Novozlatopil Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. Given that the oldest preserved tombstone dates to the early 20th century, it can be gathered the cemetery was founded in that era. It cannot be found marked on old maps of the region.

The Jewish agricultural colony in Novozlatopil (Ukr. Новозлатопіль, Rus. Новозлатополь, Yid. נײַ־זלאַטאָפּאָל) was founded in 1848 by Jews from the Mogilev, Vitebsk, and Kovno Governorates. The colony was officially known as Number 1, hence the popular nickname Perver Numer (Yid. פּערווער נומער). The colony had a Jewish population of 669 (82% of the total population) in 1897. The community maintained a synagogue, a cemetery, and a cheder. A Russian-language Jewish school operated in 1910. During the Civil War of 1918–21, well-organized self-defence prevented pogroms. The community was greatly affected by the famine of 1921–22 and received aid from the ARA, the JDC, ORT, and other organizations. When new Jewish settlers arrived in the area in the 1920’s, Novozlatopil became the centre of Novozlatopil Jewish National Raion. In the interwar period, Jewish religious institutions were banned, but secular Yiddish-language culture received some support: Novozlatopil had two Jewish schools, an animal-husbandry college, and a Jewish library. A Yiddish-language newspaper (Der Kolvirt Shtern) was published. There were 1,109 Jews in Novozlatopil in 1939. About two-thirds of the Jews were able to evacuate before the Germans captured Novozlatopil in October 1941. About 700 Jews from Novozlatopil and the nearby communities were murdered in February 1942. After World War II, about 250 Jews returned, but most of them soon moved to large cities or to Birobidzhan.

It is not known when exactly the cemetery was founded. The earliest identifiable date on a tombstone is 1909.