seven-branched candlestick, the symbol
of the State of Israel, and the name of the golden eternal
light of the Temple of Jerusalem. It is the most frequently
used symbol following the second Temple of Jerusalem.
Historically, its form is derived from the Lifetree and in
synagogue decoration it sometimes reverts to it, when
it has more or fewer than seven branches. However, it
needs to have an odd number of branches, which differ-
entiates it from the eight-branched Chanukiah.
MIKVAH/MIKVEH (Yiddish mikves) is a bath used for
the purpose of ritual immersion. In the Old Testament,
this word means water collection. Biblical regulations re-
quire full immersion in water to regain ritual purity after
ritually impure incidents have happened. Ritual purity
was necessary to attend Temple service.
After the destruction of the Temple, the mikveh served
mainly for Jewish women to achieve ritual purity after
menstruation or childbirth, before marital relations could
be resumed. It is also used as part of the traditional pro-
cedure of conversion to Judaism.
As the name suggests, rainwater is the basis for the
mikveh, but in Europe often groundwater was used. Many
traditional Jewish quarters were located near brooks to
guarantee sufficient water supply.
For Orthodox Jews the existence of a mikveh is so import-
ant that an Orthodox community is obliged to construct
a mikveh before building a synagogue. Reform Judaism
and Reconstructionist Judaism regard the biblical regula-
tions as outdated and do not attach much importance to
the existence of a mikveh. Some within Conservative Ju-
daism tried to retain the ritual requirements of a mikveh,
while redefining the theological foundations of the ritual
in concepts other than ritual purity.
MIZRAH, MIZRAH PLAQUE. In Hebrew mizrah means
‘east’ and refers to the direction that Jews in the diaspora
face during prayer. Jewish law prescribes that Jews face
the site of the Temple in Jerusalem during prayer, which
is not necessarily east in Israel, but roughly east in the
majority of European countries.
Mizrah also refers to the perimeter wall of the synagogue
that faces east with a window oriented towards Jerusalem,
where seats are reserved for the rabbi and other dignitar-
ies. In addition, mizrah refers to an ornamental plaque on
the wall or a stand with a vertical plaque used to indicate
the direction of prayer in Jewish homes and synagogues.
It is often located asymmetrically on the right side of
the Ark inside Ashkenazi synagogues. Often cemeteries,
their entrance and the graves also face east. The eastern
direction, however, is much less strictly observed than
in Christian churches or Muslim sacred buildings, where
this orientation should be strictly observed. In the case of
synagogues, due to urban circumstances the actual east-
ern orientation may deviate up to 30 degrees.
MOCHEL. The mochel is a specially trained person who
carries out the ritual circumcision (brit milah) of infant
boys according to halachic rules. While in ancient times,
for the operation a stone knife was used without anaes-
thesia – Abraham circumcised himself and his sons, Isaac
and Ishmael; Zipporah circumcised Gershom, her first-
born son – today there are trained doctors and modern
devices for this purpose. Mohelim were trained in the rit-
ual elements of the procedure and roughly had the level
of an average physician of the period. By the time of the
Glossary
Second Temple, iron knives were used and blessings re-
cited, the latter still being the custom today. At first, the
brit was a family celebration, but over time it became a
festivity of the entire community. In the Middle Ages,
the brit milah was usually performed in the synagogue,
with the entire congregation actively participating in the
festivities. There was a special chair for this purpose and
a special knife. This knife is usually represented on the
upper part of the graves of deceased mohelim in tradi-
tional Ashkenazi communities in Europe.
NEOLOG. The unofficial name for the Hungarian Congress
Jewry, similar to reform movements in other countries.
While the unofficial split between the conservatives and
progressives could be felt as early as in the 1820s, the offi-
cial split occurred only after the Jewish Congress of 1868.
The Hungarian Neologs broadly follow the achievements
of the German Reform Movement, but due to local cir-
cumstances and the larger percentage of traditional Jews,
they are more conservative. Seating of women is strictly
separated from men on the galleries, but unlike the Or-
thodox, they don’t use visual barriers, called mehitza. The
Neologs abandoned tradition in numerous aspects: the rab-
bi wears vestment, the choir and the organ play a role in
the service, and the Neologs strive to achieve “aesthetic
quality” along Western expectations. The vast majority of
Jews in today’s Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, and parts of
Romania and Serbia (Transylvania and Vojvodina, respec-
tively) as well as in other successor states of the Hungarian
Kingdom are Neolog; this includes their synagogues.
OHEL. Ohel (Hebrew, plural ohalim), meaning tent, is a
structure over a prominent rabbi’s grave built of timber,
metal or brick/stone. Often it includes one or more graves
and an area for visitors to sit and meditate as well as facil-
ities for candle lighting. The size varies between that of a
larger grave and the magnitude of a small synagogue, like
the one of Baal Shem Tov in Medzhybizh, Ukraine. Ohalim
are usually placed haphazardly among smaller graves, but
are sometimes also grouped. They are usually in the more
traditional sections of large metropolitan Jewish cemeteries.
ORTHODOX JEWRY. The term orthodox stems from
the Greek word ὀρθοδοξία (orthodoxia), literally ‘correct
belief’ and refers to traditionalism in many respects, in-
cluding religion as in the case of Orthodox Christianity
(православље, ортодоксальность) or Orthodox Juda-
ism. Orthodox Jews do not accept religious reform, i.e.
alterations carried out by various reform movements.
They strictly keep to the traditions, the Torah and the
Talmud. Orthodox Jews form separate religious commu-
nities that often consider themselves autonomous due
to the lack of an umbrella organisation like the one for
Reform or Neolog Jews. The latter belong to national or-
ganisations; however, they are much more independent
than Catholic dioceses and parishes. The distribution of
Orthodox and Reform Jews was geographically rather
uneven. For instance, in Poland the Jewish population
was predominantly traditional, while in German lands
Jews were more reform-minded in the 19th century.
There were also significant differences in the distribution
441
of Orthodox and Reform Jews in certain countries. The
north-eastern regions of the Hungarian Kingdom had a
predominantly Orthodox population and the south was
more often Neolog, although there are also exceptions
to this rule. Descendants of Hungarian Orthodox Jews
from Szatmár County are famous for their conservatism
in Israel and the United States.
RABBI. Historically the rabbi is a teacher of the Torah.
This title derives from the Hebrew word rabbi, meaning
‘my master’. Rav means master, which is the way a stu-
dent would address a master of Torah, with the ‘i’ ending of
rabb-i meaning ‘my’. A rabbi today serves the community
as an educator, social worker, preacher, and conductor of
prayer services. The rabbi is not necessary for conducting
prayer services – any knowledgeable congregant can car-
ry out the service. The rabbi’s role is similar to that of a
Protestant priest. While Catholic priests can give absolution
for sins, rabbis cannot (unless you’re asking forgiveness
for something you’ve done against the rabbi personally).
