On the face of it, the Jewish community of Geneva, Switzerland, would seem to have no problems burying its dead according to Jewish law. It uses the Jewish cemetery in nearby Veyrier. The cemetery itself, however, is an anomaly, the result of a law dating from 1876 and conflicts between Swiss Protestants and Catholics. Soon the cemetery will run out of land, and, when it does, the Jewish community of Geneva likely will be unable to bury its dead according to Jewish law.

Currently genealogists may access easily the names of Jews buried in the Jewish cemetery of Veyrier, Switerland, a small town near Geneva. With some perseverance, researchers might find the website listing the names of individuals buried there—but only if those persons died before January 1, 2008. For those who happen to be in Geneva, it suffices to stop in person at the cemetery office; no permission is needed to enter. A book of names of those interred in this cemetery is on a small table with the names listed in alphabetical order and the location of the tombstone indicated next to it.

Individuals buried in the Veyrier cemetery were from Geneva, of course, but many of them were born or lived in other countries such as France, Greece, and Turkey. One is Gerhart Riegner (1911–2001), originally from Liepzig, Germany, who found refuge in Switzerland in 1933. The representative of the World Jewish Congress in Geneva during World War II, he was the first to send a cable to Dr. Stephen Wise, president of the World Jewish Congress in New York, as well as to Sidney Silverman, a Jewish member of the British House of Commons, to inform them about the planning of the Holocaust.

The narrow road leading to the cemetery is easy to miss. In order not to miss the left turn onto the small road leading to the cemetery, visitors who know look for the nearby gasoline station instead of relying on the small sign indicating the location of the cemetery. An old stone wall and fields border the narrow road leading to the cemetery. A sharp turn to the right, down a relatively steep slope, reaches the paved cemetery parking lot and an oratory built with Jerusalem stones and adorned with a large Magen David. A metal gate to the cemetery on one side of the parking lot is tall and heavy and does not allow one to guess what is hidden behind.

It is not unusual for a Jewish cemetery to be inconspicuous; what is unusual about the cimetière de Veyrier is that visitors enter the cemetery in Switzerland, but the cemetery grounds themselves are in France. Anyone checking the website of the Jewish Community of Geneva is warned that to visit the cemetery, it is necessary to respect customs regulations and to carry the necessary documents to cross the border. In reality, it is unlikely that anyone will need to show documents.

My hometown Jewish cemetery is an anomaly. In 1876, after religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics subsided in Switzerland, Geneva cemeteries were declared the property of the various communes, the smallest political entities. The dead were to be buried without distinction of religion in an orderly fashion determined in advance. This presented a problem for Jews and later for Muslims, whose religions require burying the dead in a certain manner that the Swiss cemeteries were not meant to accommodate. For example, Jews must be buried facing east towards Jerusalem. Ironically, a law based on tolerance created a need for a creative solution as represented by the Veyrier/Etre­mbières cemetery, Veyrier in Switzerland and Etrembières in France. The dead would enter the cemetery in Switzerland, but they would rest in France.

Switzerland is a federal state made up of many cantons or states, and this cemetery law is specific to the Canton of Geneva. Jews today continue to bury their dead in the Veyrier cemetery, but it is rapidly filling up. In 1987, French authorities granted an extension of the cemetery, but extensions are no longer possible on French territory because of the region’s water tables.

The Veyrier cemetery is not the only Jewish cemetery in Geneva. A Jewish cemetery is a good indication of an organized Jewish community and, as in the rest of Europe, the settlement of Jews in the Geneva region depended on the good will of the sovereign and foremost on the economic value Jews represented. Jews lived in the Geneva area during Roman times, arriving in the Rhônes-Alpes region with the 36th Legion in 72 CE. We know of Jewish merchants in Versoix in 1325, now a Geneva commune. The first Jewish cemetery, the Chatelaine Cemetery, was used from 1396 until the expulsion of Jews from Geneva in 1490. Jews were forbidden to come back to Geneva, and the second Jewish cemetery was established in Versoix in 1494. Versoix, then, was not part of Geneva and became Swiss and a part of Geneva only in 1816 with the Treaty of Paris. In 1600, the Jewish cemeteries were destroyed and apparently no more Jews lived in the Geneva region.

In the mid-18th century, a treaty ceded Carouge, now a commune of the canton of Geneva, to the Kingdom of Sardinia. Count Pierre Claude de la Fléchère, wishing to develop the economy of the region, invited foreigners to come to Carouge. Jews, mainly from Alsace, established a community there. When a child died in August 1788, the Jews obtained permission to use a field for burials. During the French Revolution, Geneva belonged to France and the Département du Léman, and the Jewish community of Carouge was linked to a French Jewish community in Alsace. The Carouge cemetery served as the Geneva cemetery until 1920, when it became full, but the Jewish community was not permitted to enlarge it.

