Abandoned Jewish cemetery at Brzeziny, Poland

A Jewish community existed in Brzeziny since at least the middle of the sixteenth century. Brzeziny is today located in the centre of Poland, close to Łódź, it was once an important town in its own right but in the twentieth century was completely overshadowed by its neighbour which is now almost twenty times larger. The Jewish cemetery in Brzeziny was destroyed by the Nazis then the site was used for construction materials, particularly sand resulting in the hill it was built upon being removed. Very few stones are still present, however many have been saved and are now in storage with the view of making a lapidarium from them, assuming that agreement can be reached with the management of the Jewish religious community in Warsaw.

My history channel is based on my own research and generally comes from places I have visited and or original research. I live in a motorhome and as such spend most of my time travelling between Poland, Germany and Italy which is why there is a tendency to produce material from these countries, and sometimes material that is not available in English. My speciality is in World War Two, and in particular, the Holocaust although as you can see, I have opinions on a lot of other historical subjects too.

[alanimals]

Great video and explanation of that cemetery Alan, very interesting indeed.

[joepalooka]

Thank you for another extremely interesting and educational video. It seems as though the entire country of Poland is steeped in death and violence like no other place in the world, except perhaps Russia. The very land itself---- the air, the trees, the soil, the water and the cities, towns and is forever blanketed by the dark and terrible memories of the Holocaust, and other incidents of catastrophe through the ages. It's inescapable everywhere. I've never been to Poland, and your videos really are an excellent source of historical information..

[davidcassidy]

Interesting video. Sometime ago you put a piece of film on which showed the public hanging of ten Jews in Brzeziny. Did you visit the site of where that atrocity took place ? It would be interesting to see how it looks now. I wonder if the residents of this town knew about it's awful past.

[elisabethgelb]

At least in Hungary, Orban govt. gave funds to Chabad to rebuild synagogues and restore cemeteries. As well, with diaspora funds, some cemeteries (as our town of Csenger, Hungary) are have been restored and maintained, but for us, Europe remains forever tainted.

[alexpartin]

In general cemeteries as such are not cared for..Even today in the USA .for this group of People...it truly is gone and quite forgotten.