Prioritized Intervention List:

Ÿ         Country:
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ÿ         Name of organization compiling the information:
Commission to Preserve National Monuments

Ÿ         Contact name:
Mirela Mulaluć Handan

Ÿ         email address:
mirela@aneks8ko.com.ba

The monument, sites or ensemble

Ÿ         Name and address of building(s) or site:
Historical site the Old Jewish Graveyard in Sarajevo

Ÿ         Inventory reference number(s):
Provisional List of National Monuments No.:508

Ÿ         Monument or site type(s):
Religious and burial - Graveyard and chapel

Ÿ         Main date(s):
Date range from middle of 17th century to 1966.

Ÿ         Current use(s):
Jews chapel 

Significance:

This old Sephardi burial ground, in Borak or Šatorija, once on the western edge of Sarajevo, where the oldest surviving tombstone dates from the mid 17th century (belonging to the first rabbi of Sarajevo, it was erected in 1630), is a Jewish memorial complex which, on account of certain specific features, is without parallel, not only in former Yugoslavia but in Europe as a whole.  In some features it is comparable only with the mediaeval necropolises of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The burial ground was first used in the 17th century and remained in use until 1966, when the city authorities decided to open the new city cemetery in Bare, where a separate area was set aside for the Jews as for other confessions.

What makes this old burial ground unique is the shape of the tombstones, which is to be seen nowhere else but in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  In Jewish cemeteries, two types of tombstone are recognized – horizontal and vertical or standing tombstones.  The first group is the older, and probably has its origins in the Middle East, while the second group shows the influence of Christianity.

The oldest part of the burial ground is to the south, at the highest altitude and furthest point from the city centre. From here it gradually extended down towards the valley and the city, contrary to other burial grounds.  The reason for this is that there was a quarry above the burial ground where stone was quarried for tombstones, worked and lowered down into the valley.

Although all the tombstones have the same basic stylistic features, there are certain differences in the treatment of the front and upper surfaces.  There are also variations in the way the monolithic tombstones are set on the grave site.  In the case of older examples, they are set on a basal slab, while more recent ones have no slab.  There is no decoration on the tombstones other than a frame on the front surface where the epitaph is incised.

In the south-eastern part of the burial ground is a Geniza or book tomb.  As a people, the Jews foster the cult of the book, treating books, and especially the scriptures, like people.  They bury damaged Torahs and all other scriptures in a grave in the same way as people are buried, and set a tombstone above the grave of the same kind as those erected for people.

There are a number of empty graves in the Jewish cemetery, bearing the names of people who died elsewhere; in most cases the place they are buried is not known.  Most such tombstones were erected in the years following World War II.  Close to the top of the burial ground is a symbolic tomb in the shape of a white pyramid, with the inscription:  "To the Jews who fell as soldiers and victims of fascism - Jasenovac - Stara Gradiška - Ðakovo - Jadovno - Loborgrad - Auschwitz - Bergen - Belsen".

Categories of Significance:

Of outstanding national importance

Categories of ownership or interest:

Of national interest

Documentation and bibliographic references:

Commission to Preserve National Monuments

Condition:

2. Poor

In the latter years of the 19th century the northern part of the old cemetery was destroyed by the construction of the railway line and city streets, and at the same time burials began in the central area of the cemetery.  In 1924 the now smaller cemetery acquired its present form, when it was surrounded by a stone wall with a wrought iron gate, within which a fountain and the "Ciduk adim" chapel were built to a design by Scheiding.

Following World War II the mortal remains of Ashkenazi Jews were transferred here from another Sarajevo cemetery.  This forms a separate spatial group.

During the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina the burial ground was badly damaged. 

In 1998 Norwegian People's Aid demined the cemetery, and the Government of Sarajevo Canton provided the funds to repair the chapel.

Amount of war or associated damage:

4. Roof more than 30% damage, with significant damage to walls,

Ÿ         Chapel was seriously damaged during the 1992-1995 war; and repaired in 1998.

Ÿ         Tombstones suffered damages and have not been repaired

Risk:

The Old Jewish Graveyard is in jeopardy from the construction in its surrounding that is without planning.  Besides structure damages during the war the stones are imposed to deterioration by plant organisms

Condition risk:

B. Immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric, solution  agreed but not begun

Technical assessment and costing:

Ÿ         Conservation and restoration works on the tombstones of the graveyard needs to be carried out according to the appropriate project; approved by  the relevant Federal ministry and under the professional supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ÿ         Specially the following measures need to be carried out:

-         investigation of the cause of damage and the options for cleaning and removal of plant organisms

-         to perform  cleaning and removal of plant organisms and conservation of the stone

Costing proposals for the project and works have not been done.

Ownership:

Religious denomination - Jews municipality

Occupation:

Fully occupied in occasional use

Management:

The provisions relating to protection and rehabilitation measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02 and 27) shall apply to the National Monument.

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be responsible for ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary to protect, conserve, display and rehabilitate the National Monument.

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be responsible for providing the resources for drawing up and implementing the necessary technical documentation for the rehabilitation of the National Monument.

Summary:

The Old Jewish Graveyard in Sarajevo is the most important monument complex associated with the history of Sarajevo's Jews.

The Regional Plan for BiH to 2000 classified the City hall in Sarajevo as category I – object of national importance. 

The priority level of intervention is HIGH.  

NOTE:

Condition

2. Poor

Condition risk

B. Immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric, solution  agreed but not begun

Criteria employed for the Priority Intervention List:

Ÿ         The monuments are designated as national monuments,

Ÿ         They represents rear or unique example of the typology or chronological - stylistic corpus,

Ÿ         They are damaged/destroyed during the 1992-1995 war in BiH or they are endangered by the post war conditions (illegal constructions, lack of funding for restoration and maintenance, inexpert reconstruction,…) and are imposed to further deterioration,

Ÿ         Their restoration will encourage return process in BiH,

Ÿ         Their restoration will support development of the region.