City Hall in Chisinau, Moldova is seeking international funding to restore the ruined tahara, or pre-burial, house at the city’s sprawling monumental Jewish cemetery, the news site Jurnal reported.
“We have examples of how other synagogues and cemeteries were restored, and i if the Jewish community agrees, it could be gradually rebuilt,” it quoted Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca as saying.
The cemetery, at Milano st., though ravaged and long-neglected, is the single largest Jewish heritage site in Moldova and was listed as a national monument in 2012. A clean-up action took place there in November.
See a Facebook photo gallery of the cemetery
The U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad survey of Jewish sites in Moldova writes:
The approximately 100 hectare area is surrounded by a continuous masonry wall with a gate. It contains more than 20,000 graves, which date back to the 17th century. Gravestones and markers are made of marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, slate and other materials. Some graves are marked with ornate structures in the form of mausoleums. Many graves have metal fences around them; others have portraits applied to the stones, as well as other decorative items. There is a monument to the victims of the Holocaust, and the ruins of a pre-burial house. Several restoration efforts, including re-erection of stones and clearing of the vegetation, have been carried out here in past years. Several Jewish groups from Moldova and abroad have participated in caring for the site.
Read a JTA article about plans to restore the tahara house
See Jurnal article, with pictures