New Podgórze Jewish Cemetery (Abraham's Cemetery)
Kraków Cemeteries
The new Podgórze Jewish cemetery (Podgórze district), called Abraham's Cemetery, was created on land bought by the Kraków Jewish community in 1919 and opened on 6 April 1932. The monumental funeral house was designed by Adolf Siódmak, and the Grey House, a building of the Chevra Kadisha burial society, stood in the corner. In 1942 the Germans set up a forced-labour camp here, from 1944 the Plaszow concentration camp, and used the gravestones to build roads and barracks. Today there are no gravestones left. Please pause here in silence.
History
The New Jewish Cemetery in Podgórze, known as the Abraham Cemetery, was created on land bought in 1919 by the Kraków Jewish community. The existing cemetery on Miodowa Street could not be extended, so about 8 ha were bought in Wola Duchacka. A monumental pre-burial house was built to a design by Adolf Siódmak, along with the Grey House, the seat of the Chevra Kadisha burial society. The fenced cemetery was formally opened on 6 April 1932 in the presence of Rabbi Josef Nechemia Kornitzer, and in keeping with tradition those gathered walked around the grounds seven times. During the Second World War the cemetery was gradually devastated. In 1942 the Germans set up a forced labour camp here, which in 1944 became the KL Plaszow concentration camp, and the matzevot were used to surface roads and build the foundations of barracks. The pre-burial house was partly demolished in 1944 and its dome was blown up. Today there is not a single gravestone in the cemetery. In 2004 a memorial to Sara Schenirer was put up here, and the site belongs to the Jewish Religious Community in Kraków.
Did you know?
In 1941 employees of the Kraków Jewish Community tried to hide liturgical objects from the synagogues in the pre-burial house, including historic Torah scrolls. In 1944 they were discovered by the camp staff.