Laid to rest on the border
It is unknown when somebody last said Kaddish for the seven Jewish people laid to rest in a cemetery close to the NSW-Victoria border. But their relatives can now rest assured they have not been forgotten.
IT is unknown when somebody last said Kaddish for the seven Jewish people laid to rest in a cemetery close to the NSW-Victoria border. But their relatives can now rest assured they have not been forgotten.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) chief executive Vic Alhadeff and education manager Lynda Ben-Menashe discovered four 19th century Jewish graves and three Jewish military graves (one of them pictured) in an Albury cemetery during a bridge-building tour of Wagga Wagga, Griffith and Albury earlier this month.
Two of the graves¬†are the¬†resting places of the young children of Albury’s Jewish mayors, Lewis Jones and Lewis Solomon. The others are the resting-places of Rosa Salmon, 22, buried in 1877, and Belle Blasebalk, 35, buried in 1899.
The week-long road-trip comprised 25 engagements with members of parliament, mayors, councillors, clergy, clubs, media and students.
“The discovery of the Jewish graves was¬†the emotional high-point of the tour,” Alhadeff told The AJN on his return.
“I recited Kaddish¬†for the departed souls and¬†we placed pebbles on each of the graves. It was¬†very sobering¬†to reflect on when last did anyone stop by those graves to pay their respects. It was a deeply moving experience to be able to honour those people as we did.”
In Albury, they also discovered a small Jewish community, the Menorah Jewish Congregation, led by Israel and Meshi Zilberman.
AJN STAFF
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