With this page, the team of the collaborative project „Net Olam. Jüdische Friedhöfe im Fokus von Antisemitismus und Prävention“ presents the documentation it has compiled on attacks on Jewish cemeteries in Germany since the Shoah. The aim is to raise greater awareness of this form of antisemitism and the continuing threat to these places to this day.
The compiled documentation on desecrations is based on various sources with partly incomplete or unverified information. We conducted research in literature and many archives, and we also received data from the Jewish state associations and state criminal investigation offices. Although we are thus able to present by far the most comprehensive dataset to date on desecrations of Jewish cemeteries in Germany since 1945, it was not possible to achieve complete documentation of all desecrations. This is partly because not all desecrations were reported — for fear of unrest or copycat crimes — and thus did not become part of official records; some may not even have been recognized as desecrations, but attributed to weather conditions, for example. Furthermore, some desecrations can only be discovered through time-consuming evaluation of extensive archival collections, which could not be carried out with equal intensity across the entire federal territory within the scope of the project. The focus of the surveys was on the federal states of Bavaria, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein.
You can filter in both the map view and the catalog view.
- Desecrations within a specific date range can be filtered using the date range slider (e.g., 1945–1950). When switching to the calendar view, desecrations can also be filtered precisely by a specific date.
- Using desecration classifications, you can filter for specific types of desecration (e.g., defacement, destruction of gravestones, destruction of buildings — see FAQ: What is a desecration?). You can also filter by ideological motives that may underlie the acts.
- Filtering by federal state is also possible.
- You can also use the search bar to look for individual places and view the desecration history of that cemetery.
Please note: Once a filter is activated, only cemeteries for which a desecration has been documented will be displayed. All cemeteries — including those without desecrations — are shown when all filters are removed.
You can send us corrections or additions via our email address net-olam[at]steinheim-institut.org. Please, if possible, include appropriate evidence so we can verify the information.
The website lists all cemeteries known to us that were established by a Jewish community or family — regardless of whether they were desecrated or not. You will find visible and invisible (built-over) cemeteries, private burial sites with perhaps only one grave, and association cemeteries with up to 20,000 burials. However, burials of Jewish victims of the Shoah in concentration camp cemeteries, in individual graves along death march routes, and in other locations are not included.
Some cemeteries — for example, areas leveled as early as the Middle Ages or Early Modern period — can no longer be located today.
In the literature, contradictory data on the establishment of cemeteries is often found; sometimes the exact year is unknown or the date of the oldest surviving gravestone is assumed as the founding year. For this reason, we decided to indicate only the century in which the cemetery was most likely established.
Further information on the history and gravestone inventory of Jewish cemeteries can be found in the epigraphic database epidat of the Salomon Ludwig Steinheim-Institut or via Alemannia Judaica.
We define desecration or attack as any intentional human intervention that damages the substance of the cemetery or at least knowingly accepts such damage, regardless of the underlying motive. You can find more information on the definition of a desecration here.
In addition to overturned or smashed gravestones (desecration category 1) and gravestones defaced with paint or other substances (category 2), we have created some further categories for targeted research:
- Grave openings (category 3) refer to cases in which graves were unlawfully opened or remains exhumed. Such desecrations are rarely documented in Germany. Cemetery buildings (such as mourning halls, tahara houses, caretaker residences) or boundary walls, fences, and gates can also be targets of attacks. They may be defaced, set on fire, or destroyed in other ways (category 4).
- Theft (category 5) at Jewish cemeteries occurred frequently. Gravestones were stolen by municipalities or private individuals and used as building material. Individual objects (fences, metal, grave ornaments) may also be stolen.
- Similarly, misuse of the cemetery or individual elements often occurred (category 6): gravestones were stolen and used for house or road construction. Cemeteries were also, for example, used as garden land, or areas were repurposed by municipalities for road construction, other building projects, or the creation of green spaces. Misuse also includes the burial of non-Jews in Jewish cemeteries if this did not occur through the Jewish community.
Not recorded as desecration were, for example, gravestones toppled by natural events (storms, floods, etc.) or due to lack of anchoring in the ground, as well as natural weathering of the stone surfaces.
If you do not find an entry for a cemetery, this does not mean that the cemetery has not actually been desecrated since 1945. It is possible that the act was not made public. Some acts may not have been recognized as desecration — whether it was the storm or a person who toppled the gravestone is sometimes difficult to determine (see FAQ: What is the data basis for the desecration documentation?).
Furthermore, only cases of cemetery desecrations that could be clearly assigned to a specific Jewish cemetery are recorded. In many other cases, it is only passed down that a Jewish cemetery in the town or region was desecrated — without precise location. We will shortly publish the complete dataset, including these not clearly locatable cases, in a research data repository.
The date given does not always indicate the exact day of the desecration. The exact time of the act is often not clearly ascertainable, especially for cemeteries in remote locations. Sometimes only a time period can be given during which the desecration occurred. In many cases, the given date refers to the discovery of the desecration.
Only a small percentage of perpetrators are caught, so the background of the acts often remains unclear and can only be surmised.
The categories “right-wing extremist” and “left-wing extremist” are based on established terms from antisemitism research and serve to classify different forms and backgrounds of antisemitic acts. “Right-wing extremist” includes cases associated with a far-right worldview; “left-wing extremist” with a far-left worldview. Sometimes perpetrators leave “messages,” often in the form of texts or symbols, that can clearly be assigned to the far-right spectrum. Some of the identified or apprehended perpetrators also belong to this group. In contrast, left-wing extremist backgrounds can only rarely be proven. In most cases, an ideology cannot be clearly assigned.
A large proportion of desecrations is likely due to an antisemitic background. However, there are also cases that stem from indiscriminate destructive rage — for example, when not only the Jewish cemetery but also the adjacent Christian or municipal cemetery was desecrated. And last but not least, many attacks on the integrity of Jewish cemeteries result from ignorance, thoughtlessness, or even indifference. Thanks to better education and closer cooperation between municipalities and Jewish communities or state associations, such cases are fortunately declining today.
Then join our Kompetenznetzwerk NET OLAM! The network is open to everyone interested in Jewish cemeteries — without risk or cost, but with great potential! Numerous Jewish state associations and communities, many volunteers, and representatives from municipal and state administrations, monument preservation, science, culture, and politics are already members. Support associations, civil society initiatives, schools, and church congregations are also part of our network. The network is committed to permanently preserving Jewish cemeteries in Germany, making them more visible and bringing them into the public consciousness, better protecting them from attacks, and integrating them more strongly into educational work. Our members network, pool their different competencies, and support each other. Through our mailing list, members also receive a newsletter. Online meetings are held quarterly with input from experts and subsequent discussions, and an in-person conference is held once a year.
You can register via the blue button at the bottom right or by email to net-olam[at]steinheim-institut.org. We look forward to new members!