This month — February 2017 — marks JHE’s fifth anniversary. We are celebrating the occasion with the launch of a new section of our web site — the JHE Jewish Cemetery Forum.
Here we draw together news, information and resources about Jewish cemeteries, as well as information on best-practices on preservation and documentation, and how to ask for advice on projects — through the new European Jewish Cemetery Advisory Network, an advisory body of more than 30 international experts on all aspects of Jewish cemetery research and preservation, launched by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe. (Click to see separate announcement about this).
There are estimated to be more than 11,000 Jewish cemeteries and mass graves in Europe. They range from tiny isolated plots to vast urban sites with tens of thousands of burials. Particularly in countries and regions where few or no Jews live, most are in neglected or abandoned condition.
Grave markers range from simple slabs to highly decorated stones to elaborate mausolea; epitaphs and inscriptions range from brief notations of name and dates, to elaborate poetry: in Hebrew, Yiddish, and many local languages.
We hope that readers will use the JHE Jewish Cemetery Forum to ask and answer questions, exchange information, network, and deepen involvement and awareness regarding research, work, and study related to Jewish cemeteries and their preservation and maintenance.
This is a new and growing dedicated section of our web site, and we will be adding more and more links, articles, images, and reports. Please let us know if there are specific topics you would like us to address here, or if there is specific material you would like to see.
Click to Access the JHE Jewish Cemetery Forum
Click for information on the new European Jewish Cemeteries Advisory Network
ABOUT JHE
Jewish Heritage Europe is an expanding web portal to a wide range of news, information, resources, and insights concerning Jewish monuments and heritage sites all over Europe. Online since February 2012, it is a project of the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe (RFHE) and builds on and expands a previous version of the site.
The original JHE was launched after a major conference on the Future of Jewish Heritage, held in Prague in 2004. The current version was conceived as a follow-up to an important seminar held in Bratislava, Slovakia in March 2009 that discussed the state of Jewish heritage sites in Europe as well as strategies for their restoration, use and upkeep.