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Introduction

Tilted matzevot among vines, shrubs, and trees in the new Jewish cemetery of Sniatyn (Ivano-Frankivsk oblast). Photo © RJH.
This page lists print and electronic references which provide information to support an essential early stage in the planning of Jewish cemetery preservation projects in western Ukraine: the development of concepts to guide project design and implementation. Creating and reviewing concepts for a cemetery project helps to identify the themes and goals of the proposed work, to define and communicate the what and why of the intended activity, and to initiate development of the strategies and tactical details of project plans.
The scope of these references is necessarily broad, encompassing a wide variety of topics: classical texts on heritage, memory, and identity; alternative approaches to conservation and decay; the design of sites of contemplation; lessons learned in the preservation of regional Jewish heritage; guidebooks on developing and communicating public history; Jewish cultural perspectives and traditions of death, mourning, and remembrance; working with sites of difficult history; tourism and community renewal; and multifaceted cemetery preservation manuals, pamphlets, and videos. The references were developed by philosophers, architects, cultural historians, religious leaders, civic and national heritage organizations, NGOs, and preservation practitioners. The print and digital works are relevant not only to the guide section on project concepts on this website, but also to even narrowly-defined practical projects; similarly, more focused references in other sections can give valuable feedback to project concepts in the form of feasibility and sustainability checks, materials choices, and coordination between activities.
Because these lists are lengthy, we have divided them into categories for simpler review; many of the references overlap two or more categories. A few of the listed references are highlighted with brief summaries in the first section below, “key references”. Other useful resources on this subject may be found in the sections on regional and international experts, and on technical tools, methods, and data. Except where noted otherwise, all references listed here are in English.
Key References
The Ashgate Research Companion to Heritage and Identity; Brian Graham and Peter Howard, eds.; Ashgate/Routledge, 2008.
A comprehensive survey of thought and practice in heritage, memory, and identity with broad scope and considerable depth, in 25 chapters covering diverse topics from modern perspectives. The text serves both as an introduction to the breadth of heritage studies and as a guide for developing project concepts. Specific topics relevant to Jewish burial site management in western Ukraine include personal and public histories, the contestation of heritage, the memorialization of violence and tragedy, heritage tourism, multicultural heritages, participation and local communities, and heritage transformation in Central and Eastern Europe.
A Graveyard Preservation Primer; Lynette Strangstad; AltaMira Press / AASL; 2nd edition, 2013.
A focused textbook on documentation, methods, materials, and ethics for graveyard conservation. Although the specific guidance and information has somewhat limited application outside the US, the text is nonetheless a model for planning and management of cemetery preservation projects, tasks, experimentation and learning, and the development of best practices in other geographies.
Curated Decay: Heritage Beyond Saving; Caitlin DeSilvey; University of Minnesota Press; Minneapolis, 2017.
A rumination on the cultural heritage trend away from “preservation at all costs” and toward alternate forms of care and engagement with heritage which allow for intentional, managed decay and disintegration. Through introductory and closing chapters which survey the literature of the movement and outline important questions, and specifically via chapters describing case studies (with successes, failures, and issues left unresolved), the author prompts consideration of alternate approaches and perhaps more nuanced thinking about management and sustainability of heritage as a cultural resource.
Jewish Cemeteries in the Classroom – An ESJF Guide; Esther Zyskina and Alexandra Fishel; ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, 2020.
A manual for educators of middle and high school students, the guide complements the ESJF’s work in surveying and protecting European Jewish cemeteries using the history, art, and meaning of cemeteries and their headstones as a bridge to the multicultural past of Ukraine and other countries. Supporting the development of classroom and field lesson plans, the guide offers suggested learning paths and practical exercises to interest and lead students in Jewish life cycle traditions, the Hebrew alphabet and its use in dating epitaphs, as well as the key symbols carved into many Jewish headstones. Context for teachers is provided in overview essays and in key references to support further study.
Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Central and Eastern Europe: A Comparative Study; Rudolf Klein; ICOMOS – Journals of the German National Committee and Landesdenkmalamt Berlin; Michael Imhof Verlag, 2018.
Although sampling only about 20 urban Jewish cemeteries in large central and eastern European cities, none of them in Ukraine, this monumental study also includes more than 150 richly-illustrated pages of essays on aspects of 19th and 20th century Jewish funerary art, many of which are directly applicable to surviving cemeteries and matzevot in western Ukraine. In particular the perspectives and details are relevant to: the surveying and documentation of Jewish cemeteries; the conservation of stone burial markers; the new design and development of memorial monuments and landscaping plans; the rehabilitation and new construction of fences, walls, and gates; and the creation of informational signage to guide visitors’ interpretation of burial sites. The historical background information and the large catalogs of forms, shapes, materials, styles, symbols, typography, and inscriptions provide important references for the appreciation of Jewish cemeteries and the sensitive planning of preservation projects.
