Home - Surveys - Ukraine - Vinnytsia

Brailiv Oldest Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Vinnytsia
District
Zhmerinsky
Settlement
Brailiv
Site address
The cemetery is located on the land belonging to the houses on 76 and 82 Shkolnaya Street.
GPS coordinates
49.10071, 28.15547
Perimeter length
636 мetres
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
The cemetery is demolished and the site is now occupied by private housing. According to local residents, the cemetery was demolished during the war and it is unknown where the tombstones were taken after the war. After its demolition, the site was used by locals to grow produce. After the war, private houses were built on the site, and nothing remains of the cemetery. ome photos and videos were taken by the quadcopter in manual mode. However, residents expressed their discomfort with further photography and filming was stopped.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Private
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. It can be found marked on maps of the region from the 1900s. According to local residents, it was demolished during WWII.

There are indications that Brailov was founded in 1574. Jews are believed to have settled there in the 17th century. In 1765, the Jewish community numbered 190 households and 638 members. In 1793, after the Second partition of Poland, Brailov came under control of the Russian Empire, and became part of the Podolia Governorate (Podolskaya Gubernia). Jews of Brailov numbered 2071 in 1847, and 3721 in 1897, which was 43% of the total population. In 1852, all 78 artisans in the town were Jews, and in the 1880s, Jews owned industrial enterprises such as a sugar refinery, brewery, flour mills, and tanneries, employing many Jewish workers. In the early 20th century, the town had three synagogues, a talmud torah with 50 students, and two private Jewish schools: a school for boys, and one for girls. On the eve of WWI Jews owned all 19 grocery stores, all 16 textile shops, and the only pharmacy in the town. In 1918–19, during the civil war, 26 Jews were massacred and around 100 Jewish women were raped in pogroms. In 1922, Brailov became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. In 1926, the Jewish population numbered 2393.
Brailov was occupied by the Germans on July 17, 1941, and immediately 15 Jews were shot. A ghetto was established and a heavy tax was imposed on the population. On February 13, 1942, 1500 Jews were assembled; the sick and those discovered in hiding were shot on the spot. Around 300 artisans were sent back to the ghetto, joined by 200 still in hiding, and the remaining 1200 Jews were executed. On April 18, 180 Jews, mostly children and elderly persons, were murdered. The last group of 503 was executed on August 25, 1942.
The Oldest Jewish cemetery of Brailov, which was already established by the early 20th century, had been totally demolished, presumably during WW2, and built over.

Back to the map