Jewish Cemetery in Zabrze

Behind a wall on ulica Cmentarna in Zabrze, modest matzevot (traditional Jewish headstones) stand next to tombs that look like mausoleums from a Christian cemetery. That contrast is the key to the place: the Jewish cemetery in Zabrze, founded in 1871, reflects a community that largely assimilated in a Prussian industrial town without abandoning its traditions. Today ivy and old trees cover the cemetery, and a visit needs to be planned in advance.

History: a prince's gift and 83 years of burials

The cemetery was created when a Jewish community was organised in Zabrze and the nearest Jewish burial grounds were in Bytom and Gliwice. The land, then on the edge of town, was donated by Prince Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, one of the richest industrialists in Silesia. A funeral house soon followed, home to the Chevra Kadisha burial society, and the cemetery was enlarged at the end of the 19th century and later. Burials took place here until 1954.

For years the cemetery had no caretaker – thieves took many marble and granite headstones, and in 1991–1992 it was vandalised twice. Since 1989 it has been looked after by a local volunteer committee for the care of the Jewish cemetery in Zabrze.

What to see

Around 500 headstones survive on roughly 1.5 ha. Traditional grey sandstone matzevot stand alongside monumental tombs of marble, granite and red labradorite.

• Family tombs from around 1900 – including those of the Herzberg, Goldmann, Borinski and Leschnitzer families.
• The Böhm family tomb of black Swedish granite – the grandest in the cemetery.
• The oldest headstones – of Moritz Adler and Johanna Friedmann, who died in 1872.
• The "Wailing Wall" – a lapidarium built from fragments of destroyed matzevot.
• Memorial graves – Russian prisoners of war who died in the Zabrze camp in 1918, and a mass grave of prisoners from a sub-camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau that operated in the town area.

Did you know?

The trees are a monument in their own right: a survey counted 266 trees of 13 species, including London plane trees planted in the cemetery's early years. Ivy has taken over most of the ground and the tree trunks, turning the paths into green tunnels. The inscriptions are in Hebrew and German – a clear trace of the dual identity of Zabrze's Jews.

Tripto tip

The gate is usually locked and there are no regular opening hours. Arrange your visit in advance with the cemetery's caretakers or join a guided walk during a town event – the Zabrze city office has current information. Do not climb the wall or cut through neighbouring properties. Keep quiet, do not touch the headstones or step on graves. Allow 45–60 minutes for a calm walk and wear sturdy shoes – the paths are uneven and overgrown.