Meeting with the local community – neighbors and residents of Praga and Bródno

Event program

The meeting at the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw - Bródno took place at 1pm on June 9 2024. The meeting was hosted by directors and caretakers of the Jewish cemeteries in Warsaw. The Jewish cemetery located in Bródno - a neglected part of Warsaw’s Praga, is where the interactions with the local community often remain difficult.
The host’s aim was to invite members of the local community to give them a perspective of all problems and difficulties the Jewish side must approach, when protecting burial sites. Since the large part of the burials remain outside the fenced part of the cemetery - the focus of the presentation was to address how to engage in these areas, when conducting everyday practices of locals - walking of dogs, trash disposal, alcohol gatherings. This is why the hosts did not focus on usual topics of cemetery tours - history etc - but rather presented proposals for dialogue and discussion.
The event was attended by residents of local communities (districts: Praga Północ, Targówek, and what should be emphasized - many of whom are direct neighbors of this site.
Many who came, although living close by to the cemetery, visited this site for the first time in their life, sometimes remembering the destruction which their family elders witnessed. The meeting and the overall visit to the cemetery was a valuable chance for different sides to interact - the Jewish representatives and the local community.