Baron de Hirsch Cemetery

The Baron de Hirsch Cemetery, also known as the Beth Israel Synagogue Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery located on west side of Windsor Street near Connaught Avenue in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It has been the burial ground of the congregation of the Beth Israel Synagogue of Halifax since 1893. Beth Israel Synagogue Cemetery [http://www.thebethisrael.com/cemetery/index.html Beth Israel Synagogue Cemetery website] ]

History

The Baron De Hirsch Hebrew Benevolent Society, named for the philanthropist, Baron Maurice de Hirsch (1831-1896), of Munich, sought to acquire land on the outskirts of Halifax for a local cemetery. The Culvie Farm property was purchased for that purpose on 20 June 1893, and the land was consecrated on 30 July 1893. Some changes to the boundaries of the cemetery were negotiated with the city in the 1950s due to the city's need to realign Windsor Street. The city provided additional property, but some original memorial walls had to be disassembled and moved. The new wall was dedicated on 30 September 1968. An anonymous donor since 2004 has funded renovations and expansion.

RMS Titanic

Of the 209 bodies recovered after the sinking of the RMS "Titanic" in April 1912, 150 were buried in Halifax cemeteries. Ten victims were buried at Baron de Hirsch Cemetery, eight of whom unidentified. The others were the Titanic's saloon steward Frederick William Wormald and the passenger Michel Navratil. While the intent was for Jewish victims to be buried in the cemetery, it is possible that none were. Wormald was Church of England and Navratil boarded the ship under the name "Louis M. Hoffman" and was misidentified as Jewish. [Titanica.com] [Discovering Nova Scotia, Reform Judaism Magazine, Summer 2007 [http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1241 Reform Judaism] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.thebethisrael.com/cemetery/index.html Beth Israel Synagogue Cemetery website]
* [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/victims_graves.php?angle=Baron+De+Hirsch Titanica rendering of gravesites of Titanic victims]
* [http://www.euronet.nl/users/keesree/dead.htm Titanic burials]
* [http://www.hadassah.org/news/content/per_hadassah/archive/2004/04_OCT/traveler.asp The Jewish Traveler: The Maritimes, Hadassah Magazine]