Ancient Czech Cemetery Restored Where Talmudic Sage Was Buried

A historic Jewish cemetery destroyed by the Nazis in 1942 was rededicated here Wednesday in the presence of Orthodox Jewish leaders from the United States who undertook its restoration and descendants of a famous Talmudic sage who is buried there.

The ceremonies were also attended by Chancellor Karel Schwarzenberg, representing President Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia, and by representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Prague.

Attention was focused on the tomb of Rabbi Boruch Teomim Frankel, the most famous of the 15 rabbis interred in the 425-year-old cemetery in Lipnik, a town in Moravia about 190 miles east of Prague.

The gathering included leading personalities of Orthodox Jewry, including Rabbi Moshe Sheer, chairman of the Agudath Israel World Organization and president of Agudath Israel of America, and Rabbi Chaskel Besser of New York, a member of Agudath Israel’s presidium in America.

Local residents attended in large numbers, mainly out of curiosity, for no Jews live in Lipnik today. Although there are records of Jewish habitation dating from 1540, there were only 220 Jews in the town when the Nazis occupied it. All were deported and only seven survived.

The ancient Jewish graveyard was restored under an agreement between the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad and the Czechoslovak authorities. The work was initiated by the Agudath Israel with the cooperation of the local town council.

Rabbi Frankel’s tomb was rebuilt on its original site in its original form and with its original inscription. The renowned scholar served as rabbi in Lipnik from 1802 to 1828.

An agreement signed by the mayor of Lipnik and Agudath Israel arranged for continuing care of the restored cemetery.