«LE DOR VA DOR» PROJECT
P R O J E C T H I S TO R Y PLANS FOR 2012 P R E S E R V I N G J E W I S H C E M E T E R I E S VO L U N T E E R I S M YO U C A N M A K E C H A N G E A N T I - S E M I T I S M
Memorizing the past,Aspiring for the future!
CONTENT
2 “Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
p. 3 – thinking aloudp. 4 – 2011p. 5 – project mapp. 6 – about the projectp. 7 – web-sitep. 8 – project progressp. 9 – 5-year history in figuresp. 10 – volunteersp. 11 – our common deedp. 12 – plans for 2012p. 13 – you can make a changep. 14 – our partnersp. 15 – anti-Semitismp. 16 – 2012
In hallowed memory of Shmuil ben Itskhak Kraizman and Kalman ben Ruvim Sverdlov
THINKING ALOUD
When my grandmother came back upset from a cemetery she told me that she wasn’t able to find the grave of her aunt. I didn’t believe it and went there myself. Well, neither me, nor the cemetery workers, who had old dusty books with entries about deaths in the alphabetical order, could find the grave. Even having found the appropriate information in that pile of paper, we were unable to apply it to the map of the cemetery and to find the grave.That was in spring 2007. A year later our Jewish Community already had the full database of all 7500 graves of 4 Jewish parts of the city with a photograph of each and information about its place on a cemetery. The database was created by our project, where me as well as tens of young people
volunteered, honoring those, who had kept for us Jewish traditions and Jewishness as such during three generations of the Soviet power.Now the team of the project not only includes more than 50 people all over the world. During the 5 years of constant project activities we have collected more than 100000 graves on 37 cemeteries in 24 cities in 5 countries.We wouldn’t have reached that without support of our partners and sponsors. Last year we doubled our databases and we plan to double them again in 2012 including Siberia, Kazakhstan and Odessa, Kiev and Kharkov in Ukraine into the map of our project. We hope that you will do what one can to reach these objectives.
Moti Sverdlov, Executive Director of «Le Dor Va Dor» project.
3“Le Dor Va Dor” project Report for 2011
4
2011
We started the project of collecting biographies “Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten”, “Three generations of Soviet Jewish who kept the traditions for us”
2011
24 cities in the project 37 cemeteries catalogued
5 countries in the project
67 volunteers took part in the project
More than 1450 people took part in cleaning Jewish cemeteries
9 communities joined the project that year
107921 graves in the database with a photograph of each one
More than 79400 graves in the lists and databases of our partners
More than 1500 gravestones were cleaned during the fall cataloguing season in Yekaterinburg, more than 18000 in Moscow
Development of a system of interactive cartography of Jewish cemeteries was started
“Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
5“Le Dor Va Dor” project Report for 2011
PROJECT MAP
We are especially careful and attentive to the issues of renovation and maintenance of Jewish cemeteries, e.g. clean-up and commemoration.
Out of circa 520 Jewish cemeteries in the Former Soviet Union more than 40 are now within “Le dor va dor” project. To provide them with proper care and to catalogue the rest of them we need expenses, which exceed volunteer and financial resources of the project at the moment.
We achieved such results only thanks to our partners and donors, who having realized the importance of the project, invested and keep investing in renovation and preservation of our heritage.
All the works at the cemeteries are carried out under Halakhic laws and are subject to the Main Rabbinate of each country and to local rabbis .
