Narayiv Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. According to epigraphic data, it already existed in the 1820s. It appears on the third military survey of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 1880s. The cemetery also was marked on Yizkor maps.

Jews are known in Narayiv from the mid-18th century. By this time, the Jewish community became independent. Mordechai Brandwein (1825–1885) was the rabbi of Narayiv, his son Jacob-Yitzhak Frenkel Teumim (1823–1893) served as a rabbi in 1850–65. In the late 19th – early 20th century, Berish Seym (died in 1916) was a rabbi, and his son-in-law Zvi-Yehoshua Grosvaks replaced him on this position. In 1880, the Jewish population reached 1,088 (43,5 % of the total population). By 1921, the Jewish population dropped to 775 (25,8% of the total). Immigration to the U.S. influenced this figure as well. In 1910, two synagogues and a Jewish cemetery were in operation. In the 1920s and 30s, different Jewish parties and organizations were active. Mizrachi was the most widespread Zionist organization in the town. By this time, a public library operated. Around 600 Jews resided there in 1939. On July 1, 1941, the Wehrmacht occupied the town. In September 1942, Jews were sent to the Belzec extermination camp. Some survived Jews returned to Narayiv after the end of WWII.