It was here, in the very well preserved Jewish Quarter in Krakow that I first first saw broken grave marker that were used to be something else. I had never thought about the purposeful destruction on grave stones before. Vandalism is a problem in graveyards in the United States--it is vandalism most of the time, not zenophobia or targeting a particular group of people. So why wouldn't it have been rampant during WWII, when the living were being murdered. Why woul dthe dead be spared?
Well, spared they were not. Grave stones were used to pave streets, whole graveyards were dismantled and the component parts used elsewhere. So in Krakow's Jewish neighborhood, which is relatively well intact today, there was destruction of grave stones. I really liked the idea of making them into something that is beautiful and useful. It is not exactly like fixing what is wrong in the world, but it is making what is wrong less powerful.
This is a humble synagogue with a beautiful cemetery. When we were visiting, there was a group of traditionally dressed orthodox men praying around the grave of a learned scholar. It is a tradition that is very old, and they could have been there a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, and the prayers (and to a certain extent,the dress) would be exactly the same. That is what is compelling about ancient traditions--they link you to mankind across the ages. It is just very hard to put the atrocities of WWII behind you.
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