“3D Matzevot” is an innovative digital documentation project in which 3D technology is used to scan select tombstones of Jewish cemeteries in Wrocław/Breslau and – where possible – personal microhistories are recovered. Contemporary digital technologies offer new possibilities of not only documenting the past, but also recreating that which seemed irreversibly damaged.
Jewish heritage in Wroclaw encompasses, among others, cemeteries and gravestones whose style and ornamentation reflected the bourgeois culture of the time. Unfortunately, time, environmental pollution, acts of vandalism, and atmospheric conditions caused gradual deterioration of these artistically and historically significant objects.
The digitization of select matzevot along with their designs allows for the creation of a database – virtual atlases accessible not only to researchers and historians, but also to families in search of their ancestors, or simply those interested in the history of the city. The 3D Matzevot Project allows us to move back in time, glimpse the past, and animate a fragment of a bygone era. The initiative likewise advances new research modalities in the digital humanities and efforts within the field of cultural heritage.
3D scanning technology allows us to preserve the matzevot for future generations. Moreover, using existing documentation, extant pictures, and tombstone designs, it is possible to reconstruct those matzevot, which were either destroyed or did not survive.
Scope and Partners
The project encompasses three Jewish cemeteries in Wrocław: near Ślężna Street, Lotnicza Street, and Gwarna Street. The first two have been preserved, while the third and oldest was destroyed and built upon in the years following the war. Previously understood only as isolated elements of local heritage, the cemeteries will now be handled equally and centered in the social awareness and research initiatives implemented in 2024 in collaboration with local partners: Fundacją Akcelerator Obywatelski Spark responsible for the 3D scanning; the “Spod Ziemi Patrzy Breslau” initiative dedicated to working with the remnants of the cemeteries of olden Wrocław as well as the recovery of the history of individuals buried here; the Jewish Community of Wrocław; Renata Wikoszewska-Krakowska, and the Museum of Cemetery Art – City Museum of Wrocław; Piotr Gotowicki – formerly a longtime caretaker of the cemetery near Lotnicza Street; and researchers Agata Strządała, Monika Piechota, and Danuta Płókarz.
The 3D Matzevot Project is part of a larger initiative titled “MultiMemo: Multidirectional Memory: Remembering for Social Justice,” under implementation by the Urban Memory Foundation in collaboration with eight European partners thanks to the support of the European Union CERV Program.
Thanks to these collaborations as well as the experts involved, it will be possible to view – for the very first time – virtual iterations of preserved tombstones, and, in some cases, read their inscriptions, and reconstruct the histories of specific individuals.
