THE FARO JEWISH CEMETERY RESTORATION

Following is a brief introduction on the chain of events which resulted in the formation of the Faro Cemetery Restoration Fund, Inc., of which I am its Founder and President.

It took many, many hands, at an estimated overall cost of $75,000.00 U.S. Many of those contributions came from Jews and Gentiles alike, and from organisations and private individuals. I alone conducted these fund raising activities.

As time went by, and the contributions were slow in coming in, there were times when doubt would set in as to the ultimate success of the Faro Jewish Cemetery Restoration. The historic restoration took place on May 16, 1993, on site in Faro, Portugal, with well over 500 guests. I am indebted to many friends and contributors to this holy cause. Their names have been inscribed and are kept inside the small museum in the cemetery. I hope this will serve as a remembrance of the last 500 years of Portuguese-Jewish history.

Note: King D. Afonso 111, upon conquering the area in 1249 from the Moors, found a Jewish Community in Faro.

During the Golden Age of Jewry in the Iberian Peninsula, much was written about the "Spanish Jewish Communities"; however, not very much was written about the Portuguese Jewish Communities.

Faro is the capital of the Algarve, the country’s most southern province. With the return of Jewish settlers from Gibraltar, Morocco, and other North African countries in the late 1800’s, a Jewish reception center was formed, and was very active until the 1940’s, when the last members of the Jewish community left town and settled in the capital, Lisbon.
Of particular interest is the fact that, at some point in time, the Faro Jewish community was called, "Little Jerusalem" " Yerushalaiym" "Haketanah". With two small synagogues, a slaughter house, and a small cemetery, the Jewish Community of Faro was one of the best recorded communities in Portugal. Through registration of weddings, births, and death certificates, it was a well-organised community.

With the departure of the last members of the Faro Jewish Community in the late 1940’s, the two synagogues and the slaughter house were closed. The Jewish Cemetery of Faro saw its last burial in 1932.Without a Jewish Community in town, the Cemetery became a victim of the times. The following years saw a great neglect and a lack of maintenance and upkeep became evident. The grass grew to several feet high, the walls suffered erosion damage through the elements, and the surrounding cemetery land became a source of refuse disposal by the transient Gypsies who passed through Faro.

Sometime in May of 1980, an inventory and epigraphic study of the graves was taken by Sam Levy, Jose Maria Raposo de Sousa Abecassis, Lawrence Lechaud Abeassis and the late Rabbi from the Jewish Community of Lisbon, the Rev.Abraham Assor. This small group of dedicated people were able to clean all the graves, photograph them, translate the Hebrew writings to Portuguese and clean the entire Cemetery grounds.

Further detailed information can be found in the book, Hebrew Genealogy; Portugal X1X and XX Centuries, an epigraphic study and listing of existing graves in the Jewish Cemetery of Faro. There are a total of 106 graves in this Cemetery. The oldest grave is the one belonging to the Rev. Joseph Toledano, from Tomar, who died in 1838. The most recent grave belongs to Abraham Ruah, who died in 1932.

During the period of approximately 100 years, the Jewish Community of Faro saw a   rise and a decline, between 1870 and 1900. Within this period, only 106 burials were recorded, which indicates this small community was a healthy one.

The Faro Jewish Cemetery land parcel was purchased by a group of Jewish businessmen, members of the Jewish Community, sometime on December 29th, 1851. This parcel of land was originally comprised of 21,000 square meters. Today, approximately only 9,000 square meters remain. The other 12,000 square meters were appropriated by the Municipality of Faro for the building of the Faro Hospital, the main highway, Caluste Gulbelkian, and the school, Joao de Deus.

According to documents recently found, which were drafted by Dr Semtov Sequerra, the attorney for the C.I.L. in Lisbon, several conditions were proposed to the Municipality of Faro upon the donation of some land by the C.I.L. in 1965. While the transfer was acted upon, the actual conditions, as drafted, were not met in their entirety.

Upon the wish of the original buyers of the land for the cemetery, upon their deaths, the land title was to be transferred to their heirs. Also, upon the termination of the Faro Jewish Community, the cemetery and the land were to be bequeathed to the C.I.L. in Lisbon. As time went by and this once upon a time Portuguese Jewish Community in Faro became extant, which happened sometime in 1942 when the last members moved to the capital, Lisbon, the Jewish Cemetery fell to a great disrepair for lack of maintenance.

Although there were periodic visits to the cemetery by family members visiting the graves of their loved ones, no upkeep or serious maintenance was done. The Faro Municipality did, from time to time, paint the 12 foot high walls surrounding the cemetery. The overall cemetery site fell to great neglect due to the lack of a Jewish community. The C.I.L. in Lisbon did not have the funds nor the manpower to realistically maintain the cemetery. In the 1965 documents from Dr Sentov Sequerra, the Faro Municipality was to build a synagogue, a guard house, provide protection to the cemetery and maintain the grounds in exchange for the land given, and the land taken. Recent negotiations between the Jewish Community of Lisbon, the Faro Municipality and other authorities, at the initiative of the Faro Cemetery Restoration Fund, Inc., have reached agreements recognising the C.I.L. as the rightful owner of what is left of the cemetery land. The conditions, as proposed in 1965 by Dr Semtov Sequerra, were ultimately agreed upon and signed in December, 1996. These negotiations have been going on now for the past five years.

