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Mariupol Old Jewish Cemetry

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Donetsk
District
Mariupol
Settlement
Mariupol
Site address
208, Hrets'ka Street.
GPS coordinates
47.114619, 37.581782
Perimeter length
550 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
There is a 2m high concrete and brick fence, which fences the cemetery off from Hretsʹka street from the South and a Synagogue to the East.
Preservation condition
Jewish section
General site condition
It is a Jewish section within a municipal cemetery. According to locals, the cemetery is going to be rebuilt and reconstructed by the local authorities. Some measurements were carried out in order to reprocess the land into the new cemetery in the near future.
Number of existing gravestones
Around 300 have been preserved.
Date of oldest tombstone
1870
Date of newest tombstone
1972
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

The establishment of the Mariupol Jewish cemetery is unknown. The oldest tombstone dates to 1870.

Mariupol (Ukr. Маріуполь, former spelling Маріюпіль, Rus. Мариуполь, in 1948–89 Zhdanov, Ukr., Rus. Жданов) had a Jewish population of 111 in 1847, although Jews were not officially allowed to settle in the city until 1859. The first synagogue (destroyed during World War I) was built in 1864. By 1897, the Jewish population rose to 5,013 (16% of the total population). The Bund became active in the early 20th century. 22 Jews were killed in a pogrom in 1905.

In the 1910s, the Jewish community maintained 4 synagogues, a cemetery, a Jewish hospital, 4 Jewish schools, a Talmud Torah, and a loan fund. A large number of Jewish refugees arrived in the city during World War I. A branch of Poalei Zion was established after the Russian Revolution in 1917. Another pogrom occurred in 1919. The Soviet authorities opened a Yiddish-language elementary school and a Jewish library.

There were 10,944 Jews (5% of the total population) in Mariupol in 1939. After the Germans arrived in October 1941, about 8,000 Jews were murdered within a few days. The Jewish community was re-established after the war. There were about 3,400 Jews (1% of the total population) in Mariupol in 1959. Jewish community life was revived once again in the 1990s. According to the 2001 census, there were 1,176 Jews in Mariupol.

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