| BASIC DATA FOR THE JEWISH CEMETERY IN YEMUN |
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Survey Instrument for Jewish Cemetery in Zemun I. The Town: Present Circumstances 1. Present name of town: Zemun 2. Address of cemetery: Sibinjanin Janka no. 5 & Cara Dušana 32 3. former names of town German: Semlin Hungarian: Zimony Roman: Taurunum 4. Province Vojvodina 5. Longitude and Latitude
44°83' N 6. Distance from center 600 m 7. Present town population over 100,000 8. Present Jewish population 140 II. Contact People 9. Names of town officials (mayor, administrator, etc.) and offices (municipal office, records office, etc.) with addresses and telephone numbers City 10. Names of local conservation Zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture grada Beograda (Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments), Kalemegdan no.14 Milana Jočić, +381 11 2631-766, +381 11 3287 411 11. Names of regional preservation Republički zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture Srbije (State Bureau for Protection of Cultural Monuments of 12. Names of organizations interested in site Savez Jevrejskih opština Srbije - FEDERATION OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN SERBIA ,Jevrejska opština Zemun –Jewish community in Zemun 13. If the Jewish cemetery is locked, who has key? Entrance from 14. If the Jewish cemetery has a caretaker, give name and address Predrag Srećković, 32, 15. List other individuals who may have information about the cemetery.
Nenad Fogel & Ria Beherano, Dubrovačka St. no. 21 11080 Zemun, SCG, jozemun@eunet.yu , sfogel@eunet.yu , tel/fax + 381 11 195 626
III. History 16. Date of earliest known Jewish community in town 1739 17. Jewish population as of last census before World War II around 600
18. Noteworthy individuals who lived in this Jewish community Yehuda Ben Shlomo Hai Alkalai Oto Bihalji Merin Pavle Bihaly Dr Hinko Urbach Moric Binder Moses Farchy Isak Levi Dr. Arnold Schön Lazar Sonnenfeld Albert Weiss David Albahari 19. Date Jewish cemetery was established 1740 20. Tzadakkim and other noteworthy Jews buried in cemetery Simon Herzl – grandfather of Teodora Herzl Oto Bihalji Merin Isidor Weiss Gabriel Polgar Jakov Čelebi Isak Levi Alexandar Franck Willim Scheer Andjelko Tajtacek 21. Type of Jewish community which used this cemetery
mix community 22. Did communities from other towns and villages use this cemetery? No
23. Is the cemetery listed and/or protected as a local, regional or national landmark or monument?
yes
IV. Location, Markers, Access, Security 24. The cemetery location is urban 25. The cemetery is located on flat land 26. The cemetery is
separate, but near other cemeteries 27. The cemetery is reached by
turning directly off a public road 28. Access to the cemetery is
open to all 29. The cemetery is surrounded by
a continuous masonry wall a broken fence no wall or fence 30. The cemetery has
a gate that locks
VI. Appearance and Condition of Cemetery 31. Approximate size of cemetery before World War II in hectares
0,477 ha
32. Present size of cemetery in hectares
0,400 ha
33. Approximate number of gravestones in cemetery, regardless of condition or position
563 34. Approximate number of gravestones in original locations, regardless of condition
500 35. Approximate number of stones in cemetery, but not in original locations
30 36. Approximate percentage of surviving stones toppled or broken, whether or not in original locations
less than 10% 37. Is the location of stones that have been removed from the cemetery from the cemetery known yes in the same cemetery 38. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is
not a problem
39. Water drainage at the cemetery is
good all year round (not a problem) VI. Tombstones and Memorial Markers 40. Tombstones in the cemetery are datable from
18th century 19th century 20th century 41. Tombstones and memorial markers are made of
marble granite limestone sandstone slate 42. The cemetery contains tombstones that are
flat shaped stones finely smoothed and inscribed stones flat stones with carved relief decoration double tombstones multi-stone monuments horizontally set stones with Sephardic inscriptions obelisks 43. The cemetery has tombstones
with other metallic elements portraits on stones metal fences around graves 44. Inscriptions on tombstones are in
Hebrew Yiddish German Serbian Ladino 45. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to
Holocaust victims fascism victims 46. The cemetery contains
marked mass graves VII. Current Use of Cemetery Site 47. The present owner of the cemetery property is
Jewish community Zemun 48. The cemetery property is now used for
Jewish cemetery use only 49. Properties adjacent to cemetery are
residential 50. Compared to 1939, the cemetery boundaries enclose
a smaller area 51. The cemetery is visited
frequently 52. The cemetery is visited by private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) local residents
VIII. Care and Restoration of the Cemetery 53. The cemetery is known to have been vandalized (stones overturned, broken or stolen; graffiti painted on walls or stones, etc.; graves desecrated)
occasionally, between 1981 and 2005 54. What care has been taken of the cemetery? re-erection of stones patching of broken stones cleaning of stones clearing of vegetation fixing of gate 55. If restoration has been carried out, who was responsible for the work?
caretaker 56. If restoration work was carried out, when was it done?
July 2005. 57. How is the cemetery cared for now?
regular caretaker 58. If there is a caretaker, how is he paid?
paid by the Jewish Communty in Zemun
IX. Structures 59. Within the limits of the cemetery
there is a pre-burial house 60. If there is a pre-burial houses, its has a catafalque a chimney X. Recommendations rate the problems facing this cemetery, using the following code: 1 = no threat 2 = slight threat 3 = moderate threat 4 = serious threat 5 = very serious threat 61. Security 4 (uncontrolled access) 62. Weather erosion 1 63. Pollution 3 64. Vegetation 1 65. Vandalism 4 (destruction or defacement of stones and graves) 66. Incompatible nearby development (existing) 1
provide specific information on threats rated 4 (serious)
Although the cemetery is locked after certain evening hours it does not stop unwanted visitors to enter through broken fence at our side of the cemetery. We believe that are no serious barriers to enter from other sides. Wire net on our fence is deliberately moved apart for obvious reasons of entering the graveyard. As a consequence we are faced with serious vandalism for the past ten years and more. Many monuments are deliberately broken, various anti-Semitic graffiti are written etc. There were also attempts of opening some of the graves. XI. Survey Background 67. Name, address and telephone numbers of person or persons completing this survey Nenad Fogel, Dubrovačka 21, 11080 Zemun, Srbija i Crna Gora, + 381 11 195 626 XII. Basis for completing the survey 68. What documentation was used to complete this survey? Book “Jevrejska zajednica u Zemunu 1739 – 1945” ("Jewish Community in Zemun 1739 – 1945"), author Danilo Fogel Archive of Jewish Community of Zemun Fotographing the cemetery during 2003.
List of photos: on the website www.joz.org.yu Additional Comments (a prose description of the site highlighting important features and circumstances is extremely useful and recommended): Position of cemetery enables visitors to enter from two opposite directions to the site; from 32, The Jewish cemetery in Zemun is particularly characterized by exceptionally high number of trees that do not endanger the monuments. The monuments are generally in good condition, especially those from the end of 19th century. The older monuments (18th century) are mostly not readable well due to erosion caused by elements and materials used in that period. Care that we take today about our cemetery is limited with our financial potential. Although there is allways more that can be done we are satisfied for now with the way the community is taking care about it.
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