Serbia: Jewish Cemeteries Desecrated in Sombor and Subotica

Serbia: Jewish Cemeteries Desecrated in Sombor and Subotica

(ISJM) A news report from the Serbian New Agency Tanjug of June 2 states that cemeteries in Sombor and Subotica (Serbia) were damaged.

Here is the story:

Graves desecrated in Sombor, Subotica 2 June 2009 | 10:17 | Source: Tanjug

SOMBOR, SUBOTICA -- Sombor police say that an Orthodox cemetery was vandalized yesterday in Stapar and that about 200 gravestones were damaged.

The police stated that the investigative judge was looking into the situation along with the deputy municipal public prosecutor, the local police chief and other police officials.

Police are working intensively on getting to the bottom of the case and identifying those responsible for the crimes, which occurred in the early morning hours of Monday, according to the statement.

The Orthodox graveyard in Sombor is over 200 years old and locals living in this part of the town do not remember any similar cases of vandalism ever taking place.

Meanwhile, in Subotica, a Jewish cemetery was vandalized and 11 gravestones destroyed yesterday, police stated.

The investigative judge in Subotica has conducted an inquiry, and the deputy public prosecutor says the perpetrators, once found, will be charged with vandalizing graves.

Officials of the Jewish community visited the cemetery during the day, and an intensive search is under way for the culprits, Subotica police stated.

According to the website jewish-heritage-europe.eu, which has extensive information on-line about Serbian Jewish heritage sites, the Subotica Jewish cemetery is:

"large and well-maintained. It was founded soon after the establishment of the Subotica Jewish community was established in 1780. It contains both an Ohel and a Holocaust memorial. Major maintenance work began in 1999. The cemetery also includes gravestones (including many black marble obelisks) moved there in 2000 from the disused cemetery at Mali Iđoš." Subotica is also the site of one of the most impressive synagogues in Europe, which has been undergoing restoration for many years.

The Destruction of the Memory of Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe; A Case Study: Former Yugoslavia

The Destruction of the Memory of Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe; A Case Study: Former Yugoslavia
Interview with Ivan Ceresnjes

The Institute of Global Jewish Affairs has published a lengthy interview with my friend and colleague Ivan Ceresnjes about the Destruction of Jewish Memory in the Former Yugoslavia. No one knows more than Ivan about the fate of Jewish synagogues, cemeteries and Holocaust sites in the region.

Ivan Ceresnjes was the head of the Jewish community of Bosnia-Herzegovina and a vice-chairman of the Yugoslav Federation of Jewish Communities until his emigration to Israel in 1996. During the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina he organized rescue efforts to evacuate Jews and non-Jews and also organized nonsectarian humanitarian relief for citizens of the besieged city and other parts of the country. An architect by profession, he is presently employed by the Center for Jewish Art of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been a leader in the documentation of Jewish historic, religious and cultural sites in the former Yugoslavia for the Center and for the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. A summary of his Bosnia documentation can be found at www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu

Read interview here.