etween the 23rd and 24th of October, 30 participants, involved in the protection and care of Jewish cemeteries, came together for the ESJF’s EU Masterclass to intensively discuss and exchange their experiences and knowledge on the topic of Jewish cemeteries in Poland.

As a result of the Holocaust, most of the 1,500 existing cemeteries in Poland are in a critical need of immediate preservation and commemoration. In many places, they remain the only materially preserved monument to the Jewish communities that lived on Polish soil for more than 1,000 years.

Thanks to funding from the European Commission, the ESJF and the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre, invited Lublin based people who are actively involved in caring for Jewish cemeteries in Poland. This included Jewish heritage activists such as representatives from the Matzevah Foundation, the Markuszów Municipality and the Lubartów Municipality, the Zapomniane Foundation, and ESJF’s consortium partner – Centropa. The event was also joined by representatives of Jewish organisations (Jewish Community in Warsaw, Rabbinical Commission for Jewish Cemeteries in Poland, Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland).