Rozhyshche Jewish Cemetery

The cemetery was founded presumably in the late 18th or early 19th century. According to Holocaust historian A. Kruglov, around 400 Jews were shot at the cemetery in August 1942. After WWII, part of the cemetery territory was destroyed during the construction of a brick factory. In 2000, a metal fence around the cemetery was built by the Rozhyshche-Israel Landsmannschaft.

Jews began settling in Rozhyshche in the late 18th century. In 1897, the Jewish population grew to 3,169 (82% of the total population). During WWI, the town’s synagogue and beit-midrash were destroyed and many Jews fled, but returned afterwards. After WWI, a Trisk Hasidic synagogue was built, which existed alongside Zhalibover, Kashivka and Olika Hasidic synagogues. The Trisker Hassid Rabbi Hershel Ba’al Shem (Rubinstein) was one of the town’s respected religious leaders of the town. By 1921, the Jewish population had decreased to 2,686 (82.2% of the total population). During the interwar period, Zionist movements such as HeHalutz, Betar and Brith HaHayal were active. A Tarbut school was set up in town, and several amateur theatrical groups were also operating. By 1941, the Jewish population numbered 3,100. Soon after the German occupation of the town on June 25, 1941, the Jews suffered a pogrom. In the ghetto, created in February 1942, 3,500 Jews from Rozhyshche and the surrounding villages of Kopachivka and Volnyanka were imprisoned. Around 300 Jews were murdered during the ghetto’s liquidation on August 22, 1942. Several hundred Jews managed to escape, but 400 of them were caught and shot in the Jewish cemetery. In 1947, a monument was erected on the execution site.