The Old Jewish Cemetery in Leipzig was established in 1864. It is located in close proximity to the Northern Cemetery (Nordfriedhof) and covers an area of approximately 2 hectares. During the Nazi regime, the place was partly vandalised and further destroyed during the air bombardments of the city. A great number of Jews that lived in Leipzig came from Poland (Brody, Cracow, Lviv) and/or had Polish citizenship. This fact can be inferred from the personal data inscribed upon the headstones. As of the 1930s, the deceased were buried mainly in the New Jewish Cemetery, but after its destruction, numerous funerals took place in the Old Cemetery as well. The cemetery also holds the graves or memorial plaques that commemorate approximately 130 Polish Jews who died or were killed during World War II. In the vast majority, they were murdered in German extermination camps, concentration camps or in euthanasia centres. Most of the graves can be found in Section No. V in which urns with the victims’ ashes were buried. Some graves of Jews coming from Poland can also be found in Section No. III.
The graves that have no headstone or those that have been destroyed are marked by small square stones with a Star of David.
The site containing the graves of children is marked by a memorial plaque saying that during the times of National Socialism this was the only place where Jewish children could play out in the fresh air because Jews were forbidden to use public green spaces, parks and playgrounds.
Cemetery address: Lipsk, Saxony
Eutritzsch, Berliner Str. 123
04129 Leipzig
GPS: 51.362089,12.395019
Cemetery administration: Israelitische Religionsgemeinde zu Leipzig,
http://www.irg-leipzig.de/,
Löhrstr. 10, Leipzig,
0049 341 890 35 86
