POLAND -- Cleaning up Dymow Cemetery

The Foundation for the Preservaton of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ) has posted some dramatic -- and informative -- photos about the clean-up of the Jewish cemetery in Dymow, showing before and after pictures that document the scope and difficulty of such operations.

The cemetery is the final resting place of important chassidic leaders: Zvi Elimelech of Dinov (1785-1841) called "Bnei Issahar", his son David "Cemah David (1804-1874) and grandson Ishaiahu Naftali Herc. Zvi Elimelech is considered a spiritual father of Satmar and Belz chassidim, and his tomb is visited by numerous faithful. FODZ reports:

In this operation we are helped by the members of local sport club (5th league "Dynovia" Dynow - may they be upgraded soon!) who are working in their free time. FODZ contributes all necessary equipment and materials.

This is what we call a success in the hopeless battle for proper maintenance of 1200 Jewish cemeteries in Poland: the engagement of the local citizens is a positive respons for the need and should be more highlighted in the media than antisemitic vandalism. But, it happens so in this world, that the Good is boring, and the Evil - attractive.