Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City)

Mount Hebron is a Jewish cemetery located in Flushing, Queens, New York City. It was founded in 1903 as the Jewish section of Cedar Grove Cemetery,[1] and occupies the vast majority of the grounds at Cedar Grove.[2] The cemetery is on the former Spring Hill estate of colonial governor Cadwallader Colden. It is noted for its Yiddish theater section.[3][4] About 217,000 people have been buried in Mount Hebron since it opened.

Mount Hebron Cemetery

Shown within New York City Show map of New York City Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) (New York) Show map of New York
Details
Established	1909
Location	Flushing, New York
Country	USA
Type	Jewish
Size	250 acres (1.0 km^2)
No. of graves	more than 220,000
Website	Mount Hebron Cemetery

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Sergei Dovlatov

There is a large Workmen's Circle section in both Cedar Grove and Mount Hebron Cemetery, with about 12,000 burials of Jewish and non-Jewish members of the Workmen's Circle.

There is also a large monument erected by immigrants and descendants of immigrants from the city of Grodno in what is today western Belarus. The monument is dedicated "In memoriam to our dear parents, brothers and sisters of the city of Grodno and environs who were brutally persecuted and slain by the Nazis during World War II."[5] This is one of several such monuments in the cemetery.

A part of Mount Hebron Cemetery's block 67 is reserved for people who worked in New York City's Yiddish theater industry.[6]

Notable burials

• Vincent La Selva (1929-2017), American conductor and founder of the New York Grand Opera
• Celia Adler (1889–1979), Yiddish theater actress
• Henrietta Jacobson Adler (1906–1988), Yiddish theater actress
• Julius Adler (1906–1994), Yiddish theater actor
• Jules Bender (1914–1982), college basketball star[7]
• Mina Bern (1911–2010), Yiddish theater actress[8]
• Ben Bernie (1891–1943), bandleader and radio personality[9]
• Max Bozyk (approx. 1899–1970), Yiddish theater actor[10]
• Reizl Bozyk (1914–1993), Yiddish theater actress[11]
• Paulina Lavitz Brav (1879-1959), Yiddish theater actress
• Rabbi Chaim Noach Brevda (1914-1999), Rabbi, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
• Louis Buchalter (1897–1944), organized crime figure, boss of Murder, Inc.[12]
• Lillian Lux Burstein (1918–2005), Yiddish theater actress
• Pesach'ke Burstein (1896–1986), Yiddish theater actor
• Louis Cohen (1904–1939), mobster
• Isidore Dollinger (1903–2000), New York State Senator and Assemblyman, U.S. Congressman, and Bronx County District Attorney
• Sergei Dovlatov (1941–1990), writer
• Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898–1995), photojournalist[13]
• Shep Fields (1910–1981), bandleader
• Misha Fishzon (1884–1949)
• Jack Gilford (1908–1990) Broadway, film and television performer[14]
• Madeline Lee Gilford (1923–2008), film and stage actress, theatrical producer, wife of Jack Gilford[15]
• Jennie Goldstein (1896–1960), Yiddish theater actress[16]
• Selig Grossinger (d. 12/18/1931), founder of Grossinger's, the famous Catskill Jewish resort. His wife and several descendants are also buried in the plot. He was part of the Balegroder Congregation burial society.
• Herman Hupfeld (1894-1951), Broadway composer and writer of the song As Time Goes By
• Marvin Kaplan (1927–2016), actor
• Nathan Kaplan (1891–1923), gangster[17]
• Alan King (1927–2004), comedian
• Abraham Landau (1895–1935), mobster
• Eddie Layton (1925–2004), organist for the New York Yankees[18][19]
• Aaron Lebedeff (1873–1960), Yiddish theater actor
• Fred Lebow (1932–1994), founder the New York City Marathon and president of the New York Road Runners Club[20]
• Raphael Lemkin (1900–1959), initiator of the Genocide Convention
• Robert Leonhardt (1873-1923), Austrian opera singer
• Shifra Lerer (1915–2011), Yiddish theater actress[6][21]
• Menashe Oppenheim (1905–1973), Yiddish theater and film actor
• Sam Paul (1874–1927), gambler, underworld figure, businessman, and political organizer[22]
• Jack Pearl (1894–1982), vaudeville performer and radio comedian
• Nathan D. Perlman (1887–1952), U.S. congressman[23]
• Molly Picon Kalich (1898–1992), Yiddish theater actress
• Gregory Ratoff (c. April 1893 – December 14, 1960), Yiddish theater and Hollywood actor and director[24][25]
• Jack Rechtzeit (1903–1988), Yiddish theater actor
• Miriam Kressyn Rexite (1910–1996), Yiddish theater actress and singer
• Seymour Rexite (1908–2002), Yiddish theater actor and singer
• Solomon Schechter (1847–1915), Conservative Jewish theologian[26]
• Fred Schmertz (1888–1976), founder member of the Millrose Games and the meet director from 1934 to 1974[27]
• Maurice Schwartz (1891–1960), Yiddish theater actor
• William I. Sirovich (1882–1939), U.S. congressman[28]
• Menasha Skulnik (1892–1970), Yiddish theater actor[29]
• Bertha Kalich Spachner (died 1874–1939), Yiddish theater actress
• Bessie Thomashefsky (1873–1962), Yiddish theater actress
• Boris Thomashevsky (1866–1939), Yiddish theater actor[30]
• Emanuel Weiss (1906–1944), organized crime figure, member of Murder, Inc., and associate of Louis Buchalter[12]
• One British Commonwealth war grave, of a private of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps of World War I[31]

