The Old Jewish Cemetery of Kraków
( pl, Stary cmentarz żydowski w Krakowie), more commonly known as the Remah Cemetery ( pl, Cmentarz Remuh),
is a historic
necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually im ...
established in the years 1535–1551, and one of the oldest existing Jewish cemeteries in
Poland.
It is situated at 40 Szeroka Street in the
Kazimierz district of
Kraków, beside the 16th-century
Remah Synagogue. The cemetery bears the name of
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
Moses Isserles, whose name is abbreviated as Remah.
The cemetery was closed in around 1850; the nearby
New Jewish Cemetery at 55 Miodowa Street then became the new burial ground for the city's Jews.
Izaak Jakubowicz, donor of the
Izaak Synagogue, is also buried at the cemetery.
During the
German occupation of Poland, the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
destroyed the site by tearing down walls and hauling away tombstones to be used as paving stones in the camps, or selling them for profit. The tombstone of the Remah (Rabbi Moses Isserles) is one of the few that remained intact. The cemetery has undergone a series of post-war restorations. As is common in contemporary Poland, all original tombstones unearthed as paving stones have been returned and re-erected, although they represent a small fraction of the monuments that once stood in the cemetery.
Notable gravesites
The cemetery holds the gravesites of many notable
Polish Jews,
including:
*
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
Moses Isserles, whose name is abbreviated as Remah, (ca. 1525–1572), buried there along with his family;
* Mordechaj Saba (called Singer),
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
of the Kraków
Talmudic Academy from 1572 to 1576;
* Joseph Kac, head of the Academy from 1576 to 1591.
*
Nathan Nata Spira
Nathan Nata Spira ( he, ; 1585 – 20 July 1633) was a Polish rabbi and kabbalist, who served as Chief Rabbi of Kraków. A student of Meir Lublin, Spira played an important role in spreading Isaac Luria's teachings throughout Poland. ...
(1583-1633),
Kraków rabbi and head of the Academy from 1617 to 1633;
* Jozue ben Joseph (1590-1648), also head of the Academy;
*
Joel Sirkis, (1561-1640), rabbi of the Kraków Jewish community and head of the Academy;
* Isaac Landau Lewita, rabbi of Kraków's Jewish community from 1754 to 1768;
* Isaac Halevi, Kraków's rabbi and head of the Academy from 1776 to 1799.
[WCSS (2004)]
The Old Cemetery beside the Remuh Synagogue
(Internet Archive) ''Cemeteries in Cracow raków
Rakow may refer to:
People
*Benzion Rakow (1925–1985), rabbi in London, England
*Bezalel Rakow (1927–2003), rabbi of Gateshead, England
* Ed Rakow (1935–2000), American baseball player
* Edward F. Rakow (1861–1942)
*Mary Rakow, American no ...
'.
* Rabbi
Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, (1578-1654), a
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
n
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
and
Talmudist, best known for writing a commentary on the
Mishnah called the ''Tosafot Yom-Tov''.
*
Yossele the Holy Miser, central figure in a well-known tale of
Jewish folklore.
*
Avraham Yehoshua Heschel
Avraham Yehoshua "Heschel"(or Abraham Joshua) (1595 – 1663) was a renowned rabbi and talmudist in Kraków, Poland.
In 1654 Heschel became Chief Rabbi of Kraków, succeeding Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller upon his death.
Subsequent to the Chmielnicki ...
, Chief Rabbi of Kraków.
See also
*
Synagogues of Kraków
*
New Jewish Cemetery, Kraków
Notes and references
{{Reflist
Cemeteries in Kraków
Jewish cemeteries in Poland
Jews and Judaism in Kraków
Cemetery vandalism and desecration
1535 establishments in Europe