Places of Public Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials; Greg Dickinson, Carole Blair, and Brian L. Ott, eds.; University of Alabama Press, 2010.
A study of the intersections of memory, place, and language in the form of nine essays on different case studies, significantly highlighting several recent memorials and museums at sites of conflicted history and memory. Considerations of the relationship between remembering and forgetting, of memorials and counter-memorials, and of the politics of remembrance in public spaces, each provide opportunities to consider how project concepts are formed, reviewed, and revised.
Printed and Electronic Books
Heritage Preservation and Public History
- The Oxford Handbook of Public Heritage Theory and Practice; Angela M. Labrador and Neil Asher Silberman, eds.: Oxford Handbooks, 2018.
- The Ashgate Research Companion to Heritage and Identity; Brian Graham and Peter Howard, eds.; Ashgate/Routledge, 2008.
- Introduction to Public History: Interpreting the Past, Engaging Audience; Cherstin M. Lyon, Elizabeth Nix, and Rebecca K. Shrum; Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
- The Public History Reader; Hilda Kean and Paul Martin, eds.; Routledge, 2013.
- Public Forgetting: The Rhetoric and Politics of Beginning Again; Bradford Vivian: Penn State University Press, 2010.
- Curated Decay: Heritage Beyond Saving; Caitlin DeSilvey; University of Minnesota Press; 2017.
- Site Matters: Design Concepts, Histories, and Strategies; Carol Burns and Andrea Kahn, eds.; Routledge, 2011.
- Proceedings of the Nara Conference on Authenticity; UNESCO World Heritage Convention; ICOMOS, 1994.
- Cities’ Identity Through Architecture and Arts; Proceedings of the International Conference on Cities’ Identity through Architecture and Arts (CITAA 2017); Routledge, 2018.
- Addressing the Nation: The Use of Design Competitions in Interpreting Historic Sites (MS thesis); Collette Rachel Kinane; University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons, 2012.
Conceptual Approaches to Sites of Memory
- Heritage, Memory & Identity; Helmut K Anheier and Yudhishthir Raj Isar, eds.; SAGE Publishing, 2011.
- Memory: Histories, Theories, Debates; Susannah Radstone and Bill Schwarz, eds.; Fordham University Press, 2010.
- Understanding Heritage and Memory; Tim Benton: Manchester University Press, 2010.
- Deathscapes: Spaces for Death, Dying, Mourning and Remembrance; James D. Sidaway and Avril Maddrell, eds.; Routledge, 2016.
- Sorrow and Solace: The Social World of the Cemetery; Philip Bachelor; Routledge, 2019.
- Heritage of Death: Landscapes of Emotion, Memory and Practice; Mattias Frihammar and Helaine Silvermann, eds.; Routledge, 2017.
- Routledge Companion to Death and Dying; Christopher M. Moreman; Routledge, 2017.
- Contemporary Landscapes of Contemplation; Rebecca Krinke; Routledge; 2005. Free e-book available.
- Places of Public Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials; Greg Dickinson, Carole Blair, and Brian L. Ott, eds.; University of Alabama Press, 2010.
- Memory: Histories, Theories, Debates; Susannah Radstone and Bill Schwarz, eds.; Fordham University, 2010.
- The Interpretation of Ruins at Sites of Memory (MS thesis); Kate Daly; University of Pennsylvania, 2002.
Jewish Memorial Traditions, Law, and Practice
- Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Central and Eastern Europe: A Comparative Study; Rudolf Klein; ICOMOS – Journals of the German National Committee and Landesdenkmalamt Berlin; Michael Imhof Verlag, 2018.
- A Practical Guide to Jewish Cemeteries; Nolan Menachemson; Avotaynu, 2007.
- Rediscovering Traces of Memory: The Jewish Heritage of Polish Galicia; Jonathan Webber, photographs by Chris Schwarz and Jason Francisco; Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2nd ed., 2018.
- A Field Guide to Visiting a Jewish Cemetery: A Spiritual Journey to the Past, Present and Future; Joshua L. Segal; Jewish Cemetery Publishing, 2005.
