Polish town holds foam party on Jewish cemetery 

A city in eastern Poland held a foam party on the site of Jewish graves.

The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, has condemned the Mayor of Kazimierz Dolny’s decision to mark the 1st June holiday known as ‘Children’s Day’ with a celebration in this location.

The site is estimated to host the graves of a few hundred Jews, and was demolished and made into a children’s playground during the Soviet occupation of Poland.

A prominent hasidic figure, Rabbi Yehezkel Taub, is also believed to be buried there. Many members of the Modzitz Hasidic community make an annual pilgrimage to his grave. 

Chief Rabbi Schudrich explained his unsuccessful attempts to persuade Polish authorities to move this park, saying: “We offered a really nice solution that would involve us helping to fund a new playground and moving the cemetery to an empty field nearby. But they keep stalling or cancelling meetings and it seems like the town just doesn’t care.”

Rabbi Schudrich added that the party “puts into question whether further talks about the site make sense, and casts doubt on whether, regardless of religion, both parties are guided by common values drawn from it.”

Rabbi Schudrich has appeared on a previous episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout Europe.

Image credit: JC