May 30 to June 5 marks the annual “Week of Discovering European Cemeteries” sponsored by the Significant Cemeteries of Europe Association, which also sponsors a Route of Significant Cemeteries.
As we are well aware, there are important, historic, and fascinating Jewish cemeteries all over Europe.
Unfortunately, very few are included either on the Route or on the roster of the Significant Cemeteries of Europe Association.
One of them is the Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest, founded in 1874 and the Jewish section of the city’s Kerepesi monumental cemetery, where national heroes are buried.
Massive family tombs of Jewish noble families and industrialists line the perimeter; but there are also the graves of ordinary people. There is also a section where Holocaust victims are buried, and quite a few of the tombs are the work of leading architects of the day.
Still, the “Week” provides an opportunity to go out and explore on your own — or to make plans to help clean up and restore neglected Jewish burial grounds. (See our latest round-up of Jewish cemetery clean-up initiatives — some seeking volunteers.)
We also encourage administrators of Jewish cemeteries to apply for membership in the Association — it is a good way to promote interest in these sites and also to underscore the historic significance (and artistry) of Jewish heritage as well as to highlight both the individuals buried in the cemeteries and the artists, craftspeople and architects (such as the famed Hungarian architect Bela Lajta) who created them.
Here are image of just a few Jewish cemeteries that we feel certainly rank among the Significant Cemeteries of Europe.
