Lublin: The Jerusalem of Poland That No Longer Exists

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The first settlement privileges for the Jews of Lublin were issued by King Casimir the Great in 1336, but the actual community only took shape in the second half of the fifteenth century. In 1518, King Sigismund I the Old authorised the construction of the first wooden synagogue beside the Castle, and in 1567 the Maharshal (Solomon Luria) was appointed Rabbi of Lublin — a moment regarded as the beginning of its golden age.

Across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Lublin became one of the religious capitals of Polish Jewry. The Council of Four Lands (Vaad Arba Aratzot), the highest body of Jewish autonomy in the Polish Commonwealth, met in Lublin until 1764 — annually at the fair, deciding on taxation, judicial disputes and foreign policy for the Jewish communities of the Crown. At the same time the Maharshal Yeshiva (founded 1567) trained future rabbis for the whole of the Crown and Lithuania. The Maharshal — Solomon Luria (1510-1573) — wrote "Yam shel Shlomo", one of the foundational works of halachic literature. After him taught the Maharam of Lublin (Meir ben Gedaliah, 1558-1616, author of the responsa "Manhir Eynei Chachamim") and a succession of eminent posekim across the seventeenth century.

Lublin was also a centre of Hasidism. Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, known as the Chozeh of Lublin (the Seer of Lublin, 1745-1815), led a Hasidic court that drew thousands of pilgrims. After his death his disciples founded dynasties: the Yehudi of Pshyscha, Simcha Bunim of Pshyscha, Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, and dynasties still active today (Belz, Skierniewice, Ger). Lublin — a pilgrimage site at the grave of the Chozeh in the Old Jewish Cemetery — remains today a centre of Hasidic Passover pilgrimage.

In 1930, Rabbi Meir Shapiro opened in Lublin the Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin (Yeshiva of the Sages of Lublin) at Lubartowska 85 — the most modern and largest Orthodox yeshiva in the world before 1939. A five-storey building, a library of 22,000 volumes, places for 200 students, its own kosher dining hall and mikvah. Rabbi Shapiro was also the founder of Daf Yomi — the cyclical study of the Talmud (one folio a day, completing the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud in seven years), a practice followed today by hundreds of thousands of Jews worldwide.

The interwar years — Jewish presence at its fullest. The 43,000 Jews made up a third of the city’s residents (out of 124,000 in all). There were 100 synagogues and shtiblach (most of them small Hasidic prayer houses), the Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, ten Jewish schools (Tarbut, CYSZO, Beit Yaakov, Mizrachi), three Jewish dailies (Lubliner Tagblat, Lubliner Sztime, Najer Lubliner Wort), the Hakoach and Maccabi sports clubs, a Drama Society, the Bund, Poalei Zion — the full structure of political and cultural life.

The Germans took Lublin on 18 September 1939. Repressions began as early as December. In March 1941 a ghetto was established in Podzamcze, taking in the entire quarter between Plac Zamkowy, Lubartowska Street, Kalinowszczyzna and Czechów Górny. Thirty-four thousand people were sealed inside. Lublin was the first Polish city in which the Germans tested Operation Reinhardt — the coordinated extermination of the General Government. Lublin was the seat of SS-Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik, who coordinated from Lublin the death camps of Bełżec, Sobibor and Treblinka.

The liquidation of the Lublin ghetto began on 17 March 1942 — the first action of Operation Reinhardt. Over five weeks (to 14 April 1942), 26,000 Lublin Jews were deported to Bełżec and murdered in the gas chambers. The remaining 7,000-8,000 were transferred to the "small ghetto" in the Majdan Tatarski district, which functioned as a labour camp until November 1942. The last Lublin Jews were then deported to Majdanek, five kilometres from the centre, where the Germans had established a concentration and extermination camp in 1941. Of Lublin’s 43,000 Jews, around a thousand survived the war.