The question of the Jewish cemeteries in Geneva is emerging again in the 21st century. In August 2004, Geneva authorities, the Conseil d’Etat, aware of the fact that Geneva was not in compliance with the Swiss Federal Constitution regarding respect for the burial customs of its religious minorities, introduced a law proposing to change the 1876 cemetery law. This proposal included the option of private cemeteries and later added the option of special sections reserved for religious denominations within communal cemeteries. In reality, some special sections already existed for Muslims in one communal cemetery. Having the existing special sections conform to the law was not the only impetus to change the law of 1876. This initiative was also designed to preempt a possible referendum on the question as well as an eventual appeal to the Tribunal Fédéral (the highest Swiss court).

The proposed 2004 law presented by the Conseil d’Etat offered the possibility of having private cemeteries and special sections in Geneva cemeteries, but a majority of the Grand Conseil strongly opposed the creation of private cemeteries. The cemeteries of Veyrier and Carouge were scrutinized thoroughly because these cemeteries are the only “private” cemeteries in Geneva, that is, they belong to the Jewish Community of Geneva. In Veyrier, the burials are only permitted in France, although a piece of Swiss land covered with grass could be used for this purpose. The possibility of enlarging the cemetery on the Swiss side was much discussed with many Conseil members opposed to any enlargement.

Law 9346, modifying the Law on Cemeteries, was adopted in 2007. Under this law, “private” cemeteries still are not permitted. The law includes a stipulation referring to the Veyrier cemetery but does not name the cemetery explicitly. Instead, it uses the term “transnational cemeteries,” thus avoiding reference to the cemetery by name. In theory, the Jewish community of Geneva, as the owner of a cemetery beyond the Swiss border, will need to ask the Conseil d’Etat for authorization to use the land it owns in Switzerland within the limits of the cemetery. The land in question amounts to 1,300 square meters (4,265 square feet). One estimate from one of the committee members of the Grand Conseil was that it could be enough for 800 to 900 tombstones. Using the land on the Swiss side of the cemetery brings some relief to the Jewish community, which already is burying two people per plot.

The new law does not specifically mention special sections for religious denominations in cemeteries. There is, however, a possibility for members of religious minorities to be buried in a “concession” in a communal cemetery,¹ providing that the commune requests and receives the authorization to modify its rules to accommodate the said minorities. This does not satisfy the Jewish requirement that burials should be undisturbed because “concessions” like “tombes à la ligne” (line burial plots)² are valid only for a set number of years, not in perpetuity or renewable indefinitely. For example, in the Geneva Saint Georges cemetery, the largest of the four cemeteries of the city of Geneva, as in the other cemeteries of Geneva, a concession is valid for renewal twice, unless a new deceased is buried in the concession, and it is then again valid for renewal twice.

The new 2007 law on cemeteries specifies that only the communes have the right to ask the Conseil d’Etat for permission to orient the tombstones differently or to make changes to the customary burial pits in one or several sections set aside for concessions. Anybody, including religious authorities may, within the cemetery or next to it, perform ceremonies, religious services, or speeches desired by the relatives or friends of the deceased, all this within the legal parameters in a public setting.

The law also specifies that cemeteries be built without any particular delimitation between the different sections, and all sections must be open to visitors and must not include any construction or distinctive signs other than the decorations usually approved by the commune.

This law is a modest improvement in the law of 1876 for religious minorities in Geneva. Regarding religious burial customs, it offers the possibility of initiating a request to a commune, which in turn might present a request to the Conseil d’Etat for permission to make modifications in the section reserved for concessions. It does not, however, establish any right, and, therefore, no guarantee that the request will be granted. Even if it is granted, communes have the right to move their cemeteries to make room for economic development.

Today, it seems that burials might be permitted on the Swiss side of the Veyrier cemetery. In addition, there is this existing Jewish “section” in the cemetery of Saint-Georges for about 100 tombstones. The approach, a pragmatic solution to an immediate problem as well as a measure of appeasement, falls short of solving the long-term problem for the Geneva Jewish community, which is to bury its members according to Jewish rituals.

Notes

1. A “concession” refers to the purchase by an individual of the right to use public land in a public cemetery for the burial of one particular individual and/or family member. The number of individuals to be buried, length of the concession and rules regarding its upkeep is determined in advance. The “concession” cannot be sold, donated or rented. In Geneva, the concession can be renewed for one or two times 33 years to a maximum of 99 years from the date of the last burial.
2. Geneva inhabitants who meet the legal requirements regarding the cemeteries have a right to a free plot in a public cemetery for 33 years, but they do not choose where.

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Rosine Nussenblatt moved to the U.S. in 1973. She has a BA from the University of Geneva and an MA from Hunter College in New York City. As the editor of a Sephardic newsletter, La Lettre Sépharade, U.S. edition, she developed an interest in genealogy. She is researching the Serreros and Faraggis from Greece.