Friday, May 31

Why visit another cemetery in Warsaw? Why visit them at all?

Thus far in the trip, I was repeatedly both stunned and disappointed with the conditions of Jewish cemeteries, as compared to the Polish Catholic graveyards. The distinctions are obvious and stark — Jewish cemeteries were sometimes even difficult to identify as burial grounds, until I really started to walk around. We drove past a few Catholic cemeteries in our travelling across Poland — these were well-kept and orderly.

On occasion, I have questioned how the Polish people can live on without paying attention to these differences. Yet, I can see a cemetery from my living window at home. I have cut grass at several different cemeteries for work. I have often seen funeral proceedings going on there too…and those moments have done little to affect me — I recognize them and carry on with my day’s work. Death is an unnatural thing, making it horrendous to consider for too long. Humanity naturally wants to live and to survive. That’s exactly what makes the Holocaust so alarming. What if it was not wrong? What if it was just based on a different moral and ethical thought process? Ultimately, what would it take for me to do the same things — to ruin families, to dehumanize parents in front of their children, or to take another’s life?

Okopowa cemetery was different. It WAS actually well taken care of — or in the process of being uncovered, at any rate. In fact, as Michela shared with us, many graves there were once lost and nearly buried beneath the overgrown grass, trees, and weeds. Together, we found a grave of a family friend that had once been lost. Yet, the paths through the cemetery only lead to the different ‘sections;’ I still often found myself wandering through disorderly rows and around large numbers of closely located stones. Yet, this cemetery was one that was not eery or dismal like others we visited. Okopowa had a strange natural beauty — the trees were in bloom and the grounds were filled with the sounds of bird calls and squirrels chirrups in the treetops. This was one Jewish cemetery that was well-cared for, as we learned, with the funds offered from the Polish state.