Jewish Cemetery on Okopowa Street in Warsaw

The Jewish Cemetery on Okopowa Street in Warsaw (pronounced "oh-ko-POH-vah") is one of the largest Jewish burial grounds in Europe and one of the most moving places to visit in Poland's capital. Founded in 1806, it covers about 33 hectares and holds hundreds of thousands of gravestones, from famous writers and scholars to victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. If you are interested in Jewish history or the Holocaust, it is absolutely worth visiting, and it is more quiet and contemplative than any museum.

History of the cemetery

The Warsaw Jewish community founded the cemetery in 1806, because the older burial ground in Bródno was almost full. The oldest surviving gravestone dates from 1807. The grounds are divided into sections, including Orthodox quarters, a Reform quarter, a children's section, a military section and a quarter for victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Graves face away from the gate, a custom set in 1819 by Rabbi Szlomo Zalman Lipszyc. In 1877 a Neo-Classical prayer and burial house, designed by Adolf Schimmelpfennig, was built here.

During World War II the cemetery bordered the Warsaw Ghetto. German forces carried out executions here and buried victims of the ghetto and later massacres. On 15 May 1943 they blew up the cemetery buildings, including the prayer house, and in 1944 the front line ran through the grounds. The cemetery nevertheless survived, was registered as a monument in 1973, and has been restored since the 1990s. It is the only Jewish cemetery in Warsaw still in use.

What to see

• The main alley, a cobbled path under tall trees, a good place to start.
• Ohels, small mausoleums over the graves of Hasidic rabbis; the Jewish community counts 42 of them, the largest collection in the world.
• Famous graves: Ludwik Zamenhof (creator of Esperanto), Isaac Leib Peretz, Adam Czerniaków, Ester Rachel Kamińska, Szymon Askenazy, Majer Bałaban and Marek Edelman. Janusz Korczak is commemorated with a symbolic monument.
• A wall made of fragments of tombstones destroyed in the war.
• A wartime hideout in section 41 built into a tomb, which the community says is open to visitors.

How to visit

The site is large and some old sections are overgrown. Stay on the paths and allow 1.5-2 hours. A guided walk is a good idea if you do not know Jewish symbols such as the hands of the kohanim. Do not sit on gravestones or lean on them. Signs are mostly in Polish and Hebrew, so a guide or a printed guide helps.

How to read the gravestones

Carved symbols on the tombstones say more than the inscriptions. Hands raised in blessing mark a kohen, a descendant of the priestly line; a pitcher or basin marks a Levite; candlesticks usually mark a woman; and a broken tree or cut flower stands for a life ended early. Many stones carry Hebrew and Polish inscriptions, and wealthy families built mausoleums here in styles ranging from Egyptian Revival to Art Deco. A good route is to start on the main alley, move on to the ohels, and finish at the wall made of tombstone fragments.

Visitor rules and practical information

As of October 2026, according to the cemetery website and the Jewish Community of Warsaw:

• Opening hours: Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Fri 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Sun 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; closed on Saturdays and holidays. Other sources list different hours, so confirm before you go.
• Ticket: the community's page lists 20 PLN; check the current fee.
• Dress and behavior: men must cover their heads, including non-Jewish visitors. Dress modestly, do not eat or smoke inside, and photograph mourners or ceremonies only with consent.
• Contact: ul. Okopowa 49/51, +48 504 905 464, okopowa@jewish.waw.pl.

Getting there

The cemetery is in the Wola district of Warsaw, entered from Okopowa Street, near the Catholic Powązki Cemetery. Check public-transport connections in the ZTM journey planner; sources do not describe parking.

Nearby

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and former Warsaw Ghetto memorials make a natural pairing.