Buchach Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. It can be assumed that the cemetery emerged in the 16th century. The earliest preserved gravestone relates to the mid-19th century. According to epigraphic data, the cemetery was operating till WWII. The site was fenced by ESJF in 2018.

Jews of Buchach are first mentioned in the early 16th century when the town was founded. In 1552, 14 Jewish families resided here. The development of the Jewish community was restricted by the severe taxation under the Austrian authority rule, and it influenced the bad economic condition of the Jewish community. The Hasidic dynasty was founded by Avram David Warman (1771-1841). In1881, a cholera epidemic and a fire claimed 600 Jewish lives. 220 Jewish homes were burned in an 1865 fire. In the mid-19th century, 19 synagogues operated. Many Buchach Jews were followers of the Chortkiv and Gusyatin Hasidism. By the same time, Jews had a monopoly on trade in Buchach. The Jewish population grew to 6,077 (67,9% of the total population) and reached a peak of 7,777 (54,4% of the total) by 1910. In 1906, a yeshiva was established. During the WWI, the Jewish population fled to the western part of Austro-Hungary. The remained ones were attacked by the Cossack troops. In 1920, the Ukrainian People’s Army staged a pogrom. The Jewish population reduced to 3,858 (51,4% of the total) in 1921. Its number swelled slightly to 4,439 in 1931. On July 28, 1941, 350 Jews were executed. On October 17, 1942, 1,600 Jews were deported to the Belzec death camp, and 200 Jews were murdered on the spot. On November 27, 1942, 2,500 Jews were deported, and 250 Jews were murdered. On December 1, 1942, a ghetto was created. From February to the late June 1943, around 3,500 Jewish prisoners of the ghetto were murdered. 500 local Jews survived the war. Shmuel-Yosef Agnon (Chachkes) (1888-1970), the first Hebrew Nobel Prize laureate in Literature (1966), and Yitzhak Pernhof (1865-1918), a writer of the Hebrew prose, were born here.