Ahavath Sholom Hebrew Cemetery
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Fort Worth's first Jewish congregation, Ahavath Sholom, dedicated this six-acre cemetery in 1909, and a Ladies Cemetery Society formed the same year to tend the grounds. Later generations buried three World War II soldiers side by side here and raised a monument to the millions of Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. The chapel and a maintenance trust reflect a community caring for its own across more than a century.
Why it matters
The cemetery marks the enduring presence of Jewish immigrants in Texas and carries the memory of the Holocaust into the American landscape.
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Related people
- · Rebecca Goldstein
- · Charles Hurwitz
Related events
- · the Holocaust
Themes & tags
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