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France: Municipal decision expected on cemetery, Strasbourg Jewish cemetery vandalised – Germany: Cemetery project awarded, Gravestones re-erected – United Kingdom: Jewish cemetery restored – Poland: Jewish cemetery saved – Austria: Solution for cemetery restoration |
Municipal Decision Expected on Ennezat Jewish Cemetery
10 February 2010 – The municipal council of Ennezat is expected to take a decision on the fate of a piece of land containing a medieval Jewish cemetery with some 700 graves. Last year, the area was sold to private developers, but on 3 June 2009, the French Ministry of Culture awarded cultural heritage status to the burial site. Since then, no building permit has been granted to the developers. The municipality is considering to acquire the grounds. Read the original article (in French).
Strasbourg Jewish Cemetery Desecrated
27 January 2010 – At the Jewish cemetery in the Cronenbourg borough of Strasbourg, some 30 gravestones were desecrated. 18 stones were painted with swastikas and 13 were toppled. It has not been determined when the acts of vandalism, which were discovered on Holocaust Remembrance Day, had been committed. The police have launched an investigation. Read the original article.
Cemetery Project Awarded in Germany
25 January 2010 – A website documenting the Jewish cemetery in the Bavarian town of Schopfloch received the annual Obermayer German Jewish History Award. In 2007, Angelika Brosig established the project after visiting her town’s Jewish cemetery, which was in a state of disrepair. The website provides information about the cemetery’s 1,200 stones and gives people around the world the possibility to adopt one for 250 euros. So far, 40 stones have been restored. The award is funded by Boston philanthropist Arthur Obermayer and recognises the work of non-Jewish Germans for the preservation of Jewish history. Read the original articleand visit the project’s webiste.
Restoration of Bath Jewish Cemetery
14 January 2010 – The initial stage of the resotration of the old Jewish cemetery in Bath has been completed. As part of the works, the prayer house at the 19th century burial site was re-roofed. The last burial at the cemetery took place in 1942. The restoration was overseen by the Jewish communities of nearby Bristol and received support from local authorities and the ‘Friends of Bath Jewish Burial Ground’. Read the original article.
Old Jewish Cemetery Saved near Krakow
7 January 2010 – Plans to build a school gym at the site of an old Jewish cemetery in Wolberom, near Krakow, will not be carried out after an intervention by the Polish President and Prime Minister. As the plot was prepared for construction, skeletons were found and the site was identified as a Jewish burial ground. It has been agreed that the gym will be constructed at a different site. The cemetery, which had been fenced until the 1980s, was not properly demarcated. Read the original article.
Gravestones Re-erected at Berlin Cemetery
23 December 2009 – Some 20 gravestones were re-erected at the Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Mitte (Grosse Hamburger Strasse). During World War II, the Nazi authorities razed the 17th century burial site to the ground, destroying most gravestones. Some gravestones, however, survived the acts of desecration and were recently returned to the site where the famous Jewish-German philisopher Moses Mendelssohn is buried. The restoration works lasted for a year and were funded by the City of Berlin and the local Jewish community. Read the original article (in German).
Austrian Government Decides to Restore Jewish Cemeteries
22 December 2009 – After nine years of negotiations, the Austrian government decided to provide 20 million euros to restore the country’s abandoned Jewish cemeteries. The Jewish community will raise the same amount from outside donors, and local authorities will bear yearly maintenance costs for restored sites. The amount allocated to restoration will be distributed by the federal government over 20 years. Involved in the negotiations were the Austrian chancellor, the Vienna Mayor, representatives of regional authorities as well as the President of the Jewish Community. Initially, some 20 cemeteries will be restored, including the 18th century Währinger cemetery in Vienna. Read the original article.
