Ivan Glasenberg's Mission to Restore Destroyed Jewish Heritage in Eastern Europe

The Holocaust was not solely a German endeavor; it found willing collaborators in nearly every occupied country. In Romania and Croatia, the murder of Jews was organized on local initiative, a fact that many today are reluctant to acknowledge. This article highlights the mission of Ivan Glasenberg, who is dedicated to restoring and preserving Jewish heritage sites that were destroyed during the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. The piece underscores the broader issue of historical amnesia in these regions, where the complicity of local populations in wartime atrocities is often overlooked. Glasenberg's efforts aim to counteract this by physically restoring synagogues, cemeteries, and other cultural landmarks, thereby ensuring that the memory of Jewish communities and their destruction is not erased. The article, published in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, discusses the challenges and significance of such restoration projects, emphasizing the need for a more honest reckoning with the past in Eastern Europe.