In the days following New Year’s, New Jersey’s Poile Zedek Cemetery was visited by vandals who knocked over nearly 500 tombstones on two separate sprees of destruction. The police in New Brunswick said that “there’s nothing to indicate it’s a bias crime.” The community began repair work Sunday, with a thorough cataloging of the damage – helped along by a local Boy Scout troop.
The original article in The Forward.
Julian Voloj was born in Muenster, Germany, and grew up in a Jewish community of just 80 members. His grandparents, Holocaust survivors, had emigrated to Colombia but returned to Germany. His personal background inspired him to explore issues of identity and heritage in his work as a photographer and writer. Voloj emigrated to the United States in 2003. The same year he was awarded with the Second Prize at the Washington Post Annual Photography Contest. In 2006, the Forward commissioned Voloj to photograph prominent New Yorkers such as Ed Koch, Edgar Bronfman and Abe Foxman for its anniversary book (to be released in 2007). Voloj was also commissioned for the exhibition “Germany, Land of Ideas” at the Deutsche-Historisches Museum in Berlin, one of Germany’s most prestigious museums. His photographs appeared in the New York Post, the Jewish Week and other publications. Julian Voloj lives and works in New York City. To learn more about his projects, visit the website at www.julianvoloj.com.
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.