The Jewish Cemetery in Venice Study and Valorization (original) (raw)
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Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries from the Baltic to the Balkans -historical study in situ
Зборник Матице српске за ликовне уметности 47, 2019
In contrast to the Christian burial tradition, according to which the care of the cemetery disappears with the termination of the care of the family about the graves of their loved ones, the tradition and religious practice of the Halachah make the burial places of the Jewish last forever. Although the time-decay, the turbulent historical turmoil and the social climate of the last century left a visible trace on the appearance of Jewish cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe, they have survived, integrally or partially. Thanks to the "religious laws that (at least theoretically) contribute to the preservation of Jewish graves and cemeteries in an efficient way", they still testify to the existence, place and role of the Jewish community in the European society of the 19 th and 20 th centuries. In order to preserve, "read" and interpret this group of monuments, a systematic survey of representative Jewish cemeteries in 13 European countries was conducted under the auspices of the National Committee ICOMOS Germany in the past few years. The results of this complex project were presented to the public in the form of the magisterial new book of Rudolf Klein's academic opus-Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19 th and 20 th Century in Central and Eastern Europe-A Comparative Study, published by the National Committee ICOMOS Germany in 2018. In the focus of the research were 21 cemetery sites which differ in the time of their establishment, urban micro and macro location, topography, morphology, typology of gravestones, landscape design, authenticity, as well as its cultural, historical and artistic importance within the Jewish history and a wider, European context. Based on the conducted on-site research, the author points to the diversity of Jewish burial culture in various European regions, as a consequence of extensive changes within Judaism and the emancipation of Jews in the secular Europe of the 19 th century. As the author points out, "the art of Jewish graves reveals the dual nature of Jewish life in the diaspora: fidelity to Jewish heritage and openness to external influences, … and the fine nuances could be read only in the widest cultural and artistic context of place and time." As a consequence, Jewish funerary art and culture, as well as the Jewish cemeteries as its immediate expression, could be read on two levels: as a source of knowledge about the Jewish community in some of the European regions-"about its specifics, aspirations and religious orientation" on the one hand, and as a source of knowledge about "the wider milieu it belonged to, including local gentile traditions and Jewish-gentile dialogue."
Cross-disciplinary conference on European Jewish Cemeteries A cross-disciplinary conference on Jewish cemeteries in Europe, held October 25-28 in Vilnius, Lithuania, gathered some 60 experts from more than a dozen countries and touched on a wide range of topics within the broad framework of theory, policy, management, and dissemination of information. Organized by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe and hosted by the Lithuanian Jewish community, the conference was a specialized follow-up to the working seminar on managing Jewish built heritage held in Krakow in April 2013. The conference had three core aims: — To review the achievements since Krakow, including new trends in technology — To explore key issues through a series of roundtable and panel discussions — To encourage future collaboration among participating individuals and organizations, exploring how they can work together, encourage cross-border opportunities and consider further strategic co-operation. Participants also were taken on site visits to half a dozen Jewish cemeteries and sites of mass graves in Vilnius and several other towns: Pabrade, Svencioneliai, and Svencionys. The introductory keynote on today’s needs and challenges was given by Dr. Michael Brocke, Professor of Jewish Studies at the Steinheim Institute in Germany, and a noted scholar on Jewish cemetery preservation, documentation and epigraphy. Specific sessions at the conference focused on: — The Value of a Jewish cemetery (Jewish law; honoring the dead; education; tourism; cultural heritage; art and architecture; historical source through epitaphs and inscriptions; genealogy, etc) — Cemetery restoration — what to do; how to do it; historical perspectives — Ownership and accessibility of information — Different approaches to preservation: fencing; documentation — Jewish cemeteries as part of European and World Heritage (including efforts to get Jewish cemeteries including on UNESCO’s cultural heritage roster — The role of the internet in documentation; dissemination; attracting interest in preservation — Advances in the use of technology — Cemeteries and scholarship — Building stakeholder relationships — among and between owners and other interested parties (Jewish communities; descendants; municipalities; NGOs, etc) There was also a session devoted to the situation of Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania (which are owned by municipalities). The conference concluded with a screening of A Town Called Brzostek, an award-winning film by Simon Target that documents, step by step, the process of restoring and rededicating the ravaged Jewish cemetery in the village of Brzostek, in southeastern Poland, spearheaded by UK scholar Jonathan Webber, whose grandfather came from the town. Webber introduced the film and spoke about the experience. Several key themes emerged from presentations, discussion and what conference participants saw on the ground during site visits. These included: — The difference in general approaches in cemetery care, preservation and management. This was perhaps best illustrated in the contrast between what can be called the “macro” and “micro” approaches. The macro approach is best illustrated by that of the recently created European Jewish Cemetery Project ESJF, funded by private donors and the German government, whose aim, as outlined by its CEO Philip Carmel, is to erect fences around as as many Jewish cemeteries in Europe as possible, but not engage in other clean-up, restoration, documentation or further maintenance. “We are a macro type organization,” he said. “We don’t have attachments … to the inside of a cemetery. We deal with