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Germany: 17th-Century Jewish Cemetery Discovered – Netherlands: Gravestones Restored at Middelburg – Poland: Clean-up of Gorzow, Chelm; Fence Repaired at Lezajsk; Plan to Rescue Gravestones in Inowroclaw; Restoration Begins at Chrzanow, Zuromin; Kalisz Desecrated – U.K.: Restoration of Liverpool Jewish Cemetery; Preston Jewish, Muslim Graves Vandalised. |
Clean-up of Gorzow Jewish Cemetery
2 April 2009 – In co-operation with the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ), volunteers have carried out clean-up works in the Gorzow Jewish cemetery. Read the original article and see pictures of the cemetery’s state following the clean-up.
17th-Century Jewish Cemetery Discovered in Germany during Underground Construction
3 April 2009 / 21 April 2009 – In the course of underground construction works in the German city of Düsseldorf, human remains were discovered at the site of a 17th-century Jewish cemetery. The human remains were handed over to the Düsseldorf Jewish community and will receive proper reinterment according to Jewish rites, says local rabbi Julian Chaim Soussan. 120 years ago human remains and a number of gravestones were removed from the site in the course of sewerage construction, including the gravestone of Düsseldorf Jewish poet Heinrich Heine’s mother. The cemetery, of which no visible traces remain on the surface, stopped being in active use in 1789. On 21 April, the city council and the Düsseldorf Jewish community agreed that a feasibility study should examine the possibility of continuing underground construction while maintaining a 3.5 metre layer between a planned tunnel and the surface in the area of the cemetery. Depending on the study’s outcome, the community will decide whether to accept a technical solution or to reinter elsewhere the additional human remains expected to be found at the site. Read the original article (in German).
Fence Repaired at Lezajsk Jewish Cemetery
3 April 2009 – The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ) has repaired the fence of Lezajsk Jewish cemetery after parts of the original fence were stolen. Read the original article.
Clean-up of Chelm Jewish Cemetery
3 April 2009 – FODZ also carried out clean-up works in the Jewish cemetery of the city of Chelm. Read the original article.
Plan to Rescue Jewish Gravestones in Inowroclaw
8 April 2009 – In the Polish city of Inowroclaw, FODZ has participated in a meeting with local authorities and the regional monument conservator on the issue of Jewish gravestones that in the past were used for pavement construction. As a result of the meeting, these gravestones’ locations will be identified, secured and possibly exhibited in a lapidarium. Read the original article.
Kalisz Jewish Cemetery Desecrated
22 April 2009 – The Jewish cemetery in the Polish city of Kalisz was desecrated in early April, including the smashing of a number of gravestones. The police have launched an investigation. Read the original article.
Restoration Begins at Chrzanow Jewish Cemetery
23 April 2009 – Restoration works at Chrzanow Jewish cemetery in Poland have started following acts of vandalism which desecrated the burial ground in March this year. Inmates from a nearby prison are participating in this project. Read the original article.
Liverpool Jewish Cemetery to Undergo Restoration
23 April 2009 – Awaiting the results of their bid for a £200,000 grant from lottery money, volunteers are currently preparing to restore the gravestones of Dean Road Jewish cemetery in Liverpool, including the grave of David Lewis, founder of the city’s Lewis’s Department Store. Read the original Liverpool Daily Post article.
Gravestones Restored at Middelburg Jewish Cemetery
24 April 2009 – The restoration of gravestones at the Jewish cemetery on the Walensingel in the Dutch town of Middelburg will begin on 7 May 2009. The work, to be carried out by the ‘NatuursteenHuis’, will involve the restoration of 260 of the 347 gravestones in the cemetery. The Walensingel cemetery was established in 1716, and is still in active use.Read the original article (in Dutch).
Jewish and Muslim Graves Vandalised in Preston Cemetery
27 April 2009 – Vandals smashed and toppled a number of gravestones in the Jewish and Muslim sections of the municipal cemetery in Preston in the north of England. While no racist or anti-Semitic graffiti were sprayed on the stones, the perpetrators clearly targeted the Jewish and Muslim sections, which are fenced off from other areas of the cemetery. The police have launched an investigation. Read the original article.
Jewish Gravestones Discovered in Polish School
28 April 2009 – A number of Jewish gravestones were discovered in the course of demolition works in a secondary school in the Polish city of Inowroclaw. German occupiers are believed to have used them to reinforce bunker structures during World War II. A rabbinic decision on the gravestones’ future use is pending. Read the original article.
Restoration Begins at Zuromin Jewish Cemetery
28 April 2009 – The Zuromin Landsmanshaft in the United States and the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ) have begun the restoration of Zuromin Jewish cemetery. The works will include the fencing and clean-up of the cemetery as well as the construction of a gate. Read the original article.
