When we first started taking care of the Brzesko Jewish cemetery in
April 2015, most of the area was covered with bushes and it was only possible
to walk down the main alley leading to the ohels.
We
had neither equipment nor money, but we wanted to do something for the people
buried at the cemetery. It is difficult to count how many hours we have spent
cutting bushes, collecting rubbish, mowing grass, cleaning matzevot. At first,
there was a handful of us, but gradually students from nearby schools and
Brzesko residents started joining us. We brought secateurs and garbage bags
with us, borrowed saws, brushcutters and lawn mowers from friends. We’ve
developed good relationship with the city administration, who every couple of
months took away from the cemetery piles of cut trees and all collected
garbage. In 2018-2019, US students came to Brzesko and we cleaned the cemetery
together.
During
these five years, we cleaned the entire cemetery, and with the help of
Aleksander Schwarz from the Rabbinical Commission on Jewish Cemeteries, located
and commemorated two mass graves. In 2019, all matzevot were documented by
Witold Wrzosiński and Remigiusz Sosnowski from the Foundation for Documentation
of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland.
The
cemetery covers an area of 1.4 hectares, and it requires a lot of effort to
maintain it in a decent condition. We still regularly mow grass, cut re-growing
trees and collect garbage. We put stones and light candles on mass graves. We
remember.
