JEWISH CEMETERY IN KALISZ
Certificate of getting by the Jewish Community in Kalisz, 5 morgów land destined for the new cemetery.
Jewish cemetery in Kalisz BY VIRTUE OF THE ACT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1919 AND THE NEXT ON JUNE 8, 1920 THE CITY COUNCIL OF KALISZ PURCHASED FROM THE LICHTENBAUM SIBLINGS AND SEVERAL OTHER OWNERS, 10 HECTARES OF LAND AND 153 SOIL RODS FROM THE DOBRZEC - MAŁY ESTATE AND 1 MORGA 169 RODS FROM THE DOBRZEC - MAŁY ESTATE. E. IN TOTAL, THE CITY PURCHASED 12 ACRES AND 22 STICKS OF LAND. FROM THIS GENERAL SPACE, THE MAGISTRATE IN 1920 HE SOLD 5 MORGA OF LAND TO THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY IN KALISZ FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE NEW JEWISH CEMETERY.
Project for a new Jewish cemetery in Kalisz.
Transported also exhumed in 1967 the remains of the local remains from the Błaszki cemetery Initially, the cemetery did not enjoy much recognition from the Jews of Kalisz. The families still preferred to bury their dead in the old, historical cemetery, the poor had no choice, and the places offered in the new cemetery were much cheaper. The situation changed radically with the death of Rabbi Jechaskiel Lipszyc - on March 21, 1932. Huge crowds of the Jewish community of Kalisz and many prominent rabbis and personalities from Poland and abroad came to the funeral. Rabbi Lipszyc in his testament indicated that he should be buried in the new cemetery. From that moment on, the new necropolis became a recognized resting place. Until 1939 Over 3,000 people were buried here.
According to the Mosaic religion, the cemetery surrounded by a fence and equipped with the necessary farm buildings should have a Tahara. The community started the construction of the Pre-Funeral House in Kalisz in 1926. The construction of such a magnificent building was associated with huge financial outlays. The increasingly difficult situation of the commune and the entire community meant that the building was not completed by the outbreak of World War II - the planned floor was not built and the roof was not topped with a dome.
Document approving plans for the construction of a prefuneral home.
The invasion of Nazi troops, occupation of the country and increasing repressions harassing the Jewish community meant that the building was left to its fate. The German authorities are partially completing the construction, of course only on the level of the necessary security of the facility.
After the war the remnants of the surviving Kalisz Jews returned to their city, but only a few of them decided to stay. The post-war fate of the building was varied. The congregation resurrects its functioning, however, too small financial means at its disposal do not allow for full maintenance of the cemetery. At the end of the 1940s, several symbolic graves are created (mostly from the workshop of Szaje Kawe). The families of the survivors wish to commemorate their loved ones murdered by the Nazis in this way: Jewish Cemetery after the war of 1945. Devastation.
On 10 March 1962, Colonel Henryk Zieliński (Solnik), commander of the Peasant Battalions, was buried in the cemetery. In 1966 about 60 tombstones were refreshed and cleaned up and 20 were concreted. In the years 1945-62 10 people were buried in the cemetery. In 1964 a monument was erected, commemorating the murdered Jews from Kalisz. The remains of the local Jewish community, exhumed in 1967 from the cemetery in Blaszkowo, were also transported to the cemetery. A monument was erected over the grave, and the surviving matzevot from Błaszki were placed nearby.
In the 1960s, Kalisz begins to expand intensively, the new housing estate is slowly approaching the cemetery area. As in other cities, this cemetery is also in danger of being liquidated. The Union of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy stood up in defense of the necropolis, proving that the cemetery area was a place of crimes against the Polish nation.
The plan of the city of Kalisz, taking into account the planned cemeteries, marked in green.
In the 1980s, the cemetery was taken over by the Faculty of Municipal Engineering, and Dr. Edmund Łuczak became the cemetery's custodian, decorated with the medal
"Righteous Among the Nations" and "Honorary Citizenship of the State of Israel".
Project for the entrance and fence for the Jewish cemetery in Kalisz
Today's image of the cemetery is presented in a slightly more favorable light, the fenced and tidy area and, above all, the renovated building of the Funeral Home allow us to hope that a trace of the Jews of Kalisz will remain. More and more people from Kalisz visit the cemetery, families of Kalisz Jews and whole groups of young people from Israel no longer have to sneak a peek through the fence or, as it used to be, force the gate. Anyone interested can easily reach this place, visit it and listen to a lecture on the history of Kalisz Jews. In 2002, thanks to the efforts of Chana and Josef Rosenfeld from Israel, an exhibition commemorating the life of the Jewish community of Kalisz was organized. At that time, several dozen schools in Kalisz participated in "little history" lessons organized in the cemetery, classes presenting the history of Kalisz Jews as well as the specificity of Jewish cemeteries and forms of burial. The cemetery is under the care of the Jewish Community in Wrocław, the keys and the caretaker of the cemetery is Hila Marcinkowska.
OUSTANDING PEOPLE BURIED IN THE CEMETERY AT SUBURBAN STREET
Lipszyc Jechaskiel (October 10, 1856, Rosienie - March 21, 1932, Kalisz) Lipszyc came to Kalisz in 1906 at the request of the local Jewish community authorities
He was known as an outstanding preacher in both orthodox and progressive Jewish circles. In addition, he became famous as the author of the rabbinical work Ha-Midrash We-ha-Maase (Hebrew, Science and Practice in the Five Books of Moses), containing commentaries on the Pentateuch. In Kalisz, he took up social activity for the poorest Jews.
Henryk Jedwab
On April 15, 1918, Henryk Jedwab was born in Kalisz. Henryk Jedwab was wounded three times during the war. For his military merits, he was awarded, inter alia, three times with the Cross of Croix de Guerre (French Cross of War), three times with the Cross of Valor, the Cross of Monte Cassino and the Virtuti Militari Cross. When asked once how many Germans he had killed, he was supposed to answer -
"More than my family counted and many, many more ..."
Mirror mandala on the fence of the Jewish cemetery on Podmiejska Street
The mandala by Ruslan Kolmykov was created on the fence of the Jewish cemetery on Podmiejska Street in Kalisz. The work began in late 2022 and was completed on December 31, 2022. The message of the work, titled "Source," is peace, love and harmony regardless of origin and views, "especially now, in the face of war in Ukraine," - the artist stressed. Ruslan did not work on the mandala himself, but encouraged the city's residents to do so, which was a kind of integration and an opportunity to learn about different cultures
The cemetery no longer serves its former purpose, but it has become a meeting place for Jews and Poles, a place to learn about their common history, a place to break the usual templates and prejudices.
Sources
1.Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu: spuścizna Tadeusza Martyna z Kalisza Akta miasta Kalisza 2.Książnica Pedagogiczna w Kaliszu 3.Biblioteka w ZSE w Kaliszu 4.Wizyta na cmentarzu przy ul. Podmiejskiej w Kaliszu , rozmowa z Hilą Marcinkowską 5.Wykład przewodnika PTTK, przewodniczącego oddziału w Kaliszu - Andrzeja Matusiaka w ZSE - 27.04.2017r. 6.Spotkanie z Haliną Marcinkowską , opiekunką cmentarza oraz aktywną działaczką kaliskiej gminy żydowskiej, przedstawicielką gminy wyznaniowej we Wrocławiu.
books; Sobolewski Piotr, ,,Kaliski Kalejdoskop Przewodnicki 2009”, Kalisz 2010, str. 108; Plenzer Anna, "Szlak kultury żydowskiej w Wielkopolsce”, Poznań 2011, str. 1315; Kunicki Bogumił, „Ballady kaliskie”, Kalisz 1991, str.100; Czubiński Antoniego, „Zbrodnie hitlerowskie na ziemi kaliskiej w latach 19391945, Kalisz 1979, str.37; Kaliski Oddział Polskiego Towarzystwa Turystyczno-Krajoznawczego im. Stanisława Graevego, ,,Słownik krajoznawczy” , Kalisz 2006, str. 8; Zaremska Hanna, „Przywilej Bolesława Pobożnego dla Żydów” [w:] „Rocznik Kaliski. Tom XXXIX”, Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne – Oddział w Kaliszu, Kalisz 2013, str. 9;
internet links: https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/4815-lipszyc-jechaskiel Muzeum Fotografii Kalisza – portal internetowy, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1191965960899582&set=g.73268156013
Przygodzki Sławomir, „Współczesne projekty przywracania pamięci o społeczności Żydowskiej w Kaliszu” [w:] „Rocznik Kaliski. Tom XXXIX”, Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne – Oddział w Kaliszu, Kalisz 2013, str. 195-200, Witkowski Rafał, „Synagogi Wielkopolski wczoraj i dziś”, Poznań 2011, str. 35-39;
0140&type=1&theater http://www.kirkuty.xip.pl/kalisz.htm http://www.sztetl.org.pl/pl/article/kalisz/12,cmentarze/11139 cmentarz-zydowski-ul-podmiejska-21-/ http://www.sztetl.org.pl/pl/article/kalisz/12 cmentarze/11147 cmentarz-zydowski-ul-nowy-swiat-/ http://www.kbwch.kalisz.pl/cat3,10,78 ttp://www.wmf.kalisz.pl/6//1/1/1/1/1/////1/cmentarz%20%C5%BCydowski https://kalisz.naszemiasto.pl/lustrzana-mandala-powstaje-na-scianie-cmentarza-zydowskiego/ga/c13-9130891/zd/77990627 https://dzieje.pl/dziedzictwo-kulturowe/na-murze-cmentarza-zydowskiego-w-kaliszu-powstala-lustrzana-mandala-autorstwa
Thank you all for your help in preparing the project!