Jewish Burials MemorialPrint Page

The monument commemorates the Jewish burials in the Hebrew Cemetery in East Perth between 1867 and 1899. 

It took three convicts to get a Hebrew burial ground for Perth in 1867 but it took a dedicated Jewish community effort to ensure an important part of WA history was restored. The old Hebrew cemetery, part of the East Perth cemetery, had fallen into disrepair over the past century until a dedicated group began a mission to restore the site. Yesterday, their efforts were rewarded when the Jewish Memorial Cemetery was unveiled.

Cemetery Restoration Committee chairman and researcher David Mossenson said the cemetery was the first non-Christian burial ground in WA and was established before cemeteries of some Christian denominations. He said it was the manifestation of Jewish religious principles being applied in WA.

During the 1860s, there were fewer than 60 Jewish people in Perth, some of whom were very influential and prosperous, Dr Mossenson said. But it was left to three Jewish convicts to petition the authorities for a Hebrew burial ground in 1867. They took action after a fellow Jewish convict died and he had to be buried in the Church of England portion of the cemetery. About 30 people were buried in the Hebrew cemetery before Karrakatta came into use in 1899.

The East Perth cemetery fell into disrepair and the derelict site reverted to the crown in 1932. Several years later the eight surviving headstones were transferred to an unused area in the enlarged Pioneer Cemetery. In the mid-1990s, the National Trust and the East Perth Redevelopment Authority were approached and more than $30,000 was raised to restore the site and the eight headstones and to build the memorial.
The West Australian March 26, 2001

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