International Association of Jewish
Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project
INDONESIA
former Dutch East Indies
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
"Descendants of Iraqi Jews who came to Indonesia more than
a century ago to trade spices still live and practice in Surabaya in the
eastern half of the densely populated (and almost exclusively Muslim) island of
Java. Their Jewish traditions are primarily ancient in origin (the Sabbath
before Yom Kippur, for example, the community leader slaughters a chicken and
swings it around the synagogue courtyard to dispel the community's sins),
though Dutch Jewish traders from the 18th and 19th centuries introduced them to
some European Rabbinical teachings."
Source:
http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/dispersed.htm
[January 2002]
REFERENCE: Justin Corfield.
Java: British and Empire Graves
. BACSA: London, 1998. {SIC: "submitted as forthcoming" in 1998. No information
about the books publication has been submitted as of December 2000]
http://www.haruth.com/AsianIndia.html
[October 2000]
Also click on Indonesia at
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/comm_asia.html
[August 2005]
THE CEMETERIES
BANGKA ISLAND
: see PANGKALPINANG
SEMERANG
: {10870} Central Java Province
This is the major port city on the north coast of Central Java.
The Jewish cemetery is on the Bergittaheuvel (Hill), I believe, in the south of
the city. Mr. van Treslong Prins, Assistant Archivist to the Dutch East Indies
Government in the 1930s, transcribed the cemetery. He published some in the
late 1930s. The complete list of transcript is on a card index file held at the
National Archives in Jakarta and published in my book on Java.
justinc@ggscorio.vic.edu.au
(Justin Corfield)
PANGKALPINANG (BANGKA ISLAND)
: {10866} South Sumatra Province
-
Kuburan Hollandais
: The old municipal cemetery has four graves that may be Jewish (one definitely
Jewish - three probable). The site is totally dilapidated. A booklet called
Pangkalpinang: a Guide to Cemeteries, Bangka Island, South Sumatra, Indonesia
was published in Melbourne in 1999, 48 pages. The book can be ordered from
BACSA (British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia), UK or from me.
Source: Justin Corfield
justinc@ggscorio.vic.edu.au
SUABAJA
: East Java Province
The local Jewish cemetery has frequently
vandalized. Of the seventy graves with marble tablets, many are illegible.
Source: Freedman, Warren.
World Guide for the Jewish Traveler
. NY: E.P. Dutton Inc, 1984. Extracted by Bernard Kouchel
koosh@worldnet.att.net
.
Rivka Sayers at the Surabaya Synagogue (Synagogue: Jl. Kayun 4-6, Surabaya,
Indonesia) has information about the cemetery. (Tel. +92 31 545 2815). Source:
Miriam Margolyes
75342.3217@compuserve.com
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The right to make one copy for personal use with full citation is hereby granted;
however, no profit is to be made from the use of this website's information.
No reply will be made to inquiries about specific burials. All information that we possess is on the website. We have no other information so please do not write requesting any on either burial sites or individual burials.
Revised
Monday August 29 2005