Against a backdrop of desecration and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries across Europe, a group of Jewish teens in Switzerland is doing something different: They are cleaning and restoring graves to preserve the memory and dignity of those buried there.

The community of Lausanne is small and tightly-knit but growing in its vibrant Jewish life, thanks to the Yael Foundation’s initiative for youths. The programming the foundation initially invested in for 5-15-year-olds grew substantially over 20 years into a large network that reaches thousands of students.

The philanthropic organization announced in a statement the project completed by the group of teens, quoting Simon Bismuth, director of the Youth Department at the Jewish Community of Lausanne and the Canton of Vaud, about the seed for the project and how it germinated.

Since Oct. 7, “we have tried each year to organize several major projects with real meaning for our young people, not just activities, but moments of transmission, responsibility and commitment,” Bismuth said.

“The idea also came from something very personal,” he added. “Since the loss of my daughter Tsofia, I sometimes go to clean her grave. One day while I was there, I looked around and thought there was something incredibly powerful to pass on to young people: taking care of memory, taking care of those who came before us, even when nobody sees it, even when there is nothing to receive in return.”

By participating in this project, the teens restored “dignity to graves that had sometimes been a little forgotten,” he explained. “For me, this is a very beautiful form of leadership: quiet, humble, concrete, but profoundly powerful.”