The Jewish community of Bialystok had been one of the largest and best known in the pre-war Poland. The Bialystok Jewish cemetery in Wschodnia Street, until recently forgotten and neglected, is now regaining its previous glory. The project of restoring the Bialystok cemetery is coordinated by Mark Halpern bialystoker@comcast.net; the Polish coordinator is Lucja Lisowska. The Foundation, together with Mark Halpern, is currently raising funds that will allow to complete the wall surrounding the cemetery, fully restore the area where the Matzevot are located and clean up the entire cemetery. A monument commemorating the Bialystok Jewish community is to be executed and a map of the cemetery is to be published. Marc Halpern is also the originator and coordinator of the Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group (called BialyGen: www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/bialygen/homepage.htm). The group’s aim is to document the Matzevot at the Wschodnia St. cemetery (the Golden Matzevot Project). The project has been conducted in cooperation with students of the Bialystok University.

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