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Located just steps away from residential homes, the cemetery was remarkably vulnerable. In the photos, one can even see fruit trees growing among the remaining gravestones, their trunks painted with white lime by local residents. Without a protective fence, it is easy to imagine how the cemetery could have gradually been encroached upon or lost […]

ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative is proud to announce the completion of its 400th Jewish cemetery protection project – a major milestone achieved after more than 11 years of work. This achievement would not have been possible without the commitment of our team, the support of our friends, partner organisations, private donors, and our principal […]

ESJF held its semi-annual board meeting in Tel Aviv this week, bringing together board members, partners, and diplomats to discuss the organisation’s ongoing work and future plans for protecting Jewish cemeteries across Europe. Among the guests were senior diplomats from the German, Serbian and US embassies in Tel Aviv, Aleksandar Nikolić, Honorary Consul of the […]

Photo: Radovan Sremac Between September and December 2025, ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative held the International Jewish Cemetery Research Competition, focused on Jewish cemeteries fenced between 2023 and 2025, with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office. As part of the competition, participants were asked to photograph all accessible tombstones in the Jewish cemetery […]

The Jewish cemetery in Bobota, Sălaj County, dates back to the late 19th or early 20th century. Around a dozen tombstones have survived there, mostly from the 1910s–1920s. This cemetery is now surrounded by a new metal fence. We would like to thank our local coordinator in Romania and the President of the Jewish Community […]

Education, technology and local mobilisation at the forefront of project across seven European countries Dozens of international activists and experts are set to gather for an EU-funded conference next week on Jewish cemetery preservation in Europe. The conference, entitled “Jewish Cemeteries of Europe as a Shared Heritage” takes place on Monday, July 3, beginning at […]

The Concluding Conference of the “Preserving Jewish Cemeteries” EU co-funded grant started on Monday, 3rd July 2023, 13:00 – 16:15 CET (ONLINE). The Concluding Conference of the “Preserving Jewish Cemeteries” concludes an 18 month project undertaken jointly by the ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, Centropa and the Foundation for Jewish Heritage which has focused on […]

It is with great pleasure that the ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative invites you to take part in a EU-funded Webinar and Hackathon under the ‘Preserving Jewish Cemeteries’ grant online on 19th & 20th June. With sessions on the application of drones in the work of the ESJF from Office Manager, Alexander Bessarab and on […]

On the 14th, 18th and 19th December 2022, the ESJF was proud to meet with 50 Ukrainian Jewish heritage activists for a three-day EU Masterclass on the importance of preserving Jewish cemeteries. A total of 148 registered to receive the recordings of the event and shared their input via email. Connecting online from countries far […]

The Batrad Jewish cemetery in Ukraine was cleared of over-growth early this month. The ESJF fenced and protected this burial site in 2016 with funding from the Auswärtiges Amt. The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown, but it can be assumed that it emerged in the 19th century. The ESJF recently cleared this […]

The EU workshop we hosted last week over the 16th and 17th November 2022 was exciting, interesting and above all a great success! Over the two days, we gained a small insight into the difficulties the citizens of Ukraine have, unfortunately, on a daily basis. The first day started in the basement instead of the […]

Yesterday, on the 17th November 2022, a rededication ceremony took place at the Seroczyn Jewish cemetery in Poland, which the ESJF fenced and protected earlier this year with funding from the Auswärtiges Amt. Jewish settlement in Seroczyn dates back to the early 18th century. The small community of 179 Jews that lived in the village […]