The secondary life of Ester’s matzeya of Bydgoszcz

Abstract

An inspiration to discuss the secondary life of Bydgoszcz matzevas was information of “an old, sculpted knight tombstone” in the cultural space of Bydgoszcz that was obtained in 2006. This tombstone was part of a stone matzeva, which was reused and its original designation was changed. The keynote topie of the article is the reuse of the matzeva commemorating an unknown person named Ester. The preserved front of the part of the matzeva features an inscription that says “Ester... /died at the age o f ...” We do not know the date of birth, death and place of birth. The only thing that we really know is that Ester was buried in Bydgoszcz. It is possible that only many years after the end of the war, the part of the matzeva acąuired in unknown circumstances was used as a materiał used in sculpture. On the back of the matzeva, a female nudę was skillfully crafted, seen from the left side, from the back. This undoubtedly unusual case of reuse of Jewish tombstone is surely worth mentioning. The matzeva dates from the tum of the 20,h century. Due to the place of fmding the matzeva, I assume that it comes from one of the Jewish cemeteries of Bydgoszcz.