Old Jewish Graveyard - Sarajevo (BH_09)
Country or territory: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Name of organisation compiling the information: Commission to Preserve National Monuments
Contact name: Mirela Mulaluć Handan
Email address: mirela.m.handan@kons.gov.ba
Name and address of building(s) or site: Historic site of the Old Jewish Graveyard, Sarajevo
Inventory reference number(s): 07.2-2-6/03
Building type(s): Religious and burial, graveyard and chapel
Main date(s): Date range from middle of the 17th century to 1966.
Current use(s): Religious
Significance
This old Sephardi burial ground, in Borak or Šatorija, once on the western edge of Sarajevo, where the oldest surviving tombstone (belonging to the first rabbi of Sarajevo) dates from the mid 17th century (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 also in Europe. In some features the cemetery is comparable only to the mediaeval necropolises of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The burial ground remained in use until 1966, when the city authorities decided to open the new city cemetrey in Bare, where separate areas were set for the Jews and 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 cemetreies, two types of tombstone are recognised – horizontal and vertical or standing tombstones. The first group is the older, and probably originates from 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, the cemetary gradually extends 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 brought 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 at all. 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. The Jews 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 humans.
There are a number of empty graves in the Jewish cemetrey, bearing the names of people who died elsewhere; in most cases the place where they are buried is not known. Most of these 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
Following World War II the mortal remains of Ashkenaze Jews were transferred here from another Sarajevo cemetrey.
Categories of significance
- Of outstanding national importance.
Categories of ownership or interest
- Of national interest.
Documentation and bibliliographic references
- Commission to Preserve National Monuments.
Condition
Poor
- In the latter years of the 19th century the northern part of the old cemetrey 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 cemetrey. In 1924, the reduced cemetrey 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 using a design by Scheiding.
During the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina the burial ground was badly damaged. In 1998 Norwegian People's Aid demined the cemetrey, and the Government of Sarajevo Canton provided the funds to repair the chapel.
Amount of war or associated damage
- Roof more than 30% damage, with significant damage to the walls. The Chapel was seriously damaged during the 1992-1995 war; and repaired in 1998. Great number of tombstones suffered damage by shells and were moved and turned over.
Risk
- The Old Jewish Graveyard is in jeopardy from exposure to natural threats, such as erosion of the soil, groundwater and pollution.
- Lack of planning measures and unplanned constructions in its surroundings.
- Lack of maintenance - vegetation growth, stones are exposed to deterioration by lichen.
- Lack of finance for maintenance and repair.
- Structural destabilization of the entrance gate, cracking and loss of material of the tombstones.
Condition risk
- Immediate risk of further rapid detorioration or loss of fabric, solution agreed but not implemented.
Technical assessment and costing
PTA and FS are completed and provide broad assessment of budgetary need as follows:
Phase I - Structural consolidation works
Drainage – Construction of complete ground water drainage
up to drawings in design (13 drainages) 185 000 €
Refacing the stone retaining wall 19 000 €
Structural repair of the surrounding wall 24 600 €
Structural repair of the gates 11 100 €
239 700 €
Phase II – Works to make good the cemetery and its immediate surroundings
Pedestrian paths 21 300 €
Asphalted roads 61 500 €
Landscaping the site 36 100 €
Presentation works: Lighting up the Cemetery and horticultural works 37 800 €
156 700 €
Phase III – Conservation and restoration works
Conservation and restoration of the tombstones (300 x 800 €) 240 000 €
Conservation and restoration works on the wall and gates 24 600 €
264 000 €
Phase IV – Consolidation of the slope
Geo mechanical investigation 6 700 €
Drawing up the final design 7 800 €
Consolidation works on the slope (approximately) 390 000 €
404 500 €
TOTAL 1 064 900 €
Phase IV – Consolidation of the slope has been completed, and progress made on Phase I - Drainage – Construction of complete ground water drainage, and on Phase III.
Funds for the conservation of the tombstones (20.000 KM) were allocated from the budget of Federal Ministry for Culture and Sport, Tourist Association of Canton Sarajevo and FBiH. The project was completed under expert supervision of Federal Institute for Protection of Monuments.
