The Jewish Cemetery in Lesko (5,287 km)

(2024-06-07/09) Lesko is located on the San River, at the south-easternmost end of Poland. Wikipedia lists four sights, a family castle, a parish church and a Jewish Cemetery from the 16th century and the Synagogue from the 18th century. Is that enough to conquer the highest road pass in Slovakia over the Low Tatras with a pass height of 1,240 m? Yes it is, because unlike the Synagogue, which is now a gallery for arts and crafts, the Jewish Cemetery is really famous.

As is right and proper for cemetery in the Subcarpathians, it is located at the top of a hill. The oldest of the approximately 2,000 gravestones date back to 1548. The local tourist office writes: “Disorderly scattered, often tilted or overturned, they create a unique atmosphere of reflection on transience.“ In plain terms, this means that no one has looked after the cemetery for ages and the vegetation has gained the upper hand over the gravestones. One of them, which of course cannot be found, must be that of Hirsch Fleischer, my great-granduncle, who came from Tarnobrzeg but found martial happiness here in Lesko with Sara Anna Heibos. Most of their direct descendants now live in Great Britain and the USA. They are all related to my family, whom I visited in Paris, Angoulême and Marseille during the first part of my tour. Six weeks and 5,287 kilometers lie in between, from now on I'm heading west, back home.