Within the various Jewish denominations there are differ-
ent requirements for rabbinic ordination and differences in
opinion regarding who is to be recognised as a rabbi. Or-
thodox Judaism does not ordain women as rabbis, while
other currents do. The term rabbi was first used in reference
to the rabbis of the Sanhedrin during the first century C.E.
Throughout the medieval period the term referred to the
common man, while the term haRav implied scholarship.
REFORM JUDAISM. Reform Judaism (also called Liberal
Judaism or Progressive Judaism) came into being under the
influence of the European Enlightenment and represents a
major denomination within Judaism, mainly in Europe and
the Americas. It stresses the evolutive nature of Judaism, its
ethical aspects vis-à-vis the traditional and strict ceremonial
aspects, reducing the all-encompassing character of Judaism
to the scope of other modern religions, mainly Protestantism
in the German lands. Reform Judaism propagates the belief
in a continuous and not so much in the Sinaitic revelation,
which in practice means that some rules of traditional Juda-
ism, its complexity and universality do not apply. Reform
Judaism officially does not reject core beliefs, but interprets
them liberally, based on the local and personal choices of
the believers. It liberalised and radically shortened the rit-
ual, introduced local languages besides the use of Hebrew
into the service and personal observance and became open
to external influences and progressive values of the Enlight-
enment. The service changed from an informal into a more
structured and aesthetically demanding character by intro-
ducing choral singing, the singing of women (traditionally
strictly banned) as well as organ accompaniment, similar to
the Catholic and Protestant liturgies. This changed the spa-
tial arrangement of synagogues, putting the bimah in front
of the Ark, removing the visual barrier between men and
women, the mehitza, and allowing the construction of con-
spicuous and very large synagogue buildings in the central
areas of towns and cities. The Reform also changed Jewish
cemeteries in terms of planning, vegetation and with regard
to funerary art. It abolished all kinds of traditional segre-
gation at cemeteries and introduced new genres, e.g. large
funerary monuments for the rich and famous, often found
442 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
in separate lanes or cemetery sections. Its greatest centre to-
day is North America. The Reform has different branches,
including the American Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)
and the British Movement for Reform Judaism and Liber-
al Judaism, united under the international World Union for
Progressive Judaism. The WUPJ estimates it represents at
least 1,800,000 people. It may have milder, slightly more
conservative alternatives, such as Neolog Judaism, charac-
teristic for the successor states of the Hungarian Kingdom.
RITUAL SLAUGHTERER’S STALL. This is a room
for the slaughtering, exsanguination, and examination
of kosher (clean) animals. The work is done by the sho-
chet, also called Schachter from German Schächter by
the Ashkenazim. The edifice can often be found in the
courtyard of the synagogue. In the 19th century, it was
sometimes difficult to obtain a building permission for a
ritual slaughterer’s stall for hygienic reasons: at that time
slaughtering for Christians was carried out in large ab-
attoirs on the periphery, while larger synagogues were
typically located in the central areas of towns and cities.
ROSH HASHANAH (Ro’Sh ha-Shanah, literally the head
of the year, i.e. New Year) is one of the most important
Jewish feasts celebrated in early autumn. Its precise time
in the Gregorian calendar varies as it is set according to
the Jewish lunisolar calendar. Rosh Hashanah is a two-day
celebration followed by the days of awe, Yamim Nora’im,
which end in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
According to the Talmud, three books of account are
opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the wick-
ed, the righteous, and those of an intermediate class
are recorded. The ones belonging to the second group
are immediately inscribed in the book of life and they
are sealed ‘to live’. Those of the intermediate class are
allowed a respite of ten days, until Yom Kippur, to re-
flect, repent and become righteous, while the wick-
ed are “blotted out of the book of the living forever”.
Rosh Hashanah also marks the end of the economic year
and the start of the new, the following agricultural cycle,
in the ancient Near East. Often for practical reasons the
consecration of synagogues in the diaspora was related
to this holiday: construction work usually started in Feb-
ruary or March, and until September the roofs of many
synagogues were completed, while internal decoration
and furniture were usually fixed the following year. Thus,
many synagogues were first consecrated for Rosh Hasha-
nah and also used for service at Yom Kippur. Then, until
next Rosh Hashana wall painting and decoration were
accomplished and the final consecration took place.
SHTETL. Shtetl (plural shtetlach), a Yiddish word origi-
nally stemming from the German Städtlein. It means small
town in Eastern and Eastern Central Europe with a large
Jewish population before the Holocaust. The main areas
comprise the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire and
the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia, and Romania.
While the German lands and the Habsburg Empire did
not have official shtetlach, the legal status and culture of
Jews on feudal estates were similar to their shtetl coun-
terparts until the Emancipation.
Shtetlach started to decline in the Vormärz period when
the Emancipation accelerated and better-off and more
educated Jews moved to the larger towns characterised
by industrialisation. The anti-Semitism of the Russian
imperial administrators and of the Polish landlords also
contributed to this decline, as well as, from the 1880s,
Russian pogroms. Their joint effect caused some two
million Jews to leave Eastern Europe from the 1880s
until 1915, mainly for the United States. Eventually, the
Holocaust eradicated the remnants of the shtetl culture.
By and large, this also applied to Jews living on feudal
estates in Central Europe, which were characterised by
traditionalism and some economic and cultural autono-
my. Jewish quarters at feudal estates also declined after
1840 when Jews were free to settle in most parts of the
Habsburg Empire.
The culture of the shtetl was a unique world, based on
the Yiddish language, particular reasoning and arguing,
religiosity, special values, and on a strong emphasis on
knowledge and intellectual achievement.
SEPHARDI(c) JEWS (also known as SEPHARDIM,
literally ‘the Jews of Spain’) refers to the Jews originat-
ing from the Iberian Peninsula and to their culture and
rituals. They need to be distinguished from the Ashke-
nazi Jewry. Their millennial residence as an open and
organised Jewish community in Spain and Portugal was
brought to an abrupt end in 1492 (Spain) and 1496 (Por-
tugal), when they were forced to either be baptised or
leave their home country, as otherwise they would face
execution. Their Sephardi diaspora spread along the
Mediterranean coasts and to some North European cen-
tres like Amsterdam or Altona.
Sometimes, the term Sephardim refers to traditionally
Eastern Jewish communities of West Asia and beyond
(called more precisely Mizrahi, Eastern or Oriental
Jews) who, although having no genealogical roots in the
Jewish communities of Iberia, have adopted a Sephardic
style of liturgy and Sephardic law and customs imparted
to them by Iberian Jewish exiles over the course of the
last few centuries.
The language of the Sephardim is Ladino or Judeo-Span-
ish, and their sacred space differs somewhat from that of
the Ashkenazim (see ASHKENAZI). In Central Europe,
there were just small Sephardi communities, such as in
Vienna, Altona, and Cluj, while the Balkans were histor-
ically more Sephardi than Ashkenazi, at least until mod-
ern times when the latter settled there in larger numbers
in the 19th and 20th centuries.
