Jewish cemetery in Polička

The Jewish cemetery in Polička is a small but historically significant burial ground on the eastern edge of town, standing as evidence of decades of Jewish community life in this corner of eastern Bohemia. Today it forms part of a larger municipal cemetery, and a modest memorial marks the fate of local residents killed during the Holocaust.

Where is the cemetery located?

The burial ground lies on the eastern edge of Polička, within the grounds of the town's municipal Christian cemetery, with which it was administratively merged in the 1960s. Visitors can enter during the opening hours of the municipal cemetery — there is no separate gate or distinct visiting arrangement for the former Jewish section, since the two areas have long functioned as a single combined site.

When was the cemetery established, and why?

Until 1881, Jewish residents of Polička buried their dead mainly in the cemetery at nearby Luže, since the local Jewish community did not yet own a burial site of its own. That changed when the local religious community — which had existed as an independent organization since 1872 — purchased land for a new cemetery in 1881. From that point on, burials could take place locally, without the need to transport the deceased to a neighboring town.

How long did the cemetery remain in use?

The cemetery served the local Jewish community continuously from 1881 until 1942. That year marked the start of deportations of Polička's Jewish residents to concentration camps, which effectively ended the site's active use — most people who might otherwise have been buried there in later years perished in the Holocaust before dying of natural causes.

What happened to the cemetery buildings after the war?

Before 1903, a pre-burial hall used for funeral ceremonies was built on the cemetery grounds. After the Second World War, with the local Jewish community all but gone, the site fell into disrepair from lack of maintenance. In 1964, the decision was made to demolish the historic ceremonial hall, and the cemetery itself was formally absorbed into the complex of the town's municipal cemetery — the arrangement that still stands today.

What does the memorial at the cemetery commemorate?

The site includes a modest memorial dedicated to 78 victims of Nazism — residents of Polička and the surrounding area who died as a result of persecution during the Second World War. It is one of the few places in town that speaks so directly to the fate of the local Jewish community, murdered during the Holocaust, which is why the cemetery today functions primarily as a place of remembrance.

Is it worth visiting?

The Jewish cemetery in Polička is not a grand tourist attraction in the conventional sense — no monumental tombstones or elaborate visitor infrastructure have survived here. Its value lies elsewhere: it is an authentic, still-existing record of a Jewish religious community that was part of the town's life for roughly seventy years. For anyone interested in the history of Jewish communities in the Svitavy region and the wider Pardubice area, it is a meaningful, if understated, stop.

Frequently asked questions

When was the Jewish cemetery in Polička founded? The land was purchased in 1881; before that, the dead were buried in the cemetery at Luže.

Until when was the cemetery used for burials? It remained active until 1942, when deportations of local Jews to concentration camps began.

What does the memorial there commemorate? It is dedicated to 78 victims of Nazism connected to Polička.

Is the Jewish cemetery a separate site today? No — since 1964 it has been part of the municipal cemetery complex on the eastern edge of town.

Has the original ceremonial hall survived? No, the building erected before 1903 was demolished in 1964.