Authorities don’t react to desecration of Jewish cemetery
- 20.10.2008, 17:39
Desecration of old graves ahs become a usual thing at the Jewish cemetery of Krychau, Valer Bysau, Krychau journalist, states.
According to him, 2 years ago, the local Jewish community addressed the authorities asking to take steps for prevention vandalism. The administration of the public services of the Krychau district answered that a decision on fencing the Jewish part of the cemetery from an Orthodox one had allegedly been taken, Radio Svaboda reports.
Valer Bysau notes that the decision wasn’t fulfilled. “New graves, not Jewish, are appearing at the site of old Jewish graves more often. Old gravestones are removed,” the journalist tells.
“Old tombs are thrown to the gully. Among them are prewar and past century gravestones. For example, a gravestone to director of a horse plant Prok of 1833. Nazis didn’t desecrate it, like many others tombs, too. But what is going on now is mass barbarism, absolute vandalism,” he explains.
The journalist is sure that the Jewish community of 30 people, can’t solve a problem of vandalism by its own forces. Bysau says help of the Jews, who left Krychau, but have relatives buried here, is needed.
According to the journalist, Jewish cemetery is situated 300 meters from the city executive committee. But this close distance doesn’t save from vandalism.
Holocaust researcher Ida Shenderovich is pessimistic about the future of Jewish cemetery in the district centers and villages of the Mahilou region. She calls mass desecration of Jewish cemetery a typically Belarusian phenomenon. Authorities are the first who should deal with this problem.
“Most part of the descendants of the buried there were killed during the war. Many of those who survived don’t know about their ancestors, they don’t even know their real surnames because of mixed marriages,” the researcher notes.
Ida Shenderovich thinks the authorities should regard the graves that still exist as monuments of history, culture, and religion. In his case non-Jewish population will also respect their value.