Baron de Hirsch Cemetery

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Many readers may have heard that the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery on De La Savane in Côte des Neiges-NDG was closed to the public for several hours on Sunday Aug. 31, for security reasons.

There were rumours that there were Arabs nearby screaming about Israel, but that turned out to be not the case. The Suburban was told by sources that people trying to enter the cemetery that day were told to stay away, and the cemetery office confirmed to The Suburban it was closed to the public, as late as 2:30 p.m. The cemetery was open again on Monday Sept. 1 Labour Day, just not to vehicles as per Sunday rules.

We called the SPVM Aug. 31 to determine what prompted the cemetery shutdown. Spokesperson Jeanne Drouin told us that on that Sunday morning, a man at the corner of De La Savane and Victoria was heard yelling.

Police checked the situation out, but determined that the man was known to police and not dangerous, and that his shouting was not related to Israel or the Jewish community. n