Jewish settlement in Praga began in the Saxon period and intensified after the Sejm issued a formal permission for the followers of Judaism to reside in the suburbs of Warsaw (1775). The person who most contributed to the foundation of the Praga community was Szmul Jakubowicz, known as Zbytkower, a merchant and court banker of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, owner of numerous properties in right-bank Warsaw, and a military supplier who maintained good relations with the partitioning powers. The Jews of Praga started to form an official kehilla at the turn of the 19th century and remained an independent community for the following seven decades.

Jews played an important role in the industrialisation of the right bank of Warsaw, especially after the January Uprising, when Praga was transformed into a metropolitan district. In the 19th century, Jewish people constituted over 40% of its population. The Jews of Praga lived mostly in three areas, primarily in today’s streets Targowa, Ząbkowska, Jagiellońska, and Brzeska. Smaller concentrations of the Jewish population were also based in Nowa Praga (Stalowa, Środkowa) and in Szmulowizna. Most community members were traditionally involved in trade and crafts, selling their products at Różycki Bazaar (Polish: Bazar Różyckiego) and other commercial sites.

Ca. 9,000 Jews lived in Praga at the end of the interwar period, accounting for one seventh of the total population of the district. In the autumn of 1940, the vast majority were forced to move to the ghetto established in left-bank Warsaw and shared the tragic fate of all residents of the capital’s Northern District (Nalewki). As opposed to the architecture of Nalewki and its surroundings, which was largely destroyed by the Germans, most buildings connected with the history of Praga Jews survived the war and the period of post-war neglect and demolition. The most impressive edifice associated with the Jewish residents of the district is the Michał Bergson Educational Establishment of the Jewish Community of Warsaw (Polish: Gmach Wychowawczy Warszawskiej Gminy Starozakonnych im. Michała Bergsona) at Jagiellońska Street, bearing the name of Zbytkower’s grandson. In its vicinity there is the preserved building of a former mikveh (Kłopotowskiego Street). Two synagogues in Praga survived the war – one occupying a large, rotunda-shaped building at Jagiellońska Street and one located in Nowa Praga (Bródnowska Street). Unfortunately, both were demolished in the 1950s and the 1960s.

The Description

The history of the Jewish cemetery in Bródno, located in the area of today’s streets św. Wincentego, Biruta, św. Jacka Odrowąża, Rzeszowska, and Rogowska, probably goes back to the first half of the 18th century. The oldest tombstones found at the site are dated to the years 1743–1760. In 1780, Zbytkower was granted permission to establish the cemetery by King Stanisław August. He then received detailed requirements concerning the organisation of the burial site from the monarch’s brother, Bishop of Płock Michał Jerzy Poniatowski. The necropolis is believed to have been formally sanctioned by secular and clerical authorities in 1780. Several years later, having cleaned up the premises, Zbytkower handed the site over to the Jewish community. The Chevra Kadisha burial society was founded in Praga in 1785. The cemetery suffered great damages during the Battle of Praga in November 1794, becoming a site of skirmishes between the Russian Army and the soldiers of the Jewish regiment commanded by Berek Joselewicz. After 1806, when another Jewish necropolis was established in Warsaw (at Okopowa Street), the Bródno necropolis was mostly used to bury impoverished people and Jewish inhabitants of Praga.

The cemetery was marred by security issues and lack of proper maintenance, which became particularly apparent in the second half of the 19th century. This was mostly due to the large number of free burials held at the site and insufficient funds for renovation works. The situation was temporarily improved after management of the necropolis was taken over by the Cemetery Department of the Warsaw Community (1874). The cemetery suffered considerable damages during World War I. In the interwar period, despite numerous efforts on the part of the community, the condition of the cemetery still left much to be desired.

The necropolis was destroyed during World War II. It was officially closed by the German occupation authorities in 1941. The fence was dismantled and many matzevot were used to pave roadways in military camps near Warsaw or to build bunkers. In December 1947, a ceremonial burial of the remains of Holocaust victims exhumed from various parts of Warsaw was held in the Bródno cemetery. In the following decades, the necropolis was quickly falling into decline, with torn out matzevot placed on huge piles. One of the destroyed monuments was the magnificent tomb of Zbytkower. The site was officially closed in 1960 by a resolution of the Warsaw municipal administration. In the newly drawn-up land development plan, the wooded area of the cemetery was to be transformed into a park.

The cemetery grounds were only cleaned up and surrounded with a tall plank fence after the establishment of the Nissenbaum Family Foundation in 1983 (it took over management of the site from the State Treasury). A new main gate was erected on the side of św. Wincentego Street, supported on two pillars decorated with reliefs sculpted by Dariusz Kowalski, Teresa Pastuszek, and Leszek Waszkiewicz. The decoration depicts various figures, including Szmul Zbytkower, and includes inscriptions in Hebrew and Polish. Stone ornaments in the shape of lit five-candle candelabra are placed above the gate. The pavilion located to the right side of the entrance houses an exhibition on the history of the necropolis and Jewish funeral customs (Beit Almin – Eternal Home). In 2009, the Bródno cemetery was entered into the register of monuments. In 2012, the necropolis within the boundaries of the fence erected in the 1980s was handed over to the Jewish Religious Community in Warsaw in the process of property restitution. By 2020, a total of almost 2,200 matzevot had been identified on the cemetery grounds, which cover ca. 13,5 ha.

Właściciel praw autorskich do opisu: Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN.