Ukraine: Vinnitsa OKs Jewish cemetery hi-rises

If your ancestral town is Vinnitza, 160 miles from Kiev, in Ukraine, you might be interested in this JTA newsbrief:

Ukrainian Jews to protest construction

A Ukrainian city issued a permit to build on the site of an old Jewish cemetery.

Authorities in Vinnitza, 160 miles from Kiev, will allow the SMU-2 Ltd. construction firm SMU-2 Ltd. to erect two high-rise buildings on the site.

A local rabbi told JTA that representatives of the local Jewish community are planning to express their concern in a letter to city and national leaders.

Igor Kulyavtzev, the acting chair of the Vinnitza Jewish community, said workers building a Christian chapel recently near the cemetery site dismantled several tombstones. City residents reportedly used some of the stones for their own needs.