Mogilev Cemetery Restoration fund

Dear friends.

Ancient tombstones in the Jewish cemetery of Mogilev, Belarus, are currently under the threat of complete destruction. This is particularly true for the tombstones left without the care of descendants, as many families perished under Stalin’s repressions and the Holocaust.
As many of you know, the Jewish cemetery of Mogilev is at least 220 years old. From 1970s to early 1990s the cemetery was plundered and devastated with the participation of local authorities that allowed non-Jews to be buried in the cemetery. Old ownerless monuments were thrown out and crosses were placed on the site of Jewish graves. Only in the early 1990s the newly formed Jewish community intervened to slow down the destruction.

However in 2018 the old graves were again threatened with destruction, when, according to the new Law “On Cemeteries and Funeral Affairs”, local authorities demanded the restoration of disintegrating monuments that were left without the descendants of the buried, threatening to dismantle them.

My name is Yakov Pevzner. I was born in the former USSR republic of Belarus. Mogilev is my home town and even though I have been living in the USA for about 25 years, Mogilev will always be in my heart. Here in Mogilev I went to school. Here in Mogilev I have a lot of friends and classmates I still keep in touch with.  Here in Mogilev’s Jewish cemetery my grandparents are buried. 

We started this fundraising in the summer of 2018 to save the cemetery.
As of end of 2019 more than 60 people from Belarus, Russia, USA, Germany, Israel and other countries donated to our restoration effort.
As a result of this support the Mogilev Jewish community managed to achieve status of “Historical and Memorial Burial Site” for Mogilev Jewish cemetery.  This halted its destruction, but much more work needs to be done. About 600 valuable monuments need urgent restoration.

 Over the past year more than 3 dozen volunteers worked to transform the ancient cemetery. Please see our updates on this site. 
You can find even more details on https://www.facebook.com/mazevot/ 
 
If your ancestors are buried in the Mogilev cemetery and you find their monument in the catalog (http://mogjewshistory.ru/list ) you can fund targeted restoration of it.
Even if you know that there are no direct family members laid to rest there, please donate.
Any contribution, small or large, will help to continue our restoration effort and saving this valuable historical site.  

Please spread the word among your friends and relatives who could help rejuvenating the Jewish cemetery in Mogilev.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to our fundraising team with any questions:
·         Ida Shenderovich (Mogilev, Belarus) -  meo-1@mail.ru
·        Alex Litin  (Mogilev, Belarus) 
·        Yakov Pevzner  (Northampton, USA)

YOUR help makes a difference.  If you value Jewish heritage and believe in its timeless contribution to the world culture, please support these efforts by making a donation.
All your contributions will go directly to “Mogilev Cemetery Restoration fund”.

Thanks for your support.