International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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DAMAVNER: "50 kilometers north of Tehran, on the road to the Caspian Sea, perched on red hilltops, spectacular in their beauty, is a small village by the name of Damavner. The dirt road leading to the grave stones was blocked with enormous concrete blocs./ The young driver suggested that we leave the car on the main road and climb up on foot. ... a winding road, littered with rocks and wild thorns. The cemetery had no fence, and lacked a gate, or guards.
Some of the graves date back hundreds of years, while others were dug only 14-15 years ago. A section of the plots were amazingly well looked after, with Hebrew and Persian inscriptions. Others had deteriorated into a sorry state./ There were almost no Jews left in the village. The elderly were buried on the hilltop, and the young people had left for central Tehran. Local residents told us that the road leading to the cemetery was blocked because of thieves, who made a living from selling grave stones for very high prices. The authorities had decided to restore the dirt path and to build a fence around the graves in order to protect them. But the building program has been accumulating dust in a draw for a number of years, due to lack of funds." 2005 Source http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3101581,00.html.