The Jewish cemetery in Janoshaza, a small Hungarian town near
Papa, is the latest Hungarian Jewish cemetery to be the focus
of renovation efforts by a group of London-based askonim,
in conjunction with the Committee for the Preservation of
Jewish Cemeteries in Europe.
The duty of protection of ancestral graves is one that has
fortunately become more widely recognized in recent years,
resulting in great improvements to the condition of some of
the thousands of Jewish cemeteries across Europe abandoned as
a result of the Nazi devastation and massacre of Jewish
communities during WWII. Even where local communities do
exist, they are rarely in a financial or moral position to
maintain local cemeteries.
The fact that a higher proportion of Jews survived the war in
Hungary than in other central and eastern European countries
has resulted in a great interest and substantial activity in
the protection of cemeteries in Hungary. Two prominent
activists in this holy task in recent years have been Reb
Yisroel Abelesz and Reb Yeshaya Grosz of London, themselves
natives of Kapuvar Hungary.
Beginning a few years ago with work to restore the cemetery
of their hometown, they soon received requests from Jews as
well as local government officials to attend to neglected
Jewish cemeteries in other towns and villages in the area and
have been instrumental in the renovation and rededication of
the cemeteries of Beled, Nemes Szalok, Vasarosfalu, Acs and
Gyomore.
Reb Yeshaya has been greatly encouraged by the support he has
received from the gedolei Yisroel whom he has
consulted and with whom he has discussed relevant halachic
issues and he works in consultation with the Committee for
the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, of which he
is an active member.
Janoshaza, Reb Yeshaya's current project, was an old
kehilla served by distinguished rabbonim such as HaRav
Yosef Grunwald zt"l who corresponded with the Chasam
Sofer and was the ancestor of a famous dynasty of rabbonim to
this day.
Like so many others, the cemetery is suffering from neglect,
and descendants of some of those buried there have asked Reb
Yeshaya to take the necessary steps to put things right. He
has already obtained the authority of the Mayor of the town
and hopes to begin work shortly. The askonim appeal to
anyone connected to Janoshaza or indeed any other cemeteries
in the area to contact Reb Yeshaya on 07970 976272.
Further projects are hopefully beginning soon in Sopron,
Eisenstadt and Kitsee.
