Offbeat | Gravediggers compete in race judged on speed and style

Digging their way to the top, 18 two-man teams of Hungarian gravediggers displayed their skills Friday for a place in a regional championship to be held in Slovakia later this year.
Participants in the contest held in plot 37A of the public cemetery of the eastern Hungarian city of Debrecen were being judged on their speed but also getting points for style — the look of the finished grave mounds.
Janos Jonas, 63, who teamed with his son, Csaba, saw the competition run by the Hungarian Association of Cemetery Maintainers and Operators as a sort of last hurrah as he was just a few weeks from retirement.
“We didn’t have to prepare in any special way because we do this every day,” said Jonas, from the nearby village of Hosszupalyi. “This is good earth, quite soft and humid, just right for the event.”
Organizer Iren Kari said they hoped the race would help increase respect and recognition for the gravediggers’ profession and attract more people to the job, which is under threat, for example by the increasing popularity of cremations.
“These men see death every day. Sometimes people joke about them while they work, but gravediggers are human, too,” said Kari, who is advocating for gravediggers to get access to psychological support to better handle the strains of the job. “We are having difficulties finding replacements for our retiring employees. Young people today don’t like to dig and work.” AP