The Burial Society

Wednesday, April 6, 2010 (Part 6):

Next to the Jewish Cemetery, as we exited, is a quaint old building -- referred to as the Ceremonial Hall -- that was the home of the Jewish Burial Society. I do not know much at all about Jewish customs, but there is apparently great ceremony associated with honoring one's dead. Many practices, or rites, were carried out with respect to preparing a body for burial. The responsibility for ensuring that the community's dead received proper care and preparation was delegated to a group of men who made up the Burial Society. And the Ceremonial Hall was where they did their work.

Today, this building is a museum to the work of the Burial Society. On display are photos, tools and other objects used in the preparation and burial of bodies. A series of prints on the wall depict, in sequence, the duties or tasks of the Burial Society. And on the top floor of the building, there is a permanent display of children's drawings by Jewish children taken to the death camps. That was a very sad room.