Museum of Cemetery Art — Local services in Wrocław

English review ( Italian review just below)

I have visited this place in the summer of 2023; I loved the atmosphere and the evocative landscape. You can walk freely across the tombs and explore the place without any limitations, except for some area where there are some current works of maintenance. The area is not huge but deserves a visit: the tombs and buildings ( sometimes abandoned and ruined) are a very significant trace of memories and past times. You can take photos if you want. Remember that some tombs have fallen and you could find some problems in some particular passages because vegetation, marbles and the terrain itself block your way. Overall the entire area is left mostly unkempt and forsaken. Don't expect a clean area with all the comforts. There's no place to sit and rest, there are no services at all except for some private guided tours that you have to book in advance in Wroclaw or online. The tickets are very cheap but check the opening hours: at the time I visited it, it wasn't opened all day long and not all days. The ticket shop is just outside the main gates on the left if you are looking at the entrance. There are toilets just outside the main gate on the right. The cemetery is not used anymore so it keeps a mysterious aura and some creepy features. If you reach it with public transport, you may get there with the tram starting from Wroclaw. The area is safe even if a bit empty ( it belongs to the outskirts of Wroclaw). It's not too far from the city centre, just 25/30 minutes. My personal advice is to avoid the visit if you are not fond of Jewish history and cemetery art/ architecture. Otherwise , if you love old cemeteries and Jewish history, get a chance to visit it!

Italian review:

Ho visitato questo cimitero ebraico durante Luglio 2023. Essendo appassionato di architettura cimiteriale, mi sono recato sul posto con grande aspettativa. La parte architettonica , tombe, sepolcri, etc merita davvero una visita, essendo un cimitero antico, non più in uso. Purtroppo è tenuto male, molte strutture sono cadute, in pezzi o comunque non conservate con cura. Il costo del biglietto ( acquistabile fuori dal cimitero in un baracchino sito sulla sinistra dell' ingresso principale) è modico. Vi sono toilette poste sulla sinistra dell' ingresso, fuori da esso. Per raggiungere il sito, basta prendere un tram dal centro di Wroclaw ( Breslavia) e si impiega più o meno 25/30 minuti. La zona è tranquilla, anche se un pò periferica. Se siete interessati alla storia ebraica, alla architettura cimiteriale ed ai posti evocativi, non esitate. Altrimenti potete evitare poiché, a mio avviso, è un luogo destinato ad essere apprezzato soltanto dagli appassionati...

Since google makes it impossible to answer to your insulting response to my criticism, I have to reply through another review: I know the history of Jews in Breslau/ Wroclaw and of the city very well as I studied German-Jewish history and also read about the cemetery. There’s no need to assume I’m uninformed, I know the facts very well. And there was no need for me to enter the ticket office since your extremely unfriendly staff member was shouting at us, I was actually a bit afraid of him, to be honest. If you’ve read my review more thoroughly, you’d see that I don’t criticize you efforts to restore and maintain the cemetery and I don’t criticize that you’re asking for money. I criticize the way you’re doing it by imposing an entrance fee. As I said, I’d happily give a donation - this would be symbolic! What your symbolizing with your entrance fee is just the commercialization of dead Jews, it doesn’t matter how high the fee is, how many discounts you offer and how many free days you have. Entering a cemetery and paying respect to the dead should always be free of charge, everything else is just immoral. If it was really just about a symbolic amount, you could (as many memorials, synagogues and churches all over the world do!) politely ask for a donation and suggest (not impose!) a certain amount. You’d see that such a concept works. But you’re obviously not even willing to consider a more respectful way, since you don’t care about the feelings of the visitors of the cemetery and their intentions. You have absolutely no right to speak on behalf of the people buried there and their descendants, no one has the right to do that but they themselves or a rightful organisation founded by them. By the way: I know some very influential Jewish journalists in Germany, Poland and Israel. Do you want me to inform them about the matter and your inability to react to justified and well informed criticism? If you continue to offend me and refuse to take my opinion seriously, I might...

They actually take an entrance fee for visiting the cemetery. A cemetery! People who want to pay their respects to the death have to pay money first. In other words: The Polish city of Wroclaw is making money with dead Jews. Totally disrespectful! I understand that they need money to restore headstones, for security, etc. But there would certainly be better ways to get that money, here are some suggestions for you: Charge more for commercial tours on the cemetery Raise the ticket price for the Wroclaw city museum Cooperate with foundations Apply for money at EU-institutions, the Polish Government, the German Government Organise Charity events Sell kippot to male visitors (who don’t have a head covering) for a small amount, sell brochures, books, films, etc. Just ask for donations politely!!! If it was free of charge and you asked for a donation, I’d happily give a lot more than just 15 zloty, I’d give 15 Euro. The problem is not the price as such, the problem is that you’re commercialising the dead and this is totally unacceptable! And by the way: Why is the city museum (so I guess in the end the city of Wroclaw?) even in charge of it? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to give it back to its rightful owners - the Jewish community of Wroclaw? And another question: Do you also charge the descendants of people buried there? Do they have to pay money in order to say Kaddish at their ancestors’ graves? And if not: How does one prove that it’s the grandparents buried there? Do they have to...