13 December 2022

The Jewish cemeteries in the district of Nordhausen have been given information boards

In the municipal cemeteries, many graves are covered with fir branches and a flower arrangement adorns the deathbed as a final greeting. A sense of peace and silence settles over the burial grounds. This custom applies less to Jewish cemeteries, as the Jewish culture of remembrance follows other religious maxims and cult traditions.

"Remember!" This is the translation of Yiskor, a prayer of remembrance for deceased relatives, which is said around four times a year. It invites people to pray and remember the Jewish tradition in the synagogue, because the synagogue is the religious place for the living.

The "Digitisation of Jewish cemeteries in the Nordhausen district" project at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences is working on making the cemeteries in Bleicherode, Ellrich and Nordhausen with their gravestones and special features visible in digital space. A plaque and a linked QR code already provide information about the history and special features on site. "Jewish burial culture goes digital": further information about the cemeteries can be found on the MENORA online portal www.juedisches-leben-thueringen.de via the small plaque with the QR code. The texts on the information boards are also available in English and Russian.

Such plaques have also recently been erected on the plots of the cemeteries in Sülzhayn and Werna, which no longer exist and no longer have any gravestones. In addition to the historical explanation, they also contain the names of Jews who are known to have lived in the villages around 1808.

The next step is to make the cemeteries, religious centres and places of residence accessible to interested parties in a brochure and digital map.

The plaques were initiated by Dr Marie-Luis Zahradnik. She intensified the project in dialogue with the Jewish Community of Thuringia, the local initiatives and town councils and their cemetery administration and building yard. The mayors in Bleicherode, Ellrich (including Werna and Sülzhayn) and Nordhausen supported the project with commitment and organised the necessary construction measures for their towns, for example. They engaged in discussions and supported rapid coordination for the realisation of the project in their administrations. The mayor of Bleicherode, Frank Rostek, went even further and organised a large round table with local stakeholders, politicians and scientists, among others, to bring the redevelopment measures for the Kanzlei-Karree to life. This is reflected in the pooling of ideas and necessities in the ongoing joint conceptual work. Bleicherode has the potential to become an important place for Jewish history with contemporary relevance.

The Jewish community of Thuringia, the towns and the Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences would like to thank the Thuringian State Chancellery for funding the digitisation project, which made the content of the information boards possible in the first place, the Digitisation Centre of the Thuringian University and State Library in Jena, and all those who supported the implementation of the boards, above all Mr Heise from the association Gegen Vergessen - Für Demokratie e.V., the Nordhausen District Office by granting a subsidy in accordance with the federal programme "Live Democracy! Active against right-wing extremism, violence and misanthropy - nationwide promotion of local partnerships for democracy", co-financed by the Thuringian State Programme for Democracy, Tolerance and Open-mindedness, and the Nordhausen District Savings Bank.