Prague will return pieces of Jewish gravestones used as cobblestones

The Czech Jewish community has called for the removal and return of the stones for years. Stones uncovered during future excavation work will be returned.

By MARCY OSTER/JTA
THE CLOCK with Hebrew letters and counterclockwise dial on the Jewish Town Hall in Prague, next to the Old-New Synagogue, is a salient feature of the Jewish Quarter (photo credit: LIAT COLLINS)
THE CLOCK with Hebrew letters and counterclockwise dial on the Jewish Town Hall in Prague, next to the Old-New Synagogue, is a salient feature of the Jewish Quarter
(photo credit: LIAT COLLINS)
Pieces of Jewish gravestones used to pave sidewalks in Prague will be given to the Jewish community to return to the city’s Old Jewish Cemetery.
Headstones from the 19th-century cemetery were cut into cobblestones during roadwork ahead of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit to Czechoslovakia in 1987, Radio Prague International reported. The cemetery is no longer used for burials.
The Czech Jewish community has called for the removal and return of the stones for years. Stones uncovered during future excavation work will be returned under the memorandum signed by Prague City Hall, according to Radio Prague International.
A project called Finding the Lost Face of Jewish Cemeteries will try to help identify the fragments, the station reported.


Related Tags
Prague
Czech Republic