The United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad is assisting the Warsaw Jewish Community, the City of Karczew, Poland, and the Polish Jewish Cemetery Restoration Project, a private American organization, in restoring and preserving the Jewish cemetery in Karczew -- a community to which many Warsaw Jews once went.

In addition to broken tombstones, human bones can be seen breaking through the sand at the site. In 1986, a photograph in National Geographic magazine generated widespread attention to the condition of the cemetery. The site also received recognition in a book of photographs of abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Poland, A Tribe of Stones.

The first phase of work enclosed the cemetery with a wall. Completed in late 2002, the work was funded by $35,000 in financial contributions and labor and equipment donated by the city.

The second phase of the work is planned to start this year. It is estimated to cost approximately $40,000 in financial contributions in addition to city and Jewish community in-kind donations of labor and equipment. Commission Member Laura Raybin Miller has raised $9,500 to date for the project.

The restoration plan includes the stabilization of the soil, which is composed of shifting sands of an old riverbed. This will be done by using a mix of gravel and trailing bushes, planting trees at selected points on the perimeter to act as wind breakers, and bringing in new soil to level uneven areas. The alleys between the graves will also be repaired and signs will be posted. The city has already begun to repair the access road.

Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Warsaw, is overseeing the technical plan for the work.