- Two thousand years of “Houses of Life” in Europe: Understanding Jewish Cemeteries; in Houses of Life: Jewish Cemeteries of Europe; Joachim Jacobs; Frances Lincoln, 2008.
- The Heritage of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe; Joachim Jacobs; in Jewish Cemeteries and Burial Culture in Europe; ICOMOS – Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees, 2011.
- The Heritage of religion, beliefs, and spirituality: A bibliography; ICOMOS Documentation Centre, 2014.
Commemorating Sites of Genocide
- Places of Pain and Shame: Dealing with ‘Difficult Heritage’; William Logan and Keir Reeves, eds.; Routledge, 2008.
- Killing Sites: Research and Remembrance; International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, ed.; Metropol Verlag / IHRA, 2015. Free download available.
- The Holocaust in the Twenty-First Century: Contesting/Contested Memories; David M. Seymour and Mercedes Camino, eds.; Routledge, 2016.
- The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews; Father Patrick Desbois, English translation by Catherine Spencer; St. Martin’s Griffin / Macmillan, 2008.
- Killing on the ground and in the mind: The spatialities of genocide in the east; Waitman Wade Beorn with Anne Knowles; in Geographies of the Holocaust; Anne Kelly Knowles, Tim Cole, and Alberto Giordano, eds.; Indiana University Press, 2014.
- Shattered Spaces: Encountering Jewish Ruins in Postwar Germany and Poland; Michael Meng; Harvard University Press, 2011.
- Dark Tourism and Place Identity: Managing and interpreting dark places; Leanne White and Elspeth Frew, eds.; Routledge, 2016.
- The Darker Side of Travel: The Theory and Practice of Dark Tourism; Richard Sharpley and Philip R. Stone, eds.; Channel View Publications, 2009.
- Whose Memory? Which Future?: Remembering Ethnic Cleansing and Lost Cultural Diversity in Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe; Barbara Törnquist-Plewa, ed.; Berghahn Books, 2016.
- Interpreting Difficult History at Museums and Historic Sites; Julia Rose; Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Burial Sites as Museums and Educational Sites
- Jewish Cemeteries in the Classroom – An ESJF Guide; Esther Zyskina and Alexandra Fishel; ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, 2020.
- Thoughts on the Role of a European Jewish Museum in the 21st Century; Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek; in Visualizing and Exhibiting Jewish Space and History: Studies in Contemporary Jewry Volume XXVI; Oxford University Press, 2012.
Cemetery Management: Practical Guides and Best Practices
- A Graveyard Preservation Primer; Lynette Strangstad; AltaMira Press / AASL; 2nd edition, 2013.
- Good Practices in the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Heritage: A Guide Based on the Polish and Belarusian Experiences; A. Bielawska, A. Maksimowska, and A. Sidarovich, eds; Museum of the History of Polish Jews, 2012.
- Preservation Guidelines for Municipally Owned Historic Burial Grounds and Cemeteries; Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation; 3rd edition, 2009.
- Catalogue of Best Practices for Jewish Cemetery Preservation; Samantha Shokin and Michele Migliori; ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative; Frankfurt, 2021.
- International Charter For The Conservation And Restoration Of Monuments And Sites (The Venice Charter 1964), with Bibliography; UNESCO-ICOMOS Documentation Centre, 2012.
- Conservation Plan: A Guide to the Preparation of Conservation Plans for Places of European Cultural Significance; James Semple Kerr; Australia ICOMOS, 7th edition, 2013.
- The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings; U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, 2017. Free download available.
- Cemetery Preservation Manual (Prince George’s County, Maryland); Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, 2010.
Journal Articles, Reports, and Web Pages
Heritage Preservation and Public History
- Principles of preservation: An introduction to the International Charters for Conservation and Restoration 40 years after the Venice Charter; Michael Petzet; International Charters for Conservation and Restoration of Monuments & Sites; ICOMOS, 2004; pp. 7-29. Free download available.
- Managing Jewish Immovable Heritage; Ruth Ellen Gruber and Samuel Gruber; Jewish Heritage Europe; 2013.
- Anticipating loss: rethinking endangerment in heritage futures; Caitlin DeSilvey and Rodney Harrison; International Journal of Heritage Studies; Vol. 26, Issue 1, 2019; pp. 1-7.
- Heritage Futures; Rodney Harrison, Nadia Bartolini†, Caitlin DeSilvey, et al.; Archaeology International; No. 19, 2016; pp. 68–72.
- Heritage places: Evolving conceptions and changing forms; Neil A. Silberman; from A Companion to Heritage Studies (Wiley Blackwell Companions to Anthropology); 2015.
