Baron Hirsch Cemetery

Baron Hirsch Cemetery
Baron Hirsch Cemetery
Details
Established	1899
Location	1126 Richmond Avenue, Graniteville, Staten Island, New York
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°37′20″N 74°09′18″W / 40.6221°N 74.1549°W
Type	Jewish
Size	about 80 acres (0.32 km2)
Find a Grave	Baron Hirsch Cemetery

Baron Hirsch Cemetery is a large Jewish cemetery in the neighborhood of Graniteville, on Staten Island, in New York City, and named for Baron Maurice de Hirsch.

History

Baron Hirsch was established in 1899.^[1]

In January 1960, the cemetery drew national attention when 87 headstones were smeared with yellow paint and the words “Fuhrer,” and the German words for death and fatherland. That incident and others led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to declare that freedom and decency could be destroyed everywhere if Americans ignored the "virus of bigotry" or permitted it "to spread one inch."^[3]

Nevertheless, continued vandalism,^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] as well as apathy and neglect^[2] remained problems at Baron Hirsch for decades, resulting in numerous overturned grave markers.

A major cleanup of the grounds was started in March 2011 with the help of the Community Alliance for Jewish-affiliated Cemeteries,^[2] and a fence was built to enclose the cemetery. The 121st precinct house of the New York Police Department, which is adjacent to the cemetery and overlooks it, opened in 2013^[8] and may have helped curb vandalism as well.

The cemetery is composed of about 500 plots or sections belonging to synagogues, Jewish associations, family circles, and most commonly, landsmanshaftn. Most plots are entered via gates or pairs of stone columns. Some of the landsmanshaftn plots have monuments dedicated to Holocaust victims of the Nazis in their ancestral town, including plots for immigrants from Wodzislaw, Poland; Gvardeyskoye and Nadvirna, Ukraine; and Hlusk, Belarus.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

Notable burials

Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. (1895–1979), newspaper publisher, founder of Advance Publications; and other members of the Newhouse publishing family.^[13]
Joseph Papp (1921–1991) – theater producer, theater director, and founder of The Public Theater^[14]^[15]
William Shemin (1896–1973) – Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipient^[16]
Elliot Willensky (1943–2010) – composer, lyricist, and music producer
Rabbi Herman Steiner (1850?–1916) – famous brother of Rabbi Yeshayale Steiner of Kerestir, Hungary

References

^ ^a ^b Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York from January 1 to March 27, 1906. Board of Aldermen. 1906. p. 1091. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Grunlund, Maura. "Apathy, Neglect and Vines Overtake Staten Island Cemetery". Staten Island Advance. Advance Publications, at silive.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
^ "President Scores 'Virus of Bigotry' — Warns It Must Be Stemmed as Peril to Freedom". The New York Times. January 13, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
^ "Two 200-Pound Doors Stolen From Cemetery". The New York Times. February 25, 1981. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
^ "Headstones Overturned In S.I. Jewish Cemetery". The New York Times. September 15, 1997. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
^ Vandam, Jeff (May 16, 2004). "Neighborhood Report: Graniteville — In a Place Plagued by Vandals, The Pain of Putting Things Right". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
^ Engels, Mary (August 2, 2002). "S.I. Jewish Cemetery Vandalized". New York Daily News. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^ "N.Y.P.D. — New York's Finest — 121st Precinct". nyc.gov. City of New York. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^ "hm/wodzislaw/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.
^ "hm/gvardeyskoye/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.
^ "hm/nadvirna/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.
^ "hm/hlusk/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.
^ Citizen Newhouse: Portrait of a media merchant
^ Blau, Eleanor (2 November 1991). "Joseph Papp Is Remembered in Words and Song". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
^ Epstein, Helen (31 July 2019). Joe Papp: An American life. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
^ "Monument dedicated to Medal of Honor recipient William Shemin". Staten Island Advance. September 29, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2023.

40°37′20″N 74°09′18″W / 40.6221°N 74.1549°W / 40.6221; -74.1549

[ALD-1] Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York from January 1 to March 27, 1906. Board of Aldermen. 1906. p. 1091. Retrieved 6 May 2016.

[Grunlund-2] Grunlund, Maura. "Apathy, Neglect and Vines Overtake Staten Island Cemetery". Staten Island Advance. Advance Publications, at silive.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

[3] "President Scores 'Virus of Bigotry' — Warns It Must Be Stemmed as Peril to Freedom". The New York Times. January 13, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

[4] "Two 200-Pound Doors Stolen From Cemetery". The New York Times. February 25, 1981. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

[5] "Headstones Overturned In S.I. Jewish Cemetery". The New York Times. September 15, 1997. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

[6] Vandam, Jeff (May 16, 2004). "Neighborhood Report: Graniteville — In a Place Plagued by Vandals, The Pain of Putting Things Right". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

[7] Engels, Mary (August 2, 2002). "S.I. Jewish Cemetery Vandalized". New York Daily News. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[8] "N.Y.P.D. — New York's Finest — 121st Precinct". nyc.gov. City of New York. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[9] "hm/wodzislaw/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.

[10] "hm/gvardeyskoye/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.

[11] "hm/nadvirna/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.

[12] "hm/hlusk/bh". Retrieved 22 April 2016.

[13] Citizen Newhouse: Portrait of a media merchant

[14] Blau, Eleanor (2 November 1991). "Joseph Papp Is Remembered in Words and Song". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2016.

[15] Epstein, Helen (31 July 2019). Joe Papp: An American life. Retrieved February 14, 2023.

[16] "Monument dedicated to Medal of Honor recipient William Shemin". Staten Island Advance. September 29, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2023.

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