Drohobych Old Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
Presumably, the cemetery was established in the 17th century and operating until the end of the 19th century. It can be supposed that it was demolished during or after WWII and later built over.
The earliest records of the Jews in Drohobych relates to 1404. According to that records, the Jews was involved in salt mining, tax farming and distilling. In the 15th century, 20 Jews lived in the town. Jews were expelled from Drohobych from 1578 to 1635. In 1663, 75 Jews resided in Drohobych. In 1648, the Jewish community suffered from the Khmelnytskyi massacre. The Jewish population grew to 1924 (29,6%) in 1765. In the 17th century, most of the Jews were engaged in trading, crafting, salt production and agriculture. The Hasidic thoughts spread occurred in the 18th century. In 1880, the Jewish population increased to 9,131 (50.1% of the total population). In the late 19th century, 80% of the employees in the city’s oil refineries were Jews. In 1897, after the First Zionist Congress, the Zionists organizations commenced establishing their offices. The number of the Jewish population stood up 8,603 in 1900. In the early 20th century, the newspaper Drohobitzer Zeitung was published weekly in Hebrew letters and German language. The Jewish population reached 15,313 (42.3% of the total population) in 1910. In the same year, yeshiva operated. In the WWI, the Jewish community was attacked by the Cossack troops. In the interwar period, all the branches of the Zionism movement were active. A Beth Jacob Jewish school for girls operated. The Wehrmacht troops occupied Drohobych on July 1, 1941. The mass shootings of the Jews took place for three months. In February 1942, 12,781 Jews were in the ghetto. By the end of 1942, after the deportations to the Belzec death camp in March, August, October and November 1942, more than 3,000 Jews remained in Drohobych ghetto. In early June 1943, the ghetto was liquidated. About 400 Jews were in the city at the moment of the liberation. In 1992, about 200 Jews resided in the town. The brothers Mauricio (1856-1879) (realist painter of the Romantic period) and Leopold (1883-1934) (modernist painter) Gottlieb were born in Drohobych.