Condition of Jewish Waldheim
EAJ12359
I had the opportunity today to take my mother and aunt to the Jewish
Waldheim Cemetery (it is actually comprised of many smaller cemeteries). We
were absolutely sickened by the condition of the cemeteries that we visited
the P.O.W and Austria Galiciana both located on Des Plaines Avenue. Aside
from usual disrepair one might find at an older cemetery, where there is no
more family to monitor the condition of graves........we found, garbage
strewn, toppled stones, pictures missing from stones, grass and weeds
growing tall around many stones, the graves had sunk, it is very upsetting
to visit a loved one to be greeted by such disregard to the memory of those
who have gone before......
In our situation we endowed 5 of the graves we visited and still it was not
being maintained, we visited the office and voiced our concerns and complaints.
I came to learn that many, many graves do not have current and accurrate
next of kin information, we remedied ours today, the cemetery office had
not even updated the files reflecting the area code changes, If you would
like to be kept informed on the condition of graves of loved ones buried at
any one of the cemeteries at Jewish Waldheim, or even find out what kind of
provisions made for the caretaking ie endowed care ( I think there are 3 or
4 types) perpetual care etc.)
I suggest you contact the offices there:
4 of the graves we visited had a no care sticker on them, stones had sunken
and photos were ruined from exposure to the elements, I will be checking
into the cost in replacing these photos with the stone department there.
For the sake of your future, don't let your past fade away.
Thank You
Ellen A. Jacobs
EAJ1...@aol.com
mailto:
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Kalman Appel
the ending was different.
My family was "originally" from Chicago (via Galicia, Ottawa and
Toronto. My father and mother moved to California in 1941, and I was
born there. My paternal grandfather, whom I never knew, died in
Chicago in 1948 and was buried in the Zhitomir section at Waldheim.
About 2 years ago I was in Chicago on other matters but took the time
to fulfill a promise to myself to locate and visit my grandfather's grave.
(Knowing nothing about Chicago or Waldheim at the time, I first had to
obtain a copy of my grandfather's death certificate - a story in itself -
to learn the name of the cemetery.)
Once I found the cemetery was Waldheim I rented a car and drove out
there from Chicago. When I arrived at the office the person there was
very helpful, located my Zeyde's name on the computer and directed
me to the grave. When I arrived I found the base of the stone but no
tombstone. The chief caretaker (who I happened to bump into on site)
told me that there were some stones that had fallen which had been
moved to a path along one of the cemetery perimeteres nearby. I went
there and found my Zeyde's tombstone. I also asked if it would be
possible to make a rubbing of the stone; the caretakier had rubbing
paper in his truck, and we made not one but TWO rubbings (so that I
could give one to my sister). The caretaker was adamant in refusing to
take any money for this.
I then asked about what happened to the tombstone, and why it had not
been reset. The caretaker told me the following: every so often some
of the older tombstones simply fall over because of settling earth under
the stones (many of the stones at Waldheim are on "tilt" and just
waiting to fall, due to this situation). When a stone falls the cemetery
tries to contact the next of kin to advise them of such and to arrange for
the stone to be reset. According to the caretaker, the perpetual care
fund is sufficient to cover grounds maintenance and other costs
normally associated with the upkeep of cemeteries but was never
intended - nor is is sufficient - to cover the costs of resetting fallen
stones. My Zeyde's stone had fallen over about 6-7 years ago. I was
told that the glue used 50 years ago to set stones was not nearly as
strong as the glues used today, so that new stones and reset stones will
not fall over unless there is a major sinkage of the ground, and then all
the stones will be effected, regardless of age.
In my Zeyde's case, the stone was also marked with a tag indicating
that the whereabouts of the next of kin were unknown. A check of the
cemetery records indicated that the cemetery information had not been
updated since my Zeyde's burial, that the contact was a brother of my
father's who continued to live in Chicago until the late 1960's when he,
too, moved to Los Angeles. Apparently nobody in the family had ever
thought to update the information with Waldheim.
I updated the information with the office and asked that they arrange to
reset the stone on my Zeyde's grave. The caretaker couldn't tell me
how much it would cost, so I arranged for them to take care of the
work and to send me a Polaroid photo of the completed work together
with an invoice.
About 18 months went by and I did not hear from them, so about 6
months ago I decided to call and ask what was happening. The
receptionist looked up my Zeyde's name on the computer and told me
that the cemetery had reset the stone in the past year but that there was
no charge to me for this. When I asked why, she told me that every year
the cemetery tries to restore a number of stones even where the
families are not known, and in this case it just appears that it was my
Zeyde's stone's turn to be reset.
At least in the Western USA, burials in newer cemeteries almost
exclusively flat copper plates placed below grass-top level to serve as
Matzevot (grave markers - as opposed to tombstones), so perhaps in
the future there will not be the same problems with these markers as
with stone markers (even in earthquaky California). But the moral of
the story is still the same: if you want to know about your relative's
grave(s), be sure the cemetery knows how to reach you or someone
else in the family. When you move, send both the cemetery AND the
post office a change of address card.
> Dear Fellow Jewish Genners:
>
> I had the opportunity today to take my mother and aunt to the Jewish
> Waldheim Cemetery (it is actually comprised of many smaller cemeteries). We
> were absolutely sickened by the condition of the cemeteries that we visited
> the P.O.W and Austria Galiciana both located on Des Plaines Avenue. Aside
> from usual disrepair one might find at an older cemetery, where there is no
> more family to monitor the condition of graves........
>>>>>>>>>>>>>SNIP
> Ellen A. Jacobs
> EAJ1...@aol.com
Kalman Appel
kalman...@iname.com
mailto:kaa...@IBM.NET