Korop Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Chernihiv
District
Korop
Settlement
Korop
Site address
The cemetery can be found between 52 and 54 Zavods'ka Street.
GPS coordinates
51.56609, 32.93479
Perimeter length
245 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
Most of the cemetery is severely overgrown with trees and bushes. Some of the graves are well maintained. The preserved tombstones can be found in the eastern section of the cemetery. The remainder of the site is derelict. Clearance and fencing are required.
Number of existing gravestones
Around 30
Date of oldest tombstone
1950
Date of newest tombstone
2008
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Property of local community
Preserved construction on site
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. It could not be found marked on old maps of the region. According to the Lo Tishkakh database, the site did include a gravestone which dated back to 1911, but the ESJF surveyor team could not locate it when they visited in 2020. The oldest preserved gravestone they found dated to the mid 20th century.

Korop became a part of the Russian Empire in 1667, and in 1796 it was a shtetl in Krolevets Yezd, of the Malorossiya Governorate and the Chernigov Governorate. In 1862, it was home to 218 Jews, and by 1920 there were over a thousand. According to the census in 1897, there were 873 Jews (13.9% of the total population). In the late 18th century, Korop was the centre of the tanning industry in the region, which employed mostly Jewish workers. Over half of the 119 trade enterprises were owned by Jews. In 1862, there was a wooden synagogue in Korop, and a stone synagogue was bulit by 1886. The rabbi was Jacob-Joel Sorkin. In 1910, there were two synagogues and a Jewish cemetery. The Jewish community withstood pogroms on the 10th and 18th of November, 1917; a pogrom in 1918 (by Austro-German troops); and further pogroms between October and November 1919 (by Denikin’s Gang). According to the census in 1939, 350 Jews lived in Korop. Korop was occupied on the 28th of August, 1941. The first execution took place on the 5th of September, 1941. The first mass killing occurred in late November 1941. On the 11th of April 1942, the last Jew was killed. Korop was liberated on the 9th of May 1943. The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown, and it could not be found marked on old maps of the region. although it was most likely established in the first half of the 19th century. The oldest preserved gravestone found dates to the mid-20th century.

3D model