SHAMASH, GABBAI (Yiddish: Schames). The scha-
mes, literally ‘servant’, is a person who assists in the run-
ning of synagogue services on a voluntary or paid basis.
It can also mean an assistant to a rabbi (particularly the
secretary or personal assistant to a Hassidic Rebbe). The
gabbai assists during the religious service in the syna-
gogue: he prepares the devotional objects, passes on the
instructions of the service leader to those called to the
Torah, and is in charge of keeping everything in order. In
the Middle Ages, the schames worked as the secretary of
the Jewish community.
Glossary
SHOCHET, SHACHTER, SCHÄCHTER; SAJCHET. A
shochet is a person officially certified as being competent
to kill animals in a way that Jews are allowed to consume
in the manner prescribed by Jewish dietary laws (shechi-
ta). The shochet is required to study for a number of years
and has to pass an exam, theory and practice, in the laws of
shechita, animal anatomy, and pathology. He serves an ap-
prenticeship with an experienced shochet before becoming
fully qualified. The position of shochet, as a God-fearing
person of integrity, is respected in the Jewish community.
The shochet is not just in charge of slaughtering, but also
of taking care that the animal’s suffering is reduced to a
minimum, and of checking the carcass for possible injuries
before slaughter. Some organs and blood are not for hu-
man consumption and are therefore removed. Customarily
there is a slaughterer’s stall in each Jewish community,
where religious Jews bring their animals for slaughtering.
SHOFAR. The shofar, a ram’s horn, is a musical instru-
ment of ancient origin used for Jewish religious service.
It has no pitch-altering devices; its pitch control is done
by varying the player’s embouchure. The shofar is blown
on Rosh Hashanah and at the very end of Yom Kippur,
and is also blown every weekday morning in the month
of Elul in the run-up to Rosh Hashanah.
STATUS QUO ANTE. The status quo ante is a religious
orientation of Jewish communities in the Hungarian
Kingdom and its successor states. After the 1868–69
Jewish Congress that split the Hungarian Jewry into Or-
thodox and Neolog, a small percentage of Jews wanted
to stay as before, i.e. in Latin status quo ante. In liturgi-
cal terms and also in terms of accepting modernisation,
they stood closer to the Orthodox. Similar to the Neo-
logs, they had their national umbrella organisation, the
Association of Status Quo Ante Jewish Communities.
Architecturally they also followed a middle course as
their synagogues had a centrally positioned bimah, but
usually no mehitza over the women’s gallery. As for the
exterior of synagogues, these communities avoided the
complete anonymity of Orthodox synagogues, but also
the rich architectural language of the Neologs. In some
cases, they approached quite famous architects, as in Tr-
nava (Hungarian: Nagyszombat, German: Tirnau), where
Jacob Gartner designed the status quo ante synagogue.
Geographically these communities were located more in
the northern and eastern counties of Hungary as well as
in Budapest rather than in the south or southwest.
TABLETS OF THE LAW, or Tablets of Stone, or Tablets
of Testimony (in Hebrew: Luchot haBrit – ‘the tablets
[of] the covenant’) were the two pieces of special stone
inscribed with the Ten Commandments when Moses as-
cended Mount Sinai. (Exodus 31:18 refers to the tablets
as the “Tablets of (the) Testimony”.)
According to the Bible, there were two sets. The first set,
inscribed by God, was smashed by Moses when he saw
the Children of Israel worshipping a Golden Calf; and the
second was later cut by Moses and rewritten by God.
As to their form, according to rabbinic tradition, they
were rectangles, with sharp corners, as depicted in third
443
century paintings at the Dura-Europos Synagogue. In
Christian art, the tablets were represented the same way
throughout the first millennium, drawing on Jewish tra-
ditions of iconography and the architectural tastes and
technological level of the age. It is hard to believe that
on Mount Sinai tablets with semi-circular endings could
have been manufactured.
The rounded tablets first appear in the Middle Ages, fol-
lowing in size and shape contemporary hinged writing
tablets for taking notes. Still, Andrea Mantegna opted for
sharp corners (Altar plate, Palazzo Ducale di Mantova),
just like Michelangelo (Moses, 1513–1515, San Pietro in
Vincoli, Rome) and both roughly for the size found in
rabbinic tradition. While rabbinic tradition teaches that
the tablets were squared, according to some authorities,
the rabbis themselves approved of rounded depictions
of the tablets in replicas so that they would not exactly
match the historical tablets.
The length and width of each of the tablets was six Tefa-
chim, and each was three Tefachim thick, roughly 50/25 cm,
though they tend to be shown larger in artistic representa-
tions. Also, according to tradition, the words were not en-
graved on the surface, but rather were bored into the stone.
Rembrandt combined the rounded shape with the larg-
er size. Interestingly, both on Arks and the exteriors of
synagogues, where present, the Tablets of the Law are
more oblong with semi-circular ending, resembling en-
gaged windows of the Romanesque style. The Tablets
of the Law had a particularly dominant position on the
façades of Reform/Neolog synagogues. They replaced
the previously used symbol of the shofar or the menorah
because they were more in accordance with the tendency
of Reform and Neolog Jewry to emphasise the common
ethical roots of Judaism and Christianity in the spirit of
the ecumenism of the Enlightenment.
TALMUD. The Talmud, literally instruction or learning,
is a central text of rabbinic Judaism, actually consist-
ing of two works, products of the Palestinian (Talmud
Yerushalmi) and Babylonian schools (Talmud Bavli)
from the third to the fifth centuries C.E. Used alone, the
word Talmud generally denotes Talmud Bavli, but it fre-
quently serves as a generic designation for an entire body
of literature, since the Talmud marks the culmination of
the writings of Jewish tradition, of which it is the most
important achievement.
The entire Talmud consists of 63 tractates, subdivided
into many volumes that in standard print amount to some
6,200 pages written in Tannaitic Hebrew and Aramaic.
It comprises the teachings and opinions of thousands of
pre-Christian era rabbis on a variety of subjects, includ-
ing Halakha (Jewish law), Jewish ethics, philosophy,
customs, history and many other topics. The Talmud is
the basis for all codes of Jewish law and is widely quoted
in rabbinic literature.
TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, KING SOLOMON’S
TEMPLE, (Hebrew: Bet HaMikdash). The Temple is the
ancient holy place of the Jews built by King Solomon
in the 10th century BCE, actually by master builder Hi-
ram Abiff sent from Phoenicia by Hiram I, the King of
444 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Tyre. In 586 BCE Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem,
destroying Solomon’s Temple. It was restored in the 6th
century. This second Temple was less luxurious than the
first. Antiochus Epiphanes erected an altar for Jupiter in
it in the second century BCE, but the Maccabees recap-
tured the Holy City, cleaning the Temple from pagan el-
ements. They re-consecrated it in 165 BCE, but in 70 CE
Titus had the Temple torn down and carried some of its
parts to Rome (as visible on the reliefs of his triumphal
arch). The razing of the Temple was conceived by the
Jews to be a cosmic catastrophe which changed their lit-
urgy and their view of life. References to the Temple are
important elements of Jewish heritage, including visual
representations in fine arts and architectural references to
it in synagogue architecture.
