Rabbi Has ‘No Words’ For Polish Authorities Digging Up Remains In Jewish Cemetery
(JTA) – Human remains were dug up during construction work next to a Jewish cemetery in eastern Poland.
The remains were unearthed on Tuesday, during work to modernize the power grid for the city of Siemiatycze. The ground where the remains were uncovered is adjacent to the fence of the Jewish cemetery.
The case is investigated by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Siemiatycze.
The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, said he believes that this is “the worst desacralization of the Jewish cemetery” that he has seen since assuming his post 17 years ago.
“There are no words to describe how this is possible today in a free, democratic Poland,” Schudrich said.
The mayor of Siemiatycze, Piotr Siniakowicz, told the Polish Press Agency that the bones should be respected, but that the rabbi has made too strong of an accusation, since the town does take care of the Jewish cemetery.
The ground on which the bones were found is not owned by the city. The bones were handed over to the rabbinical commission for Jewish cemeteries.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO