32, Cara Dušana St. entrance

5, Sibinjanin Janka St.entrance (chapel)

Chapel "Doors of Death"

CHAPEL
The chapel which today is the only house of worship that the Zemun Jewish Community uses for religious ceremonies, has shared and endured the sad tale of impoverishment that the entire Zemun community has been faced with since the end of WWII. Already weathered by age it collapsed one day in September 2003 under the force of a thunderstorm that swept over Zemun. Overcome by the calamity we sought help from the Zemun municipality and prominent Serbian enterprises. We were fortunate that there were still, as there always had been, people who appreciate true values eager to help in dire times. Their benefaction made it possible for the chapel to be renovated and once again used for funeral ceremonies in 2005. The least that the Zemun Jewish Community could do was to find an appropriate way to thank all those that had extended their support. In a text that can be found in our website www.joz.rs (or www.joz.org.yu in transitional period)  we have tried to express in chosen words the sincere gratitude of our community.
(click on image to enlarge)

Collapsed roof of chapel, 2003

Collapsed roof of chapel, 2003

Renewed chapel, 2004

Chapel and shed, 2007

Chapel and shed, 2007

Renewed caretaker’s house, 2004

After the accident when the roof collapsed on our cemetery chapel and after unexpected aid that we got from the state authorities, Jewish Community of Zemun decided to establish an official award of gratitude called Megillah of Gratitude or Roll of Gratitude.
By decision of the JOZ Board the first megillas were awarded to those who responded to our appeal for help respectively.
The first on the list to receive our Megillahs were the City Community of Zemun, followed by “Telekom Serbia”, Belgrade Airport, Cemetery Enterprise of Belgrade, “DUNAV” Insurance Co., Ministry of Religion of Serbia and the City of Belgrade.
Dr. Milan Glisic, professor of Architecture Faculty, is the only individual who was awarded with our Megillah of Gratitude. He kindly offered his professional services to help us in our efforts to reconstruct our chapel.
According to decision of JC Zemun Board dated December 6th 2006 president of our community Nenad Fogel was granted with Megillah of Gratitude on December 16th. He was awarded for all efforts in gathering funds for numerous projects for the benefit of our community, especially for recovery of our chapel at Jewish cemetery in Zemun and for reconstruction of our house in Cara Dusana St. Congratultions for this deserved profession!

Graphic designers of our Megillah were Kobi Ohayon and Desanka Fogel, Tel Aviv, Israel.

CARETAKER'S HOUSE

At the onset of the twentieth century a great benefactor, Gabriel Polgar, bought a small house with an accompanying garden for the abode of the Zemun Jewish Cemetery caretaker.  It was fortuitous that the house was adjacent to the graveyard and it also stood on one of the town’s main streets, Cara Franje Josifa Steeet, today’s Cara Dusana. It was a solidly built period house, and despite the unfortunate fact that no one invested in it upon WWII, it managed to withstand the ravages of seasons for quite some time. It saw the dawn of the 21^st century as a shaky, tumbledown ruined building in the center of Zemun devoid of running water, sewerage and three phase electricity. Upon the death of the last cemetery caretaker that had lived in the house, a German called Geringer, it gradually turned into a shelter for the homeless and drug addicts. It became the sore eye of our community and is still know as “the Jewish house”. In need of funds, the then management of the Zemun Jewish Community offered to prospective investors to renovate it in return for one half of the house and pertaining garden space. It was the only available solution by which the house could be restored and give one part of it its former function i.e. have a cemetery caretaker live in it once again. Unfortunately, no willing investors came forward with a quotation presumably either due to prejudices or the fact that it was an unprofitable undertaking. In answer to the pleas of the community management the house was finally renovated under the same conditions by the then president of the Zemun Jewish Community, Mr. Nenad Fogel. Since 2004 the house has been once again restored to its initial function as the house of the cemetery caretaker.