THEOLOGY. Until the Hellenistic period, Jewry had no
theology of its own in the sense of a system of articles
of faith. A kind of theology appeared – without narrative
dogmatism – when the intellectual trends of surrounding
peoples/cultures called it into being, like those of the pre-
viously mentioned Hellenistic period or the Middle Ages,
often for apologetic reasons. There were philosophers of
a systematised theology again among the members of
Reform Jewry who wrote rationalistic, apologetic books
under the influence of the Christian environment.
TOLERANCE TAX (TOLERANZGEBÜHR, MAKE-
GELD, TAXA TOLERANTIALIS). First it was a war-
tax paid by the Jews in Christian countries, as for in-
stance in the Hungarian Kingdom to support the war of
the kings against the Ottoman Turks and the spread of
Islam in Christian lands. In Austria, during the reign of
Empress Maria Theresia, it became a compulsory tax
for Jews, and whoever refused to pay it had to leave the
country. Similar taxes were to be paid elsewhere since
Roman times, both in the Christian and Islamic world un-
til the Emancipation. (Roman antiquity: Fiscus Judaicus;
European Middle Ages: Leibzoll; Arabic Lands: Jizya –
for all non-Muslims; Ottoman Turkey: Rav akçesi)
TORAH, TORAH SCROLLS (guide, teaching). This
word signifies the five books of Moses. In the ancient
form, the Torah was written on parchment made accord-
ing to a special recipe, rolled up in scrolls, and kept in
the Ark of the synagogue. The author of the Torah is sup-
posed to have been Moses, although he is referred to in
the third person. His teachings deal with God, man, the
world in general, and with Israel. The content of the To-
rah is narrative (historical), legislative and devotional. It
is read aloud on the bimah of the synagogue as part of the
On the opposite page
Menorah of the Holocaust
Memorial at the Sephardic
Jewish Cemetery in Belgrade
service. The whole Torah is read out within a year. The
Torah appears in numerous visual representations in the
synagogue and on traditional Jewish gravestones usually
from early modern times until the Emancipation, but spo-
radically even later.
TZADIK. Literally, tzadik is the righteous, a notion in
use since biblical times. According to Maimonides, based
on Tractate Yevamot of the Babylonian Talmud 49b-50a:
“One whose merit surpasses his iniquity is a tzadik”
(Mishneh Torah, Sefer Madda, Laws of Repentance 3:1).
In a Hassidic context, it practically denotes the Rebbe, a
(spiritual) leader of Hassidim. There are different factions
among Hassidim led by different Rebbes. A Hassidic Reb-
be is a great leader of a Hassidic dynasty, also referred to
as ‘Grand Rabbi’, a cultic figure often with his court.
YAHRZEIT (Yiddish yortsayt from German Jahreszeit).
Yahrzeit is the anniversary of the death of a family member,
when the Kaddish is recited and a candle is lit inside one’s
home or near the grave at the Jewish cemetery. Traditionally,
yahrzeit is observed according to the Hebrew calendar, but
some Reform communities follow the secular calendar. When
after the death of a family member the year of mourning is
over, mourners are expected to return to a fully normal life.
YESHIVA. The Hebrew term yeshiva, plural yeshivot,
literally means sitting and refers to the study of tradition-
al religious texts, primarily the Talmud and the Torah,
done in daily shiurim (lectures or classes) and in pairs,
called chavrutas, a type of learning unique for yeshivot.
Historically, yeshivot were attended by males only. Now-
adays, all non-Orthodox and a few Modern Orthodox
yeshivot are open even to women, but they differ from
those intended for men. In Israel, post-bar mitzvah-age
students (older than 13 years) learn in a yeshiva ktana
(‘small yeshiva’ or ‘minor yeshiva’), and high-school-age
students learn in a yeshiva gdola or large yeshiva.
YOM KIPPUR (Yom ha-Kippurim) is the Day of Atone-
ment, one of the most important feasts of the Jews, the
holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Originally, it was cel-
ebrated with a cultic rite in the Temple, whereas today it
is celebrated with fasting and penitence.
ZEDAKA, TZEDAKA, TSEDAKA. In European languag-
es, tzedaka is translated as charity, but this is not correct, as
tzedaka is an obligation, while charity in the Christian world
is a spontaneous act. The word tzedaka stems from tzedek
(zadi-dalet-kuf), meaning righteous. Maimonides wrote that,
while the second highest form of tzedaka is to give donations
anonymously to unknown recipients, the highest form is to
give a gift, loan, or partnership that will result in the recipient
supporting himself instead of being dependant on others. The
charity box or Puschke (Yiddish, from Polish word puszka,
meaning small can or container kept at home for charity mon-
ey) with a hand and a coin often features on graves of the
pre-Emancipation period. It refers to the generosity and righ-
teousness of the deceased. (Islam took this over from Judaism
and Sadaqah or Saddka in Arabic means ‘voluntary chari-
ty’.) The word tzedaka is written on the charity box which is
located near the men’s entrance inside the synagogue.

Алексеев, А. А.: Еврейское кладбище. In:
Энциклопедия Санкт-Петербурга, http://www.encspb.ru/
object/2803922722?lc=ru, last retrieved 11 January 2018 (Тhe
Jewish Cemetery, In: The Encyclopaedia of Saint Petersburg)
Balaban, M.: Starożytne cmentarze żydowskie w
Polsce. In: Nasz Przeglad, No. 253, 11. 9. 1932.
(The Old Jewish Cemeteries in Poland)
Balaban, M.: Zabytki historyczne Żydow w Polsce,
Warszawa 1929. (Jewish historical monuments in Poland)
Bányai, V.: Ezechiel Landaus Responsen als Quelle zur
Geschichte der ungarischen Juden. In: Judaica: Beiträge
zum Verstehen des Judentums 69 (1), pp. 48–59. (Ezechiel
Landau’s response as source of Hungarian Jewish history)
Barnai, J.: On the history of the Jews in the Ottoman
Empire. In: Juhász, E. (ed.): Sephardi Jew in the Ottoman
Empire – Aspects of Material Culture, Jerusalem 1990.
Bedoire, F.: The Jewish Contribution to Modern
Architecture 1830–1930, Jersey City 2004.
Beĭzer, M.: The Jews of St. Petersburg, Phildelphia/
London 1989.
Beĭzer, M.: The Jewish Preobrazhensky Cemetery,
Leningrad. In: Soviet Jewry, 1.1 (1986), pp. 25–63.
Berghahn, V.: Imperial Germany, 1871–1914: Economy,
Society, Culture, and Politics, Providence/Oxford 1994.
Böcher, O.: Der alte Judenfriedhof in Worms. In:
Rheinische Kunststätten 148, Köln/Neuss 1960.
(The old Jewish cemetery in Worms)
On the opposite page
The ohel of Ber Sonnenberg,
1822, Warsaw Okopowa
Street Cemetery
Bibliography
Borský, M., Švantnerová, J.: Znovuobjavené dedičstvo,
exhibition in: Židovski komunitni múzeum, Bratislava,
26 May 2016, Catalogue (Rediscovered Heritage)
Breitfeld, O., Studemund-Halévy, M., Weinland, A.:
An Archive in Stone – 400 Years Königstraße Jewish
Cemetery, Hamburg 2011.
Chazan, R.: The Jews of Medieval Western
Christendom: 1000–1500, Cambridge 2006.
Cohn, G.: Der jüdische Friedhof: seine geschichtliche
und kulturgeschichtliche Entwicklung mit besonderer
Berücksichtigung der ästhetischen Gestaltung, Frankfurt
a. M. 1930. (The Jewish Cemetery: its historical
and cultural development with a particular focus on
aesthetical features)
Čorak, Ž.: Zagreb: Mirogoj Cemetery. Bollé’s
masterpiece, the Pantheon of Croatian History. In: Felicori,
M.; Zanotti, A.: Cemeteries of Europe. A Historical
Heritage to Appreciate and Restore. Bologna 2004.
Dautović, V.: A Monument to Fallen Jewish Soldiers in
the Wars Fought between 1912 and 1919 at the Sephardic
Cemetery in Belgrade. In: B. Murovec (ed.): Acta historiae
artis Slovenica, Visualizing Memory and Making History.
Public Monuments in Former Yugoslav Space in the
Twentieth Century, 18/2, Ljubljana 2013, pp. 43–58.
Demme, R.: Der jüdische Kaufmann, Verleger und
Stadtplaner Sigmund Aschrott – eine Persönlichkeit des
19. Jahrhunderts (Dissertation – KOBRA-DSpace der
Uni Kassel), Kassel 2006. (The Jewish businessman,
publisher, urban planner Sigmund Aschrott –
a personality of the 19th century)
448 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Diamant, G.: A zsidók története Horvátországban az
egyenjogúsításig, Budapest 1912. (The history of Jews
in Croatia until 1895)
Dobrovšak, L.: Emancipacija Židova u Kraljevini Hrvatskoj,
Slavoniji i Dalmaciji u 19. stoljeću. In: Radovi. Zavod za
hravatsku povijest, vo. 37, Zagreb. (Jewish emancipation
in Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia in the 19th century)
Babić, D., Škiljan, F. (eds.): Židovi u Slavoniji. In:
Slavonija – sociodemografski problemi/izazovi, Zagreb
2014, pp. 71–97. (Jews in Slavonija)
Duda, E.: Old Cemetery and Remuh Synagogue – Short
guide, Kraków 1998.
Duda, E.: Krakowskie Judaica, Warszawa 1991.
(Judaica in Krakow)
Fayans, S.: Kunst und Architektur im Dienste des
Totenkults. In: Zeitschrift des Österreichischen Ingenieur-
und Architektenvereines 60, 1908, Nr. 37, pp. 597f.
(Art and architecture in the service of the cult of death)
Frankl, L. A.: Zur Geschichte der Juden in Wien. Teil I:
Der alte Judenfriedhof, Wien 1897. (On Vienna’s Jewish
history. Vol.1: The old Jewish cemetery)
Fridman, F.: Stary cmentarz żydowski w Łódźi. Matsevot
beit hakvarot hayashan belodj. Ashdod 1998. (The old Jewish
cemetery in Łódź. Tombstones in the old cemetery in Łódź)
Friedberg, B.: Luchot zikaron; Epitaphen von
Grabsteinen des israelitischen Friedhofs zu Krakau,
nebst biographischen Skizzen, Drohobycz 1897.
(Memorial stones; Tombstone epitaphs from the Krakow
Jewish cemetery, with biographica1 notes)
Friedberg, B.: Neue auf dem jüdischen Friedhof in Krakau
aufgefundene Grabinschriften, Breslau 1900. (Newly found
inscriptions in the Krakow Jewish cemetery)
Friedrich T., Wolf F.: Jüdische Einwohner
Hohenschönhausens. Ein biographischer Spaziergang über
den Jüdischen Friedhof Berlin-Weißensee, Schriftenreihe des
Vereins Biographische Forschungen und Sozialgeschichte e.V.,
3/1998. (Jewish citizens of Hohenschönhausen. A biographical
walking tour in the Jewish Cemetery of Berlin-Weißensee)
Frojimovics, K., Komoróczy, G., Pusztai, V., Strbik, A.:
Jewish Budapest. Monuments, Rites, History, Budapest 1999.
Goberman, D. N.: Carved Memories: Heritage in
Stone from the Russian Jewish Pale, New York 2000.
Goberman, D.: Jewish Tombstones in Ukraine and
Moldava, Moscow 1993.
Gottschalk, W.: Die Friedhöfe der Jüdischen Gemeinde
zu Berlin, Berlin 1992. (The Cemeteris of the Jewish
Community in Berlin)
Gross, M.: Židovi u Habsburškoj Monarhiji u 19.
Stoljeću. In: Gordogan, 23-24. siječanj-travanj, Zagreb
1987. (Jews in the Habsburg Empire in the 19th century)
Gruber, R. E.: National Geographic Jewish Heritage
Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe. Washington D.C. 2007.
Gruber, R. E.: Virtually Jewish – Reinventing Jewish
Culture in Europe. Berkeley 2002.
Grünwald, M.: Portugiesische Gräber auf deutscher
Erde, Hamburg 1902. (Portuguese graves on German soil)
Grünwald, M.: Le cimetière de Worms. In: Revue
des Études Juives, t. IV, nos. 12-, July- Dec. 1938, pp.
71–111. (The cemetery of Worms)
Grünwald, M.: Die jüdischen Friedhöfe in Sofia. In:
Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums, Berlin 1895, pp.
354–356. (The Jewish cemeteries in Sofia)
Hachlili, R.: Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices and Rites
in the Second Temple Period, Boston and Leiden 2005.
