Unveiling

A photographer discovers Jewish gravestones at a tony golf course

By Ahron D. Weiner | 7:00 am Jul 21, 2009 | Print | Email / Share

Gravestones used as an embankment at the Woodmere Club

CREDIT: Ahron D. Weiner

As a photographer who spent years documenting Jewish sites throughout Eastern Europe, I have a perhaps heightened sensitivity to the use and misuse of Judaica. In town after town from—Prague, Czech Republic, to Uman, Ukraine, with plenty of small villages in between—I’ve found and photographed Jewish gravestones used as walls, as chimneys, and roads. So when I was walking with my 7-year-old son past the 17th hole of the Woodmere Club’s golf course, on Long Island, I was surprised to find a Star of David carved into a stone used as part of a retaining wall, protecting the course from the Reynolds Channel. I looked closer, and discovered hundreds of gravestones, many carved with Jewish names, used as embankment material. The New York Post reported on this yesterday; the club insists the stones—none of which seem to contain dates, only names and symbols—were extra granite, donated many years ago by long-dead club members. Here, for the first time, is a collection of my photos.


The Gravestones of the Woodmere Club

  • These are the first stones I noticed, forming a rocky embankment.

  • A number of the stones had full names carved into them. This one—engraved with the name Ira Feinberg, apparently—was distressed and pockmarked.

  • Located at the edge of a tidal pool, this stone is underwater for much of the day. At low tide, it is surrounded by seaweed and mussels.

  • Many of the stones I encountered were half buried, causing me to puzzle over what the full inscription would read. Birnbaum? Birmann? Bir-Dadda?

  • Some stones had only a family crest, or monogram. Several of the stones had rusted metal protrusions.

  • I found these stones near the entrance of the parking lot, sitting on the ground in plain sight. The one on the left appears to be a marker indicating direction to various cemetery plots. The one on the right bears the name Harris.



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