Volunteer action and research to save the Jewish cemetery of Tállya

Please support the independent, civic, volunteer action for saving a historic Jewish cemetery of Tállya, in Hungary! After two successful cemetery-saving actions that we carried out with the contribution of nearly 40 volunteers in the Jewish cemetery of Tállya, now we would like to continue the work we have started to save the cemetery and we are also looking towards new goals!

(Please note: the fundraising is in hungarian forints, not dollars!)

Maintaining the memory of a former community of Tállya (טאליא)

Currently there is no available information on the former significant and populous Jewish community of Tállya and its cemetery which have more than 120 tombstones. Therefore, the goals of the project involve the documentation of the already cleaned graves in detail, doing a detailed research about the people resting in the cemetery and about the life of the former Jewish community of Tállya, gathering all available information and data in connection with the people resting in the cemetery and translating the inscriptions on the graves.

In particular, we would like to do a research on the rare, sepharadic style tombstones that we uncovered during the previous renovation process. (Such as the picture below, with the tombstone of Esther.)

From the pictures and data collected, we would also like to set up a website, where we will make available to everyone all the graves in the cemetery in English and Hungarian by translating the inscriptions on them and the data collected about the people. Thus, relatives, descendants and researchers will be given a detailed and essential database, so the memory of the former Jews of Tállya will be able to live on.

Inclusive volunteer program

We would also like to continue the multi-day volunteer cemetery clean-up program, which has already been organized twice during last year, as there are still parts of the one-hectare area that need further work to tidy up, and the volunteer team is very eager to start working on saving the cemetery again. Jews and non-jews together will work to save a unique and sadly neglected cemetery from destruction!

We also collecting for the long-term maintaining of the cemetery!

Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic we would like to organize a volunteer program many participants in the Jewish cemetery of Tállya for several days, in accordance with the regulations in force in Hungary, where the program will involve the cleaning of remaining graves, weeding, cleaning up of the cemetery and its documentation. Our aims include placing a commemorative plaque in the cemetery and an another one on one of the old Jewish houses in the village of Tállya as well that would commemorate the deported Jewish community that had lived there.

You can watch the overall videos of the last two cemetery clean-ups here:
https://youtu.be/RRD8pT7X6Fc

https://youtu.be/r-IegBOO83I

In summary, we would like to use your support for:

• Creating a website for the Tállya Jewish Community and the Cemetery
• Research and collect all the available data on every person buried in Tállya's cemetery
• Full documentation of the cemetery
• Maintenance of the cemetery
• Organize a multi-day inclusive cemetery clean-up program with jewish and non-jewish participants
• Placing a commemorative plaque at the cemetery and one in the village