Hamáčková, V., Hanková, M. (eds.): Židé v Čechách
4, Proceedings of the conference held on 17 and 18 June
2012 in Trutnově. (Jews in Bohemia)
Hansmann W., Walter, K.: Dumont Geschichte
der Gartenkunst von der Renaissance bis zum
Landschaftsgarten, Köln 2006, pp. 8–10. (Dumont’s history
of gardens from the Renaissance to the landscape garden)
Herman, J.: Friedhöfe in Böhmen und Mähren, Praha
1980. (Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia)
Horowitz, M.: Die Inschriften des alten Friedhofes der
israelitischen Gemeinde zu Frankfurt a.M., Frankfurt
a.M. 1901. (The inscriptions in the old cemetery of the
Jewish community in Frankfurt a.M)
Hülsen, J.: Der alte Judenfriedhof in Frankfurt a.M.,
Frankfurt 1932. (The old Jewish Cemetery in Frankfurt a.M.)
Jacobs, J.: Houses of Life – Jewish Cemeteries of
Europe, London 2007.
Jagielski, J.: Cmetarz żydovski w Warszawie przy ulicy
Okopowej, Warszawa 1986. (The Jewish cemetery in
Okopowa Street, Warsaw)
Jagielski, J.: Przewodnik po cmetarzu Żydowskim
w Waszawie przy ul. Okopowej 49/51, Kwatera 20,
Warszawa 1995. (Guide to the Jewish cemetery in
Okopowa Street 49/51 in Warsaw, Section 20)
Jagielski, J.: Przewodnik po cmetarzu Żydowskim
w Waszawie przy ul. Okopowej 49/51, Kwatery przy
Alei Glównej, Warszawa 1996. (Guide to the Jewish
cemetery in the Okopowa Street 49/51 in Warsaw,
Sections along the Main Alley)
Bibliography
Jalsovszky, K., Tomsics, E., Toronyi, Z.:
A magyarországi zsidóság képes története. Budapest
2014. (Illustrated history of Hungarian Jews)
Jireček, J. (ed.): Historia de caede Iudaeorum
Pragensis. In: “Zpráva o židovském pobití v Praze
r. 1389 z rukopisu Krakovského” Sitzungsberichte
der Königlich-Böhmischen Gesellschaft der
Wissenschaften in Prag, Praha 1880.
(The history of the Jews of Prague)
Kafka, F.: Nový židovský hřbitov, Praha 1991. (New
Jewish Cemetery)
Khaimovich, B.: The Jewish Tombstones of the
16th-18th Centuries from the Eastern Province of the
Polish Kingdom: Study of the Iconography and Style
Genesis, PhD thesis, The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, 2005.
Klein R.: Budapest’s Jewish Cemeteries – a
Short Survey of their Art, Architecture and
Historical Significance. In: Jüdische Friedhöfe und
Bestattungskultur in Europa / Jewish Cemeteries and
Burial Culture in Europe, Internationale Fachtagung /
International Conference, Berlin-Weißensee, 3.–6. April
2011, ICOMOS Deutschland und Landesdenkmalamt
Berlin in Zusammenarbeit mit ICOMOS, ICOMOS
– Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees LIII, Berlin
2011, pp. 105–111.
Klein, R.: A Salgótarjáni utca zsidó temető reneszánsza.
In: Múzeumcafé 57 – Judaika, zsidó örökség, 2017
February, Budapest, pp. 62–95. (The Renaissance of the
Jewish Cemetery in Salgótarjáni Street)
Klein, R.: Az UNESCO világörökség felé –
A Salgótarjáni úti zsidó temető. In: Magyar
Építőművészet, 2015/10, pp. 36f. (Towards UNESCO
World Heritage – The Jewish cemetery in Budapest
Salgótarjáni Street)
Klein, R.: Juden und die Sezession – Ein kurzer
Überblick über Architektur und Gesellschaft in
Kakanien. In: Aliza Cohen-Mushlin et al. (eds.):
Beiträge zur jüdischen Architektur in Berlin, Kleine
Schriften der Bet Tfila-Forschungsstelle für jüdische
Architektur in Europa, vol. 2, Petersburg 2009, pp.
100–112. (Jews and the Secession – a short review of
architecture and society in Austria-Hungary)
Klein, R.: Lajta Béla funerális művészete. In: Gerle, J.,
Csáki, T. (eds.): Lajta Béla, Budapest 2013, pp. 191–
234. (The Funerary Art of Béla Lajta)
Klein, R.: Ashkenazi-Sephardi Cultural Dialogue in
Funerary Art of 19th and 20th Century Metropolitan
Cemeteries on the Balkans. In: Wielkomiejskie
cmentarze żydowskie w Europie Środkowo-wschodniej/
Urban Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern
Europe, Łódź 2017, pp. 9–19.
449
Klein, R.: The Emergence of Metropolitan Jewish
Cemeteries in Europe as a Genre. In: Keßler, K., von
Kienlin, A., Knufinke, U., Ross, S. M. (eds.): Objekt und
Schrift – Beiträge zur materiellen Kultur des Jüdischen
(Jüdisches Kulturerbe, Band 1), Netzwerk jüdisches
Kulturerbe, Technische Universität Braunschweig,
2016, pp. 35–40.
Klein-Pejšová, R.: Mapping Jewish Loyalties in
Interwar Slovakia, Bloomington 2015.
Клајн, Р.: Сецесија – јеврејски (не)укус, In:
Менора, Зборник радова, Универзитет у Београду,
Филозофски факултет, Beograd 2010, pp. 133–174.
(Art Nouveau – a Jewish (un)-taste)
Kloisner, L: Korot beit ha’almin hayashan bevilna,
Vilnius 1935. (History of the old cemetery in Vilnius)
Kloner, A., Boaz, Z.: The Necropolis of Jerusalem in
the Second Temple Period, Leuven 2007.
Kohut, A.: Der alte Prager jüdische Friedhof, Praha
1897. (The old Jewish cemetery of Prague)
Kober, A.: Cologne, The Jewish Publication Society of
America, Philadelphia 1940.
Koljanin, M.: Jevreji i antisemitizam u Kraljevini
Jugoslaviji 1918–1941, Beograd 2008. (Jews and anti-
Semitism in the Jugoslav Kingdom 1918–1941)
Koppenfels, J.: Jüdische Friedhöfe in Berlin, Berlin
2000. (Jewish cemeteries in Berlin)
Kormos, S.: A lovasberényi zsidó temető, Budapest
2012. (The Jewish cemetery in Lovasberény)
Kormos, S.: A váci zsidó temetők. In: Hungaria
Judaica 24, Budapest 2010 (Jewish cemeteries in Vác)
Kostić, B.: Novo Groblje u Beogradu, Beograd 1999.
(The New Cemetery in Belgrade)
Krajewska, M.: A Tribe of Stones: Jewish Cemeteries
in Poland, Warszawa 1983.
Kroszczor, H. Z.: Cmentarz żydowski w Warszawie,
Warszawa 1983. (Jewish cemetery in Warsaw)
Küchler, M.: Jerusalem. Ein Handbuch und
Studienreiseführer zur Heiligen Stadt, Göttingen 2007,
chapter 12: Der Ölberg – Die jüdisch-christliche
»Höhe« von Jerusalem, pp. 790–919. (Jerusalem.
