Kropyvnytsky New Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Kirovohrad
District
Kropyvnytsky
Settlement
Kropyvnytsky
Site address
The cemetery is adjacent to the house on 6 Oleg Olzhich Street.
GPS coordinates
48.53042, 32.27826
Perimeter length
659 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Demolished and overbuilt Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The site is now occupied by a cement factory.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

According to the Commission on Preservation of Jewish Heritage (KSEN), the cemetery was opened in 1896, and operated until 1951. The gravestones were stolen during the occupation from 1941 to 1944. The site was overbuilt with private housing in 1965. The tombstones which remained after WWII were used by the city as the foundations for houses.

Kropyvnytsky (historically also known as Elisavetgrad, Elizavetgrad, Zinovyevsk , Kirovo, Kirovograd) was established as a fortress named after st. Elisaveta in 1754, and became the town Elisavetgrad in 1775.
From 1782, Elisavetgrad was a regional center (uezdnyj gorod) in the Novorossian Governorate (Novorossijskaya gubernia), and from 1806, it was a regional center of the Kherson Governorate (Khersonskaya gubernia).

In 1797, Elisavetgrad had no Jewish population. By 1799, there were 3 Jewish merchants and 395 other Jewish residents, in 1803, 7 Jewish merchants and 567 other Jewish residents were listed. In 1854, there were 2323 Jewish residents; in 1861, 8073 Jewish residents as well as 3 synagogues and 15 Jewish prayer houses were listed in Elisavetgrad. In 1897, the Jewish population comprised almost 24000 of the 61488 inhabitants of the city.

In April 1881, Elisavetgrad was one of the first cities where the pogrom originated. In 1905, another pogrom took place. In 1909 Elisavetgrad listed 17 Jewish schools: a talmud-torah, general and vocational schools, a Saturday school as well as a number of chadarim. The Jewish population of Elisavetgrad suffered greatly during World War I and the civil war in Russia. In 1919, a pogrom claimed a huge number of victims, between 1500 and 3000 people
.
After 1922, Elisavetgrad became a part of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. The Jewish life was oppressed, religious and community institutions and Zionist newspapers were closed. In 1923, the Jewish population numbered 18,871; in 1926, 18,358 (27% of the city); in 1939, the Jewish population was 14,641 people. In 1924 it was renamed Zinovyevsk, it was then named Kirovo on the 7th of december 1934, and then on January 10th 1939, it was renamed again to Kirovograd.
.
Kirovograd was occupied by the Germans between August 5th 1941, and January 8th 1944. In 1941, many Jews fled to the East or were drafted to the Red Army, but most remained behind. The vast majority of them perished.

After the war some Jews came back, and the Jewish community was reestablished. A synagogue was opened in 1946, in a private house, however it was closed in 1957. In 1959, the Jewish population numbered 5702 (4.5%), 5202 (2.7%) in 1970 and 4460 (2%) in 1979.
In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kirovograd became a part of the independent Ukraine. Today a tiny but active Jewish community exists in Kropyvnytskyi, which was renamed again in 2016 due to decommunisation efforts in Ukraine

The new Jewish cemetery was established in 1896, and operated until 1951. All stone gravestones were looted during the German occupation between 1941 to 1944. It was overbuilt with private houses in 1965.

3D model