Guiding souls… All Saints Day in Warsaw.

“We try and make sure every grave has a candle to guide any lost souls,” a friend told me. It was All Saints Day (Wszystkich Swietych) in Warsaw, Poland and thousands of people headed out the city’s many cemeteries, candles and flowers in hand to honor the dearly departed.

An official holiday day, all but essential services, are cancelled to give people time to visit family members to maintain graves and leave lights. I visited three of Warsaw’s biggest (and busiest) cemeteries; Jewish Cemetery Warsaw which is more than 200 years old, Cmentarz Powązkowski which is the resting place of many famous historical figures and Cmentarz Tatarski.

I spoke with friends about the holiday and many said they spent the time with family, enjoying lunch together before heading out on what was a bitterly cold day to visit the cemeteries.

“It’s not really a happy celebration day or a sad day, but it’s an important day,” a friend said.

The tradition dates back centuries and has Pagan origins and is now a religious holiday with special church services held in Poland and many other European countries.

The candles are laid for souls to find their way in the darkness and people make a point to make sure even the oldest and most dilapidated graves are illuminated.

As night fell the rows and rows of candles gave the cemeteries and eerie, but warm glow.

Many memorials around Warsaw are also honored and it also a time for remembrance of war casualties.