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Richmond's Hebrew Cemetery
Burial Grounds:
Dramatic Travel Sites
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84
FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1991
mow
FASHION RESALE
igh on a hill in Nice
stands an old building
known as the Castle.
It's a popular destination for
tourists, who come to look at
the stately castle and then
stand outdoors to admire the
panoramic view of the curv-
ing coastline from this van-
tage point.
But there's another — and
far less typical — reason for
visiting this site. One of the
winding pathways outside the
castle leads to a gate and a
plaque which reads "Cime-
tiere Israelite."
Set high on the hill on
which the city was first built,
the Jewish cemetery of Nice
is one of four denominational
burial grounds maintained by
the city.
Insite the gate — and it is
open to visitors except from
noon to 1 p.m. — are tall,
stately trees and varied stone
markers. Some are simple,
but many are massive and or-
nate. Quite a few date back to
the 16th century.
Near the front of the
cemetery, off in one corner, is
a reminder of much more re-
cent history. Two tall rec-
tangles are placed close
together. French words etch-
ed on each block explain that
one memorial contains an
urn of ashes, and the other
holds a receptacle of soap
made from the remains of
Jewish victims of the
Holocaust.
In a resort city of lush beau-
ty on the French Riveria, this
hilltop burial ground is one of
the most unusual and
dramatic sites for Jewish
travelers.
It's just one example of why
historic Jewish cemeteries
have much to offer the Jewish
traveler. In tranquil settings,
they evoke history, convey a
sense of particular lives and
often carry emotional reso-
nance. The Jewish cemetery
at Newport, for example, in-
spired Longfellow to write a
poem about it. Even acts of
hatred, such as the desecra-
tion of the Jewish cemetery in
Carpentras, France, show
that burial grounds are the
focus for strong emotions.
Even if a cemetery doesn't
have dramatic context, it can
be a concrete reminder of the
past. Inscriptions that record
names, places of birth, and
dates of birth and death all
convey a sense of individual
lives defined by place and
time.
That's been the case when
I've sought out Jewish
cemeteries in far-flung places.
Far from being a spooky or
strange quest, it's often been
a way that the past comes
alive. What's more, the search
to find a particular burial
ground has often been part of
the adventure of travel.
For example, it wasn't easy
to find the old burial ground
outside the village of Legnau
in Switzerland. It was with
a Swiss guide that day,
and after we visited the
synagogue in the village
where Jews had lived before
they could reside anywhere
else in the country, we drove
along a winding country road
until we saw on a hill an old
gate, set well back from the
road in a secluded spot.
We had to search for the en-
trance and finally found it,
near the plaque which told us
this cemetery had existed
since 1750.
Inside, we looked at tomb-
stones so weathered and
covered with ivy we could
barely read the Hebrew words
and the names. The oldest
Jewish cemetery in Switzer-
land, this was the burial
(