Poland: Good and Bad Teens. Chrzanow Cemetery Vandals Apprehended, Other Teens Care for Cemetery in Dabrowa Tarnowska

Poland: Good and Bad Teens. Chrzanow Cemetery Vandals Apprehended, Other Teens Care for Cemetery in Dabrowa Tarnowska
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) According to the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, police have identified three teenagers as those who vandalized the Jewish cemetery in Chrzanow in March 2009. Three local Middle School students damaged about 60 matzevot (gravestones). The cost of repairs cost is estimated in dozens of thousands of zlotys. The vandals are now facing charges in family court.

Meanwhile, other Middle School students in Dabrowa Tarnowska have taken the local Jewish cemetery under their care. Within the framework of the Foundation sponsored 'To Bring Memory Back' program, they regularly visit the cemetery, gather litter and clean up the matzevot.

Getting residents of all ages in small towns throughout Poland (and other countries) is a key element in ensuring the long term protection and care of Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust sites. Only when people understand the history and appreciate the values - form a moral, social, political and economic view - will sites be relatively safe. Them ore people of different ages and walks of life who participate in this process, the better. When local residents - Jewish and especially non-Jewish - take a proprietary interest in a site (perhaps through have spent time cleaning it), they are more likely to look out after its safety. School groups, youth groups, Churches groups, and civic organizations can all play a part in this process. International organizations can encourage this work by partnering, sponsoring or providing "sister/brother" links for encourage international cultural exchange.

Readers interest in supporting such endeavors can contact me directly at samuelgruber@gmail.com, and I will direct them to active efforts.