The Chief Rabbi opened the renovated Zlín Jewish Cemetery

Zlín - The modifications to the Jewish section of the Zlín Forest Cemetery are complete. The restored memorial site, which had been neglected for decades, was symbolically opened today with a prayer by Chief Regional Rabbi Karol Sidon. The restoration of the long-neglected memorial site lasted since last autumn.
    The Jewish section of the cemetery had not been maintained since 1945 due to a lack of methodology and the consent of the Jewish community. The situation was resolved only through an agreement reached between the chairman of the Zlín Region, Ondřej Kapusta, and Rabbi Sidon.
    "First and foremost, I appreciate the interest coming from the city hall and from Zlín in general to remind us of the essentially marginal Jewish presence in the history and present of Zlín," Sidon said.
    There are only 13 tombstones in the Jewish resting place, which is part of the Christian cemetery. However, according to the rabbi, this does not diminish its significance. "Around every person who has died, it is appropriate to have a space for reflection, and that has happened here," Sidon concluded.
    During the modifications, years of accumulated branches, leaves, and debris gradually disappeared from the memorial site, and new access paths to individual tombstones were created. In the final phase, the builders fenced the entire cemetery with a low fence and marked it with an information sign that draws attention to it.
    The modifications to the Jewish cemetery are now also documented in a photographic exhibition that opened today at the Zlín town hall. It depicts the progression of the various phases of construction work as well as snapshots from the environment of the Jewish section of the Forest Cemetery in Zlín.