But the most important thing for understanding today’s Lublin: the Germans did not only murder the people — they also carefully destroyed the quarter. After the ghetto liquidation of 1942, by the end of 1943 the Germans had systematically demolished every tenement of Podzamcze and the streets around it — block by block. The Great Synagogue of the Maharshal, built in 1567 — destroyed. The Maharshal Yeshiva — destroyed. A hundred shtiblach — destroyed. The Old Jewish Cemetery (founded 1541) — partly preserved, but dozens of matzevot torn out for building material. Castle Square, today the "empty heart" of Lublin between the Old Town and the Castle, stands literally on the foundations of the erased Jewish town.

After the war around a thousand survivors returned to Lublin. Most emigrated between 1946 and 1968. Today the Jewish Religious Community of Lublin has around twenty registered members. One synagogue is active — Chewra Nosim in the building of the Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, used only for Shabbat and the festivals by prior arrangement. Memory is sustained by the "Grodzka Gate — NN Theatre" Centre and the Majdanek branch of the State Museum.

The memorial route through Jewish Lublin covers four main areas: Castle Square on the site of former Podzamcze, the Old Town with the Grodzka Gate, the Old and New Jewish Cemeteries on Czechów Hill, and Majdanek five kilometres to the south-east. The full programme takes six to seven hours with V-Class transfers.

We recommend starting at Castle Square at nine in the morning. Here, in the empty space today between the Old Town (to the west) and the Lublin Castle (to the east), the Jewish town of Podzamcze stood until 1942 — a hundred tenements, dozens of synagogues, the Great Synagogue of the Maharshal, a market square. Today — a grassy space surrounded by main roads. The interpretation centre is housed in the Grodzka Gate (Brama Grodzka — Teatr NN, Grodzka 21), run since 1998 by the "Memory — Place — Presence" institute. The permanent exhibition in the cellar of the gate, "Memory of a Place", shows photographic reconstructions of the former Podzamcze and a holographic model of the Jewish quarter. Two hours.

From the Grodzka Gate, five minutes on foot through the Old Town and onto Złota Street — a fragment of the mural "Shabbat Candle" (artist Łukasz Surowiec, 2017), commemorating the tradition of lighting Shabbat candles in Lublin homes before the Holocaust. From there, ten minutes by V-Class to the Old Jewish Cemetery (Sienna Street). The oldest preserved Jewish cemetery in Poland with matzevot in situ (founded 1541), under preparation for the UNESCO heritage register. Around 60 matzevot from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries survive, including those of the Maharshal (Solomon Luria, 1573), the Maharam of Lublin (Meir ben Gedaliah, 1616) and the Chozeh of Lublin (Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, 1815). Open by arrangement with the Religious Community or the Grodzka Gate Centre. An hour.

Five minutes further by V-Class — the New Jewish Cemetery on Walecznych Street. Established 1829, still in use, about 50,000 graves, the ohel of the Eiger family (Lublin dynasty of rabbis). Entry through the gate by arrangement. An hour.

The fourth stop — the Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin at Lubartowska 85. Ten minutes by V-Class from the New Cemetery. The 1930 building has been preserved in its original state and is today a hotel pension with a small museum on Rabbi Meir Shapiro and the Daf Yomi movement. The Chewra Nosim Synagogue on the first floor — used for Shabbat and festival services by arrangement with the Community. An hour.

The fifth stop — Majdanek (State Museum at Majdanek branch, Droga Męczenników Majdanka 67). Ten minutes by V-Class from the Yeshiva. The Germans established the concentration and extermination camp here in the autumn of 1941; it operated until July 1944. Around 80,000 people were murdered here, including 60,000 Jews (mostly Polish, but also Slovak, Czech, German, Austrian, Dutch, French and Greek). The distinctive feature of Majdanek — the best-preserved German concentration camp, with original barracks, gas chambers, the crematorium, the mound of ashes (Mausoleum) and the Monument of Struggle and Martyrdom (1969, designed by Wiktor Tołkin). Three hours for a considered visit with a licensed guide.

Contemporary Jewish life in Lublin is minimal. The Jewish Religious Community of Lublin has around twenty registered members, most of retirement age. One synagogue is active — Chewra Nosim in the Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin building (Lubartowska 85), with Shabbat and festival services by prior arrangement with the gabbai. There is no daily minyan.

The memory of Jewish Lublin is sustained chiefly by non-governmental institutions: the "Grodzka Gate — NN Theatre" Centre at Grodzka 21 (since 1998, with research, exhibitions, educational programmes and an archive of 6,000 survivor testimonies), the State Museum at Majdanek, and the "Memoria Loci" Association (reconstruction of the pre-war topography). The "Open City" Festival (annually in May) brings klezmer concerts, culinary workshops, film screenings and debates on the Jewish memory of Lublin.

A visit to Jewish Lublin requires a guide — unlike Kraków or Prague, Lublin has no preserved quarter to visit unaccompanied. The "Grodzka Gate — NN Theatre" Centre offers themed tours ("Podzamcze — the Erased Town", "The Maharshal and the Polish Talmud", "Hasidic Lublin of the Chozeh", "Operation Reinhardt — the Extermination from Lublin") for families and groups by prior arrangement (at least a week in advance). Tour length — three to five hours on foot plus V-Class transfers.

Etiquette for the cemeteries (Old and New): men with a head covering (kippah, hat or cap). Entry through the gate by arrangement with the Religious Community or the Grodzka Gate Centre. Opening hours are irregular — day and time must be agreed in advance. Admission is free, donations welcome. Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin — free entry to the museum, the synagogue accessible only during services.

Majdanek — admission is free; the exhibition is open Tuesday to Sunday 9:00-18:00 (April-October) or 9:00-16:00 (November-March), closed Mondays. A licensed guide is recommended (booking through the museum’s website at least a week in advance). For families with children — not recommended for those under 14.

Kosher cuisine in Lublin — none. The nearest kosher restaurants are Tel Aviv at JCC Warsaw (175 km) or Olive Tree Kraków (270 km). In Lublin, vegetarian and vegan options are available at Old Town restaurants (Mandragora — Jewish-inspired cuisine without certification).

Mercedes V-Class from Warsaw to Lublin — 2 hours 15 minutes via the A2 motorway and the S17 express road, 175 kilometres. From Kraków — 3 hours 25 minutes via the A4 and the national road, 270 kilometres. From Warsaw-Modlin (WMI) — 2 hours 45 minutes. From Warsaw we recommend a single-day door-to-door programme (departure 7:00, return 19:30). From Kraków, two days with an overnight in Lublin (Hotel Mercure Lublin Centrum or Hotel Vanilla within the Old Town) work better.

Local transfers in Lublin by V-Class: Castle Square - Grodzka Gate five minutes on foot, Grodzka Gate - Old Jewish Cemetery ten minutes by V-Class, Old Cemetery - New Cemetery five minutes, New Cemetery - Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin ten minutes, Yeshiva - Majdanek fifteen minutes. The full loop is about 15 kilometres, one hour of driving in total.

V-Class parking: Castle Square (parking by the castle), Grodzka Gate (parking on Rybna Street), cemeteries (parking at the gate by arrangement), Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin (the hotel courtyard), Majdanek (museum car park, free).

Recommended day format from Warsaw: 7:00 departure from your Warsaw hotel, 9:15 arrival in Lublin, 9:15-11:30 Castle Square and Grodzka Gate, 11:30-12:30 Old Jewish Cemetery, 12:30-13:30 lunch (Old Town), 13:30-14:30 New Cemetery, 14:30-15:30 Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, 15:30-19:30 Majdanek, 19:30 return to Warsaw. For those tracing family roots in Lublin Jewry — a second day at the Grodzka Gate Centre archive and surrounding towns (Kazimierz Dolny, Józefów Lubelski, Włodawa, Chełm — all within 30-80 kilometres).