Horodkivka New Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Vinnytsia
District
Kryzhopolsky
Settlement
Horodkivka
Site address
The cemetery is located opposite the house on 63 Gagarina Street.
GPS coordinates
48.37023, 28.70113
Perimeter length
554 мetres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is unfenced, but the remnants of a ruined masonry wall are visible on the north side.
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is partly overgrown. The southern sides of the cemetery are unfenced. The older section of the cemetery is severely overgrown with trees and bushes. Some locals have made efforts to maintain the site, but they do not have the resources to do so effectively. There is a separate section for children’s burials.
Number of existing gravestones
Approximately 2,000.
Date of oldest tombstone
1814 (the earliest tombstone found by ESJF).
Date of newest tombstone
2019 (the latest tombstone found by ESJF).
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

Given the oldest preserved tombstone is dated 1814, it can be inferred the cemetery was already in use by the early 19th century. It can be found marked on a Russian map from the 1900s.

Horodkivka was historically known as Myastkovka or Myaskovka, and Rotmistrovka. From 1569 the region belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The earliest known Jewish community was mentioned in the 17th century. In 1765, the Jewish community of Myastkovka and the surroundings numbered 898 taxpayers.
In 1793, after the Second partition of Poland, it came under control of the Russian Empire, and became a part of the Podolia Governorate (Podolskaya Gubernia). In 1847, the Jewish community of Myastkovka numbered 1213 people. In 1897 Jews comprised 26% (2105 of 7996) of Myastkovka’s population.
In the early 20th century Myastkovka had a mixed Jewish-Polish-Ukrainian population. The town had two Orthodox and one Catholic church, a synagogue and two Jewish prayer houses.
The Jewish population of Myastkovka suffered greatly during World War I and the civil war in Russia. In 1919-1920, 105 Jews perished in pogroms. After 1922, Myastkovka became a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. In 1926 the Jewish population of Myastkovka was 1430 and in 1939, it had fallen to 832.
In 1941, some Jews fled to the East but some remained behind. Myastkovka was occupied by the Germans and Romanians in mid July 1941, and included in the Transnistria Governorate. Soon after a ghetto was established in the Jewish neighborhood. Many Jews were murdered or perished before Myastkovka was liberated in March 1944. In 1945, it was renamed to Horodkivka (Gorodkovka).
In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Horodkovka became part of the independent Ukraine.
The new Jewish cemetery of Myastkovka contains around 2000 gravestones, which date back to the early 19th century, and is still in use today.

3D model