DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every community that puts down roots eventually has to reckon with a harder truth — that putting down roots means, sooner or later, putting down the people who planted them. And when congregation Ahavath Sholom, the first Jewish congregation in Fort Worth, looked around at what they'd built in this city, they decided they wanted a place of their own for that final chapter.
So they went to the Greenwood Cemetery Association, worked out a purchase, and acquired a six-acre tract right here at this location. In 1909, they dedicated Ahavath Sholom Hebrew Cemetery — their own ground, on their own terms. Now, the congregation didn't just dedicate a cemetery and walk away from it.
That same year, 1909, the women of the congregation formed a Ladies Cemetery Society to oversee the upkeep of the graveyard. Rebecca Goldstein stepped up as its initial president. That's the kind of detail that tells you something about a community — who steps forward, and when.
The first person buried here was Charles Hurwitz, in 1910. From that day forward, this ground began to hold the stories of Fort Worth's Jewish community. Twenty years on, in 1929, the congregation and the Greenwood Cemetery Association came to an agreement, and that six-acre tract grew — the Jewish cemetery was enlarged to meet the needs of a growing community.
But this cemetery holds more than the quiet passage of years. In the north section, three soldiers who perished during World War II are buried side by side. Three young men, laid to rest together, shoulder to shoulder even in death.
And then there is the monument. A large monument, erected by members of the congregation — people who had lost their own relatives in the Holocaust — memorializing the millions of Jewish victims of the German Nazi Regime in World War II Europe, from 1939 to 1945. It stands here not as a footnote, but as a reckoning.
A congregation in Fort Worth, Texas, reaching across an ocean and across history to say: we remember. In 1988, the Kornbleet Chapel was dedicated on the grounds — a chapel with seating for one hundred persons, used for funeral services and other religious services pertaining to the cemetery. And to ensure this place endures long past any one generation, the congregation established a trust fund for the long-term maintenance of the cemetery.
A six-acre purchase. A Ladies Society. A first burial.
An enlargement. Three soldiers. A Holocaust monument.
A chapel. A trust. That's not just a cemetery — that's a community writing itself into the ground it loves, one careful act at a time.
What the marker says
Wishing to have their own cemetery, congregation Ahavath Sholom, the first Jewish congregation in Fort Worth, purchased a six-acre tract from the Greenwood Cemetery Association at this location and dedicated Ahavath Sholom Hebrew Cemetery in 1909. A Ladies Cemetery Society was formed in that year to oversee the upkeep of the graveyard; Rebecca Goldstein served as its initial president. The first person buried here was Charles Hurwitz in 1910. In 1929 an agreement between the congregation and the Greenwood Cemetery Association resulted in the enlargement of this Jewish cemetery. Three soldiers who perished during World War II are buried side by side in the north section of the cemetery. A large monument memorializing the millions of Jewish victims of the German Nazi Regime in World War II Europe (1939-1945) was erected by members of the congregation who lost relatives in the Holocaust. The Kornbleet Chapel, which contains seating for one hundred persons, was dedicated in 1988. The chapel is used for funeral services as well as other religious services pertaining to the cemetery. The congregation established a trust fund for the long-term maintenance of the cemetery. (1992) (1992)