Westlawn Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located in Norridge, a suburb of Chicago in Illinois. The cemetery covers 72 acres (29 ha) and roughly 46,000 people are buried there.
| Westlawn Cemetery | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1937[1] |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 41°57′28″N 87°49′38″W / 41.95778°N 87.82722°W[2] |
| Type | Public |
| Style | Jewish cemetery |
| Size | 72 acres (29 ha) |
| No. of interments | 49,000[1] |
| Website | Official website |
| Find a Grave | Westlawn Cemetery |
Notable interments
edit- Leonard S. Chess, record company executive[3]
- Virginia Lee Corbin, actress
- Sandy Dvore, artist
- Mike Nussbaum, actor
- Susan Nussbaum, actress and playwright
- Richard Elrod, jurist, sheriff, and legislator
- Jack Ruby, convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, who at the time was under arrest for the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy[4]
(His conviction was later reversed. He died awaiting a new trial, still legally presumed innocent.)[5][6] - Abe Saperstein, creator of the Savoy Big Five, precursor of the Harlem Globetrotters[7]
- Harry Sawyer, Jewish-American organized crime boss based in the Twin Cities, co-conspirator and protector of the Dillinger and Barker-Karpis Gangs.[8]
- Shel Silverstein, poet, author, satirist, and cartoonist[9]
- Gene Siskel, film critic[10]
Vandalism
editWestlawn was the site of gravestone desecration in January 2008. At least 57 tombstones were defaced with anti-Semitic slogans. Using white and blue spray paint, the vandal drew swastikas and slurs on tombstones in a western section of the cemetery.
A 21-year-old Polish immigrant male was charged with the crime in February 2008. He has been directly linked by police to a neo-Nazi organization in the Chicago area and he was a member of the National Socialist Movement. He was convicted on two charges of felony vandalism and sentenced to 7 years in prison, the maximum sentence.[11][12]
References
edit- ^ a b "About Us". Westlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ "Westlawn Jewish Cemetery". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ Wilson, Scott; Mank, Gregory W. (August 19, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 133, #2289. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4.
- ^ Wilson and Mank at #11021
- ^ "Phil Burleson, 61, Jack Ruby's Lawyer". The New York Times. June 1, 1995. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ "This Day In History: November 22". Sky History.[dead link]
- ^ Wilson and Mank at #11201
- ^ Maccabee, Paul (1995). John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crook's Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul, 1920-1936. Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 284–285. ISBN 978-0-8735-1316-6. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ Wilson and Mank at #11695
- ^ Wilson and Mank at #11741
- ^ "Neo-Nazi Convicted Of Vandalizing Jewish Cemetery". CBS Chicago News. 2010-12-03. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
- ^ "Neo-Nazi Mariusz Wdziekonski Gets Maximum Sentence For Defiling Jewish Graves". Huff Post. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2014.