Recording Cultural Genocide and Killing Sites in Jewish Cemeteries
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Cultural GenocideCultureSteven Reece

“Poland has a huge hole in it”

Steven D. Reece, Founder and CEO of The Matzevah Foundation, discusses the impact that the destruction of the Jewish community in Poland had one the nation.

Authored by Steven D. Reece

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The Loss of Jewish Culture
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'“Poland has a huge hole in it”' Authored by Steven D. Reece

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Other Stories:

  • Events

    Oświęcim: Social Action

    A diverse group worked to clear and restore the cemetery with a dedication to remembering the past and building bridges for the future.

    Oświęcim: Social Action
  • Piaski

    Piaski: Social Action

    Volunteers from across Poland and around the world came together to clean Piaski's cemeteries

    Piaski: Social Action
  • Places

    Wąwolnica: Destruction of the Jewish Cemetery

    Desecrated by the Nazis and hidden under dense vegetation, Wąwolnica's Jewish cemetery still contains some reminders of pre-war Jewish life in the town.

    Wąwolnica: Destruction of the Jewish Cemetery
  • People

    Piaski: Kurt Thomas Eyewitness Testimony

    Kurt Thomas describes the Piaski ghetto

    Piaski: Kurt Thomas Eyewitness Testimony
  • Places

    Wąwolnica: Executions and Violence

    The Jewish cemetery in Wąwolnica became a killing site when men from the town were shot and buried there.

    Wąwolnica: Executions and Violence
  • Oświęcim

    Oświęcim: Destruction of the Cemetery

    As part of the attack on Jewish property, the Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim was desecrated.

    Oświęcim: Destruction of the Cemetery
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Recording Cultural Genocide and Killing Sites in Jewish Cemeteries:

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This project was funded by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) under Grant No. 2016-597

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Origins:

Before the Holocaust, Jewish cemeteries were at the heart of Jewish communities, as places where history was preserved and remembered. During the Holocaust, the Nazis saw them as physical and symbolic expressions of Jewish culture. In an attempt to erase all traces of Jewish people, tombstones were toppled, graves desecrated, bones removed, and funerary houses looted. Not content with inflicting physical damage, the Nazis used cemeteries as execution sites, with mass graves excavated for (and sometimes by) those killed.

Goals:

This project will raise awareness of the causes and consequences of cultural and physical genocide within Jewish cemeteries, directly tackling racism, xenophobia and hostility in the present. It will mark the beginning of a planned long-term collaboration between the project partners as part of a commitment to researching these important, yet under-examined, aspects of Holocaust history.

Partners and supporters:
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Staffordshire University Centre of Archaeology The Matzevah Foundation Fundacja Zapomniane Rohatyn Jewish Heritage
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