Symbols on Polish Jewish Tombstones Prior to World War II

Jewish tombstones built prior to World War II were often hand-carved and depicted intricate carvings of plants, animals and symbols with a variety of meaning. Many of these symbols were specific to the gender of the deceased.

One of the most common images found on women’s tombstones is the candlestick. In Judaism, the women are responsible for lighting and blessing the candles on Shabbat, and so one often finds candle sticks with one, three, or five arms on the tombstones of women who died prior to World War II. In contrast, before World War II women’s gravestones rarely contained the seven-armed menorah, one of the most well-known Jewish symbols. This is likely because women were not allowed to participate fully in religious practices and religious education.

The tombstones of Jewish men show a wider variety in symbols. One of the symbols that appears most frequently is a singular lion, which represents strength and virtue. The lion is also associated with certain names such as Yehuda, Arieh and Leyb, but the fact that it appears on other tombstones suggests its larger symbolic meaning. Similarly, an open book frequently appears on the tombstones of rabbis and notable Jewish scholars. However it is not exclusive to rabbis and scholars, which suggests that families wish for their deceased to be remembered as scholarly. In addition to this certain symbols denote the member of a presitgious Jewish family. For example, if the deceased was a member of the Levite family, then a pitcher will be carved into his tombstone because it was the duty of the Levites to clean the hands of the priest during biblical times. This symbol is almost excluseively used on the tombstones of male Levites, and not those of female Levites. Lastly, the six-pointed Star of David, another well-known symbol of Judaism, is found almost exclusively on the tombstone of men. As with the menorah, and the family-specific symbols, this is likely because women were not considered full parts of Jewish society. 

One of the few symbols to appear on the tombstones of men and women alike is the charity box. This image refers to Tzeddakah, the important religious duty of helping the poor. Its appearance on the tombstones of people of both sexes suggests that loved ones wish to remember the deceased as being charitable. Unlike other religious duties, such as blessing the candles on shabbat or studying the Torah, which are specific to one sex or the other, men and women alike were expected to help the poor.