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| BERDYCHIV (BERDICHEV) OLD JEWISH CEMETERY ADDRESS: Lenia Street, Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine LO TISHKACH ID NO.: 9346 |
Alternative/Former City Names: Barditchev, Berdicev, Berditchev, Berditchov, Berditschew, Berdytschiw, Berdyczów, Бердичев – Berdichev, Бердичів
Cemetery Established: Mid-18th century
Jewish Community Established: Early 18th century
Present Usage of Cemetery: Partially protected Jewish cemetery. The last known burial took place in the 1990s.
Gravestones, Memorial Markers & Structures: Approximately 10,000 graves are located in the cemetery, which is about 250 metres wide and 550 metres long. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak’s grave is protected by an ohel. Vegetation overgrowth threatens numerous graves.
History of the Jewish Community: Notable Jewish settlement in Berdychiv dates back to the early 18th century. By 1897, approximately 40,000 Jews (ca. 80 % of the city’s population) lived in Berdychiv, constituting the second largest Jewish community in the Russian Empire. The city was home to prominent Bundist leaders and charismatic rabbis, among them them the hassidic Rabbi Levi Yitzhak. Immediately prior to World War II, Berdychiv’s Jewish population numbered ca. 30,000, almost all of whom were killed by German troops between July and October 1942. Among the victims was the mother of the writer Vasily Grossman.
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Source: Cemetery survey carried out by members of the Jewish Student Center, Kiev, in December 2008. Additional data taken with permission from cemetery surveys carried out by the Jewish Heritage Preservation Committee in 1995/6 working under the Union of Jewish Religious Organisations of Ukraine.
