5 November 2009
 |
Recent village-by-village research on Jewish burial grounds in preparation for Lo Tishkach surveys in Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine, has resulted in a greatly increased list of Jewish cemeteries in the region, bringing the number up to 260 burial grounds. |
Carried out by the Jewish community of Zakarpattia in co-operation with the Centre for Jewish Education in Ukraine, this research builds on data already held by Lo Tishkach, the result of surveys carried out with the support of the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in the 1990s, which contained details of 66 Jewish cemeteries in the region. A further five sites were added following a five-day youth expedition to the region organised in June by the Kiev-based Jewish Student Center in co-operation with the Lo Tishkach Foundation and funded by the Genesis Philanthropy Group.
Rich in Jewish history and known for its well-preserved cemeteries and intricately carved and painted gravestones, Zakarpattia Oblast, one of the smallest of Ukraine’s 27 regions, is the westernmost region of the country, bordering on Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. The region was under Hungarian rule for 1,000 years, initially as part of the Kingdom of Hungary and latterly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, followed by a period as part of the newly-formed Czechoslovakia. It briefly declared independence as the Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine in 1939 before occupation and annexation by Hungary, and in 1945 became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and subsequently Ukraine.
Census records from 1939 showed that 80,000 Jews lived in the region, approximately 14% of the pre-war population. Jewish communities were concentrated in larger towns, particularly Mukacheve (Munkatch), where they constituted 43% of the population. During the Holocaust, 17 main ghettos were established in the region, from which all Jews were taken to Auschwitz for extermination. Most of the region’s Jews were killed. The Jewish community of Zakarpattia Oblast today numbers between 3,500 and 4,000. The largest Jewish communities can be found in Uzhhorod and Mukacheve. Vynohradiv, Berezovo, Khust, Rakhiv and Solotvyno also have Jewish communities.
