Mezhyriv New Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Vinnytsia
District
Zhmerynskyi
Settlement
Mezhyriv
Site address
Starting on Serbinovski Provulok Street, travel northwest for 350 metres then turn left onto the dirt road before proceeding for 300 metres. The cemetery can be found to the right of the road, in a wooded area on the hill.
GPS coordinates
49.08701, 27.99204
Perimeter length
480 мetres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
There is no fence, but the cemetery’s former boundaries can be determined by the indent of a ditch.
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
There are a number of tombstones on the site which have been moved, turned around, or destroyed. There is also the visible traces of a dug out grave. Two tombstones were found with legible inscriptions, from 1914 and 1924.
Number of existing gravestones
Approximately 30 gravestones.
Date of oldest tombstone
1914 (the earliest tombstone found by ESJF).
Date of newest tombstone
1929 (the latest tombstone found by ESJF).
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
State
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

According to IAJGS, the cemetery was established in the 1880s.

The town of Mezhyriv was first mentioned in the early 16th century, with a Jewish community existing from the foundation of the town. By the end of the 16th century, Mezhyriv was a flourishing town and in 1591 it gained town rights under Magdeburg law. In 1612 it was destroyed by Tartars and soon restored. From 1569 the region belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1640 and 1659 Cossacks, and Poles, and Tartars, and Turks occupied Mezhyriv, with many pogroms affecting the Jews. In 1787, a Jewish printing house was established there.
In 1793, after the Second partition of Poland, it came under the control of the Russian Empire, and became part of the Podolia Governorate (Podolskaya Gubernia). In 1847, the Jewish community of Mezhyriv numbered 986 members. In 1889, there were two synagogues. In 1897, Jews comprised almost 60% of the town population (1345 of 2268). In October 1905 an Anti-Jewish pogrom took place in the town. In 1914 Mezhyriv already had three synagogues, and Mezhyriv’s Jews owned a pharmacy and 20 small shops (including 20 groceries and 5 factories), the majority of the jewihs community were engaged in crafting. Between 1918-1919 more pogroms affected Mezhyriv’s Jews.
After 1922, Mezhyriv became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. In 1923 the Jewish population of Mezhyriv numbered 795. In 1925, Mezhyriv’s Jewish natives (20 families, 107 people) founded an agricultural commune. In 1926 the Jewish population was 1015.
In Jule 1941, Mezhyriv was occupied by the German troops. In February and in April 1942, many Mezhyriv Jews were shot to death. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mezhyriv became part of the independent Ukraine. Today Mezhyriv is a tiny town with no Jews.
The New Jewish cemetery of Mezhyriv was likely established in the 1880s. Today only a few headstones remain visible at the site, these date back to the first half of the 20th century.

3D model