ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative

11/08/2026

ESJF workshop held at newly-fenced Jewish cemetery in Kytaihorod, Ukraine.

Students and alumni of the local school learned about what a Jewish cemetery is, who is buried there, and why it is important to care for and protect these sites. They also learned how to interpret symbols on matzevot and calculate dates of death written in Hebrew.

Students from the Interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Jewish Studies Міждисциплінарна сертифікатна програма з юдаїки also took part in the event. The workshop was led by historian Eugene Levinzon.

ESJF extends its gratitude to Liubov Volokhovska, Head of the Department of Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Kytaihorod Village Council, for the warm welcome and support.

This educational event, as well as the fencing of the cemetery, was made possible through the generous support of the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).

07/08/2026

ESJF drone surveys in Slovenia have now been completed.

Surveyors visited 15 locations, and preliminary assessments suggest that two sites may be suitable for future fencing projects.

The photos show tombstones of unusual design at the Jewish cemetery in Nova Gorica, located just a short distance from the Slovenian-Italian border. According to our historians' preliminary assessment, the distinctive shape of the tombstone in the first photo reflects Italian influence on the design of Jewish matzevot in the region at the time.

📌ESJF surveys in Slovenia are part of a broader plan to document Jewish cemeteries across the Balkans and the Baltic region: Estonia, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia.

This work is made possible thanks to funding from the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.

We are also very grateful for the support of our local coordinator, Ekaterina Karaseva.

Shabbat Shalom!

07/08/2026

Museum professionals, experts in regional history and cultural heritage, educators, students, and anyone interested in Jewish heritage are invited to take part in a seminar dedicated to the preservation of Jewish cemeteries.

📍The seminar will take place on 11-12 November 2026 in Brno, Czech Republic.

The seminar will offer participants practical insights into Jewish heritage preservation, an opportunity to exchange experience with experts, and visits to significant Jewish heritage sites in South Moravia.

📌Applications are open until 22 August 2026 via the registration form: https://forms.gle/dzXTSPNJRhLyHnNZ6

Applicants will be informed of the selection results by 31 August 2026.

Participation in the seminar is free of charge, but places are limited. Participants are responsible for covering their own travel expenses. Meals and, if needed, one night's accommodation will be provided (please indicate your accommodation requirements in the application form). The seminar will be conducted in Czech.

The seminar is organised by ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative in cooperation with the (Nadační fond dr. Dagmar Lieblové) Dr. Dagmar Lieblová Foundation and the Jewish Community of Brno, with the financial support of the (Auswärtiges Amt) German Federal Foreign Office.

05/08/2026

We have completed the fencing of the fifth Jewish cemetery in Ukraine this year.

The village of Orynyn is located in the Kamianets-Podilskyi district of the Khmelnytskyi region, in the historic area of Podillia. Before the Second World War, Jews made up nearly half of the town's population.

After the Wehrmacht occupied Orynyn, more than 1,700 Jews from the town and surrounding villages were murdered in a single day. Around 300 of the remaining Jews were deported to Kamianets-Podilskyi. A small number of survivors returned after the war, and a small Jewish community remained in Orynyn until the 1990s.

📌Today, there are two Jewish cemeteries in the town.

The new Jewish cemetery has been in use since the second half of the 19th century. Around 150 tombstones have been preserved there, dating from at least 1870 to 1991.

The old Jewish cemetery has also survived and contains around 10 tombstones. Unfortunately, most of their inscriptions are too damaged to be dated accurately.

The fencing of the new Jewish cemetery in Orynyn was made possible thanks to the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).

04/08/2026

Nearly 40 participants from around the world joined our online seminar for museum professionals

Although the programme was designed primarily for museum staff and cultural heritage specialists, we were delighted to welcome a much broader audience of participants.

The lectures explored a wide range of topics related to Jewish heritage documentation and preservation in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Our speakers included Dr. Serafima Velkovich, Head of the Family Roots Research Department, Yad Vashem Archives (Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem), Dr. Vladimir Levin, Center for Jewish Art, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dr. Anna Berezin, Center for Jewish Art, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sara Shor, Artifacts Collection Specialist, Yad Vashem, Esther Zyskina, Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, Faculty of Humanities, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; co-author of the Jewish Cemeteries in the Classroom: An ESJF Guide.

A special thank you to our moderators, Ilya Lensky, Director of the Museum "Jews in Latvia", and Alexandra Fishel, ESJF Educational Projects Officer.

If you missed the event or would like to revisit the presentations, you can watch the full recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plEzbj-29mA&feature=youtu.be

We are grateful to the Auswärtiges Amt (German Federal Foreign Office) for its ongoing support of ESJF's work.

