One of the few mementos of Bielsk's Jews, most of whom were murdered during the Holocaust, remains the still-used Jewish cemetery in Bielsk on Cieszyńska Street, established in 1849. Reconstructing its history and the biographies of some of Bielsk's many prominent citizens buried there has been undertaken by a young Bielsk researcher, who has also taken the trouble to present to modern readers an unfamiliar concept of death and burial ceremonies in the Jewish religion, tombstone symbolism and an analysis of tombstone inscriptions made in the various languages used by Bielsk Jews, also adding a dictionary of Jewish terms. This makes the publication, in part, a kind of small compendium of knowledge about a slice of the rich Jewish culture that had its local conditions in the industrial and highly civilized bicentennial city on the Biala River. He enriches his source findings with the history of the Jewish burial fraternities "Chevra Kadisha" (with the statute included), examples of specific graves, including mass graves of soldiers of Jewish origin and non-Muslims (even Muslims were buried!), and finally with statistics of burials and characteristics of the preserved, interesting pre-burial house.
Publisher: Bielsko-Biała City Hall, Department of Culture and the Arts, Bielsko-Biała 2002.
Publishing Series: Bielsko-Biała Library, No. 15.
Circulation: 2000 copies.
Format: 240 x 170 mm, 300 pages.
ISBN: 83-908913-1-X
Piece in very good condition
