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Mount Zion Cemetery (Los Angeles, California)

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Coordinates: 34°01′17″N 118°10′39″W / 34.02140°N 118.1775°W / 34.02140; -118.1775 (Mount Zion Cemetery, Los Angeles)
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Mount Zion Cemetery
Map
Details
Established1916
Location
Los Angeles, California
CountryUnited States
Coordinates34°01′17″N 118°10′39″W / 34.02140°N 118.1775°W / 34.02140; -118.1775 (Mount Zion Cemetery, Los Angeles)
TypePublic
Owned byuncertain
Find a GraveMount Zion Cemetery
Entrance to Mount Zion Cemetery

Mount Zion Cemetery, 1030 S Downey Road, East Los Angeles, California USA Postal Code: 90023.

History

Mount Zion was founded by the Jewish Free Burial Society (חברת קדישא החופשית יהודית Chevra Chesid Shel Emeth) in 1916, and was intended for free burials of poor Jews. [1] Its affluent neighbor, Home of Peace, boasts expanses of trimmed grass, handsome columns and statuary, but Mount Zion is almost entirely headstones, gravel, and dirt. [2] In 1931, Mount Zion hosted the funeral for murdered "alcohol broker" Marvin Hart. "No big shots were at the funeral," wrote the Los Angeles Times, "although a number of lesser lights from the underworld appeared both at the undertaking parlors and the cemetery." [3] A half year later, Hyman Bobroff, age 50, shot himself in the head inside Mount Zion. A second bullet pierced his heart, apparently the result of a reflexive movement of his gun hand after the first pierced his skull. [4]

Famous Interments

Home of Peace has many famous interments, among them Louis B. Mayer, Carl Laemmle, Jack Warner, Harry Warner, and two of the Three Stooges. Mount Zion has only one: Yiddish writer Lamed Shapiro, who died forgotten, broke, alcoholic, and destitute while living in a friend's garage. [5]

Current Condition

Home of Peace and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles look after Mount Zion, but Mount Zion has been vandalized repeatedly and is in a deplorable state. Headstones are toppled. Oval photographs from the headstones, set in enamel, are strewn on the ground. Vandals probably used rocks or screwdrivers to pry them off. Mount Zion's last burial was six years ago. The Jewish Free Burial Society is defunct and Mount Zion's owner is unknown.[6]

References

  1. ^ David Margolick. At Overgrown Cemetery, Some Jews Find Ancestors, Others Themselves. New York Times. February 26, 1995
  2. ^ Hector Becerra. Jewish dead lie forgotten in East L.A. graves. Los Angeles Times. March 28, 2013 p1
  3. ^ Local gangster holds death secret as Hart rites conducted. Los Angeles Times. Dec 25, 1931
  4. ^ Pair take their own lives with guns. Los Angeles Times. Jul 15, 1932
  5. ^ Lamed Shapiro on findagrave.com
  6. ^ Restoring Mount Zion Cemetery. Jewishjournal.com May 8, 2013
  7. ^ Gabriel Lehrer on findagrave.com
  8. ^ Morris Lehrer on findagrave.com
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