St. Petersburg, Russia agreed to compensate the Jewish community for vandalism of dozens of graves in a Jewish cemetery. The community, along with families of those whose graves were damaged, has to compile a list of affected gravesites in order to receive the funds. A recent string of vandalism, which damaged or destroyed nearly 150 gravestones at St. Petersburg’s main Jewish cemetery, has led to talks between city officials and the Jewish community. Previously, the Jewish community blamed the cemetery’s recurrent security breaches and administration woes on the city’s lack of initiative. Like many other Jewish and non-Jewish cemeteries in Russia, the Jewish cemetery in St. Petersburg is municipally owned. Until an agreement is reached on better security at the cemetery, the community decided to hire security personnel at its own expense.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.