A visitor takes a picture in the Old Jewish Cemetery in Wroclaw, Poland, long adminstered as a museum of funerary art
Last year I was commissioned by the ESJF (European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative) to write a report on “Jewish Cemeteries and Sustainable Heritage Tourism.”
This has now been published as part of an online handbook on Jewish cemeteries and sustainable tourism.
In my report I examine the history and background of what we can broadly describe as tourism (religious and secular) to cemeteries in general and to Jewish cemeteries in particular, with examples and recommendations on how to encourage and manage visitors while retaining the sacred character of the sites.
I discuss examples ranging from religious pilgrimage and honoring loved ones to “Dark Tourism” and appreciation of landscape, funerary art, and history.
And I provide profiles/case studies of the different ways that visitors are currently managed and/or encouraged/dealt with at Jewish cemeteries in several towns and cities in Europe, including Prague; Warsaw; London; Biala (PL) and Osoblaha (CZ); Plymouth, England; Wroclaw; Brno (CZ), and Mád (Hungary).
Click here to access the book, in the ISSUU format, which can also be downloaded
Table of Contents for my Jewish Cemeteries and Sustainable Tourism section:
