[Cz-L] CZERNOWITZ Cemetery.

Miriam (Mimi) Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>

Dear Czernowitzers,

In reply to Bruce Wexler's letter, ( see below....added by the
Moderator)) I would like to say:
My initial letter about this subject, did not represent the opinion
or decision of the committee, just my own personal thoughts.

Yuri Prestupenko, who helped Bruce find the graves of his ancestors, is no
longer the cemetery director, he has been replaced by a Young woman by the
name of Anzhela Ivanovna Nikolaeva.

  Tel. Home: 380 0372 228 243
  Tel. Office: 038 0372 527 461
  Cell phone: 8050 6021 838

Yuri Prestupenko was photographed accepting "Bakshish" in order to find a
particular grave for a visitor. He still hangs around the cemetery and for
about $20 per grave, is willing to find it's location.

When I was in Chernivtsi in 2004, I spoke with Anzhela Ivanovna through my
interpreter Zoya Danilovitch. She seems to be an earnest and decent person.
We agreed that I would do some research on herbicides used in the USA, send
her the information, so she could hand it over to the appropriate
authorities for preliminary approval. If they approved a herbicide, I would
send her a small quantity for a pilot project.
Through my own fault, nothing came of this. I did not have the time to
pursue the problem. It may be worth pursuing and it may not. We will not
know until we try it.

>From both my conversations with Andy Rosengarten (An Israeli civil engineer
and active Czernowitzer) and from my correspondence with Helmut Kusdat, who
knows the Chernivtsi civil authorities well, it is most unlikely that they
will spend any of their money on restoring or maintaining the Jewish
cemetery. They do not have money and should they get some, they have more
urgent projects to spend it on. When the World organization of Bukovina
Jews, wrote to the mayor about this, his answer was: send us the money and
we will do the work.

Let's have no illusions, the mayor or the city council will not be impressed
by empty gestures on our part. Inviting him to a party, is in my opinion
ridiculous. Coming up with a concrete proposal, based on solid information
and backed by verified information could be presented to the mayor by a
chosen delegation or committee and might achieve the desired results.

This is not an issue for the participants in the reunion only.
WE NEED SOMEONE TO VOLUNTEER TO ORGANIZE THIS EFFORT, I am sorry I cannot
take this upon myself,

Mimi

From: Bruce Wexler <AJS1PRES_at_aol.com >
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 22:34:33 EST
Subject: Re: CZERNOWITZ-L: Moderated Message

Dear Mimi,
How are you? I was happy to read the Moderated Message. I am assuming this
is a message from you, but actually from the Committee. Please correct me
if I am wrong. However, congratulations to you all for revisiting this most
important subject.
As I'm sure you remember, you and I wrote each other concerning my
suggestion that the group attempt to involve the Mayor, and other
government officials in our attempts to restore the cemetery. I remember
that you were not all together in favor of this at the time, and the fact
that this subject has reappeared is to your credit, and to those others who
may have been involved in revisiting the subject.
Clearly the highlight of my week in Ukraine was visiting the cemetery. I
stood at the graves of six of my ancestors for the first time. None of my
fairly large family have ever been to Chernivtsi, since my mother left
there in 1908. It was a wonderful moving experience. In order to find the
graves I had help here from Bruce Reisch and in Czernowitz from my guide
and the cemetery director who's name is Yuri. Yuri was especially nice, and
later accompanied us on a walking tour of The Old Jewish Quarter.
It is my feeling that no tribute to our ancestors could equal the
restoration of their final resting place.
Unfortunately, I am not a scientist, and do not know all the repercussions
of the various methods of clearing the years of growth in the cemetery. Our
guide brought us an ax and a shovel to clear the brush. We used these, and
our hands at each grave.
I would seriously doubt that the city would allow us to use any herbicides.
I can't believe that as a group we could do so in good concience. Certainly
it will take research to decide the best method.
I read somewhere that there is a United States Commission dealing with
restoration of cemeteries in Europe. I'm not sure whether they are dealing
only with Jewish graves or not.
I do not believe, and I haven't researched this, that a relatively small
group could underwrite the cost to restore and maintain a cemetery so
large. This is why I believe we must try to get funds from the government
in Czernowitz, and the United States if possible.
While I will concede that the chances of the City providing this funding
is slim, we have a better chance now than we will ever have agaain, because
of the upcoming anniversary.

BTW, please note the Chanukah greeting on the city website.

In 2008 the city will celebrate the 600th anniversary of it's founding. The
Ukrainian government has set aside a large amount of money for the city's
restoration, in preparation for the event. One of the projects sighted in
the Mayors address of a few months ago was cultural restoration. I'm
certain the cemetery can fall under this area.
We should try to make the Mayor understand that helping us, could be a big
economic boost to the city, from other Jews who will come to pay their
respects to their ancestors.

Well Mimi, I have gone on long enough. I think a committee should be
formed, and quickly, to come up with recommendations for the group. I would
be happy to serve on such a committee, but not at it's head. I still work
and have other responsibilities.
Please keep me informed on the progress of this issue.

Thanks a lot Mimi, and thanks for dealing fairly with this issue.

Bruce Wexler
Jackson, NJ

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