Re: [Cz-L] cemetery - clearing and maintenance

Miriam (Mimi) Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>

Dear David and members of the list,

Many thanks to you David, you are pursuing a very worthwhile avenue
to find solutions for the maintenance of the Jewish cemetery of Czernowitz.
To the extent that I was able, while being away from home, I too,
searched the internet for practical means of maintaining the cemetery.
I too, came to the conclusion that it would be best to allow some controlled
growth of trees and low weeds. More about this in another letter.

I cannot go to the conference of the "Association of Significant Cemeteries
in Europe". David, could you go? If not, could you obtain the minutes of
their discussions? Generally, I would be glad if more members of the list,
Would do research on the subject of the rehabilitation and maintenance of
old cemeteries.

I did not have my own computer with me while away from home, consequently
I am not sure which of the E-mails I received, I answered and which not.
If you wrote me and did not receive a reply, please write again.

All the best,

Mimi

> Dear All,
>
> Mimi's post set me thinking. There are a number of old cemeteries in
> London, and I thought that some of these might have had similar problems to
> the Czernowitz one. After a quick survey using Google, I remembered
> Highgate Cemetery. This is a Victorian cemetery where many famous people
> are buried. This is an extract from the web site of the cemetery Friends:
>
> "In 1975 it had ceased to be financially viable and the owners closed down
> the West Cemetery... . The main buildings had become dilapidated and the
> landscape choked with brambles and self sown sycamores. ... The Friends of
> Highgate Cemetery Trust was formed to do what it could, though this was
> little more than checking the unwanted vegetation and it was not until 1981
> when the freehold of both parts of the Cemetery was acquired that real
> progress was possible." I thought this sounded a little familiar!
>
> See http://www.highgate-cemetery.org/ButtonsNew/History.asp_f4.jpg
> and http://www.highgatecemetery.net/history.html
>
> I phoned the cemetery and spoke to a lady called Jean Pateman, of the
> cemetery Friends. She only had a few minutes, we will talk further
> tomorrow. But from this brief conversation I gleaned some important points.
>
> (1) One of the principal factors in the restoration of Highgate has been to
> manage growth (especially of trees) so that the cemetery has assumed a
> park-like environment. This might not be entirely appropriate for Cz, but I
> do think that we ought to consider this aspect. If there are trees or
> shrubs in the cemetery which are not interfering with graves, it would be
> good to keep them. Ms Pateman said that it was important for a cemetery to
> be assessed by an expert landscape architect.
>
> (2) There is apparently a group called the "Association of Significant
> Cemeteries in Europe". As it happens, they are holding a conference in
> Liverpool from 18 to 20 September this year. The subject of the conference
> is "The Role of Volunteers in Cemetery Care and Restoration". This does
> sound rather relevant to us. The conference programme can be found here:
> http://www.significantcemeteries.net/PDFFiles/AGM_progamm.pdf
>
> If someone concerned with Czernowitz was able to go to this conference it
> might be really quite useful, by way of contacts made and information
> gained. (Though it is unfortunately rather close to Yom Kippur.) Mimi, I
> don't suppose you feel like another trip?
>
> In any case, it might be worth finding out more about this organisation.
> Czernowitz is certainly a "significant cemetery in Europe".
>
> (3) Ms Pateman said that they definitely use no chemicals at Highgate. I
> will enquire further about tthis point.
>
> It does seem to me that we are not the first to encounter the problems of
> cemetery restoration, and there could be a lot to learn from others who have
> tried to tackle these problems. We do of course have the difficulty that
> the people who are principally interested are located thousands of miles
> away from Czernowitz. Having said that, on a web site of this organisation
> I found references to cemeteries in Lithuania, which I imagine are probably
> Jewish. So this difficulty has probably been encountered before as well.
>
> Best regards,
>
> David
>
> -snip-
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Received on 2008-08-22 10:45:08