References

1. Jeff Gottlieb, Queens Jewish Heritage Trail Archived 2010-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, Published by Queens Jewish Historical Society, Spring 2007
2. "Map - Cedar Grove Cemetery Association". mounthebroncemetery.com. Mount Hebron Cemetery. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
3. "Historian Jeff Gottlieb Creates 'Jewish Heritage Trail' In Queens", by John Toscano, The Queens Gazette, May 29, 2002
4. For boro, such a trail Jewish heritage map to be light & serious, by Donald Bertrand, Daily News, May 26, 2002
5. "hm/grodno/mount-hebron". www.museumoffamilyhistory.com. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
6. Kilgannon, Corey (2011-03-15). "Yiddish Theater Bids Farewell to Shifra Lerer". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
7. "Julie Bender Is Dead; Basketball Star in 30's". New York Times. January 15, 1982. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
8. Berger, Joseph (January 13, 2010). "Mina Bern, Versatile Yiddish Actress, Dies at 98". New York Times. p. A29. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
9. "Ben Bernie Rites Attended By 1,200 – Friends of Stage, Screen and Radio Say 'Au Revoir' Here to the 'Old Maestro'". New York Times. October 29, 1943. p. 22. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
10. "Max Bozyk Dead; Yiddish Actor, 71 – Performer Collapses After Town Hall Appearance". New York Times. April 8, 1970. p. 43. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
11. Sullivan, Ronald (October 2, 1993). "Reizl Bozyk, an Enduring Star Of the Yiddish Stage, Dies at 79". New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
12. "Lepke And Weiss Are Buried Here – Rites for Electrocuted Racket Chief and Aide Attended Only by Families". New York Times. March 6, 1944. p. 34. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
13. Hagen, Charles (August 25, 1995). "Alfred Eisenstaedt, Photographer of the Defining Moment, Is Dead at 96". New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
14. The Broadway League. "Jack Gilford – IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". ibdb.com. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
15. "Interment Search Results". mounthebroncemetery.com. Mount Hebron Cemetery. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
16. "Jennie Goldstein, Actress, 63, Dead – Leading Tragedienne of the Yiddish Theatre for 20 Years Made Debut at 6". New York Times. February 10, 1960. p. 37. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
17. "'Dropper' Is Buried'; His Slayer Indicted – Heavy Guard of Police Keeps Crowd of 3,000 in Check at Gangster's Funeral – Banton Sounds a Warning – District Attorney Declares "Gunmen Are Going To Get What Is Coming To Them"". New York Times. August 31, 1923. p. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
18. Goldstein, Richard (28 December 2004). "Eddie Layton, a New York Sports Fixture, Is Dead". New York Times.
19. Kilgannon, Corey (December 31, 2004). "At the Grave, Remembering the Yankees' Music Man". New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
20. Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (October 13, 1994). "A Marathon Touch in the Tribute to Lebow". New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
21. "NYC Yiddish theater actress Shifra Lerer dies". Associated Press. Wall Street Journal. 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
22. "Rosenthal Murder Recalled By Death - Sam Paul, Who Was a Witness in Trial, Dies a Poor Man, Victim of Nephritis – Arrested, but Released – Became Involved by Being Head of Association Through Which Police Got Murder Clue". New York Times. January 11, 1927. p. 16. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
23. "Nathan Perlman, Jurist, 64, Is Dead – Associate Justice of Court of .Special Sessions Had Been U.S. Representative 4 Terms". New York Times. June 30, 1952. p. 19. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
24. Gregory Ratoff at Find a Grave
25. "Search Interments - Gregory Ratoff". mounthebroncemetery.com. Mount Hebron Cemetery. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
26. "Dr. Schechter Dead; Noted As A Scholar – President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America Stricken While Lecturing – His Career Ended at 67 – A Foremost Theologian of His Race and Famous for His Discoveries in Hebrew Literature". New York Times. November 20, 1915. p. 15. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
27. Amdur, Neil (March 26, 1976). "Fred Schmertz, Who Directed Millrose Games 41 Years, Dies – He Attracted Many Olympic Stars to Oldest Invitational Indoor Track Meet". New York Times. p. 38. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
28. "Sirovich Funeral Blocks 2d Avenue – 25,000 Persons in Streets Pay Representative Tribute – 1,000 Attend Services – Eulogy by La Guardia – Political Leaders, American Legion Members Present – Private Rites at Home". New York Times. December 20, 1939. p. 25. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
29. Whitman, Alden (June 5, 1970). "Menasha Skulnik, Yiddish Star And a Broadway Success, Dies – Sad-Eyed Comic Actor, 78, Acclaimed in 'Fifth Season' After Years on 2d Ave". New York Times. p. 35. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
30. "Many Pay Tribute To Thomashevsky – Thousands on East Side Pass Bier of Founder of Yiddish Stage in America – Rites to be Held Today – Cortege to Stop in Front of Three Theatres – 100 Policemen Will Be on Duty". New York Times. July 11, 1939. p. 25. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
31. CWGC casualty record

External links

• Mount Hebron Cemetery website
• List of societies that have plots at Mount Hebron Cemetery
• New York Times Article Legal Dispute Grezinsky v. Mount Hebron Cemetery
• New York Law Journal Legal Dispute Grezinsky v. Mount Hebron Cemetery