Gomel, Belarus – Workers rebuilding a sports stadium on the site of an 18th century Jewish cemetery say they have no choice but to consign the bones to city dumps.
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But critics say it's part of a pattern of callous indifference toward Belarus' Jewish heritage.
A Jewish leader in Gomel, Vladimir Gershanok, says he asked the builders to put the bones into sacks for reburial at a cemetery that has a monument to Holocaust victims.
"We know we can't stop the construction but we're trying to minimize the destruction," Gershanok said.
But city authorities have ruled that the construction can go ahead because the bones are more than 50 years old.
"It's impossible to pack an entire cemetery into sacks," said worker Mikhail Gubets, adding that he stopped counting the skulls when the number went over 100. [AP]
They didn’t care about live Jews, you expect them to care about dead Jews?
YM”S – nothing has changed with these anti-semitin
Contact information
gershanok vladimir borisovich the head of local town of Gomel jewish community organization “Ahdut” (??)
[email protected], phone number (тел.:)
8 is country code
0214 city code
the rest is local phone number
8-0214-42-30-27,
or
8-0214-43-92-89
Контактная информация
Страна: Белоруссия
Город: Гомель
Название организации:Областная еврейская община «Ахдут»
Руководитель организации: Гершанок Владимир Борисович, [email protected], тел.: 8-0214-42-30-27, 43-92-89
contact person Zaytseva Elena Davidovna
cell phone number
+375-8029-690-14-1
and [email protected]
Контактное лицо: Зайцева Елена Давидовна, [email protected], тел.моб.+375-8029-690-14-1
A “Himmel gishrey”.
OK, if there’s no Chabad, does anyone know how to get in touch with Vladimir Gershanok ?
there is no chabad in gomel and people are allready avail. if need be to make all the arraingments
Does anyone know:
1) How do we get in touch with the Chabad Rabbi there in Gomel to coordinate efforts to help.
2) How to get in touch with someone at an organization such as Zaka, Misaskim, Chesed Shel Emes, etc. that might be able to offer a crew of people to go to Gomel to assist gathering the bones, assuming the Belarusians would allow it?
gomel is a city currently undergoing jewish rebirth, why just last tuesday 5 people between the ages of 15 to 25 had their bris mila in gomel. work is being done, but there are side issues to every problem which must be worked out as well.
Here’s the word on Belarus:
“Since his election in July 1994 as the country’s first president, Alexandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue.”
-CIA World Factbook
Seems the living have their problems too. I’m afraid there’s not much we can expect from a neo-communist dictatorship.
gomel is a chassidisher town of lubavitch chassidim since the time of the bal hatanya!
when the world see’s Ariel Sharon, giving in to the arabs in guf katiff and destorying the cemerteries in Erez Yisroel this does effect ever yid in every country!
Why don’t we all cut this stuff about why the rabbis do or do not do anything! What are YOU doing about it?
Here is some contact info for the Embassy of Belarus [Website: http://www.belarusembassy.org ]:
Embassy of Belarus:
His Excellency Mikhail Khvostov, Ambassador.
Embassy Main Telephone: (202) 986-1604
Embassy Fax: (202) 986-1805
Embassy Main E-mail: [email protected]
Humanitarian Section:
Ms. Larysa Belskaya, First Secretary, Tel: (202) 986-2860, E-mail: [email protected], Fax: (202) 986-1805 .
Mr. Oleg Morozov, Second Secretary, Tel: (202) 986-1634, Fax: (202) 986-1805 E-mail: [email protected] .
Now that you have that info, get those cards, letters, faxes & e-mails going out!!!
While it’s far from simple halachacly to exhume remains and rebury them somewhere else, it has been done before. That possibility should really be considered when something like this is imminent in happening anyway, and not wait until the last minute. I think to rebury them would be a more proper alternative than what we’re seeing here.
My question isn’t, “Why aren’t the Rabbis doing enough to stop this”, but rather, “Why aren’t the Rabbis reburying them somewhere else BEFORE it comes to this?”
Would Mr gubetz speak that way if it were his relatives?
9:45am; I do not know why you have such a bad taste regarding Rabbi’s. It saddens me. We really do not know who will be judged as a Rabbi in the final days. I am sure all, and every single Jew is very upset about the situation. Please do not judge your fellow Jew if you do then Hashem will say if the Jew’s think so little of each other then what should I think of them.
wow 9:44- do you use every opportunity to rabbi bash? That is a very intellectual statement you made- there are no rabbis buried in an entire european country. how would they know anyway? Do you think that it says on the matzeiva of every rabbi that the person buried there was one? Most rabbis aren’t too into that. This rabbi bashing is getting out of hand. You either aren’t jewish & that is why you write such ignorant things- or you should start your own religion so you can jew bash to your heart’s content. But please if this is your attitude don’t stay here- we don’t need any more self haters.
i bet the rabbis arent doing anything is because there are no RABBIes buried there ,.What a shame. and a sham
strange this is the first we’ve heard of this. That is the reason Belgian Jewish people are buried over the border in Holland because Belgium razes cemeteries which are more than 50 years old.
i really wonder why the Rabbonim are not making a big to do about this?