Zaduszki - All Saints Day- All Souls Day

Last Sunday on the recommendation of our Polish teacher we went to Powaski cemetery in Wasaw to check out the All Saints Day-All Souls Day holiday and see what Warsowians do on this special day. Seeing as Poland is 85% Catholic you can imagine the feeling of the society celebrating this day special to the Christian calendar. In all graveyards in the country, and abroad, there are graves that are adorned with candles and lamps as well as flowers  and other decorations. People visit their family graves and there are almost no graves that do not get some kind of recognition. People carry on superstitions that believe the souls of the dead visit the family home and, perhaps, stop for a moment to eat or warm themselves. In many ways this reminds me of Obon in Japan as families come together, tend graves, and prepare for the dead to return to them.

 

Powaski cemetary, the largest in the city covering 110 acres and is estimated to have buried 1million people in it's grounds. As we approached the graveyard there were throngs of people, people singing, some playing instruments, others asking for donations. As we entered the walls there were paths around the tombstones packed with people. As we got further and further in the crowds thinned, but were still many. It was hard to actually move fast as every couple of paces another interesting grave could be seen. Tombstones in Powaski Cemetery are beautifully made with loving detail around family tombs. Some small, some quite large and some clearly belonging to families with some wealth. It was very interesting to see the different interpretations of honoring death and to see the names and dates of those who laid beneath. Many of them a couple hundred years old.

Aya said a few times that it was creepy to imagine all the skeletons that were resting in one area, a literal necropolis, which I suppose is true, but I was focused more on the art above ground. Can you guess the profession of the fellow with the cap and goggles?

 

We searched the cemetery for some time and I can imagine that in the future we will return again. As we searched we looked for the Jewish section as we thought it would be interesting to see that area given Poland's history with the Nazi invasion and the treatment of Jews. Unfortunately it was walled off, but a Polish friend told us that there are times when a gate to that area is opened, so we will try to go then. Looking at a map I can also see a Protestant section. The different sections of the graveyard remind me of two graves I saw in a picture, a husband and wife of different faiths whose tombstones were built on either side of a wall dividing the two denominational cemeteries had their tombstones built so they would be holding hands. No such thing here, but plenty of unique sculptures and beautiful artwork. 

The view at night is even more spectacular, though we didn't get to see this graveyard lit up we did see a few smaller ones nearer to us. Here, an aerial photo and video from drone shot above the cemetery. 

Unfortunately there are some not so positive aspects of the holiday, trash! I'm not sure why as many of the decorations are plastic and glass, easily re-used or possibly recycled, but there seems to be bins and bins of trash around the graveyards. On my ride to work each day I go by a graveyard and there are three dumpsters available to throw your trash for what is really a small graveyard. Even Poles are wising up to the negative impacts of the trash created, so maybe there will be change in the future. For now life is not sustainable, but perhaps in the future the decorations will be?