History
Cemeteries are a sacred place in the Jewish culture, even more sacred than Synagogues with a absent Tora (a nonfunctioning Synagogue). There are about 700 conserved Jewish cemeteries in Slovakia. Although that we don’t know when the cemetery in Zvolen was established, we do know that the first Jewish funeral took place in 1869. In the year 1873, there were three confirmed Jewish deaths form cholera. The first written mention of the cemetery comes from the year 1906, when the ŽNO purchased and extension of the land. From that we can assume that the cemetery existed long before that. The cemetery was fenced with a 75X50m long fence. The original Ciduk hadin is no longer standing. It functioned as a house of mourning. It consisted of a ceremonial hall and some ritual spaces. On the break of the years 1944-45, the Nazis executed 128 people (mostly soldiers involved in the uprising, and people of undesirable ethnicities). After the war 140 bodies were exhumed. The cemetery functioned until the year 1967.
Currently
In the late 1990s, the cemetery was in a disastrous state. After social changes following the year 1989, there was a significant restoration efforts for the cemetery. Thanks to the initiative of Mrs. Alice Gingold, there was a fundraiser organized in Europe, but also in the USA. On August 28, 1998, the ceremonial opening of the reconstructed cemetery took place with her participation as well as the participation of a large Jewish community. Currently, the dominant feature of the cemetery is a tombstone to the Jewish citizens of Zvolen. It consists of six parts representing the six mass graves. There is a large number of tombstones in better and worse condition on a small hill of the cemetery. These tombstones carry a sign of the time that has passed but also of all the vandalism. The cemetery also received a reconstruction to its walls, on which you can find memorial plaques to the victims of the Holocaust from Zvolen. 730 Jews were deported from Zvolen to concentration camps. The memorial plaque to the Victims of Fascism is dedicated to the 128 victims murdered by fascists at the site on the break of the year 1944. We can also find a memorial plaque to Alice Gingold here, as she was one of the main supporters of the reconstruction of the cemetery. The memorial plaque to the victims of World War I is dedicated to the seven Jewish soldiers who fell in World War I. Monument to the victims of the Roma Holocaust is dedicated to the Roma families murdered by the Nazis in surrounding villages.