UKRAINE (Jewish Heritage Europe) – Michael Schudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland and head of Poland’s Rabbinic Commission for Cemeteries, has forcefully condemned as desecration the destruction of part of the historic Jewish cemetery in Ukraine in the city of Sataniv by Haredi activist Israel Meir Gabai. It is, Schudrich said in a statement sent to JHE, “in complete breach of Jewish law and any semblance of decency.”
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He called for assistance “to ensure that such abominations do not occur again.”
The fact that Gabai is a Jew “does not give him permission to desecrate Jewish cemeteries, the fact that he is religious does not give him sanction to break Jewish law,” Schudrich said.
Schudrich was referring to the situation we wrote about this past week, where Gabai and his team, claiming to be carrying out restoration, uprooted many scores of centuries-old matzevot and reset them in poured concrete bases, artificially arranged in straight rows that bear no relation to the original sites of the stones and the burials they marked.
In our articles, scholars and heritage activists denounced the desecration, which was brought to their attention by a Ukrainian heritage activist. But this marks the first public statement we are aware of by a religious authority.
Schudrich noted that Gabai’s actions had also desecrated Jewish cemeteries in Poland.
Read Rabbi Schudrich’s full statement:
The desecration of the Jewish cemetery in Sataniv is heartbreaking, sadder still is the fact that it was carried out by a Jew who claims to be preserving it. It appears that Meir Gabai uprooted countless Matzevot from the place where they stood for hundreds of years, depositing them in completely different places. We no longer know where any grave is located, or even how the graves are distributed throughout the cemetery.
Meir Gabai’s actions here are in complete breach of Jewish law and any semblance of decency, and there are a number of other examples of Jewish cemeteries that Mr. Gabai has desecrated in Europe including Poland.
Please help us inform and warn others interested in protecting Jewish cemeteries to work with responsible rabbinic organizations to ensure that such abominations do not occur again.
The fact that he is a Jew does not give him permission to desecrate Jewish cemeteries, the fact that [Gabai] is religious does not give him sanction to break Jewish law. Sataniv was a beautiful Jewish cemetery that survived all manner of persecution from non-Jews what a tragedy that it has been so utterly desecrated by a Jew.
The Sataniv cemetery dates back to the 16th century. Many headstones bear exceptionally intricate carving, epitaphs, and iconography. The cemetery has been researched and studied in great detail — the Center for Jewish Art documentation includes photographs and details about the deceased and the carved decoration.
In our earlier articles, scholars and activists noted that if hooligans knock over headstones or otherwise vandalize a Jewish cemetery it makes headlines and triggers official condemnation. But the destruction such as that in Sataniv — by a Jew — goes on with impunity.