Update (July 2022):
We commissioned the Foundation for Documentation of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland to read the inscriptions from every piece of salvaged headstone which we photographed in 2021. This database library showing all of the photographs and the information that the specialists were able to read, can now be viewed on their website. (Note: between 1921 and 1941 Brest was a part of Poland).
The Together Plan is launching a new project to fundraise for the development on our own archive to showcase all of the headstones images and data.
Please consider supporting this project by making a donation.
A design for a memorial in Brest is now in development. By 2024, we aim to have a memorial designed, and built at the site of the cemetery. This will be a fitting memorial to the lost community who were so brutally slaughtered and a site that will become a very important landmark on the Belarus Jewish Cultural Heritage Route that The Together Plan is creating with Belarusian citizens.
The Brest-Litovsk Jewish cemetery has a harrowing history. In present day Belarus, it cannot be seen, it has no markers and no-one would know that it ever existed.
However, in the last 15 years, gravestones that once stood in the cemetery have been surfacing all over the region. There are now approximately 1500 reclaimed gravestones, some broken and some intact. We are campaigning to raise funds to create a memorial wall using the reclaimed headstones. It is vital that we preserve the past, to create a symbol of hope for future generations.
The Together Plan is an associate member of AEPJ Jewish Heritage and is building a Jewish journey through Belarus. This memorial will feature along the route and help visitors to discover Brest’s rich Jewish heritage. It will also guide people to the contemporary Belarusian Jewish communities of today.