Jewish Cemetery – a relic of a bygone era

The Jewish Cemetery in Wola, on Okopowa Street – is not only another Warsaw necropolis worth visiting, but also one of the largest and best preserved manifestations of Jewish culture in Warsaw. A walk in this place is a special experience, as it is not only an encounter with a different culture, but also with the events of the past, which resulted in the ruination of at least 2/3 of the cemetery, which stretches over 33.5 hectares. Of the more than 200,000 tombstones, many have been destroyed, either as a result of actions during World War II or as a result of the passage of time, as there has been no one to care for them for nearly eighty years.The cemetery on Okopowa Street was established in 1806. It was not the first Jewish necropolis in Warsaw and is now also one of two, but the only one still functioning. The other, in Praga, established earlier, destroyed during the war, recently cleaned up, remains only a historical site.