Egged denies responsibility for upkeep of 18th century Jewish cemetery.
Egged, Israel’s largest bus company, owns a bus station in Makow Mazowiecki, Poland that was built over a Jewish cemetery, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
And the company does not take responsibility for the crumbling memorial to the Jewish community, located on the bus station’s edge, in the town 77 km. north of Warsaw.
The date on which the old Jewish cemetery of Makow Mazowiecki was established is unknown, but the first known mention of it dates back to 1781, according to the Virtual Shtetl website operated by the Museum of the History of Polish Jews – Polin. It was in use until 1870, when a new cemetery was built.
During World War II, the Germans destroyed the cemetery; in subsequent years, tombstones from the cemetery were used to build sidewalks in the area and a bus station was built there during the communist era.
In 1987, local activists and descendants of Makow Mazowiecki’s Jews built a memorial out of tombstones salvaged in the area. The oldest tombstone in the memorial is from 1890.
This memorial, built by local activists and descendants of Makow Mazowiecki’s Jewish community, is in need of a sponsor for renovation and upkeep. (photo credit: ALAN ABBEY)
Lahav Harkov 