Hebrajskie inskrypcje na Śląsku XIII-XVIII wieku [Hebrew Inscriptions in Silesia in the 13th through 18th Centuries] (review)

THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW, XCII, Nos. 1-2 (July-October, 2001) 255-257 MARCIN WODZIrSKI. Hebrajskie inskrypcje na Slqsku XIII-XVIII wieku [Hebrew Inscriptions in Silesia in the 13th through 18th Centuries]. Wroclaw (Breslau): Towarzystwo Przyjaciol Polonistyki Wroclawskiej, 1996. Pp. 561. This book is divided into threemain sections. The firstoffers an analysis of 782 gravestone inscriptions that exist, or once existed, in the Jewish cemeteries of Silesia (577 are still extant). Of these, 29 date from 12031350 and 753 from 1622-1800. Wodzin'skigives a comprehensivedescription of what he terms"thenatureof the material."This includes the history of the cemeteries, the characteristicsof the graves, the six types of masevot (gravestones), and a detailed formal and stylistic analysis of the inscriptions themselves. The second section of the book publishes-with photographs,translation , commentary,a history of each gravestone, and bibliography of previous scholarship-the 140 Hebrew inscriptions that date up to 1740. In addition, there are five inscriptions from the graves of Silesian Jews in Krotoszyn, outside of Silesia, and one non-gravestone inscription from a 14th- or 15th-centuryHebrew signet ring found in Wroclaw (Breslau) in 1906. About half of the photographsand a good portionof the translations are the author'soriginal contribution. In the third section, in addition to the expected name and geographical index, bibliography,map, and English and Germansummaries,Wodzin'ski has taken the trouble to include seven additionalindices which enable the book's users to utilize easily the rich materialcontained in the inscriptions and in Wodzin'ski'sanalyses of them. These indices present all of the Hebrewpersonalandplace names andacronymsthatappearin the 782 inscriptions as well as an alphabetical list of the individuals who died, a chronological list of the inscriptions, and a list of references to comparative materialfrom other regions. With these aids, researchersin other disciplines (and especially those who do not readPolish) can identify elusive individuals, gain valuable examples of names and Hebrew acronyms, and assemble data for statistical analysis. In fact, one not only admiresthe broadandcareful scholarshipthatwent into making this book, but realizes that this is a work of basic research. That is, it can be used profitablyby scholars in such disciplines as social, culturaland arthistory, sociology, religion, ethnography,linguistics, literature , demography and onomastics. In the first section and in the indices, Wodzin'skisupplies the tools for understandingtraditionalEast European Jewish grave inscriptions. Noting that masevot of the very poor (because 256 THEJEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW they were of wood or poor quality stone and did not last) and the very rich (because they were of the highest quality stone and thereforeplundered) are likely underrepresentedin his sample collection, he systematically explains the components of the inscriptions and the formulas employed in each of them, pointing out significantdifferencesbetween them and analogous inscriptionsin easternPoland-Lithuaniaand elsewhere. Wodzin'ski'smost important general observation is that these inscriptions areculturaltexts thatsay muchmoreaboutJewish society andculture as a whole than about the specific deceased individuals they purportto describe. More than supplying details about individuals, the inscriptions exemplify culturalideals and tacit societal norms. Interestingin this connection is the implied "speaker"of the epitaphs.Ratherthanclose relatives mourning their personal loss, typically it is the community that is understood to be declaring the preciousness and goodness of the deceased. Earlier researchers in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries did not confrontthe truepurposeof the laudatoryepithets; and this failure marred their interpretationsof some of the inscriptions. One of the most importantservices Wodzin'skirenders, in the second partof the book, is to correctmistakes in readingandtranscriptionthathis predecessors made. This feature,together with the assemblage of material from so many disparate sources and the addition of unpublishedmaseva photographs,transcriptions,and translations,make this an unprecedented andimmediately standardwork on this subject.It is also a workdone at the eleventh hour, for the ongoing destruction by pollution and vandalism make it likely that many of the remainingmasevot will be lost in the not too distant future. Would that we had parallel works for other regions of Poland. In addition to providing a wealth of technical information, Wodzin'ski demonstrates in his historical survey how the cemeteries where these masevotoriginatedreflectthe fates of the Jewish communitiesthatfounded them. Welcome and hospitality, persecution and expulsion, all find their expression in the vicissitudes of the cemeteries and...