This week, within the framework of our European Commission grant, the ESJF’s Legal Research Officer met with Professor Krzysztof Bielawski, Jewish heritage specialist at the Historical Information Center of the Friends of POLIN Museum and Andrzej Jankowski, representing the Warsaw Jewish Community.
During the meeting with Professor Bielawski, the extensive database on ownership rights of Jewish cemeteries in Poland developed by the Polin Museum in collaboration with the National Heritage Institute was discussed. This discussion was taken further during the meeting with Mr Jankowski, who expanded on the legal difficulties that the Warsaw Jewish Community has faced recently.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent reemergence of Jewish communities in Poland, there has been a growing demand for cemetery preservation in the country. Despite the Polish Cemeteries and Burial Act that legally protects the rights of Jewish cemeteries and allows Jewish communities to claim ownership, there has been difficulties in reclaiming Jewish cemeteries as the procedure can take several years.
Moreover, another difficulty discussed concerns the lack of resources and capacity of the Jewish communities of Poland. There are numerous abandoned Jewish cemeteries that are currently waiting to be returned legally to the Jewish community, however the question remains who will be responsible for their restoration and preservation.
Throughout the legal research on Jewish cemeteries under the EU grant, it has become evident that similar issues surface in the other project countries, demonstrating there is an urgent need for further collaboration and better preservation of Jewish religious heritage sites.
