Itongadol.- The Jewish community of Warsaw and local activist Robert Augustyniak, who is not Jewish, have protested the plan.
A town in central Poland has prepared a development plan that will turn a Jewish cemetery into a residential complex with underground parking.
The Jewish community of Warsaw and local activist Robert Augustyniak, who is not Jewish, have protested the plan.
The City Council in Grodzisk Mazowiecki held a public discussion on the plan on Monday. Following the meeting, Mayor Grzegorz Benedykcinski suspended action on the plan pending clarification of the cemetery’s boundaries.
The Jewish cemetery in Grodzisk was divided after World War II with a small section maintained as a cemetery and the remaining area acquired by Samopomoc Cooperative. Today, a private company that buys and sells scrap metal manages the site.
An historic cemetery gate with Hebrew inscriptions from the 19th century remains on the site.
Augustyniak offered his objections to the plan during the town hall discussion. “I showed the map of the area from 1927 and 1934,” he told JTA. “It clearly shows that the area of the cemetery was much larger than it is today. It seems that the council did not know about it. I hope that now they will change their plans.”