Dashiv Oldest Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
According to the Commission on the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, the cemetery was established in the 18th century and demolished in 1933. However, a local resident claims that there were still two preserved tombstones on the site in the 1950s. The cemetery site is now occupied by private houses and is used for gardening.
The earliest evidence of a Jewish community in Dashiv dates to the 18th century. According to the census of 1765, there lived 406 Jews in the town. The Jewish population had fallen by half in 1776 to just 270 people. According to the census of 1847, the Jewish population numbered 1,837.
In 1865 there operated 3 synagogues. From 1885, the rabbi was Aryeh Yehuda-Leib Wacher (1860—?).
According to the census of 1897, it was home to 600 Jews, which was around 10% of the population.
Israel Wacher, a poet and prose writer, was born in 1892 in Dashiv
By 1909, there was a private boy’s school in the town and in 1912 a loan-saving partnership was in operation. In 1917 and 1919, the Jewish community suffered two severe pogroms.
In the 1920-1930 there was Jewish elementary school and by 1939, the Jewish population numbered 967 people (34.1%).
Dashiv was occupied on July 25th 1941. During the first days 100 Jews were executed.
In total, there were 814 Jews executed, including those from the surrounding areas.
According to the Commission on the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, the cemetery was established in the 18th century and demolished in 1933. According to locals, in the 1950s there were 2 tombstones remaining. Nowadays there are no gravestones left. The territory of the cemetery was overbuilt with private houses and is used for gardening.