31/07/2026

For most participants of our Ukrainian Stones of Remembrance field camp, the Jewish cemetery in Zhabokrych was their very first encounter with Hebrew inscriptions.

Thanks to the introductory lecture, "How to read a Jewish сemetery," they were able to decipher the inscriptions on the matzevot the very next day.

Whose name did they read first? Watch the video to find out.

The Stones of Remembrance field camp was organised by ESJF and made possible with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).

Крижопільська селищна рада Офіційна сторінка
Міждисциплінарна сертифікатна програма з юдаїки

Shabbat Shalom!

31/07/2026

We are grateful to Israeli Ambassador to Slovakia Cobi Yanovsky (Izrael na Slovensku) and German Ambassador to Slovakia Thomas Kurz (Nemecké veľvyslanectvo Bratislava) for supporting ESJF's mission to protect and preserve Jewish cemeteries across Europe.

Na pozvanie veľvyslanca Štátu Izrael v Slovenskej republike Izrael na Slovensku, J. E. Cobiho Yanovského, sa nemecký veľvyslanec, J. E. Thomas Kurz, zúčastnil na večeri s Rabínom Isaacom Shapirom OBE.

Rabín Isaac Shapira OBE je investor, filantrop a zakladateľ a predseda organizácie European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative ESJF. Táto nezisková organizácia so sídlom v Nemecku, založená v roku 2015, sa venuje ochrane a zachovaniu židovských cintorínov v celej Európe. Jej činnosť zahŕňa najmä presné vymedzenie hraníc cintorínov, ako aj výstavbu ochranných múrov a uzamykateľných vstupných brán.

Stretnutie poskytlo príležitosť zdôrazniť význam ochrany židovského kultúrneho dedičstva a medzinárodnej spolupráce pri zachovávaní historických pietnych miest.

Auf Einladung des Botschafters des Staates Israel in der Slowakei, S.E. Cobi Yanovsky, nahm der deutsche Botschafter, S.E. Thomas Kurz, an einem Abendessen mit Rabbi Isaac Shapira OBE teil.

Rabbi Isaac Shapira OBE ist Investor und Philanthrop sowie Gründer und Vorsitzender der European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative (ESJF). Die 2015 gegründete gemeinnützige Organisation mit Sitz in Deutschland setzt sich für den Schutz und die Erhaltung jüdischer Friedhöfe in ganz Europa ein. Dazu gehören insbesondere die präzise Abgrenzung der Friedhofsflächen sowie der Bau von Schutzmauern und abschließbaren Toren.

Der Austausch bot Gelegenheit, die Bedeutung der Bewahrung des jüdischen Kulturerbes und der internationalen Zusammenarbeit zum Schutz historischer Erinnerungsorte zu unterstreichen.

30/07/2026

ESJF has completed the fencing of the Jewish cemetery in Benesat, Romania.

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 to surrounding agricultural and residential use.

Today, fewer than ten gravestones, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, remain at the site. Thanks to the newly installed metal fence, all burials are now protected.

📌Benesat is a small village in Sălaj сounty, in Northern Transylvania. In 1869, it was home to 41 Jews. The names of several of the last Jewish families have been preserved: Mozes Samuel; Szimkha Nemes, David Lampel. Other Jewish families in the village included the Kleins, Frantzes, and Katzes.

In 1944, following the German occupation of Hungary, the Jews of Benesat were deported to the Cehei ghetto and, from there, to Auschwitz between May and June 1944. The vast majority were murdered. Today, no Jewish community remains in Benesat.

The fencing of the Benesat Jewish cemetery was made possible thanks to the support of the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and the work of Dan Has, ESJF local coordinator in Romania and President of the Jewish Community of Sălaj (Comunitatea Evreilor Zalau Sj).

29/07/2026

ESJF’s survey work continues at full pace this year.

Just a few days after completing the documentation of all known Jewish cemeteries in Kosovo, ESJF Senior Surveyor Ian Galevskii began survey work in Slovenia.

The survey will cover 17 locations that, according to various historical sources, may be Jewish burial sites. Seven of these are known to be existing Jewish cemeteries.

ESJF’s surveys in Slovenia are part of a broader plan to document Jewish cemeteries across the Balkans and the Baltic region: Estonia, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia.

This work is made possible thanks to funding from the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

28/07/2026

Robin Sluk is one of the participants in our Ukrainian three-day field camp on Jewish cemetery research and preservation, Stones of Remembrance.

Before the camp, he knew nothing about Jewish cemeteries. In this video, he shares what he learned and reflects on his experience.

The Stones of Remembrance field camp was organised by ESJF and made possible with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).

Міждисциплінарна сертифікатна програма з юдаїки
Крижопільська селищна рада Офіційна сторінка