The Virtual Grave of Josef Jakobs

Josef Jakobs was buried in the Common Plot at St. Mary’s Cemetery (Kensal Green, London). What this basically means, is that the public purse paid for his burial, along with many others. No gravestone marked his final resting place and in the mid-1970s, a thick layer of soil buried the resting places of all in the Common Plot. The new layer of soil was used to bury others. So, Josef’s grave is well and truly gone.

There are, however, other ways to remember the deceased. I came across the Find-a-Grave website several years ago, and found that Josef (being a “famous” person) was already listed there. I was able to leave a virtual bouquet of flowers, and read the comments of others who had “visited” his virtual grave.

This past year, I also added a photograph of Josef to the website. It is amazing to see how often that photograph has been picked up and used on other websites (without any acknowledgement as to the source). My intention in posting the picture was that people are able to put a face to a name. Somehow it makes the person more real… and Josef was very real.

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