In Kalush (western Ukraine) a fire broke out at the old Jewish cemetery

On the night of January 12 to 13, at in the Carpathian region there was fire at an old Jewish cemetery in Kalush. The cemetery has not been particularly affected. Firefighters extinguished the flames in time. Another problem is that the necropolis, where several thousand Jews found eternal repose, wasturned into a vacation spot by locas.

The fire was not intentional. This was stated by firemen and the Jewish community. It was just an accident and ordinary human negligence.

“This cemetery is very old and historically important, it emerged in the late XVII century,” rabbi of Ivano-Frankivsk region MoisheLeibKolesnik tells RISU reporter YuliaHolovchenko. “The cemetery area is over 1 hectare. The exact number of tombs is unknown. But the account goes on several thousands.There are more than two thousandundamaged tombstones. We know that here the righteous YitzchockLeiferfather of the founder of Hasidic dynasty in Nadvirna,Ivano-Frankivsk region, found eternal rest.”

Even a decade ago, the cemetery was much neglected. Then the Jewish community of Kalush, supported by local businesses, cleaned cemetery.

There were times when the cemetery stones disappeared, and they were found in the courts of Kalush citizens, state representatives of the Jewish community. In 1992 the cemetery was fenced and it immediately became a tidbit for of scrap metal seekers. Subsequently Kalush citizens liked necropolis as a place of rest. The community got information that they drank alcohol and had fun there.

In addition, the cemetery became a shelter for homeless.

“The cemetery periodically gets desecrated. I understand that this is not done deliberately,” says Rabbi Moshe Leib. The Jewish community, including only a few people,who are old, takes care of the cemetery. They clean it, and in a month and a half the situation repeats.”

The Jewish community has no claims to anyone. Local authorities askKalush citizens to be more attentive to historical sites, as this cemetery is the last Jewish monument in the city. By the way, under Jewish Law, the cemetery land is considered sacred and inviolable. Each headstone and the entire cemetery are intact, as long as its location is known. The exceptions are cases where the transfer is carried out for exhumation of the remains to move them to the Holy Land or the family grave.