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Novodarivka Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Zaporizhya
District
Gulyaypolsky
Settlement
Novodarivka
Site address
From the southeastern entrance to the village of Novodarovka. Turn left at the first house and then drive 905m west, turn right onto a dirt road and continue for 355m, until you come across a ploughed field. This is a destroyed part of the cemetery. To the north, beyond the field, there is derelict land, where the cemetery has been preserved.
GPS coordinates
47.78651, 36.63291
Perimeter length
469 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is not fenced, in places a moat is visible on the preserved part of the cemetery.
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is covered with dense seasonal vegetation. The graveyard was very large. The majority of the cemetery was plowed about 7 years ago. Apparently, the territory of the cemetery was divided into several parts. It is not entirely clear to whom the territory belongs. There is seasonal overgrowth. There are several gravestones with inscriptions. The cemetery was located by the river, now the river has dried up.
Number of existing gravestones
There are about 10 gravestones. The gravestones have sunk into the ground or been destroyed. Apparently some stones fell into the river. Now that the river has dried up, the stones are visible.
Date of oldest tombstone
1934 (the only legible date).
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Other
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. Given that the oldest preserved tombstone dates to the first half of the 20th century, it can be gathered the cemetery was founded in that era. It cannot be found marked on old maps of the region.

Jewish Colony Number 5 was founded in 1855. The Jewish settlers mostly came from the Vitebsk Governorate in present-day Belarus. The colony’s official name was Bogodarovka (Rus. Богодаровка), it was, however, commonly referred to as Kovalevskaya (Rus. Ковалевская). It was renamed Novodarivka (Ukr. Новодарівка, Rus. Новодаровка) in 1924. The colony had a Jewish population of 490 (89% of the total population) in 1897. The community maintained a synagogue. The Soviet authorities created a Jewish collective farm in 1929 and a Jewish school operated in the interwar period. The colony had a total population of 577 in 1938. About 20 Jews who had not managed to evacuate were murdered by the Germans in the winter of 1941–42.

It is not known when exactly the cemetery was founded. The only readable tombstone dates to 1934.

3D model
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