KweKwe (QueQue) Cemetery Redication 

KWEKWE CEMETERY - RE-DEDICATION SERVICE 
Speech given by Peter Sternberg

SUNDAY JUNE 13, 2004

Rabbi Silberhaft, Rabbi Asmoucha, Presidents of the Bulawayo, Harare and
Sephardi Congregations, Ladies & Gentlemen, On behalf of the Zimbabwe Jewish Board of Deputies I should like to welcome you to the Kwekwe Cemetery service. As you are probably aware, the Board of Deputies, after having witnessed the cemetery in Kadoma being repaired and renovated, decided to start a programme of their own regarding country cemeteries in Zimbabwe, and as a result, work on the Gweru Cemetery commenced a few years ago. In due course the small cemetery in Penhalonga

                                                   Picture above taken at the ceremony June 2004 by Benny Leon

                                                   L-R F Plein, S Benatar, Rabi Silberhaft, P Sternberg,   Rabbi Asmoucha, A Feigenbaum

.... was repaired and protected and this in turn was followed by the Mutare cemetery around which a wall was constructed. 

This finally left the Kwekwe cemetery to be attended to and, after almost two
years of endeavour, this project has now come to fruition. And the reason that
this project has taken almost two years to complete - well, attempting to
organize and supervise any project from a distance of over 200 kilometres away can prove somewhat frustrating to say the least!

 Finding a reliable builder who will undertake a relatively small project such as this one can be a problem from the start. Obtaining a quotation in this day and age with prices escalating on a daily basis proved to be a problem. Then a cement shortage engulfed the country, halting all work for some months. When cement once again became available the local crushing plant was in no position to supply stone, and when the stones finally became obtainable there was a fuel shortage and trucks could not deliver the stone because of lack of diesel. 

In the meantime the gates had been delivered but the night before they were due to be installed, they were stolen, so that replacement gates had to be
manufactured. The tap, after being broken and not working for many years, was
replaced - only to be stolen within the first week or two!
It has not been an easy ride!

However, with much perseverance the project was finally completed and for that
I must thank the builder Mr Ahmed 'Jack'Moosa. Unfortunately, Mr Moosa passed away just a few weeks ago.

In the meantime weeds and undergrowth had once more made their presence felt within the cemetery, as is wont to happen in this country in cemeteries
everywhere, and so I obtained the kind services of Mr Mohammed Miya, one of the leaders of the community here in Kwekwe to supervise the cleaning of the
cemetery so that it is in the condition you see here today. I would publicly
like to thank Mr Miya for undertaking this task and would like to state that
relations amongst our two communities are extremely cordial and respectful -
and long may it remain so! 

You may be wondering why there are but 16 graves in this cemetery and that the first grave only dates back to 1953 when one considers that Kwekwe has had a Jewish presence since the turn of the last century. The reason is that all
deceased prior to the 1950's were buried either in Gweru or mainly in Bulawayo.

This explains why the Kwekwe cemetery has far fewer graves than the other two Midlands towns of Gweru and Kadoma. There are a lot of 'thank you's' which it is my pleasant task to perform today. If I leave anyone out, my apologies for the oversight. To the members of the Zimbabwean Jewish Board of Deputies for agreeing on the Country Cemeteries project in the first place. In today's uncertain times, and the possible future, or perhaps lack of future that our community faces, it is incumbent upon us to undertake projects of this nature, because we know all too well what can and does befall places such as these.

To Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft who flew up from Johannesburg to be with us for this special occasion, our sincere thanks. 'The Travelling Rabbi' by which name he is widely known, is indeed a unique person and we are blessed to have him
administer to us, and for his always solid advice. My thanks to Rabbi
Asmoucha of Bulawayo for coming here today and giving us the opportunity of
meeting him for the first time. I hope there will be many other opportunities
to do so.

To those of you who have driven here from both Harare and Bulawayo to make this service possible, our grateful thanks - your appearance here today is much
appreciated. I wish to thank those former residents of this town who responded
whole-heartedly to my worldwide appeal for funds to help finance this project.
A number of generous donations were received which went a long way towards
meeting the costs involved.

To our wives who will be providing us with lunch in the open despite the
somewhat spartan conditions. Unfortunately the last kosher restaurant closed
in Kwekwe a few decades ago. In the circumstances I thank our ladies most
sincerely for their devotion to duty. And last but not least we honour today the memory of those who lie buried here, some of them stalwart pioneers from a previous generation, who helped build Kwekwe into a thriving town and who were part of a small but vibrant Jewish community with its own synagogue, resident Minister, cheder and active Zionist Society. Their descendants have largely emigrated and left Africa but I am sure that their thoughts will be with us today.

Thank you.
PETER STERNBERG
NATIONAL PRESIDENT
ZIMBABWE JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES