Polish gov't donates $28 million to preserve Jewish cemetery

WARSAW, Poland – The Polish government has donated 100 million zlotys ($28 million) to preserve a major Jewish cemetery in Warsaw where many tombstones are dilapidated or covered by vegetation.

The Polish Jewish community — once the world's largest — expressed gratitude for the donation. Decades after the Holocaust, the community struggles to maintain the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw and other cemeteries where generations of Jews are buried.

Culture Minister Piotr Glinski signed a contract Friday with the Cultural Heritage Foundation, a private group that will oversee the preservation.

Priorities including preserving the tombstones, removing vegetation that is damaging them and reinforcing the walls around the cemetery grounds.