Novoselytsya Jewish Cemetery (Austrian side)

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Chernivtsi
District
Novoselytsya
Settlement
Novoselytsya
Site address
To reach the cemetery, proceed for 900 metres in the northern direction along the dirt road from the northern end of Postysheva street. Turn left, and proceed for 130 metres. The cemetery is located on the right of the road.
GPS coordinates
48.23663, 26.25057
Perimeter length
104 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is slightly overgrown. It requires clearing and fencing.
Number of existing gravestones
20
Date of oldest tombstone
1900s
Date of newest tombstone
1930s
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Property of local community
Preserved construction on site
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The exact time of the cemetery’s emergence is unknown. According to epigraphic data, it already existed in the 1900s and was operating until WWII, the latest preserved gravestone relates to the 1930s.

Jews were present in Novoselytsya from the late 18th century. Two Jewish communities existed in Novoselytsya. These communities were divided by the Rakitna river to the Austrian and Russian sides. In 1780, a synagogue was erected. 81 Jewish families resided in 1847. It grew to 3,998 (66,1% of the total) by 1897. In 1917 a Hebrew school for adults was reestablished. The self-defence detachments and the Zionist organization Magen Avraam was established that year. More than 500 young Jews were members of Magen Avraam. The first Zionist youth group from Novoselytsya was sent to Eretz Israel in September 1921. In 1930, the Jewish residents numbered 4,152 (86,1% of the total). During the Soviet annexation, around a hundred Zionist activists were dispatched to Siberia on June 29, 1940. The Jewish population stood at 7,000 in 1941. The German-Romanian troops occupied Novoselytsya on July 7, 1941. A pogrom was staged on that day, and it claimed the lives of 975 Jews. More than half of the Jewish houses were burnt, and all the Jewish property was pillaged. The remnants were expelled on foot to Transnistria. After WWII, a few survived Jews returned.

3D model