Jewish war grave in Kandy Cemetery

http://www.jwire.com.au/jewish-war-grave-sir-lanka/

In Kandy, Sri Lanka’s second largest city, there is the burial site of the Private Hyman Isaacs Rosenfield who was an aircraftman first class in the Royal Air Force. Mr Rosenfield is believed to be the only Jewish servicemen buried at the Kandy cemetery.

Out of the 1,999 Commonwealth war dead in Sri Lanka, it is believed there believed to be at least three Jewish soldiers buried on the island nation including a Sergeant who served in the Royal Australian Air Force and died in April 1942. He is buried in remote eastern Sri Lanka.

The Kandy cemetery is one of the six Commonwealth war cemeteries in Sri Lanka. The cemetery has been described as one of the most beautifully landscaped Commonwealth war graves.

Mr Secord said: “It was a bittersweet visit. Very little is known about Private Rosenfield and there are several spellings of his surname in official records.”

“However, he died on February 24, 1946 – about seven months before the Japanese surrender and well after fighting had ceased in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, he was quite young – only 26; had been a volunteer and had the lowest rank in the Royal air force.”

“However, his grave is historic to Jewish ex-service activists because about eight years ago, the Manchester chapter of the United Kingdom’s Association of Jewish Servicemen and Women (AJEX) issued a world-wide call for relatives for Mr Rosenfield to come forward.”

“AJEX had discovered that his gravestone had been mistakenly identified with a cross and they needed a family member’s agreement to replace it with a Magen David.”

“It now carries the Star of David and is the only known Jewish grave in the Kandy Commonwealth war graves’ cemetery.”