The attorney fees, the lengthy research for old documents, etc., have taken a great deal of time and were obtained at substantial costs to the Faro Restoration Fund, Inc. Mr Ralf Pinto, the Director of Operations, was given full authorisation to do all that was necessary and unveil the hidden truths behind the original land transactions belonging to the Jewish Community of Faro, their heirs and subsequently, the C.I.L. Many documents had been lost, transfers of portions of the land were also lost. As a result, at times there were some doubts as to who were the rightful owners of the Jewish Cemetery land.

As the Founder and President of the Faro Restoration Fund Inc., I am personally indebted to Mr Ralf Pinto for his persistence, dedicated hard work and endless hours which he performed faithfully these past five years on behalf of the Faro Jewish Cemetery. Ralf and I have spent many hours on the phone, fax, and mailings concerning the state of affairs of the cemetery.

Without a Jewish Community, without daily and/ or nightly protection to those holy grounds, a series of major events took place which prompted the Municipality of Faro to take serious action. A group of transient Gipsies, passing through the area and finding the Jewish Gates open, decided to make camp inside the cemetery. Ultimately, the Faro municipality put a keyed lock on the cemetery gates and evicted the Gipsies. Unfortunately other events took place, which the authorities overlooked. A Kiosk was built by the Municipality, six billboard signs were allowed, a farmer’s market established, as well as the traffic from the Faro Sporting Club passing through the cemetery lots to park. The pedestrian traffic were using the cemetery, as well as the out of town football fans, using the cemetery as public latrines!! This naturally, was totally unacceptable.

Whether or not there was a Jewish Community in Faro, a cemetery is a holy place, regardless of to whom it belongs!

Before going any further, permit me to dwell on my personal involvement with this historic and holy project, which I founded in the United States in 1986. While visiting my family in Portugal in 1884, my brother ,Joseph, and I drove to Faro to visit the city where our dearest mother, Simy Schocron Bitton Z"L, was born and our grandfather, Isaac Schocron, served the small Jewish Community as a "Shamash" caretaker of the Synagogue on Rua Castilho #6. When we were children, there were times we would visit Faro with our parents. It is believed that one of the graves, #45, belonging to David Bytton, who was buried on Tuesday. the 25th of February, 1859, and is thought to be a member of our family.
However, we have no documented records to prove it.

When we arrived at the cemetery, we found it chain locked and decided to call upon the City Hall to open the cemetery gates so we could visit the graves of our forefathers. As we entered this Beth-Shalom, House of the World, to our great surprise, some of the grass was over four feet tall!! The entire cemetery was in a state of great disrepair, the surrounding walls were in need of repairs and needed to be painted. The iron gates were in need of repairs due to rust and erosion. The grave stones also showed signs of wear and the overall grounds inside, as well as on the outside, needed to be cleaned up and repaired.

As we left Faro, on our return to Lisbon, both Joseph and myself kept quiet for a long time. Our thoughts were occupied with the Faro Jewish cemetery state of affairs. We asked ourselves later, " How was it possible that this was allowed to reach such a state of disrepair?". No maintenance. No upkeep. No one to take care of the 106 graves. The 106 souls buried there in their eternal rest!

My brother Joseph did give me some of the answers. The C.I.L. in Lisbon had some 360 registered members in the community. They had financial hardships in keeping up with the Synagogue, the Rabbi, and overall management of the Jewish Community. In short, the C.I.L. did not have the funds needed to maintain the Faro Jewish Cemetery. The Faro Municipality did not have a budget for maintenance.

Upon returning to Lisbon, my thoughts were, " What can I do to help restore it.?"

Back home in the United States, the idea of gathering funds to help restore the Faro Cemetery was discussed with many people, religious institutions, as well as many friends and family. A bank account was later opened in the name of the Friends of Faro, but the collection of funds was not following the expectations desired.

On our second visit to Faro, we met with the Mayor Dr. Belo. He advised that he had many communications with the C.I.L. in Lisbon concerning the Jewish Cemetery. He told us that he had also had a meeting with Joel Sequerra, who visited from Israel, and was also very interested in the restoration. Joel Sequerra’s grand-father was one of the buyers of the cemetery land. In fact, some months later I did receive a letter from Joel Sequerra, from Haifa, Israel.

Dr. Negrao Belo was very receptive to our visit and showed us the plans drafted by the city engineer to build a garden around the cemetery. This garden was to honor the Jewish community of Faro and to pay homage to Samuel Gacon, who printed the Bible in Hebrew in his shop in Faro in 1497; this was also the first print done in Portugal. The intentions of helping to restore the Jewish Cemetery in Faro.

