A history of overwriting: Jewish cemeteries in postwar Poland, Ukraine and Belarus

Focused on the post-1944 history of Jewish cemeteries in three towns: Iŭje (Belarus), Berezne (Ukraine) and Biłgoraj (Poland) this paper examines different local trajectories of repurposing and overwriting Jewish cemeteries. This comparative study goes beyond the top-down policy analysis to include the ways the local population participated in and reacted to these acts of overwriting. We complement the historical consideration with an ethnographic approach that explores how ‘overwritten’ Jewish cemeteries have been used by the local inhabitants, how they featured on their mental maps, what myths and narratives they triggered, and what spatial practices their new status afforded.