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3 Av 5764 - July 21, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Belorussian Svir Cemetery Restored
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

The CER has been working in conjunction with Frank Schwartz of the East European Heritage Project concerning the preservation of cemeteries in Belarus.

The Jews of Svir were murdered during the Second World War by Germans and their Lithuanian accomplices, but the current inhabitants, in common with many Belarusians, were intent on preserving the artifacts of their nation's Jewish heritage. On their own, they undertook the conservation of the cemetery, but their resources alone were not sufficient to provide the fence and gate needed to protect it.

The citizens of Svir approached the East European Jewish Heritage Project for assistance. They in turn contacted Dr. Michael Lozman of the Restoration of Eastern European Jewish Cemeteries Project Inc. in Albany, NY for assistance. Michael has restored four Jewish cemeteries in Belarus (Soptoskin, Indura, Kamenka and now Svir) and is currently planning the restoration of three more.

Dr. Lozman visited Svir in February 2004 to view the cemetery and assess the task of restoration. After his visit, the EEJH, in full consultation with Rabbi Aba Dunner, Executive Director of the CER, followed up with meetings with local town authorities and with National Committee for Religions and Nationalities. All parties were eager to help, and the local school in Svir offered the assistance of its students.

Back in the United States, Michael enlisted the aid of Gary Coleman, Director Binghampton University's chapter of Hillel. Together, they found donors to support the project. In June 2004, the students arrived and in four days, with the help of citizens of Svir, the cemetery was turned from a desolate lakeside field into a restored Jewish cemetery.

 

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