Poland: The Matzevah Foundation 2024 program offers opportunities to volunteer to clean up Jewish cemeteries in Poland

Want to volunteer this summer to help clean up a Jewish cemetery in Poland?

The Matzevah Foundation (TMF) has announced its cemetery clean-up projects for this summer. There are doing some together with other organisations, but there are two where volunteers are welcome — in Nowogród and Żychlin (marked by asterisks in the list below).

All applications for volunteering must be submitted by midnight Eastern Time on April 30, 2024. Visit this link for more information on the volunteer process with TMF.

Here’s the full list of projects. Click here for more details.

April 29-May 4   Przysucha Jewish Cemetery 

TMF returns to Przysucha to continue non-invasive archeological research and continue cleaning the cemetery. They’ll be partnering once more with Jewish Przysucha and Professor Radoslaw Ptaszynski, students and staff from The University of Szczecin (Poland) and Staffordshire University (England). Support is provided by The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ).

June 14-22   Nowogród Jewish Cemetery *

TMF’s first time in Nowogród. Partners  include descendants of Nowogród and their friends as well as the City of Nowogród, owners of the cemetery. TMF is also collaborating with the FODZ and Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland. The work will focus on clearing the overgrowth of vegetation from around the cemetery which contains 18 standing matzevot.

June 28-July 6   Żychlin Jewish Cemetery *

Another new location. Located in the Lódź region of Poland, TMF will be collaborating again with FODZ  and joining forces with a group of descendants and friends led by Professor Marysia Galbraith of the University of Alabama who is the president of The Association of Descendants of Jewish Central Poland. Volunteers are welcome.

July 15-17   Krasnystaw Jewish Cemetery

For a fourth year, TMF is  supporting the Future Scholars Program from JewishGen. Along with Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland, a group of university students will tour important Jewish sites around Poland before gathering in Krasnystaw for several days of work in the Jewish cemetery. The team will also be joined by volunteers from Studnia Pamięci in Lublin. Along with the work in the cemetery, there will also be discussions and learning opportunities in the evenings.

 August 2-10  Zawiercie Jewish Cemetery

The team will be made up of several groups including an active descendants group, Zaglebie World Organization, JewishGen Neshema Project, Brentwood Baptist Church in Tennessee, and the City of Zawiercie along with local volunteers.