Remember
Just outside of our little town on a tiny farm road sits a Jewish Cemetery. It's bordered all around by tall pine trees and is surrounded by fields of crops. Unlike the other cemetery just up the road, this one is always locked up tight and overgrown with weeds. It's always made we wonder what happened to the families of all the people who are buried in the cemetery. I mean, everyone knows what happened to Jews in Germany during the Second World War, but the cemetery makes we want to learn the stories of the families who lived in Herschberg.
Jared sometimes runs past the Jewish Cemetery and has always wanted to get a group together to clean it up. So this Memorial Day our ward held our annual Memorial Day Picnic here in Herschberg. We started at the cemetery - cleaning ivy and weeds off of headstones, trimming the grass, and cleaning the path through the graves. We are so grateful to our mayor, who agreed to let us do the work and who even came out and spoke to everyone and thanked them for what they were doing.
During the planning of the activity, I finally learned a little more of the history of the Jewish families who lived here. From our village's website: "For a long time the Jewish faith was firmly anchored in Herschberg. The Jewish community had it's own synagogue, a school, and a traditional laundry. Today the only reminder of this part of Herschberg's history is the still existing Jewish Cemetery. At the end of the 19th century the population of Herschberg was twenty percent Jewish. The Industrial Revolution and the increasing optimism towards America quickly reduced the Jewish population." This is where I say, really? That's what reduced the Jewish population? "The last two Jewish people in Herschberg, the couple Hermann and Emma Weiler, were deported to the concentration camp at Gurs (in France) in 1940. Both died while in Nazi captivity. Mr. Hermann, at Auschwitz, and Mrs. Hermann at Noe, in southern France. May something similar never be repeated again."
It was a wonderful way to spend Memorial Day. Even though it's a holiday traditionally meant to remember those who died defending our country, I think it is important to remember those people who have no one left here in Herschberg to remember them. We love our ward and are so grateful for everyone who came out and served. It was heartwarming to see everyone working together and amazing the difference we were able to make in just a few short hours.
Jared sometimes runs past the Jewish Cemetery and has always wanted to get a group together to clean it up. So this Memorial Day our ward held our annual Memorial Day Picnic here in Herschberg. We started at the cemetery - cleaning ivy and weeds off of headstones, trimming the grass, and cleaning the path through the graves. We are so grateful to our mayor, who agreed to let us do the work and who even came out and spoke to everyone and thanked them for what they were doing.
During the planning of the activity, I finally learned a little more of the history of the Jewish families who lived here. From our village's website: "For a long time the Jewish faith was firmly anchored in Herschberg. The Jewish community had it's own synagogue, a school, and a traditional laundry. Today the only reminder of this part of Herschberg's history is the still existing Jewish Cemetery. At the end of the 19th century the population of Herschberg was twenty percent Jewish. The Industrial Revolution and the increasing optimism towards America quickly reduced the Jewish population." This is where I say, really? That's what reduced the Jewish population? "The last two Jewish people in Herschberg, the couple Hermann and Emma Weiler, were deported to the concentration camp at Gurs (in France) in 1940. Both died while in Nazi captivity. Mr. Hermann, at Auschwitz, and Mrs. Hermann at Noe, in southern France. May something similar never be repeated again."
It was a wonderful way to spend Memorial Day. Even though it's a holiday traditionally meant to remember those who died defending our country, I think it is important to remember those people who have no one left here in Herschberg to remember them. We love our ward and are so grateful for everyone who came out and served. It was heartwarming to see everyone working together and amazing the difference we were able to make in just a few short hours.
Awesome and heartwarming, so glad you did this, even though I have no known relatives there.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful thing to do on Memorial Day, Sarah.
ReplyDelete