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Balyn Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Khmelnytskyy
District
Dunaivtsi
Settlement
Balyn
Site address
The cemetery is located adjacent to the house at 23, Kamyanets'-Podil's'ka Street.
GPS coordinates
48.87576, 26.66208
Perimeter length
357 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is partly surrounded by remnants of a stone wall.
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The old part of the cemetery is severely overgrown. It requires clearing. The new part on the hill is well-maintained.
Number of existing gravestones
63 (and few fragments). Several old gravestones are buried or covered in the vegetation.
Date of oldest tombstone
1722 (oldest found by ESJF expedition)
Date of newest tombstone
1919 (latest found by ESJF expedition)
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Property of local community
Preserved construction on site
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown, but the oldest preserved gravestone relates to the early 18th century. Presumably, first, it was marked on Russian maps of the 1870s.

Jews are known from the 18th century. Half of the Jewish community was murdered during the Haidamac massacres. In the 19th century, a synagogue existed. In 1896, Israel-Yehuda Gen became a head of the Rabbinical Court. In the 19th century, the Jews mostly earned their living in crafts. In 1897, 357 Jews (22% of the total population) resided in Balyn. The Germans occupied the town on July 10, 1941. In autumn 150 Jews were murdered outside the town. According to other information, the Jews of Balyn were imprisoned in the ghetto of Dunayivtsi, where they were subsequently executed. On September 4, 1942, 250 Jewish lives were claimed, and artisans were deported to Kamyanets-Podils’kyy.

3D model
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