Babchyntsi Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. Given it can be found marked on maps of the region from the early 20th century, it can be inferred it was already in use by then. It can also be found marked on a Red Army map from 1941. According to locals, the majority of the tombstones were removed in the 1970s-80s for construction purposes.
The land around Babchyntsi has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Babchyntsi itself was established in the 12th-13th centuries. From 1569 the region belonged to The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Jews first started to settle in Babchintsy in the mid-18th century. In 1793, after the Second partition of Poland, it came under the control of the Russian Empire, and became part of the Podolia Governorate (Podolskaya Gubernia).
Until the late 19th century many of Babchintsy’s Jews made their living from tobacco growing and other Jews were small-scale merchants or artisans. The Jewish community of Babchyntsi flourished, there were synagogues and a public bathhouse. In 1882, after the “May Laws” (Temporary regulations regarding the Jews) Jews lost the right to lease land for plantations; the financial situation and population of the community had deteriorated significantly.
After 1922, Babchyntsi became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. Many of Babchintsy’s Jews who stayed in the village worked on the nearby “Zarya” kolkhoz. In the 1920s the Babchintsy synagogue building was used as a 4-year Yiddish school, however it was later demolished. In 1939, 192 Jews lived in Babchyntsi. In August 1941, 94 of them were murdered by the Nazis.
The cemetery of Babchyntsi was established no later than the early 20th century. Today only few matzevot survive in the abandoned plot, some were used for construction purposes in 1970s-80s.