6 January 2010
This report on the Jewish burial grounds of Kyiv Region, or Oblast, is one of the results of a number of education and research projects undertaken by the Lo Tishkach Foundation in the spring and summer of 2009. It catalogues 52 Jewish cemeteries and 29 Holocaust-era mass graves. The publication, which can be downloaded here, also contains details of two mass graves dating from 1919, when many Ukrainian Jews were murdered in the wave of pogroms committed in the aftermath of the Russian revolution.
Thanks to the efforts of local partners and with the support of the Genesis Philanthropy Group, this material is now available for Kyiv Oblast, the area around Ukraine’s capital and its largest city. During the spring and summer months of 2009, 83 burial grounds in the Kyiv Region were located, visited, surveyed and photographed, creating a unique record of the region’s Jewish heritage.
The surveys took place within the context of broad educational seminars for local youth and students in Kyiv, building leadership and volunteerism and raising awareness of Jewish history, heritage and identity.
The sheer number of Jewish cemeteries and mass graves in Ukraine and indeed throughout Central and Eastern Europe demonstrates the scale of Jewish life which was wiped out in the Holocaust. It stands as an everlasting testament to the vibrancy of Jewish communities over many centuries in Europe and is a physical reminder that we should not forget.
But today, with the absence of Jewish communities in most villages and former shtetlach and the speed of economic development in much of post-Soviet Central and Eastern Europe, we cannot afford to choose individual sites, ignoring the many other places that may lie within just a short radius. Remnants and records of Jewish burial sites are disappearing fast. All of these sites must be visited and this vital information catalogued before it is too late. That is the basis of the Lo Tishkach project; to preserve the historical record in all places where Jews once lived.
Lo Tishkach surveys in the Kiev Oblast of Ukraine have shown that the following works are urgently required on the cemeteries listed below. If you would like to help us to preserve these or other sites, please refer to our donations page or contact us at info@lo-tishkach.org.
Baryshivka Jewish Cemetery – Identification marker, fencing
Bohuslav Jewish Cemetery – Completion of fencing, vegetation clearance
Borodianka Jewish Cemetery – Fencing, reparation of broken monuments, vegetation clearance
Boryspil Jewish Cemetery – Identification marker
Brovary Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Byshiv Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker, restoration of remaining matzevot
Dymer Jewish Cemetery – Vegetation clearance, fencing, restoration of metal grave markers
Hermanivka Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, memorial plaque
Hnativka Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Hornostaypil Old Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Hornostaypil New Jewish Cemetery – Identification marker
Hostomel Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Hrebinky Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Kaharlyk Jewish Cemetery – Vegetation clearance, fencing
Kivshovata Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Kodra Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Kozyn Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Kyiv (Zvirynetske) Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Makariv Jewish Cemetery – Identification marker
Medvyn Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, vegetation clearance, identification marker
Obukhiv Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi Jewish Cemetery – Fencing
Piatyhory Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker, restoration of gravestones
Poliske Jewish Cemetery – Completion and restoration of fence, vegetation clearance
Rokytne Jewish Cemetery – Completion of cemetery wall
Rozhiv Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Rzhyschiv Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Skvyra Old Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Tetiiv Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Trypillia Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Vasylkiv Old Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Volodarka Old Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Volodarka New Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, identification marker
Voronkiv Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
Yahotyn Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker, gravestone restoration
Yasnohorodka Jewish Cemetery – Delineation of cemetery boundaries, fencing, identification marker
