International Jewish Cemetery Project
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

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The capital and largest city of Venezuelawordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

The Jewish community of Caracas <UniĆ³n Israelita de Caracas> has about 10,000 members, 20+ synagogues, one Jewish day school, one Jewish community center and three main cemeteries ("Guarenas," "Cementerio General del Sur" and "Cementerio Del Este"). Jewish burials usually are scheduled from morning until about 3pm.  The unveiling of the gravestone is usually eleven months after the burial before which generally the deceased's family does not visit the cemetery. Tombstones are inscribed in Spanish with Hebrew for the deceased's names and dates. Additional information on the gravestone is the family's choice. The back of the majority of tombstones have a very small inset to light a memorial candle.Each cemetery has different sections under the administration of the three main synagogues.The Ashkenazi synagogues are UIC and Rabinato.One of UIC's sections is the oldest cemetery in Caracas with about 30 tombstones dating from 1930.The other UIC section opened with a burial on December 5, 1937.AIV is Sephardi. [February 2009]

  • Cementerio General del Sur, the oldest and largest, contains four Jewish sections: UIC manages two, Aiv one, and Rabinato one. Total graves are 2,365 with space for a few more. (Aerial view)[February 2009]
  • Jewish sector, Cementerio del Sur
  • Cemeterio Guarenas: "Gan Menucha" section's first burial was on April 17, 1997. Now about 300 graves leave room for up to 3,000.The AIV section with some 180 graves from 1953-1971 is inactive and replaced by Cementerio del Este.The Rabinato section is still active with first burial on October 18, 1972. Currently, the total 755 graves leave room for up to 1,500. [February 2009]
  • Cementerio del Este: about 500 graves. Cementerio Del Este (Aerial view) [February 2009]