Handbook and guide for study trips to the Holy City,
The Mount of Olives – the Jewish-Christian apex
of Jerusalem)
Künzl, H.: Jüdische Grabmalkunst. Von der Antike
bis heute, Darmstadt 1999. (Jewish funerary art from
antiquity to the present)
450 Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Laslo, A.: Graditelji modernog Zagreba – podsjetnik
na doprinos židovske zajednice, public lecture at Zagreb
Jewish Community, 18 Hešvan 5767. In: Knežević, S.,
Laslo, A.: Židovski Zagreb, Zagreb 2011. (Builders of
modern Zagreb – reminder of the contribution of the
Jewish community)
Łagiewski, M.: Stary Cmentarz Żydowski we
Wrocławiu. Wroclaw 1988. (The old Jewish Cemetery
in Wroclaw)
Levy, M.: Der alte israelitische Friedhof zu Worms a.Rh.,
Worms 1913. (The old Jewish cemetery in Worms a. Rh.)
Lewysohn, L.: Nefashot tsadikim; sechzig Epitaphien
von Grabsteinen des israelitischen Friedhofes
zu Worms, regressiv bis zum Jahre 905, nebst
biographischen Skizzen und einem Anhang, Frankfurt
a.M. 1855. (Souls of the Just: sixty epitaphs from
tombstones of Worms Jewish cemetery back to 905, with
biographical notes and an annex)
Lieben, K.: Grabsteininschriften des Prager isr. alten
Friedhofes mit biographischen Notizen. Praha 1856.
(Grave inscriptions at the Prague Old Jewish Cemetery,
with biographical notes)
Лукин В. М.: Еврейское кладбище. In: Исторические
кладбища Петербурга: Справочник-путеводитель,
St. Petersburg 1993, pp. 450–465. (Jewish Cemetery)
Mazar, B.: Beth She’arim: Report on the Excavations
during 1936–1940, vol. I, Newark, p. 19.
Multanowski, A. (ed.): Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw –
Cmentarz żydowski w Warszawie. Warszawa 1999.
Muneles, O.: Ktovot miveit ha’almin hayehudi ha’atik
beprag, Jerusalem 1988. (Epitaphs from the old Jewish
cemetery in Prague)
Muneles, O., Vinnikova, M.: Starý židovský hřbitov v
Praze, Praha 1955. (The old Jewish cemetery in Prague)
Munszynska, D.: Cmentarz żydowski w Łódźi, Łódź
1995. (The Jewish cemetery in Łódź)
Mutapić, S.: Staro sarajevsko groblje u Kovačicama.
In: Zbornik radova Sefarad 92, Sarajevo, 1992, pp.
323–332. (The old Sarajevo cemetery in Kovačice)
Nachama, A., Simon, I. L.: Jüdische Grabstätten und
Friedhöfe in Berlin, Berlin 1992. (Jewish tombs and
cemeteries in Berlin)
Newman, B.: The Passion of the Jews of Prague: The
Pogrom of 1389 and the Lessons of a Medieval Parody.
In: Church History 81:1 (March 2012), pp. 1–26.
Pařik, A., Fiedler, J.: Old Bohemian and Moravian
Jewish Cemeteries, Praha 1991.
Paszkiewicz, P., Krajewska, M.: Cmentarze żydowskie
w Warszawie, Warszawa 1992. (Jewish cemeteries
in Warsaw)
Pařík, A., Hamáčková, V.: Pražské židovské hřbitovy,
Praha 2003. (Jewish cemeteries in Prague)
Pěkný, T.: Historie Židů v Čechách a na Moravě, Praha
2001. (The history of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia)
Pietsch, W.: A zsidók bevándorlása Galíciából és a
magyarországi zsidóság. In: Valóság 1988/11, pp.
46–49. (The Jewish Immigration from Galicia and
the Jewry in Hungary)
Podgarbi, B.: The Jewish Cemetery of Łódź, Łódź 1990.
Podiebrad, P.: Alterthümer der Prager Josefstadt,
israelitischer Friedhof, Alt-Neu-Schule und andere
Synagogen. Verfasst und zum Theil nach gesammelten
Daten des Herausgebers bearb. v. Benedikt Foges, Praha
1855. (The Antiquities of the Prague Josefov, the old
Jewish cemetery, Alt-Neu Schule and other synagogues)
Podolska J., Walicki J.: Przewodnik po cmentarzu
żydowskim w Łodzi, Łódź 2004. (Guide to the Jewish
cemetery in Łodź)
Popper, L. M., Popper, W. M.: Die Inschriften des
alten Prager Judenfriedhofes, Braunschweig 1893.
(The inscriptions at the old Jewish cemetery in Prague)
Prokop, U.: Ignaz Reiser und die Moderne im jüdischen
Kultbau. In: David – Jüdische Kulturzeitschrift,
Ausgabe 102, 09/2014. (Ignaz Reiser and the
modernism of Jewish sacred buildings)
Przysuskier, L.: Cmentarze żydowskie w Warszawie:
przewodnik ilustrowany, Radom 1992. (Jewish
cemeteries in Warsaw: an illustrated guide)
Rajner, M.: Jevrejska groblja u Beogradu, In.: Zbornik
6, Studije, arhivska i memoarska građa o istoriji Jevreja
u Beogradu, Jevrejski istorijski muzej, Beograd 1992,
pp. 201–215. (Jewish cemeteries in Belgrade)
Rapp, E. L.: Die ältesten hebräischen Inschriften
Mitteleuropas in Mainz, Worms und Speyer, Mainz
1959. (The oldest Hebrew inscriptions in Central
Europe found in Mainz, Worms and Speyer)
Rennert, J.: Der gute Ort in Weißensee – Bilder vom
Jüdischen Friedhof und eine Sammlung jüdischer
Stimmen zu Vergehen und Werden, Bleiben und Sein,
Berlin (DDR) 1987. (The good place in Weißensee –
pictures from the Jewish cemetery and a collection
of Jewish voices about passing and becoming,
staying and being)
Reuther, H.: Hugo Licht. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie
(NDB). Band 14, Berlin 1985, p. 446. (Hugo Licht)
Bibliography
Rütenik, T., Horn, T., von Gaisberg, E., Arnold, I.:
115.628 Berliner, Der Jüdische Friedhof Weißensee –
Dokumentation der flächendeckenden Erfassung der
Grabstätten, Beiträge zur Denkmalpflege in Berlin, Band
40, Landesdenkmalamt Berlin, Petersberg 2013, pp. 24–29.
(115,628 Berliners: The Weißensee Jewish Cemetery –
Documentation of the comprehensive survey
of the burial sites)
Schäfer P. (ed.): The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graeco-
Roman Culture 1, Tübingen 1997.
Scheiber, S.: Hegyaljai zsidó sírkovek, Miskolc 1982.