The main project for remedial works on site of the old Jewish cemetery was funded by the Jewish community Sarajevo (2008) – 75.000 KM, Fed.Min.Culture & Sport (2008) – 20.000 KM, Budget of Sarajevo Canton (2008) – 87.988 KM, Cantonal Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage (2008) – 14.600KM, Jewish Community Sarajevo (2009) – 88.000 KM.
The restoration of tombstones (100 pcs.) and main entrance gateway was funded by the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation in 2009 with 25.000 $ and the project was implemented by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments. The Federal Ministry for Regional Planning, Govt of FBiH provided € 44.000 for emergency measures.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments submitted a proposal to continue the restoration works on the tombstones and entrance gate to the Embassy of Republic of Germany. Approval has not yet been received.
Ownership
- Jewish municipality.
Occupation
- 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 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.
The Ministry of Regional Planning of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is responsible for the implementation of legally-prescribed protection measures. It is responsible for issuing planning approvals and permits for all works and construction in the protected area on the basis of planning and technical documentation approved by an authorised professional institution.
The Institute for the Protection of the Monuments within the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport is responsible for expert supervision, as prescribed by the Decision of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, and for the implementation of projects or parts thereof financed by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Decisions designating national monuments are forwarded to the authorities responsible for town planning and cadastral affairs in order to implement the measures prescribed by these decisions, and to the competent municipal court for entry in the Land Register.
The Cantonal Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo is responsible for the cultural and natural heritage in Sarajevo Canton. They provide documentation on monuments, develop studies and reports on the heritage in regard to spatial planning, develop projects, reports and studies, carry out works on monuments, and popularize the heritage.
Novo Sarajevo Municipality is responsible, through its various departments and the buildings and planning inspectorate of the Federal Inspectorate Authority, for overseeing and controlling on-site activities.
The Municipality is required to append all its plans and documents pertaining to the protected area of the national monument to the decisions issued by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments. The Municipality is required to refrain from all activities detrimental to the national monuments, and to co-operate with the Commission to Preserve National Monuments and the Entity institutions in the process of implementing the Commission’s decisions.
The Jewish comunity, as owner, is responsible to co-operate with the Commission to Preserve National Monuments and the Entity institutions in the process of implementing the Commission’s decisions.
Pursuant to the Decision of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments is authorised to perform activities of international co-operation in the field of heritage. The Commission is responsible for the implementation of the project in accordance with the Rules for the implementation of donor funds earmarked for the renovation or protection of the endangered cultural and historical heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Summary
“The old Jewish cemetery is the largest Jewish sepulchral complex in Europe after the one in Prague, and is of outstanding ambient value. It records an important and indeed indispensable part of the history of the Jews since the 16th century.
The symbolic value of the cemetery lies in its significance for the identity of the Jews and in its traditional and historical value as evidence of one of the most important turning-points in the history of the Jewish people: the expulsion from the Iberian peninsula. The Jewish cemetery documents certain features of the life of the Sephardim, and later of the Ashkenazim, in the city, as well as of the evolution of Sarajevo and the typical life of the city over the centuries.
The Sephardim in this part of the world created their own unique style of tombstone that, in their house-like shape, artistic treatment and polysemic symbolic motifs, resemble no other Jewish tombstones elsewhere in the world.
This cemetery was on the front line during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main threat to the cemetery is landslides, which is causing entire graves and their tombstones to shift. About 95 percent of the tombstones, are estimated to be damaged.
To eliminate this threat altogether a drainage system is installed to remove ground water, the structural elements and slope are partially stabilized and the cemetery needs to be set in order and properly presented. This would enable the cemetery once again to become part of the active life of the city and sustainable development” (PTA).
The priority level of intervention is HIGH.
NOTE:
Condition
Poor
Condition risk
- Immediate risk of further rapid detorioration or loss of fabric, solution agreed but not begun.
Sign. and date
Mirzah Fočo, architect
Mirela Mulaluć Handan, architect
2010.
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