protection and preservation, not renovation and restoration. We think that the fact that we can protect a site from the outside will make it easier for [others] to come in [and work on restoration].” This was in sharp contrast to the “micro” approach as outlined by Jonathan Webber, with the Brzostek project, and by Dr. Michael Lozman, who has spearheaded the restoration of more than a dozen Jewish cemeteries. These approaches emphasize close cooperation and involvement with local people in carrying out and maintaining Jewish cemetery projects: Lozman’s method fences cemeteries, for example, but with low fences aimed at being indicators of boundaries rather than as physical protection. Webber described his approach as “Jewish Cultural diplomacy.” He said: “Don’t just parachute in and fix a cemetery – involve the local people, make them feel that it is their project. I wasn’t aware how much the locals wanted to learn about their own local history of their village. I used a local contractor for the work, for example. And I worked with the priest; I didn’t just just invite him to come to the dedication but to officiate together with me and the chief rabbi to make it a genuinely interfaith affair. I wanted to make an impact on the local people. It was done in a spirit of dialogue – that Jewish heritage today belongs to everyone. We can’t expect people to look after Jewish heritage today unless they feel that it is theirs.” — The need to establish and publish “best practice” guidelines that could serve as models for municipalities, Jewish communities, NGOs and individuals on the ground. A number of participants raised this issue — as did some of the local stakeholders met during site visits. “There is a need for practical but sustainable solutions,” said Martynas Užpelkis, who coordinates Jewish heritage preservation issues for the Lithuanian Jewish community. “There are no standard practices; there is a lack of knowledge. There is a need for seeting standards, or developing and monitoring management plans for each cemetery; for training and counselling. […] Local people who want to help ask basic questions. Can we produce guidelines?” — The value of new technologies in cemetery documentation, research, restoration. These include, as discussed by forensic archaeologist Dr. Caroline Sturdy Colls, new non-intrusive techniques such as ground-penetrating radar and other tools that can explore Jewish cemeteries, determine grave sites and boundaries and find other information even when all surface evidence of the cemetery has been destroyed. Other techniques, as demonstrated by Jay Osborn, show ways that digitizing old maps can help find borders. And Prof. Leonard Rutgers discussed new techniques that can aid in reading even very weathered inscriptions. — The need for collaboration on international and interdisciplinary levels on Jewish cemetery work. “We should create a network of people and institutions that take care of cemeteries, to have permanent platform to exchange ideas, and have a common voice,” said Dario DiSegni, the president of the Italian Jewish Heritage Foundation, echoing a number of other participants.
Archaeological Interventions in Medieval Jewish Cemeteries in Western Europe
Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae, 2023
This article presents the main Jewish cemeteries of the Medieval period that have been the object of archaeological intervention in several countries of Western Europe (France, Spain, England, Italy, Switzerland). The objective is to synthesise the information from each site in order to highlight the main characteristics and recurring points.
The State of Archaeological Research on Jewish Cemeteries in Central Europe. A New Approach.
Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae, 2023
Using various sources this paper collects information about archaeological research performed up to 2023 on Jewish cemeteries in Central European countries: Czechia, Lithuania, and Poland, discussing their nature, scope, methods, and state of post-excavation work. The determinants of fieldwork-religious and cultural factors, socio-political issues, as well as conservation and scientific factors-are indicated. The number of cemeteries in the region and their state of preservation is also described. Furthermore, the paper discusses the usefulness of archaeology for understanding many aspects of the life of Ashkenazi communities in the Middle Ages and modern times.
JEWISH CEMETERIES OF ROMANIA: ALBA IULIA CASE STUDY
Daniel Dumitran and Marius Rotar, eds., Places of Memory. Cemeteries and Funerary Practices throughout the Time, , 2015
Presented as a documentary 1 at the recent conference dedicated to Jewish cemeteries of Europe, European Jewish Cemeteries: Theory, Policy, Management and Dissemination (Vilnius, 25-28 October 2015), the two years' worth of research into the Jewish cemetery of Alba Iulia (2014-2015) was not properly reflected in the conference debates. 2 Nevertheless, the topics approached by some of the panels of this scientific reunion in the Lithuanian capital (restauration, conservation and documenting of cemeteries; heritage value of Jewish cemeteries; the use of new investigation technologies; and the perspective of landscape architecture on the restauration of cemeteries) are indeed relevant to the mentioned Romanian activity. Probably the lack of even the most modest tradition of action in this direction could explain the conference organisers' decision. Besides, there have been very few Romanian initiatives of the kind that we could recall: the statistical assessment of the Transylvanian cemeteries and synagogues, 3 the catalogue of monuments from the medieval cemetery in Siret 4 and the more complex research dedicated to the A first version of this text entitled " Argument about the Jewish Cemetery of Alba Iulia " was included among the contributions which accompanied the agenda of the below mentioned conference (footnote 2), without quoting the name of the author or translator.
Modernity in the Graveyard: Jewish Tombstones from Padua, 1830-1862
In approximately 1830, a set of new characteristics displaced three centuries of sepulchral tradition in the Jewish graveyards of Padua. Epitaph poetry was abandoned, replaced by a new prose epitaph that was much longer and emphasized individuality by recording detailed information about the deceased. Tombstone design was also revolutionized, adhering to the contemporary neoclassical tradition of European art. Yet a variety of features reflect the paradox that, for all their novelty, the modern epitaphs and tombstones continued to proudly express Jewish identity.