The Lo Tishkach Foundation has completed a report on legislation and practice relating to the protection and preservation of Jewish burial grounds in Romania. The report, based on preliminary research, finds that only 17 of the country’s 821 Jewish cemeteries are registered as national monuments.
Maintenance for the burial sites, which are located in 720 different localities, is provided by the country’s 38 Jewish communities. For this purpose, the Romanian state pays a small subsidy to the Federation of Jewish Communities, which owns all Jewish cemeteries in the country. The quality and frequency of maintenance varies greatly from one site to another, and many sites need to be properly fenced and demarcated.
The report calls for adequate funding for the restoration and maintenance of Romania’s Jewish cemeteries and recommends that cultural heritage status be awarded to more sites. The report can be downloaded from the Lo Tishkach publications page.
