Illintsi New Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Vinnytsia
District
Illintsi
Settlement
Illintsi
Site address
The cemetery is located between Kotsyubynsky Street and Myra Street.
GPS coordinates
49.10111, 29.21559
Perimeter length
538 мetres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
Fenced by ESJF in November 2020.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The site is fenced and well maintained. There is a post-war section with fenced graves, but many of the older tombstones on the site are broken.
Number of existing gravestones
Approximately 100.
Date of oldest tombstone
1911 (the earliest tombstone found by ESJF).
Date of newest tombstone
1978 (the latest tombstone found by ESJF).
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
There is a Tziyun on the site.
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

According to the Commission on the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, the cemetery was established in the early 19th century. It can be found marked on a map of the region from the 1900s.

Jews first settled in Illintsi in the mid-17th century. The Jewish community suffered during the Khmelnytsky uprising. In 1765, there were 386 Jews. The population increased more than 10 times by the end of the 19th century. According to the census of 1847, the Jewish population numbered 3,407 people. In 1852 there were 76 Jewish craftsmen in Illintsi. In 1865, four synagogues operated in the town. According to the census of 1897, the town was home to 4,993 Jews, of a total population of 10,039. At the end of the 19th century, the rabbis were Zvi Hirsch Sherman and Chevil Shaporinsky.

By 1909 there was a private boy’s school in the town. In 1910, there were 9,279 Jews, which was 53% of the population. In 1910 a synagogue and a cemetery were in use. The local Jews owned 36 shops, 19 bakeries, and 11 tanneries.

The Jewish community suffered in the pogroms during WWI. There were six pogroms in total, one in 1917, two in 1919, and three more in 1920. More than 40 Jewish houses were looted. In the 1920s a local Jewish council was established. From the 1920s to the 1930s there was a Yiddish school in Illintsi. By 1939, the Jewish population numbered 2,217 people.

Illintsi was occupied from July 23rd 1941, until March 1944. Jews were put into the ghetto in late August. In November 1943, a number of Jews were murdered. On April 24th 1942, 1,000 Jews were executed and 700 more were murdered between May 27th and 28th. During the occupation, 2,489 Jews were killed.

Some Jewish families returned to the town after WWII and as of 2012 there was a Jewish community in Illintsi. However on November 15th, 2019, the biggest synagogue in the Vinnytsia region burnt down.

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. It cannot be found marked on old maps. Given the date of the oldest preserved gravestone, it can be inferred the cemetery already existed in the early 20th century. The cemetery is partially demolished, and its northern section is used for agricultural purposes. There is an ohel on the cemetery site, with no plaque.