Berezhnytsya Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Rivne
District
Dubrovytsia
Settlement
Berezhnytsya
Site address
The site can be found in a field in the North-East of the village, in front of the tractor bridge.
GPS coordinates
51.443342, 26.467885
Perimeter length
458 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over. The cemetery sit is now a field.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved. Local resident Boris Stel'makh collects and stores fragments of tombstones from the cemetery site in his backyard (62, Dubrovyts'ka Street). 22 of the matzevot fragments still bear inscriptions, and there is one complete gravestone constructed from two solid fragments near the house.
Date of oldest tombstone
1919
Date of newest tombstone
1936
Urgency of erecting a fence
Low
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. According to the dates on the remnants of matzevot found on the local private yard, the Jewish cemetery already existed in the early 20th century. It appears on an old maps dating back as far as the 1910s., but is not shown on the Russian map of 1870s, which means that it could emerge between these dates. According to locals the cemetery was destroyed in the 1950s. There are some evidences that tis cemetery was not the only Jewish cemetery in Berezhnytsya. The Russian map of 1870s shows a Jewish cemetery at the area of modern Christian cemetery at the western outskirts of the village (51.43885, 26.45486). It can be presumed that the older Jewish cemetery was located there. Apart from that, there is a local legend about one more demolished Jewish cemetery at the site of playground (51.44159, 26.47147). As no map shows any cemetery on this site, this location seems to be doubtful.

 

 

3D model