Cemetery clean-ups — Round-up 2 — They rarely grab headlines, but Jewish cemetery clean-ups by volunteers and others go on in many countries — even despite the pandemic.

Cemetery desecrations make headlines, but all too often the many initiatives by volunteers and others to clean-up, restore, and document Jewish cemeteries get ignored.

At the beginning of June, we published a round-up of some of the many Jewish cemetery clean-up initiatives taking place this spring and summer in various European countries. 

Here are some more — that have taken place since our last round-up, that are scheduled to take place, and that are (or have been) ongoing.

This year, some clean-ups are underway as planned, but others — due to the COVID-19 pandemic — have either been cancelled or postponed.  

If you don’t see yours — let us know!

 

BELARUS

Mogilev, throughout summer. Work on the cemetery continues, including the removal of bushes, the application of herbicides to rampant vegetation, and the restoration of some monumental tombstones.

See more information about the project in our Have Your Say essay by Ida Shenderovich

CZECH REPUBLIC

Holešov, July 15 – Due to the pandemic, this year only seven volunteers took part in the         annual Jewish cemetery clean-up event in Holešov. The volunteers worked for a week, during the local Jewish Festival.

Havlíčkův Brod, June 7 – A local scout group worked for one whole day at the Jewish      cemetery in the outskirts of the city. According to the local media, an information   panel will be placed at the cemetery this year.

HUNGARY

Tállya, September 17-20 – A voluntary action has been launched, with the help of the local municipality, to clean up the Jewish cemetery in Tállya, a village near Tokaj in northeastern Hungary. In order to participate and receive more information, you can send an email to             [email protected].

Szombathely, Summer – The Municipality of Szombathely, with the help of the local    Beautification Association and a group of students from the Zrínyi High School cleaned up and restored the city’s Jewish cemetery, which contains around 2,000  tombstones. During the summer the cemetery will be at the center of guided tours organized by the local tourism office.

LITHUANIA

 Jonava Jewish cemetery, September 16 – The NGO Maceva, together with local schoolchildren and the local public library, will clean and document the local Jewish        cemetery.

 Žagarė Jewish cemetery, postponed from the summer of 2020 to the summer 2021.   Due to the pandemic, the Maceva NGO decided to postpone this year’s summer       volunteer camp to clean up the Žagarė Jewish cemetery to the summer of 2021.

POLAND

Lodz, August 23 – The local NGO Guardians of Remembrance, which organizes clean-up work in the Jewish cemetery throughout the spring and summer, invites volunteers to join a clean-up session at 11 AM on August 23.

Czarny Dunajec, Spring/Summer – The Centrum Foundation, created by former    Olympic athlete Dariusz Popiela, continues working at the Jewish cemetery in Czarny      Dunajec, in southern Poland. It includes the construction of a fence, and clean-up and restoration of the cemetery. In addition, a monument dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust is expected to be erected in September. (Contacted by JHE, however, Popiela said that the inauguration may be postponed due to pandemic travel restrictions.)

Oswiecim, July 29 – Local Scouts organized clean-ups in the Jewish cemetery of the town outside of which the Auschwitz camp was built, with the support of the  Oshpitzin Jewish Museum and MDSM / IJBS International Youth Meeting Centre in Oświęcim and nearly a score of local residents and other volunteers.  Such clean-ups take place several times each spring and summer — there was also a Scout-organized action on July 9. Usually the U.S.-based Matzevah Foundation organizes clean-ups there, but it canceled its Poland activities due to the pandemic.  

 Świdwin, July 27 – A group of local activists, led by the priest Adam Ciućka, cleaned up      the city’s Jewish cemetery and translated the inscriptions on the tombstones, for which they are currently creating a database. The cemetery contains around 70-80 tombstones, the oldest of dating from 1866, and the latest from 1938.

Suchowola, July 24-27 – Volunteers cleaned up the Jewish cemetery during the summer, and also created a memorial out of fragments of matzevot. The actions took place within the activities of the Festival of Three Cultures held by the Three Cultures Center.

 Zakopane, July 22 – A group of residents carried out a clean-up session at the city’s Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was fenced in 2004, when also a Holocaust memorial was erected.

Bolimów, July 22 – The Foundation for Cultural Heritage, together with the local association “Let’s Do It,” gathered as many as 52 people for a day of cleaning up and clearing vegetation from the town’s old Jewish Cemetery.

Watch a video of the action:

 

 Sędziszów Małopolski, July 20– The NGO AntySchematy2  carried out a volunteer clean-up at the Sędziszów Małopolski Jewish Cemetery, in southern Poland. 

Sokółka, June 19 – The local campaign team of the independent Polish presidential candidate Szymon Hołownia, a TV celebrity and green activists, organized a clean up of the Jewish cemetery as a campaign event.

Miasteczko Śląskie, July 18 – The Góra Jerzego Association organized a Jewish cemetery clean up session, together with historian and researcher Sławomir Pastuszka.

Tarnowskie Góry, July 8 and 9 – The local NGO Gliwicka 66 organized a two-day      volunteer clean up at the Jewish cemetery. The NGO was recently established to look after the cemetery and transform its ceremonial hall in an information and educational center.

Warsaw, 7/28 June – Volunteer clean-up sessions took place at the Okopowa street       Jewish cemetery every Sunday of June. Now the Warsaw Jewish Community has hired some experts to take care of the overgrown grass in the post-war section of the cemetery.

 Radość, June 20 – Local residents and volunteers from the Cultural Heritage        Foundation cleaned up the Jewish cemetery.

 Pszczyna, June 4 – About 15 people participated in the yearly clean up at the local          Jewish cemetery.

 Biały Bór, June – The Municipality cleaned up the local Jewish cemetery, where an information panel is also to be installed.

UKRAINE

Rohatyn, Summer – Due to the pandemic, the Rohatyn Jewish Heritage  NGO couldn’t   organize any volunteer clean up sessions. However, local activists did work individually to clean and maintain the two cemeteries in the town.

Kysylyn, June 12/24 – The clean-up and clearance of vegetation in the local Jewish cemetery, carried out by the ESJF and local municipality, have been completed, while the           construction of the cemetery fence is still going on.