[Cz-L] Cemetery - plan of action

Dear Czernowitzers,

My previous letter about the clean-up of the Jewish cemetery of Chernivtsi
was relatively vague about what I would like to see accomplished. In the
present letter I hope to outline a practical plan and a detailed list of
what I think needs to be done.

Known facts about the cemetery:

1. The size of the cemetery is approximately 70,000 square meters.
2. There exists a cemetery administration, any work done in the cemetery
    requires the consent of this administration.
3. The cemetery is totally neglected, no one takes care of the paths,
    the fence or does anything to control the rampant vegetation.
4. The prayer house at the entrance to the cemetery is in ruins.

Aim of proposed cleanup and restoration:

1. The removal of weeds and small bushes from the grounds of the cemetery.
    It is questionable whether the removal of trees is advisable, because as
    the roots decay, the ground may sink and with it the graves in the
    vicinity.
2. The paving or placement of gravel on the cemetery paths.
3. Establishing a plan and fund for the regular maintenance of the cemetery.
4. Repairing the fence around the cemetery, or constructing a new one.
5. Repairing or rebuilding the Prayer house.

The first 3 points are all linked together, no point in removing the
vegetation if it is allowed to grow back.

Repairing the fence and repairing or rebuilding the prayer house, are not
tied or dependant on the clean-up of the cemetery. Repairing or rebuilding
the fence and prayer house will also be far more expensive than a one time
cleanup of the cemetery.

I propose that for the time being, we only clean the cemetery of vegetation,
repave or cover with gravel the paths and establish a mechanism for the
maintenance of the cemetery.

We need Information about:

1. The legal status of the cemetery.
2. Herbicides approved for use in the US and Europe, the legality of using
    them in the Ukraine.
3. Generally approved mechanisms of cemetery maintenance and preservation.
4. How to establish a fund and society for the clean-up and preservation
    of the cemetery. Whether it is advisable to establish a tax exempt fund.
5. Proper, prudent and legal means of managing the fund.
6. Existing organizations which may provide us with expertise and or money.

Anyone who has knowledge of any of the needed information, or is willing to
do the needed research, please get involved and volunteer to supply us with
the needed information.

I am in contact with members of the Jewish community of Chernivtsi and hope
that they will provide the rest of us with the information on point 1.

I realize that many of you will ask whether we have a chance of
accomplishing anything, before you decide to take on the work of researching
a given topic.

I am most certainly not an expert on any of the topics involved, but I
reason as follows:

The size of the cemetery is about 70,000 square meters. My guess is that the
cost of manual unskilled labor in Chernivtsi is about $3 per hour. I do not
know the cost of herbicides and paving materials. On the assumption that one
man can clean 10 square meters in one hour (this does not include the
removal of trees, which may be inadvisable anyhow) a one time removal of
bushes and weeds should require 7,000 work hours. At $3 per hour this comes
to $21,000. Hauling away the bushes, paving the paths and a one time
spraying with herbicides should not cost more than $25.000 I therefore
calculate, that the one time cost of cleaning up the cemetery should be
about $46,000.
Add to that $2,000 for administrative costs and the total is $48,000

I believe we could raise this sum, but to begin with, I would like to raise
a much smaller sum. If my estimates are not wildly inaccurate,
$4000 should be enough to clear all vegetation from an area of 75x75 meters,
or 5625 square meter, which is about 12.5% or 1/8 of the total area.
This would also provide a test as to how well the company chosen to do the
work was doing it. Once we have cleaned one area, we can clean another and
eventually the whole cemetery.

Please, all interested, write to the Cz.-List with proposals, opinions and
suggestions, if at all possible offer to research one topic thoroughly. This
is a big undertaking and we shall need many people to work on it.

Best regards,

             Mimi
Received on 2006-05-31 13:28:46