The Mayor told us that the Municipality did not have funds or a budget to maintain the Jewish Cemetery.

As I was preparing to leave Portugal on my return to the United States, I received a phone call in brother Joseph’s home from Mr Ralf Pinto. Mr and Mrs Pinto had settled in Portimao, Algarve, and had visited the Faro Cemetery. They too found the cemetery in a great state of disrepair. Ralf Pinto had heard from the C.I.L. that I had formed the Faro Cemetery Restoration Fund Inc. Mr Pinto accepted the offer to oversee the operations in Faro, and was named Director of Operations.

Furthermore, Ralf also agreed to mail to me in the USA a comprehensive detailed plan for the restoration costs of the Faro Jewish Cemetery.

In the meantime, our financing goals in the USA and elsewhere in the world were not increasing. The majority of the donations had come from friends, as well as from fellow workers, family and suppliers. Ultimately, we were very fortunate to have a trust donate $25,000.00 US dollars to the Restoration Fund. Another $5,000.00 US dollars was a donation from the Jewish Community of Geneva, Switzerland. Other smaller contributions came from Brazil, Australia, Malta, Portugal, and the USA.

These funds were kept in a special account in Lisbon for the sole purpose of restoring the Faro Cemetery, but at the same time, I had been the one and only fund raiser all along! Our many thanks goes to the C.I.L. in Lisbon for the well - managed and the interest earned for the Restoration Account Fund.

Sometime in May of 1992, the Faro Cemetery was desecrated by unknown persons. Gravestones were turned over, graffiti, ant- Jewish slogans were written all over the walls and other premises. Upon learning of this latest desecration, I had a talk with Ralf Pinto, and it was decided the best way to fight back against this type of offensive behaviour was, in simple terms, to begin the restoration. This way, we could show the culprits that the 106 souls in their eternal rest in this Beth-Shalom,

House of the World, will always be remembered and their dignity will not go by unchallenged. And so, Phase One began. Ralf Pinto was advised to contact Mr. Gideon Gil, the Israeli Landscape Engineer, to proceed with the restoration work.

Mr Ralf Pinto was proceeding with the details of the cemetery restoration, clean up, the grave stones, wall repairs, painting and general landscaping, which included the planting of trees on the outside. The trees had been donated by Mr. Leonard Oblovitz to honor the late Portuguese Concul in Bordeaux, France, Dr Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who saved thousands of Jewish lives and others during World War II.

In the interim period, the World Sephardi Federation in Geneva, Switzerland, and in the United States were contacted by myself, as well as many other organisations which included many U.S. government entities, U.S. Senators, U.S. Congressmen, the State Department, and many politicians who were asked to help stop the public abuse of the Faro Jewish Cemetery. A letter, signed by several congressmen, was sent to the President of Portugal, Dr Mario Soares. This letter prompted the President to contact the Faro Municipality and the Governor of the Algarve. The Municipality and the other officials contacted the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Department of Patrimony and Archeology seeking their assistance in these matters. We must say that once the ball started rolling, everybody was very nice and cooperated fully in the restoration work of the cemetery.

May 16, 1993, was the date set up for the Restoration First Anniversary Celebration. The City of Faro again took the initiative of erecting canopies, chairs, and a head table to accommodate several hundred guests from all over the country and the world. The Guest of Honor was the Honorable Dr Mario Soares, President of the Republic of Portugal. The Master of Ceremonies was Mr Ralf Pinto. At the head table were Dr Mario Soares, myself, Isaac Bitton, the Mayor Joao Dionisio Botelheiro, and the Governor of the Algarve, Cabrito Neto. Other participating guests were; The Bishop of Faro, D. Manuel. Madureira Dias, the Cantor Abraham Benito, who came from Gibraltar, Cantor Isaac Assor, from the C.I.L., and Judy Frankel, Ladino singer from the USA. Other guests of honor were the Honorable Israeli Ambassador, Benjamin Oron, the Honorable Ambassador from South Africa Pieter Swanepoel, the German Consul in Faro, and many other dignitaries from overseas and Portuguese officials. The Honor Guard at the cemetery was provided by the Volunteer Fire Department from Faro.

After the official presentations, the speeches, blessings, the various biblical singings, and the closing with the Portuguese National Anthem, " Herois do Mar" and the Israeli National Anthem, "Hatikvah", the Faro Cemetery Restoration hosted a luncheon for 150 guests at the Eva Hotel in Faro.

For a copy of the video" Without The Past", please contact:
Mr Isaac "Ike" Bitton,
1230 Davis Road, Woodstock, Illinois 60098, U.S.A.
Tel/ 815- 3381440
Fax/ 815- 3387852

E-mail: Rufina Bernardetti Silva Mausenbaum