Context
Before World War II, the Jewish community in Poland numbered over 3.5 million. According to the most recent census (2021), 17,000 people declared Jewish identity, and there are currently around 1,700 people registered in ten Jewish communities across the country. The legacy of this small community is represented by 1,200 Jewish cemeteries. Only a small portion of them belong to Jewish religious communities or the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland. The majority are owned by local government units or the State Treasury, and some are even illegally owned by private individuals or entities.
Many Jewish cemeteries are deteriorating or changing their character, not only due to acts of vandalism but also due to the passage of time, lack of safeguarding mechanisms at the municipal or state level, and advancing natural processes. For example, the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw on Okopowa Street—the second largest in Poland and one of the largest in the world—currently hosts nearly 50 species of birds, and there are beehives present.
From the perspective of Halakha (Jewish religious law), a Jewish cemetery never loses its function. It retains its status even when invasive archaeological work has been conducted (which is against Jewish law), when tombstones (matzevot) have been removed, or when, due to post-war urbanization processes, institutional neglect, or the absence of a Jewish community or its financial and personal incapacity, commercial establishments, playgrounds, or residential buildings have been constructed on the site.
Highlights
- The necessity to care for Jewish cemeteries as shared cultural and natural heritage.
- Acknowledging the complex nature of these sites.
- Paying attention to all aspects and functions of Jewish cemeteries (places of burial, walks, biodiversity).
Challenges
- HOW to balance sometimes conflicting needs to care for both nature and cultural heritage?
- HOW to construct a narrative about nature in places where its lush growth is a consequence of the Holocaust and post-war neglect?
- HOW to use the diversity of Jewish cemeteries to celebrate Jewish heritage?
Solutions
- Combining both perspectives—the natural and the cultural—when creating narratives about Jewish cemeteries, and organizing events for a wide audience, focusing on all aspects of the site (e.g., historical and natural walks).
- Incorporating the natural aspect into the creation and design of memorials and signage (green memorialization) so that they respect the history of these places and their current surroundings.
- Leveraging the potential of such heritage for educational and social activities that raise awareness about environmental issues and draw from their potential for research and ecological purposes (e.g., beehives at the Jewish cemetery on Okopowa Street or ongoing bird research there).
Description
The Jewish cemeteries in Warsaw are valuable heritage sites and biodiversity areas. While Jewish cemeteries may seem “foreign” to non-Jewish communities living around them, their environmental value directly contributes to the well-being of these communities. Organizing walks and workshops for residents of the surrounding areas is a way to familiarize them with both aspects of these sites (in the case of the Jewish cemetery on Bródno—a community that has been largely marginalized).
On June 23, 2024, an event called Memory, Nature, and Culture – The Future of the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw took place, dedicated to the Jewish Cemetery in Bródno. Its aim was to invite potential partners to join efforts already underway by the Jewish community to preserve and revitalize this unique area: the constantly threatened historical burial sites, but also the overgrown, neglected land within its borders.
The first part of the meeting took place at the cemetery and lasted over two and a half hours. Board members of the Jewish Religious Community and cemetery management staff explained the challenges they face in carrying out necessary actions: documentation, preservation, and memorialization of the resting place of over 200,000 Jews, containing more than 40,000 gravestones.
The second part of the meeting took place at a local cultural institution and the partner event venue—Praskie Centrum Kultury. Discussions were held on ways to preserve the material heritage of the Jewish Cemetery on Bródno and the so-called Fourth Nature (the forest growing on it), while maintaining its tourist and religious functions.
The event was attended by representatives from the district office, heritage conservators, and the leadership of two significant Warsaw cultural institutions: the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute and the Museum of the Warsaw Ghetto. Both institutions lend their authority on challenging issues regarding Jewish heritage in Poland.
Conclusions
- Showcasing the multifaceted value of the cemetery—as both a place of memory and a natural site of biodiversity—can form the basis for a new kind of relationship with the place for people living nearby, who are culturally unconnected to it.
- Utilizing the green character of memorial sites for research and educational activities focused on biodiversity and nature protection allows the multi-dimensional potential of these spaces to be unlocked.
- Taking the natural aspect into account when designing new interventions in the space helps create more sustainable memorial spaces that are sensitive to the environmental challenges.
Funding
The event was organized as part of the “MultiMemo: Multidirectional Memory, Remembering for Social Justice” project, co-financed by the European Union under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV 2021-2027) program.
Photos – Jakub Markiewicz