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Old Cemetery
The old Lask cemetery on ul. Mickiewicza was established in the late 16th or early
17th century, with the last burial in 1942. Before World War
II, its size was one hectare. All the tombstones in the cemetery were removed during World War II. The cemetery property is
now used as a recreational field.
New Cemetery
The new Lask cemetery on ul. Podlaszcze was established in the mid-nineteenth
century. The last burial
in this cemetery took place in 1942. The size of the cemetery is two
hectares. The oldest gravestone dates from 1840. The cemetery, divided into sections for men and
women, was destroyed during World War II.
Most of the tombstones were removed and used as paving stones, however a few
remain.
Source: International
Jewish Cemetery Project
Diary and Photographs by Howard L.
Rosen
In 1998, the late Howard L. Rosen journeyed to Poland. During this trip, he
visited and photographed the new Jewish cemetery in Lask. The eight photographs
are presented in a rotating gallery below this excerpt from his diary:
"October 8, 1998 Brzeziny
and Lask
...From Brzeziny we drove to Lask, about
twenty miles southwest of Lodz. The population contained a large percentage
of Jews there in 1939. My great-grandfather, Shia Rudek (1836-1909), was
born there. His father, Isaac (b. 1806), his grandfather, Shia Leyzer (b.
1762) and his great-grandfather Leyzer (b. ca. 1735), were all born there
and are probably buried there.
We walked to a small park where there had been an open-air
market run by Jewish merchants and tradesman for 200 or more years. Completely
ringing the square were small stores that Petje told me were all once operated
by Jews. Walking around the square we found one doorway with a cut in the
masonry, which by height and angle was obviously where the mezuzah was placed.
Today there probably aren't any Jews there.
We went to the cemetery located in a lovely wooded area.
All the tombstones but one were lying on the ground. They were not broken and
many had beautiful carvings. The one standing had been re-erected, but with
the carving facing away from the grave. Someone had left two Yahrzeit candles
there. We lit them and I recited the Prayer for the Deceased. Another emotion
filled day for me in Poland."
Excerpted from Diary
of a Journey to Lodz, Auschwitz and Krakow, by Howard L. Rosen
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Left: Photos of the Lask cemetery,
including
two views of the only standing tombstone.
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