• Jewish cemeteries completely in the database• Partly catalogued• Cities planned for cataloguing in 2012
Jewish cemeteries completely in the database and available for search
Arzamas | Tobolsk | Tyumen | Ufa | Kazan | Ulyanovsk | Tver | Vladimir | Mariupol | Poltava | Korosten | Yoshkar Ola | Solnechnaya | Pochep
Partly catalogued and available for search
Kishinev | Tiraspol | Kiev | Saltykovsk | Perlovskoe | Noginsk | Perm | Yekaterinburg | Chelyabinsk | Omsk | Malakhovka | Minsk | Kaluga | Dnepropetrovsk
| Kharkov | Odessa | Samara | Saint-Peterburg
Cities planned for cataloguing in 2012
Tbilisi | Tshinval | Poti | Bendery | Alma-Ata | Karaganda | Shymkent | Novosibirsk | Krasnoyarsk | Khabarovsk | Vladivistok | Sankt-Peterburg | Bryansk | Voronezh | Penza | Ivanovo | Vitebsk | Gomel | Ryazan
99% of what have been done for the last 5 years would be impossible without support of our partners and volunteers. How to join you can learn on pages 10 and 12…
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ABOUT THE PROJECT
According to the tradition a cemetery as a holy place can never be disturbed. Jewish cemeteries and places of mass grave brightly illustrate how Jewish communities were destroyed in the past, e. g. during the Holocaust (The Catastrophe of European Jewry during the Second World War). They are like alive witnesses of the history of Jewish community life all over the world and they are an important part of Jewish cultural heritage, showing its variety.At the same time thousands of Jewish graves today are not attended and guarded by anybody. They are in a poor condition and their destruction continues.Disregard, urbanization, vandalism, robberies and unqualified attempts of renovation threaten to eliminate
for ever what is often the only existing source of knowledge about Jewish communities of the prewar period. Without immediate intervention many of them can completely disappear. “Le Dor Va Dor” is a project of cataloguing Jewish graves in Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union, which was created in 2007 by an initiative group of enthusiasts, who had returned from an expedition to Jewish places in the Crimea. The objective of forming a group were activities on renovation of Jewish cemeteries. Since then not only methodic and technology of cataloguing were developed, but also was created software for creation of catalogues and a website. The resource you are looking at now doesn’t only let you find Jewish graves with minimum information. It also gives an opportunity to distantly
“Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
order services of maintenance of gravestones of your relatives and friends.The foremost task of the project is renovation and protection of Jewish cemeteries and mass graves all over the territory of the Former Soviet Union. Now the website has information about more than 100000 graves on 37 cemeteries in 24 cities of Russia, which is 95% of information about graves in the mentioned regions. Only several parts are not covered – about 2500 graves. If you haven’t found the grave of a relative, don’t lose your hope – we are working with the rest of them and this work will be soon completed.These cemeteries are a part of European-Jewish heritage and being often in a poor condition they need our attention and care.
7“Le Dor Va Dor” project Report for 2011
WEB-SITE
Today we suggest you taking a real part in the project development, by a feasible material donation. It’s not an act of charity, it’s a suggestion for partnership, the invitation to cooperation. It’s the way to contribute to the advancement of our common business and, accordingly, the way to strengthening the integrity of the Jewish communities of FSU. Only together we can
preserve the heritage of our ancestors. For your convenience we’ve created accounts in the most popular payment systems.
For making a deposit from Russia you can use any terminal in any branch of mobile-center “Svyaznoy”. The account number you’re to make a transfer to is: 2 989218 904097 of “Svyaznoy-bank” .
If you want to make a transfer from abroad , «PayPal» is there to help you. For this purpose go to www.beitkvarot.ru, choose an option to «donate» (on the right menu). Besides, you can always contact with us and we will find a way convenient for you.Donation is not the only way to take part in the project . Pass the information around or become a volunteer, and it’ll be your own feasible
contribution.In case you have problems with the transfer, or you have some interesting offers, contact us via e-mail [email protected] or call 43 – 6768-3181550.
***We do one good work. Let G-d bless our efforts!We express our gratitude to all those people who helped and are helping the project, to all our partners!
All these years the project «Le
Dor Va Dor» was striving for being indispensable for
our users. It is not easy; developing
and improving such a large-scale
project by the efforts of a mere handful
of people — is a utopia. This is why
one of our essential goals is working
in a close tandem with volunteers
and portal users. Only by common
efforts we can keep the project «Le Dor Va Dor» going and
advancing.
