Re: [Cz-L] Czernowitz Cemetery

Miriam (Mimi) Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>

In answer to Hardy's letter of today, April 24th:

I would like to tell what I know about the legal and actual status
of the cemetery and make some suggestions.

The Jewish cemetery of Czernowitz/Chernivtsi is considered a national
Ukrainian monument and as such is governed by the laws of Ukraine.
The city collects taxes from all citizens for the maintenance of all
cemeteries and is responsible for preventing vandalism and misuse
of the cemetery. Any large scale work to be done in the cemetery, has to
be approved by the city. The cemetery is still in use for the burial
of Jewish people, but I do not know who makes all the arrangements.
Last summer, I saw a grave being prepared by two workmen under the
supervision of an elderly member of the Jewish community.

The city has mended the fence around the cemetery completely and this fence
is now in good condition. The prayer house at the entrance to the cemetery
has been securely closed, so that it is not misused or further damaged.
A small area immediately to the right of the entrance, where the graves of
some notables are situated, is kept clear of bushes, creepers and sapling
trees.

Other than that neither the city nor the Jewish community does anything
to maintain the cemetery. I would say in Yiddish and Hebrew, that it is
"hefker", meaning abandoned. Here and there the surroundings of a grave
are kept clear of weeds, either by relatives, who still live in the city,
or by people hired to do so.

The Jewish community of Chernivtsi is small.
The economic situation in the Ukraine is presently worse than it has been
for years and it was not very good to begin with.

Hardy is right that we can accept Rabbi Zwecker's suggestion that we use
"Ohaley Tzadikim" to restore and maintain the cemetery, or we can reject
this suggestion.
In order that we come to an informed decision, we need to know the
following:
1. How reliable and trustworthy is "Ohalei Tzadikim"?
2. Do they have any experience in clearing and maintaining cemeteries
   of similar size to the Czernowitz one?
3. What exactly do they propose to do?
4. Will this be a one time project and process, and will they convince
   the city to responsibly maintain the cemetery in the future,
   or will we have to pay them each year to continue the maintenance?
5. How much money will we have to pay "Ohaley Tzadikim" to restore
   the cemetery?
6. There is nothing to prevent individuals among us from contributing money
   to "Ohaley Tzadikim", but if we want to negotiate and come to a binding
   agreement with them as a united group, we still need to form a legally
   cohesive group or organization.

SVIT Ukraine is presently planning to have two, or possibly three work-camps
this year, to clear the cemetery of weeds and invasive plants. They are
still waiting to be informed whether certain granting organizations will
approve funds to be used for two of these work-camps. If there is to be a
third work-camp, we will have to provide at least part of the funds for it.
But this will be a relatively small sum of money.
SVIT Ukraine has already publicized the work-camps and has even received
applications from young people who want to participate. Some of those who
participated in last year's work-camp have shown an interest of coming back.

Based on last year's experience, I would say that while the work-camp
achieved relatively little in terms of the actual physical work done,
it achieved a lot in raising the local awareness of the neglected state
of the cemetery and the possibilities of achieving results by voluntary
work. It convinced city officials that the outside world cares and pays
attention to what happens to the Jewish heritage of Czernowitz/Chernivtsi.

Sasha Wolloch and I will be in Chernivtsi next month. We intend to obtain
information on the possibilities and the cost of having various works done
at the cemetery. We also hope to be able to talk to city officials about
how we might jointly have the cemetery restored and maintained, to the
benefit of the city and for he peace of mind of the relatives of those
interred in the cemetery. In doing so, we will clearly state that we are not
the representatives or delegates of any organization or group and do not
have the authority to take decisions for all former Jewish Czernowitzers
and their descendants. We are just interested people and can take
no unilateral decisions or make any promises.

Mimi
      

  

> The religious aspect of the cemetery :
> ( First , I am not religious).
> The cemetery was called " Dus Heilige Ort "( Holy place ) by all people ,
> religious or not.
> Because it served as a passage from our world to Heaven.
> This elementary truth was believed by all Jews , religious or not.
> Others waited for Meshiah.
> As to whom the cemetery belongs ? I understand that it now belongs to the
> Jewish Community,
> this is another way of putting it that the locals are not going to spend
> a penny in recovering
> the cemetery. Like passing a hot potato.
> Rabbi Zweckers offer to use his facillity is meant to spare us the
> trouble of establishing
> a non-profit org. which is time-robbing.
> We can take it or not.
> All we want is the cemetery cleaned ,so that all graves are
> accessible by all.
> Hardy
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Edgar Hauster" <bconcept_at_hotmail.com>
> To: "Czernowitz Discussion Group" <czernowitz-l_at_cornell.edu>
> Cc: "Miriam Taylor" <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>
> Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 9:11 PM
> Subject: [Cz-L] Czernowitz Cemetery
-snip-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of
 Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions expressed
 in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily
 the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members
 or entities connected with this mailing list. The Czernowitz-L list has
 an associated web site at http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a
 searchable archive of all messages posted to this list. Please post in "Plain
 Text" if possible (help available at:
<http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/PlainText.html>).

To remove your address from this e-list follow the directions at
http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/elist/lyris/leave.html

To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to:
owner-Czernowitz-L_at_list.cornell.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on 2009-03-24 13:59:45