Melnytsya-Podilska Old Jewish Cemetery

According to epigraphic data, the cemetery existed aready in 1795. It appears on maps of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the 1880s. It was used until 1900s, when a new cemetery was opened.

Jews have settled in Mel’nytsya since it became a city in 1767 and there was established a fair. An independent Jewish community arose in 1840s. The Jewish population had grown rapidly in the second half of 19th cent. and reached 1,429 (39,7% of the total population) in 1880. In late 19th cent a rabbi of Melnytsya community was Meshulam Roth, an author of “Kol Mevasser”. In the early 20th century, a small Hasidic court was set up in Melnytsya by Shalom Yosef Friedman (1871-1927), a grandson of the Israel of Ruzhin’s firstborn, Shalom Yosef. A Hebrew school was opened in 1920. In 1921, a loan bank was established with the support of the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The Jewish population stood at 1,568 in 1931. In July 1941, the Hungarian army occupied the town. The Wehrmacht troops came to Melnytsya-Podil’s’ka in August 1941. In September-October, 1942, the Jews of Melnytsya-Podil’s’ka and neighbouring villages were deported to the Belzec death camp and Borschiv. The fleed Jews were found and murdered at the Jewish cemetery. 30 local Jews survived the war.