8 “Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
THE CURRENT PROGRESS
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total:Russia 11036 24254 46911 86730 107921
Moscow 2879 10395 22893 74054 74054Vostrjakovskoe 2879 9136 18893 67693 finished 67693Saltikovka - - - 151 in progr. 151Noginsk - - - 292 in progr. 292Malahovka - 1259 4000 5918 in progr. 5918Perlovskoe - - - - in project 0
Nizhniy Novgorod 2530 5656 7495 7811Marijina Rowcha 1397 2836 3616 - - finished 3616Krasnaya Etna 899 2344 3288 - - finished 3288Olgino 234 476 581 - - finished 897Fedyakovo - - 10 - - finished 10Old Sormovskoe - - - - - in project 0
Arzamas - - 244 - - finished 244Omsk - - - - 160 in progr. 160Tobolsk - - - - 60 finished 82Tyumen - - - - 70 finished 52Ufa - - - 3782 - finished 3782Chelyabinsk - - - 2215 - in progr. 2215Ekaterinburg - - - 2404 - in progr. 2404Perm - - 2500 2692 - in progr. 2692
Kazan 1812 3037 3037Arskoe - 1348 2199 - - finished 2199Polish part - 123 274 - - finished 274Samosyrovo - 341 564 - - finished 564
Uljanovsk 689 374 689Old - 287 - - - finished 287New - 402 - - - finished 402
Tver - - - 58 - finished 58Kaluga - - - 150 - in progr. 150Vladimin - - - 166 - finished 166Rjazan - - - - - in project 0Pochep - - - - 33 finished 33
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5 YEARS OF HISTORY
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total:Russia 11036 24254 46911 86730 107921
Samara 245 3546 3546CEK - - 245 2665 - in progr. 2665СEK Tatatian - - - 321 - in progr. 321Metallurg - - - 357 - in progr. 357Gorodskoe - - - 203 - in progr. 203
Saint-Petersburg - - - 0 - in project 0Yoshkar Ola - - - 58 - finished 58Solnechnaya - - - - 54 finished 54
Ukraine 567 900 1467Mariupol - - - 200 - in progr. 200Poltava - - - 167 - finished 167Korosten - - - 200 - in progr. 200Dnepropetrovsk - - - - - in project 0Kharkov - - - - - in project 0Odessa - - - - - in project 0Kiev - - - - 900 in project 900
Hungary 3671 3671Budapest - - - - 3671 in progr. 3671
Moldova 2500 2500Tiraspol 2500 in progr. 2500
107.921
37
24
5
- burial places in the base followed by photos
- cemeteries are still in the project with a map of each and every burial place
- cities and towns overed all over FSU
- countries covered with the project catalogues
10 “Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
VOLUNTEERSThe maintenance of a large quantity of historical Jewish monuments wouldn’t be possible without the support of our local partners. This support and the fruitful work of volunteers allow us to protect and keep the remains of Jewish heritage in the FSU. Thank you!
Ekaterina Avriskina, the volunteer of the project «Le Dor Va Dor» since 2008
Participation in this project made me think. Why do I really need it? I essentially identify myself with the people I belong to.
Marina Giter, The volunteer of the project «Le Dor Va Dor» since 2009
The Task Peoples Time
Web-page management 3 150Text translation 4 20Taking photos of the graves 17 557Digitization of materials 13 1268Creation of cemeteries maps 2 113Project marketing 2 78Office work 2 180Transportation 12 130Logistics 5 344Lecturing activity 2 30Group leader 3 240Call-center 2 87Post box 3 89Web-page moderating 2 159Fundraising 4 174Web-design and programming 4 280
Total: 80 3899
Time Bank “Le Dor Ve Dor” project . The annual report 2011. At the moment 67 volunteers took part in the project. They accomplished the work of 3899 hours, equaled to 20894,6 Euro
«Have you ever noticed the pressing sense of loneliness and soul distress, coming over when looking at abandoned graves? Have you ever felt the pain coming over when remembering the burial places of our nearest and dearest, those we can’t visit for various reasons? In case these
I know my roots and the graves location of my ancestors. However I can imagine the feelings of those people who have lost this connection.Dear friend, together we can do a lot. And it’s not only paying a tribute to the dead. Although we should always remember and revere. We are cultivated by the history and the culture of our people, we belong to. Reuniting with it, having conceived all that’s making you and your people just that they are, you become a part of your nation’s greatness.
feelings are quite familiar to you; Or if you had to desert the burial place of your close relatives or the stressed lifestyle
doesn’t allow you to visit them as often as you’d wish to, you can find the solution in our project. We would desirably help you...»
