The “New” Jewish cemetery in the Arberia/Dragodan section of the Kosovo capital Priština (Prishtine) was recently restored as part of a €2 million revitalization project involving 18 selected sites of religious and cultural significance in various locations around Kosovo.
The overall project, called Inter-community Dialogue through inclusive Cultural Heritage Preservation, was supported by the EU’s Instrument for Peace and Stability and implemented by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP).
Work at the Jewish cemetery, which is located next to the Catholic cemetery, kicked off in late July and was concluded in October.
Watch a KlanKosova TV video of the inauguration — it’s in Albanian, but gives a visual panorama of the cemetery before the renovations.
Work entailed rehabilitation of the areas surrounding the cemetery, including the installation of a paved walkway around the site, making it more accessible. Information panels about local Jewish history were foreseen. Lighting poles and benches were installed and trees planted.
Here’s a screen grab from the video above, showing plans:
The cemetery (like the “Old” Jewish cemetery in the Velania neighborhood) had long been neglected but underwent clean up and some restoration in 2017, carried out by the Bet Israel Kosova Jewish community.
In a speech at the ceremony inaugurating the work in July, Maria Suokko, UNDP Kosovo Resident Representative, said:
Cemeteries pay tribute to those who have been buried there. Names on tombstones tell us a story of the early residents – and reflect the ethnic diversity and unique population of Pristina. The way tombstones have been designed, the way the cemetery has been decorated and the way it has been landscaped – it all is part of Kosovo’s history. We cannot talk about where we are going, if we do not know where we came from. That is why preserving history is critically important. Kosovo has a multi-ethnic and diverse cultural heritage. Through our work, we contribute to the preservation and protection of these values. […]
Weather and time have left their marks at this cemetery. As a result – the history, the stories, the memories – and slowly, the identity is disappearing. Cemeteries are among the most valuable of historic resources as they reveal us information about historic events, religions, and genealogy. By restoration of this historic site, we show respect and preserve this piece of history for generations to come.
The New Jewish Cemetery in Arberia dates from the 19th century and is on the Kosovo government’s list of cultural heritage sites.
The “Old” Jewish Cemetery is located on Tauk Bahqe hill near Velania and dates from the 19th century, with about 50 or so marked graves. Students of Dartmouth University and the American University in Pristina worked to clean up and restore the old Jewish cemetery in the summer of 2011. (The cemetery was listed as a protected monument in 1967 but was in abandoned condition.) They built a new entrance, repaired gravestones, and restored them to original positions. A few months later, neo-Nazis vandalized the site, but municipal authorities repaired the damage.
In 2011, Kosovo and the U.S. State Department signed the Agreement on the Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties. The agreement was one of many originated by the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, and it set commitments and procedures for each side to protect cultural heritage sites, especially of religious and ethnic minorities, but it is unclear what effect it has had.
Read an article by Dr. Samuel Gruber from 2012 about the then-neglected state of the New cemetery