(Jewish tombstones of Hagyalja)
Scheiber, S.: Magyaroszági zsidó feliratok. Budapest
1960. (Jewish inscriptions in Hungary)
Scheiber, A.: Newly-found Jewish tombstones at Buda.
In: Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae,
Vol. 2, No. 1/1952, pp. 123–137, 139–140
Scheiber, S.: Újabb zsidó sírkovek Budáról a Török
hódolstág korából, In: Budapest Régiségei 20. sz. 1962.
pp. 469–480. 1963. (Additional tombstones in Buda
from the Turkish occupation period)
Schiper, I.: Cmetarze żydovskie w Warszawie. 2 vols.,
Warszawa 1938. (Jewish cemeteries in Warsaw)
Schwartz, S.: Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200
B.C.E. to 640 C.E., Princeton 2001.
Serdarević, M.: Uništavanje Spomenika Kulture
Jevreja Danas, Zbornika radova Sefarad 92, Sarajevo,
pp. 333–338. (Destruction of Jewish monuments today)
Silber, M.: Sofer Moshe. In: YIVO Encyclopedia
of Jews in Eastern Europe, http://www.
yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Sofer_Mosheh,
last retrived 20 April 2018
Sofer, Ch.: Responsa, vol. 1: Hilchot Yoreh Deah,
Pressburg 1841.
Sofer, Ch.: Responsa, vol. 2: Hilchot Even HaEzer,
Wien 1880.
Steines, P.: Hunderttausend Steine – Grabstellen großer
Österreicher jüdischer Konfession auf dem Wiener
Zentralfriedhof, Tor 1 und Tor 4, Wien 1992.
(One hundred thousand stones – graves of famous
Austrians of Jewish faith at the Vienna Central
Cemetery, Gates 1 and 4)
Steines, P.: Wiens jüdische Friedhöfe als Zeugen der
Geschichte. Zwischen Tradition und Assimilation. In:
Steines, P., Lohrmann, K., Forisch, E. (eds.): Mahnmale.
Jüdische Friedhöfe in Wien, Wien 1992, pp. 48–72.
(Vienna’s Jewish cemeteries as witnesses of history.
Between tradition and assimilation)
451
Švob, M.: Židovi u Hrvatskoj – židovkse zajednice, vols. 1
and 2, Zagreb 2004. (Jews in Croatia – Jewish communities)
Swiathowska, M., Pugaczewski, A.: Hortus Iudeorum;
Cmentarz żydowski w Łódźi: 1892–1992, Łódź 1992.
(The garden of Jews, the Jewish cemetery in Łódź)
Шабунина Е. И.: Творчество архитектора Я.Г. Гевирца
после 1917 года, In: Актуальные проблемы теории и
истории искусства: сб. науч. статей. Вып. 3. / Под ред. С.В.
Мальцевой, Е.Ю. Станюкович-Денисовой. Saint Petersburg
2013. pp. 308–313. (The oeuvre of J. G. Gewürz after 1917)
Tanaka, S.: Wilhelm Stiassny (1842–1910) – Synagogenbau,
Orientalismus und jüdische Identität, PhD thesis, Universität
Wien, 2009. (Wilhelm Stiassny (1842–1910) – synagogue
buildings, orientalism and Jewish identity)
Trčak, I.: Mirogoj, Kulturno - povijesni vodič. Zagreb
1987. (Mirogoj, Cultural-Historical Guidebook)
Trzciński, A.: Symbole i obrazy: treści symboliczne
przedstawień na nagrobkach żydowskich w Polsce.
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej,
Lublin 1997. (Symbols and pictures: symbolic content of
representations on Jewish tombstones in Poland)
Vollmer, H. (ed.): Emil Högg, In: Allgemeines Lexikon
der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart.
Begründet von Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker, Band 17:
Heubel–Hubard, Leipzig 1924, p. 198. (Emil Högg)
Weisz, S.: Avnei beit hayotser geonim asher mats’u
mekom menuhatam beveit ha hayashan. Pressburg,
Jerusalem 1970. (Gravestones of the Rabbis who are
buried in the old Jewish cemetery of Pressburg)
Werner-Clementschitsch, H.: Der Architekt Ignaz Reiser.
Leben und Werk. In: Die Steine sprechen 39/3.2000, Nr.
118, p. 3. (The architect Ignaz Reiser. Life and Oeuvre)
Wodzinski, M.: Groby cadyków w Polsce: o chasydzkiej
literaturze nagrobnej i jej kontekstach. Towarzystwo
Przyjaciół Polonistyki Wrocławskiej, Wrocław 1998.
(Tombstones of the righteous in Poland: about Hasidic
tomb literature and its contexts)
Wolajski, M. Z. The Jewish Cemetry in Łódź, 2nd rev.
ed., Łódź 2001.
On next page
Detail from the ohel of Ber
Sonnenberg, 1822, Warsaw
Okopowa Street Cemetery
 About the Author

Rudolf Klein (Subotica, 1955), currently professor of modern architectural history at Szent István University in Budapest, has
researched and lectured at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1992–94; 1996–98), Tel Aviv University (1996–2006), Kyoto
Institute of Technology (1994–95) and numerous universities in Central and South-Eastern Europe. He researches 19th and
20th century architectural history and theory as well as Ashkenazi synagogue architecture of modern times.
His published books include:
• Synagogues in Hungary 1782–1918 – Genealogy, Typology and Architectural Significance, Budapest: Terc Publishers, 2017
• A szabadkai zsinagóga [The Synagogue in Subotica], Subotica: Szabadkai Zsidó Hitközség, 2015
• The Great Synagogue of Budapest, Budapest: Terc, 2008
• Zvi Hecker – Oltre il riconoscibile, Torino: Testo & Immagine, 2002
• Contemporary Architecture of Hungary, 1989–2002 (Co-Authors: Éva and Miklós Lampel), Budapest: Octagon Publishers, 2002
• Peter Eisenman – A dekonstruktivizmustól a foldingig / From Deconstruction to Folding (co-author: György
Kunszt, published in English and Hungarian), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1999
• Tadao Ando – Architect Between East and West / Az építész Kelet és Nyugat között (published in English and
Hungarian), Budapest: Pont Kiadó, 1996
• L’ art juif (co-authors G. S. Rajna, Z. A. Maisels, R. Reich, D. Jarassé), Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 1995;
Jewish Art, New York: Abrams, 1997; Die Jüdische Kunst, Freiburg, Basel, Wien: Herder, 1997
• Jože Plečnik [Architect Jože Plečnik], Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1992
• A lakógéptől az érző építészetig – XX. századi elméletek [From the ‘Machine á Habiter’ to Sensitive Architecture
– 20th Century Theories], Novi Sad: Forum, 1988
• Sudelovanje korisnika u oblikovanju stana [The Participation of the Dwellers in the Design of their Flats],
Subotica: Građevinski fakultet Subotica, 1987