- Stewarding the Past in a Perplexing Present; David Lowenthal; in Values and Heritage Conservation: Research Report; Getty Conservation Institute, 2000; pp.18-25.
- Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance: For the sustainable management of the historic environment; Paul Drury and Anna McPherson; English Heritage, 2008.
- NARA document on authenticity; UNESCO World Heritage Convention; ICOMOS, 1994.
Conceptual Approaches to Sites of Memory
- “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire”; Pierre Nora; Representations; No. 26, Special Issue: Memory and Counter-Memory, Spring 1989; pp. 7-24.
- The Importance of Historic Cemeteries and Burial Grounds; Historic England; webpage, undated.
- Interpretation of Sites of Memory; UNESCO, 2018. Free download available.
- Bâtiments anciens et fonctions actuelles: esquisse d’une approach de la «réanimation»; André Corboz; self-published, 1973; expanded and reissued in De la ville au patrimoine urbain: Histoires de forme et de sens; Patrimoine urbain; Presses de l’Université du Québec; Québec, 2009, pp.257-272.
- The Creation of Transnational Memory Spaces: Professionalization and Commercialization; Annika Björkdahl and Stefanie Kappler; International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society #32, 2019; pp.383–401. Free download available.
- Negotiating Sites of Memory; Margaret Ferguson; MLA Profession, 2016.
- Memory and place; Eman Assi; Proccedings of the 16th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium; ICOMOS, 2008. Free download available.
- Sites of Memory; Andrzej Szpociński; RCIN, 2016. Free download available.
Jewish Memorial Traditions, Law, and Practice
- Jewish Burial Grounds: Understanding Values; Barker Langham; Historic England, research report 74/2016, 2015.
- Єврейські цвинтарі в архітектурному ландшафті Східної Галичини: проблеми збереження і стан дослідженості; Христина Степанівна Бойко; Вісник Національного університету “Львівська політехніка”; № 505, 2004; С. 243–250. Доступне безкоштовне завантаження. (In Ukrainian: Jewish Cemeteries in the Architectural Landscape of East Galicia: Conservation Problems and State of Research)
- Photoworks on Eastern Europe and Historical Memory; Jason Francisco; web site, 2010-2019.
- Who Should Care for the Dead? Balancing Religious Rights with Civic Responsibilities; Neil A. Silberman; Archéologie du judaïsme en France et en Europe, 2010.
- Interpreting the Reconstruction of Synagogues and Jewish Cemeteries as Holocaust Memorials In Eastern European Urban Landscapes; Julianna Nielsen; University of Victoria, 2018.
- Jewish Memorial Practice; Samuel D. Gruber; in The Archaeology of Medieval Europe; Martin Carver and Jan Klápště; Aarhus University Press, 2011; pp.522-525.
- Guide to Jewish Death and Mourning Customs; Congregation B’nai Tikvah – Beth Israel; web pamphlet, 2016.
- Guide to Jewish Cemetery; Congregation B’nai Tikvah – Beth Israel; web pamphlet, 2016.
- Wielkomiejskie cmentarze żydowskie: Metamorfoza przestrzeni jako czynnik desakralizacji; Irmina Gadowska; Adlojada – Kultura i Profanacje, 2016; pp.111-121.
- Jewish Attitudes towards Death: A Society between Time, Space and Texts; Avriel Bar-Levav; in: Death in Jewish Life: Burial and Mourning Customs Among Jews of Europe and Nearby Communities; Stefan C. Reif, Andreas Lehnardt, and Avriel Bar-Levav, eds.; De Gruyter, 2014; pp.3-15.
- Jewish Law and Exhumation; Rabbi Michael Schudrich; in Killing Sites – Research and Remembrance; International Remembrance Alliance, ed.; IHRA/Metropol, 2015; pp.79-84.
- Guidelines for the preservation of Jewish cemeteries; Komisja Rabiniczna do Spraw Cmentarzy (Rabbinical Commission for Jewish Cemeteries in Poland) via Virtual Shtetl; web page, undated.
- The laws of a cemetery and its visitation; Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein; chapter 31 of The Laws and Customs of Mourning, Vol. 2; shulchanaruchharav.com, 2019.
- Jewish life in Ukraine: Achievements, challenges and priorities from the collapse of communism to 2013; Darina Privalko; Institute for Jewish Policy Research, 2014. Free download available.
