Hartford, CT – Hartford police are trying to find the vandals who overturned nearly 40 gravestones at a Jewish Cemetery.
Police say the headstones at the Congregation Ados Beth Israel Cemetery off Tower Avenue and Waverly Street were damaged sometime between Oct. 12 and Oct. 19. The vandalism was discovered by a congregation member who regularly visits his son’s grave.
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The superintendent of the cemetery told police that the damage will cost more than $20,000 to repair. Most of the headstones that were overturned were secured to their bases.
Police say they don’t have any suspects and are urging anyone with information to call them.
Extra patrols have been added in the area.
The Tower Ave cemeteries are in the middle of a rough and tumb le urban ghetto. My late father-in law is buried there. Before yuntif we and a group of others with family there have to hire an off duty cop to accompany us for safety when visiting the graves. Police coverage for funerals is a necessity. Although we have paid for plots there for family members, we shall not be using them.
We like to move the remains of father-in-law and his parents, but our ruv says we can only disinter to move to Eretz Yisrael, not to a domestioc ecmetery where visitors feel safe.
I think it is time that all Jewish cemeteries, allow only flat Matzevos, not the stand up ones. Around this time of year, due to Halloween , we see a rash of this type actions . We would still have problems with defacement,but pushed over stones would be eliminated.
I hope that vandalizing especially in the cemeteries will be stopped. And I hope that these people will learn to respect even the dead. Although these dead people cannot speak for themseleves, it’s still not good to see their graveyard vandalized.
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