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OUR COMMON BUSINESS
«After the death of our relatives, their grave becomes their last abri. It’s nice to see well-groomed graves. It takes time and efforts. However, not everybody has got the opportunity to take care of the burial places due to different circumstances.Our web-page is created in order to help people to take care of it. Those wishing to help for the project realization, you’re welcome!»
Irina Stepanets, the volunteer of the project «Le Dor Va Dor» since 2009
«The moment when a person realizes that he has Roots, it comes to everyone, sooner or later. Roots are the basis of our life. For a human being, those Roots are his nearest and dearest, without whom our existence would be impossible.
Irina Korotkov, the volunteer of the project «Le Dor Va Dor» since 2009.
«Nowadays, the condition of burial places in Russian cities is unsatisfactory, to say the least. The maintenance of most of them is usually kept by the Jewish
communities or the relatives of the buried. Jewish communities and organizations often just don’t have the means and potential to take care of it. In solving of this problem, we, as the volunteers of the project consider our respect to our ancestors, history and to the Jewish people in general.
There is an opinion that our Earthly existence is an artful design of inexplicable chainsof cause - effect relations. You can’t change the world on your own, but each person can try to make it a bit more perfect.
You can join the project too!»
Dmitry Shtejn, the volunteer of the project «Le Dor Va Dor» since 2009
People who pass away with the lapse of time.Due to the feeling of loneliness or to some other reason, everyone realizes this connection. However because of the life twists and turns, this connection is sometimes lost. Isn’t it regretful? Sometimes the person you’re looking for is already dead. Our web-page is created for helping those people who would like to find the burial places of their relatives, friends, former neighbors and acquaintances. Not all the graves are in the decent state, some are needed to be repaired and taken care of. What is the other way to say to those people, how dear they were to us.
The project «Le Dor Va Dor» depends on the volunteers taking an initiative in all current actions and plans realization. We can’t make it alone.
12 “Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
PLANS FOR 2012.We realize that the global economic climate has left an indelible impact upon all of us. In these tough times, we take nothing for granted, and appreciate that you are the part of the Jewish community, sharing with us this understanding of “Le Dor Va Dor” project. Holding thecommunity membership, we hope that even if you are not currently able to contribute financially to help us rich our 2012 goals, you will still use, publicize, and benefit from the “Le Dor Va Dor” project and our web-site.
Country City Graves Required6 countries 29 cities 224600 $ 36615
Ukraine 4 cities 76100 $ 11764Odessa:
3-e evrejskoe* 56000 7840Tairovskoe 4000 560
2-е international 5000 700Kiev:
Baykovskoe* 2900 696Кривой Рог 1500 360
Kharkov 6700 1608
Kazakhstan: 3 cities 8000 $ 1970Almaty 5000 1250
Karaganda 2000 480Шымкент 1000 240
Georgia: 3 города 11300 $ 1857Tbilisi 9500 1425
Tskhinvali 1000 240Poti 800 192
Moldova: 3 cities 28800 $ 4662Kishenev* 25000 3750
Bendery 2000 480Tiraspol* 1800 432
Country City Graves RequiredRussia: 13 cities 67700 $ 11509
Moskow:Saltykovka* 3500 595Perlovskoe 2600 442
Noginsk* 1300 221Ekaterinburg* 600 102Chelyabinsk* 2000 340
Omsk* 6800 1156Novosibirsk 6300 1071Krasnoyarsk 2500 425Khabarovsk 3900 663Vladivostok 2500 425
Saint-Petersburg 28000 4760Bryansk 2400 408
Voronezh 2300 391Penza 1500 255
Ivanovo 1500 255
Belarus: 3 города 10700 $ 1498Minsk* 7100 994Vitebs 2000 280Gomel 1600 224
* the cities where the cataloging is partly finished, but for completion the extra means are required.
City, Country – the location of the cemetery catalogued by the projectGraves - the number of burial places according to our esteem, which will be catalogued in 2012; and considering the required finances.Required – the cost of cataloging according to our esteem concerning the quantity of burial places on the definite cemetery and all over the country.
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YOU CAN CHANGE THE SITUATION
During the process of Jewish burial places cataloging in the FSU , more than 2850 abandoned burial places were found. They can’t be identified due to the absence of gravestones and tablets. According to the Jewish tradition, a burial place doesn’t have an «expiration date», it is a sacred place which can’t be disturbed. We hope that together we can keep the memory of those people who don’t have relatives anymore.
