Progress Report

Berdichev’s Jewish Cemetery

A Progress Report and a Thought for Yom Kippur

[copyright Yael Shamir-Driver September 2001]

Following my initial write up on the cemetery of Berdichev (see Jewishgen Ukraine page), I am very pleased to follow up with a report about the work that has taken place since June, including some photographic evidence of the results.

Following the securing of initial funds, the Rabbi of Berdichev has worked to obtain a permit from the municipality to clear the cemetery area of overgrowth and certain trees. Having received this permit, a local contractor was asked to clear a small area in order to ascertain that his work was of the required standard and that he would work carefully without causing any damage to the gravestones. The contractor’s work proved to be satisfactory and on this basis he was awarded a contract to clear a larger plot.

After some eight weeks of work we have the first photos showing the results of this work. Large amounts of undergrowth have been cleared away and gravestones, which were barely visible at the time of our June visit, are now clear and ready for ‘reading’. Of course, many of the stones are not completely upright but generally the picture is one of great improvement and what one would hope to see when visiting a cemetery such as the one in Berdichev.

Although the photographs reveal a completely “new cemetery”, the area currently cleaned is probably no more than one sixth of the total area of the cemetery. Moreover, unless treated with an appropriate herbicide, the growth will probably reappear. We are currently investigating the most appropriate form of treatment and any professional ideas would be welcomed.

The current clearing work will continue for another month until winter starts to set in. Next spring we would like to complete the clearance of the undergrowth in the rest of the cemetery, effect the chemical treatment and carry out the most important aspect of the project, which is to read and record the details of as many gravestones as possible. The latest set of photographs [see a sample below] encourages us that many of the stones may still be legible.

Click on photos to enlarge:

A. Berdichev Cemetery – 1^st stage of the clean up

B. Berdichev Cemetery – 1^st stage of the clean up

C. Berdichev Cemetery – before the start of the clean up

All this means that we will need to secure more support and in particular we will be looking for volunteers to help the documentation process planned for next year.

So here is a call, on the eve of Yom Kippur, to all you Berdichevers and descendants thereof – please consider if you can help. I can be contacted at Drivery@netcomuk.co.uk