War Cemetery No. 387: Jewish soldiers remembered on Miodowa

Read the names at a quiet pace

The repeated pale markers in War Cemetery No. 387 ask for a quiet pace. We would read the inscriptions and stay on the paths, making this a visit to a burial ground rather than using the rows as a backdrop.

A military burial section in a Jewish cemetery

War Cemetery No. 387 is within the New Jewish Cemetery at Miodowa 55. The cemetery began operating in 1800; during the First World War it received a military burial section for Jewish soldiers. POLIN Museum’s Virtual Shtetl records 148 soldiers buried in that section.

The wider cemetery was devastated during the German occupation and repaired after the war. The memorial in our photographs bears Polish and Hebrew inscriptions and commemorates Jewish soldiers who died in 1914–1921. The dates on the monument extend beyond the First World War.

The memorial and surrounding markers

The emblem and bilingual inscription deserve a closer look before walking between the rows of pale markers. We find the scale easier to take in from the path than from an individual close-up.

Give the wider cemetery time too, while keeping to established routes. This remains a burial ground used by the Jewish community. Photograph inscriptions considerately and avoid including people attending graves without their agreement.

Plan the visit

Enter through the New Jewish Cemetery on Miodowa, beyond the railway crossing from Kazimierz. Virtual Shtetl records visitor access outside Saturdays and Jewish holidays; confirm arrangements with the cemetery before a planned visit, and follow the community’s rules at the entrance.

• Use Miodowa 55 for this visit; other numbered war cemeteries are in different parts of Kraków.
• Stay on the paths and leave funerals and people visiting graves undisturbed.