Teofipol Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. The oldest tombstone dates to the late 19th century so it can be assumed the cemetery emerged during that period. It first appears on a Russian map from 1915 and, later, on a Polish map from 1939, but not as a Jewish cemetery. The cemetery is not marked on earlier maps from the 1880s. The site was fenced by ESJF in 2016.

Jews were present in the area from the 18th century. In 1765, 516 Jews resided here. The Jewish population reached a peak of 2,914 (65% of the total) in 1897. In the early 20th century, two Jewish elementary schools for boys and girls functioned. The pogroms, staged in 1917 and 1919, claimed the lives of 300 Jews. In 1936, 94 families were members of the Jewish kolkhoz created in 1929. The Jewish population dropped to 1,266 people in 1939. A ghetto for the Jews of Teofipol’ and the neighbouring villages was created immediately after the Nazis occupation on July 6, 1941. Nearly 1,000 Jews were executed in December 1941.