„Uwaga! Nie przysypywać pni drzew!”. Likwidacja wrocławskich cmentarzy w latach 60. i 70. oraz jej skutki
„Caution! No not bury the tree trunks in soli!” Liquidation of cemetries in Wrocław in 1960s and 1970s, and its consequences

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the course of liquidation of German cemeteries in Wrocław in the 1960s and 1970s. These actions were motivated by the anti-German and retaliatory policy of Polish authorities, a policy reflected also in the attitude to the German material culture, a policy which was a form of compensation for the losses suffered by the Polish society in the years 1939–1945. The decision on liquidation of German cemeteries in Poland was preceded by a program of their preservation, implemented without success in 1950s, and by adoption a new law on cemeteries in Poland in 1959. In Wrocław, the discussed process begun in 1957 with a motion by the city authorities for the liquidation of 30 of 70 cemeteries which survived the war. The order of the minister of public utilities allowing the closure of those graveyards appeared as early as in March 1958. The key works were undertaken in the years 1961–1970, when roughly 40 former cemeteries were torn down, including those containing graves from World War II and from 1950s. In the light of the law applicable at the time, it meant breaking this law through, for example, premature liquidation of both family and war graves. Former cemeteries were redeveloped without respect for human remains. During the earthworks, they were left in place (only gravestones were removed) or buried “covertly” in nearby pits, which meant evading the obligation prescribed by law to exhume human remains to other cemetery. In the grounds of former cemeteries, city parks have been established, whereby trees were taken care of to a much greater extent than human bones. Remains of the dead were even left over under the basin of the swimming pool built on the grounds of one of the former cemeteries. Such grounds were also used for construction purposes – residential and public buildings as well as industrial facilities, playground etc. have been built in place of former graveyards. Only a handful of these cemeteries still serve burial purposes for the inhabitants of Wrocław.

• Details
• Contents