After intensive and extended efforts which included political intervention, the remains of Rabbi Giacomo Yaakov and Teresa Tedesco, who died and were buried over one hundred and forty years ago in Paris, found their final resting place in Israel. Their graves were desecrated very shamefully and their remains reached a warehouse over ten years ago together with several thousands of corpses that have not yet been reinterred.
In a round of extensive inquiries published in the French publication Kountrass, the subject received wide coverage and spotlight attention in the Jewish community. HaRav Kahn, editor of Kountrass, appealed to Rabbi Uri Maklev, who involved the Prime Minister's office as well as the Interior Ministry and even had the Knesset speaker appeal to the French parliament to deal with the matter. The president of the Council of European Rabbis, HaRav Goldschmidt, met with the French Minister of Interior demanding that a suitable legal solution be found for the burial of French Jews.
The Tedescos had numerous descendants some of whom took up the cause of their forebears' resting place. Their remains were reburied with thousands of the descendants in attendance.
