I spent part of this weekend at a bluegrass workshop in the little town of Male Svatonovice, in the north of the Czech Republic, near the Polish border. I was only there to observe, not to join the hundred or so students learning banjo, mandolin, guitar and bass, so I took time to drive half an hour through the back roads to revisit one of my favorite Jewish cemeteries — the isolated walled graveyard at the tiny hamlet of Velka Bukovina.
The village is too small to appear even on many large scale maps. The Jewish population disappeared in the early 20th century as Jews moved out to bigger cities.
When I first visited, six years ago, while doing the update for my book
 with irregular rows of gravestones exhibiting vividly carved inscriptions and decorations, many with a decidedly rustic touch — the oldest date back to the mid-18th century. In the distance, I could see the autum colors in the nearby forest.</p>
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All photos © Ruth Ellen Gruber
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