Dei'ah veDibur - Information & Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi World

23 Kislev 5761 - December 20, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

HOMEPAGE

 

Produced and housed by
Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Shema Yisrael Torah Network

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS
New Committee to Restore Cemeteries of Plavnica and Lublow
by S. Feldman

Plavnica and Lublow are two small, neighboring villages on the border of Galicia, close to Zanz. Before the outbreak of World War II these two communities were as one, sharing one shechita and one set of educational institutions. Though each town had its own shul and individual cemetery, citizens of one town were often buried in the other, probably due to family plots.

Reb Shimon Yehuda Friedman, zt"l, a pupil of the Ksav Sofer, served as the rav of Lublow until his death in 5664 (1904). His son, R' Yitzchok zt"l, took over the position until he and his whole kehilla were deported to Auschwitz. Hashem yikom domom.

HaRav Zev Wolff Willner, zt"l Hy"d, known to all as R' Wolff Plavnitzer, was the rav for over 30 years in nearby Plavnica. Not much was left of his great Torah works and the little that was found has been put together from seforim of other rabbonim of the time, e.g., Shaalos Uteshuvos Pri Hasodeh of HaRav Eliezer Chaim Deutch zt"l rav of Benyhad, Shaalos Uteshuvos Levushei Mordechai of the Gaon of Moad, and Shaalos Uteshuvos Daas Sofer of HaRav Akiva Sofer zt"l, rav of Pressburg.

The halachic shaalos dealt with community matters. For example one question asked was whether allowing gentiles to continue building the fence around the cemetery on Shabbos was permitted, since the rainy season was drawing closer and would inhibit or even stop the work until the following year. Additionally, as long as the fence was incomplete local farmers would graze their animals in the area, a disgrace to the niftarim buried there.

A group of former residents and descendants of Plavnica and Lublow recently traveled to the villages and were horrified to see the neglect and destruction that the years have wrought at the cemetery. The fence is completely broken; a mass of thorn brambles, fallen trees and branches shroud the cemetery, making entrance difficult and leaving the upper part of the lot totally inaccessible.

Only the new ohel over the grave of the Rav of Lublow and the renewed gravestone that his grandchild R' Simcha Friedman of New York set up are in relatively good condition. Even these also need strengthening.

That is the picture in Lublow. In Plavnica, the scene is even worse. The cemetery was completely hidden from sight and only after much effort did the visitors actually locate the place, only to be met with the shocking scene of a cemetery with a broken fence and densely overgrown with trees, bushes and thorns.

Rabbonim advised them to enlist the help of the Committee for the Rescue of Cemeteries in Europe, but to set up an independent committee to restore the cemeteries of Plavnica and Lublow. The committee's head is HaRav Zev Feldman, rav of Torah Eitz Chaim in London, a grandchild of HaRav Wolff Willner, Hy"d. Other members are askonim from Israel, London and the U.S.A., among them grandchildren of R' Shimon Yehuda Friedman zt"l, rav of Lublow.

The committee contacted the Burgomeister-Mayor of the town, who immediately appointed his son to oversee the work of renewing the cemeteries. To date, workers have already begun clearing the area in Lublow and technical inquiries have been started about costs and design of the fence.

Hopefully similar work will soon begin in Plavnica. However, due to the severe winter weather, work on the fences will probably not begin until the end of the winter.

It is interesting to note that in an amazingly well-timed act of hashgocho and siyata deShmaya, a daughter of HaRav Wolff Willner, Mrs. Feldman, originally of Plavnica and now of Bnei Brak, recently found a handwritten map of the cemetery.

The map, drawn out by the holy hand of her father before being sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz, is a clear diagram of the cemetery with every tombstone marked and labeled. Details of the fence and its precise measurements on all four sides are included so that the committee can now have the new fence built exactly on the foundations of the old one.

The Committee members expressed the hope that former residents of these villages and their families will step forward and assist them in attending to the cemeteries.

The Committee for the Rescue of Cemeteries in Europe says that only the constant interest of former residents and their families can ensure the upkeep and care of these and all the cemeteries left in Europe. Without this concern, the locals pay no attention to abandoned Jewish cemeteries, but if there is interest they often find it worthwhile to cooperate.

When no interest is expressed, the results can be catastrophic, such as what happened in Posen, the resting place of HaGaon R' Akiva Eiger zt"l. One day the whole cemetery was dug up without a single remnant -- because no individual or communal interest was shown.

 

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.