Warsaw's Jewish Cemetery
I have to admit, entering the cemetery was one of the more powerful experiences I've ever had in Poland. There is a lot about my visit that contributed to this sensation. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of entering only 45 minutes before closing time. Thus, the minute someone comes to visit me or wants to visit it themselves, I will take or accompany them again without hesitation. At the same time, being there by myself was part of what made the experience unforgettable and admittedly surreal.
The cemetery was initially established in 1806. In it exist over 200,000 graves in addition to several mass graves from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Much of the contents became abandoned after the German invasion of Poland, and the land became overgrown. Several executions also took place on the grounds during the war. Part of the land is still active today, but much of it is left to rest essentially as a medieval forest. It struck me as almost a double-cemetery, where the gravestones are unattended, where mausoleums and morning angels are left to topple and become artifacts in an open and unmaintained museum of some sort, and where, if you believe in them, ghosts roam. This felt to me like one of the most haunted places in the world. At one point, I was entirely alone, only the birds were audible, and I saw a fox crossing the path ahead. It stopped, looked directly at me, and then continued on its way. The superstitious one in me did a little research and found that the fox, in Jewish culture, has a particular symbolism or two. The one I found was related to the color red, an anti-demonic and anti-evil eye. Children would wear amulets of the color to protect them.
