Memorials & Cemeteries - Jewish Cemeteries of Zittau

Zittau is a small town with a beautiful historic centre, located in the easternmost part of Germany, in what is now the German-Polish-Czech border. Historically speaking, these borders are all relatively young, as they were established only after World War II, and the states bordering each other have only existed in their current form since 1990 (Federal Republic of Germany and Poland) resp. 1993 (Czechia). In the collective memory, the recentness of the current situation is still quite present, i.e. through family biographies marked by expulsion, forced displacement and exile. The European Heritage Volunteers Project will be dealing with a special aspect of these historical shifts and ruptures: the history of the Jewish people in the region. While records of Jewish life go back to the Middle ages, it was not until the 1871 that the Jews were granted civil rights in Zittau, such as the right to buy real estate or the right to permanent settlement, and in 1885 a Jewish community was officially founded. The cemetery was inaugurated in 1887, with the mayor and other town representatives present. This hints at the rapid integration of Jewish people into the Zittau society. In the following decades, the Jewish population grew from about 60 to almost 200 people. However, anti-Semitism was always a threat, with major outbursts already in the 1890’s and its violent culmination in the extermination policy under the Nazis after 1933. More and more Jewish families left the city, seeking refuge in bigger cities or fleeing the country. Of those who stayed, only very few survived the Holocaust. Thus, only a handful of burials took place at the Zittau Jewish cemetery after 1933. The neoclassical mourning hall that had been built on the cemetery only 30 years earlier was demolished in the November pogroms of 1938. After the end of World War II, there was a short period of active remembrance, followed by decades of neglect and deliberate destruction of the Jewish cultural heritage. Even after 1990, the Jewish cemetery was repeatedly desecrated, the last act of vandalism being recorded in 2003. This event represented a wake-up call to the active citizens of Zittau, showing that something had to be done to protect the cemetery and prevent anti-Semitic attacks in the future. Since then, Hillersche Villa, which is a socio-cultural centre founded in the early 1990’s, together with volunteers and the municipality, has been working on the documentation and restoration of the Jewish cemetery. Their aim is to enhance its visibility and to raise awareness of Zittau’s Jewish history through guided tours and educational programs. In 2013 and 2016, they organised two archaeological excavations on the cemetery, with researchers and volunteers working together. These brought to light the foundations and pieces of decoration of the destroyed mourning hall. All these activities are coordinated with the Jewish community of Dresden, who is the owner of the cemetery since there is no Jewish community in Zittau anymore.