To install a monument on an abandoned grave- 5000 rubles(1490 are to be restored; current finances are sufficient for137)
Last5771 year, thanks to the support of several Jewish communities, our partners, and sponsors“Le Dor Va Dor” was able to double the data base . More than100 thousand graves are available for the search. The cataloguing ofMoscow Vostrjakovkoe
cemetery was finished as well as the cataloguingof 7 cities of Ural region (Perm, Ufa, Samara, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Tobolsk.)
To contribute to the creation of the full catalog of cemeteries of Siberia, Far East, Kazakhstan regions -52.000 rubles
To contribute to the creation of the full catalog of cemeteries (in such cities as Omsk, Novosibirsk, with estimated Jewish burial places up to 5-8.000) - 15.000 rubles; (Odessa, Kiev holding about 40-60.000 burial places according to our estimations)- 37.000 rubles.
Last year during the cleaning on Jewish cemeteries, all over the cities we found about 1315 monuments in a poor state. They require an immediate reconstruction. 37 were reconstructed on our own , however substantial finances are required to finish the work
Thousands of fences on Jewish cemeteries are in a sad state, they are shabby, the paint is distended and flakes off.
To paint a fence of an abandoned grave - 2000 rubles (1347 are awaiting to be painted, 26 are done)
To restore a destroyed monument – 3500 rubles (4815 are on the list, 293 are restored)
Nowadays thousands of Jewish burial places are visited and protected by nobody. They are in a bad condition – and their destruction is going on. Neglect, an urbanization process, vandalism, thefts and inefficient attempts of restoration are threatening to erase the only unique source which has reached up to now in order to pass the knowledge about Jewish communities of the pre-war period. Without an immediate intervention many of them may simply disappear for ever.
We cooperate with:TyumenSaltykovka Noginsk MoscowNizhniy Novgorod MalakhovkaUfaChelyabinsk Ekaterinburg PermKazanUlyanovsk TverSt.-Petersburg SamaraKaluga OmskVladimirRjazanKaraganda Alma-Ata Mariupol Poltava KorostenKievOdessa Kharkov
14 “Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
OUR PARTNERS
ip3.ru | PopulArt.ru | JewGen.org | НЕМО | Ezra Olami | Lauder Business School | Friends of LBS | Jewish Heritage Center | Ohel Abraham | Educational Center «Or Zarua» | JewAge.org | j-roots.info | Limmud De | Limmud Austria | Lechaim | Evrejskoe Slovo | Evrejskaya sluzhba novostey | Nashi Ljudi | Sredi Svoih
Strategic partners:
The Jewishcommunities in CISInformational support:
Infrastructural partners:
15“Le Dor Va Dor” project Report for 2011
The Foundation cannot remain indifferent
with regard to any manifestation of
anti-Semitism; we consequently report to the authorities about
all the anti-Semitic incidents (leaflets, public
statements, graffiti) and other acts of
vandalism against the historical heritage of
Soviet Union Jewry. A list of all the incidents
reported to the police or prosecutor offices by
the Foundation can be found on our website.
ANTI-SEMITISM
16 “Le Dor Va Dor” projectReport for 2011
2012Thank you for reading.
Please send suggestions and comments to [email protected] We look forward to hearing from you.
Published thanks to generous support of «Le Dor Va Dor» Friends , Moscow-Jerusalem-New York-Vienna
Text: Moti Sverdlov, Poly Shimkevitch, Yan Shulman
Edited by: Moti Sverdlov
Translated by: Anna Litovskaya, Poly Shimkevich
Consultation: R’Menachem Rabinovitch, R’Shaya Boas, R’Sender Garber
Graphic Design: Moti Sverdlov Logo Design: Pop-Art
Photographs: the «Le Dor Va Dor» project for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in FSU, Moti Sverdlov, Asya Mikhailova, Alexander Hasin, Dmitry Shtein. Information and educational materials concerning Jewish cemeteries and complete databases are available on the website of the «Le Dor Va Dor» project www.beitkvarot.ru and on websites of our partners
© by The "Le Dor Va Dor" project for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Former Soviet Union