Re: [Cz-L] Stone with cross.

When I first visited the Bukovina in May 2011, there were two stones with crosses in the Vashkivtsi cemetery in Wiznitz oblast. But these were relatively recent graves of Jews in a cemetery of a town in which there have been no Jews living since WWII. I am not certain, but believe these dated to the 1970s and 1990s and belonged to former residents who were interred there. I ascribe these to local production by stonecutters unfamiliar with Jewish tradition, and do not believe the deceased were christians, even though many locals visited the cemetery regularly as a holy place where they found spiritual comfort. During our cleanup one such visitor was an old woman from Kitsman. Interestingly, when I returned in September 2012 for a visit to arrange for ongoing maintenance after we cleared the cemetery of dense vegetation in October 2011, surprisingly one was replaced with a stone that did not have a cross. Presumably a relative decided that the original stone was inappropriate and had a new one made. I was told that among the newer stones in the cemetery one was for the father of a singer who became very popular in the Ukraine. Unfortunately, I do not recall the name as he was not anyone I was familiar with. I have photos of the original stones as well as some 800 others we photographed.

Mark Wiznitzer

On Jan 7, 2013, at 11:22 AM, Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu> wrote:

> In the Jewish cemetery in Czernowitz, I have never seen a cross
> on any of the gravestones. As others have noticed, this cross looks
> as if it was not engraved in the manner of the decorations and other writing
> on this gravestone.
>
> Most probably it was made much more recently as an act of vandalism.
> In the village of Banila, south of Czernowitz, I saw many gravestones
> with an incised cross in the Jewish cemetery.
> On those gravestones, the crosses were clearly of the same style
> as any writing or decoration on the rest of the stone.
> Possibly, those were the graves of Jews, who during the war, converted
> to Christianity, in order to escape deportation. Possibly, they were the graves
> of Jewish spouses of Christians, or Christian spouses of Jews.
> These may also be the graves of Subbotnicki.
>
> Mimi
>
> On Jan 6, 2013, at 11:34 AM, Christian Herrmann wrote:
>
>> Dear Merle, dear Hardy,
>>
>> it is very strange indeed. I was as surprised as you are when Lukasz Babula, a Polish volunteer, made me aware of it in 2011. Lukasz, a student at the university of Lublin, has examined a lot of Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine and Poland and told me had never seen a Christian cross on a Jewish cemetery. I'm sure he is right. This one might be very unique.
>>
>> So what is it? My interpretation is this: Pepi Almogen converted but she or her family wanted her to be buried among the relatives and friends at the Jewish cemetery. This was tolerated by the Jewish community and even the cross was tolerated. Part of the mythos of Czernowitz is tolerance. With a real background as it seems.
>>
>> As I said, this is just my interpretation. Does somebody in the group know the full story? I'm curious for it.
>>
>> Christian
>>
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Received on 2013-01-07 11:37:50