JHE Photo Essay: Weeping Willows (real and artistic) in Jewish cemeteries and commemoration

(JHE) — The weeping willow tree, with its drooping branches symbolizing grief, has been a common motif on gravestones — Jewish and non-Jewish alike — particularly from the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

The sculptural Holocaust Memorialby Imre Varga in Budapest, near the Dohany Street Synagogue, is in the form of a weeping willow — whose leaves bear inscriptions of names of Holocaust victims.

Having seen many examples of the weeping willow motif over the years, it was gratifying on a recent visit to come across a beautiful — real — willow tree shading part of the sprawling New Jewish Cemetery in Kosice, Slovakia (as shown in the picture at the top).

We didn’t notice if it shaded any gravestones bearing a carving of the willow motif — but there were a number of them scattered through the cemetery, which has both a Neolog and an Orthodox section.

Here are some other images of Weeping Willows on gravestones and tombs — some are “basic” stylized images such as found in Kosice, but others are sculptural representations that reflect art nouveau or art deco influences.