Commemorating Sites of Genocide
- ‘Earth conceal not my blood’: Forensic and Archaeological Approaches to Locating the Remains of Holocaust Victims; Caroline Sturdy Colls; in Human Remains in Society: Curation and Exhibition in the Aftermath of Genocide and Mass-violence; Jean-Marc Dreyfus and Élisabeth Anstett, eds.; Manchester University Press, 2016, pp.163-194.
- Uncovering a Painful Past: Archaeology and the Holocaust; Caroline Sturdy Colls; Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, Vol.17, No.1, 2015, pp.38-55 (via Staffordshire Online Repository).
- Holocaust Archaeology: Archaeological Approaches to Landscapes of Nazi Genocide and Persecution; Caroline Sturdy Colls; Journal of Conflict Archaeology, Vol.7, No.2, 2012, pp.70–104.
- Exhumations in Post-war Rabbinical Responsas; David Deutsch; in Human Remains in Society: Curation and Exhibition in the Aftermath of Genocide and Mass-violence; Jean-Marc Dreyfus and Élisabeth Anstett, eds.; Manchester University Press, 2016, pp.90-112.
- (Re)politicising the Dead in Post-Holocaust Poland: the Afterlives of Human Remains at the Bełżec Extermination Camp; Zuzanna Dziuban; in Human Remains in Society: Curation and Exhibition in the Aftermath of Genocide and Mass-violence; Jean-Marc Dreyfus and Élisabeth Anstett, eds.; Manchester University Press, 2016, pp.38-65.
- Interpretation at Special Places: Mirogoj Cemetery; Darko Babić and Mihaela Bingula; Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 188, Elsevier, 2015.
- Survivor Trees and memorial groves: Vegetal commemoration of victims of terrorism in Europe and the United States; Charlotte Heath-Kelly; Political Geography, vol. 64; Elsevier, 2018.
Burial Sites as Museums and Educational Sites
- Museum to Open Skies: Tombstone Art and Education; Thiago Nicolau de Araújo; Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 116; Elsevier, 2014.
- Graveyard at School: Death and Cemetery May Take Place in the School?; Kate Fabiani Rigo; Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 116; Elsevier, 2014.
Cemetery Management: Practical Guides and Best Practices
- The care of old cemeteries and gravestones; Lance R. Mayer; Association for Gravestone Studies, Markers Vol. 1, 1980; pp. 119-142.
- Bulletin of the Association for Graveyard Studies (AGS); AGS via the Internet Archive, quarterly: Winter 1999 through Winter 2009 in one file.
- Paradise Preserved: An introduction to the assessment, evaluation, conservation and management of historic cemeteries; Roger Bowdler, et al.; English Heritage via The Gardens Trust, 2007.
- Management of Historic Cemeteries; Historic England; webpage, undated.
- The Care and Conservation of Graveyards; Ireland National Monuments Service; web pamphlet, undated.
- Guidebook for Jewish Cemetery Restoration: Descendant’s guide to restoring your ancestors’ cemetery in Poland; William N. Brostoff; Jewish Heritage Europe, 2020. Free download available.
- Cross-disciplinary conference on European Jewish Cemeteries; Ruth Ellen Gruber; Jewish Heritage Europe; 2015.
- Conservation of Historic Graveyards: Guide for Practitioners 2; Historic Environment Scotland, 2001.
- Cultural Resource Management Guideline (NPS-28); US National Park Service Office of Policy, web site, 2002.
- Preserving Historic Cemeteries: Texas Preservation Guidelines; Texas Historical Commission, undated.
- Places to Remember: Guidance for Inventorying and Maintaining Historic Cemeteries; Carol Griffith and Michael Sullivan; Arizona State Parks Board, 2013.
- Accessibility (Landscape Lines #13); NPS Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, undated.
- Health and Safety; The Conservation Volunteers; web page, undated.
Videos
Heritage Preservation and Public History
- Curated Decay: Inevitable Loss and Other Opportunities; Caitlin SeSilvey; UVA School of Architecture; YouTube, 2018.
Burial Sites as Museums and Educational Sites
- All Preservation is Local, Except…: Reflections on Conducting Preservation Coursework Abroad; Jeffrey M. Chusid; NCPTT, YouTube, 2014.
- From Theses to Capstone Experiences: Engaging Students in Community-Based Preservation; Rebecca J. Sheppard and Catherine Morrissey; NCPTT, YouTube, 2014.
Cemetery Management: Practical Guides and Best Practices
- Down to Earth: Conservation Decision-Making for Historic Cemeteries; NCPTT; YouTube, 2014.
- Preservation Planning for Historic Cemetery Landscapes; NCPTT; YouTube, 2014.