Jewish Cemetery

Hard to describe this massive place. I suppose it is no bigger than Toowong Cemetery in physical size - so huge anyway, but, the area is walled, and has been the dedicated Jewish Cemetery for 200 years. It remains Europe's largest Jewish resting place.

A forest of graves under a forest of ancient trees. People resting on top, on top, on top, of each other. Next to, next to, next to, each other. A grid of narrow streets criscrosses this city of rememberance. The only open spaces allowing passage. It is not a city of the dead. The feeling is one of respect, peacefulness and acceptance. Workmen restore family crypts; old people brush away the autumn leaves and place fresh flowers and candles on graves; young mothers push prams through what is after all, a huge park in the centre of a concrete suburb. A forest breathing oxygen back into the city, fed on the compost of 100's of years of citizens.