Snovsk Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. The oldest tombstone dates to the first half of the 20th century, so it can be inferred that the cemetery was founded in that era. It can first be found marked on a Russian map of the region from 1907.

The village of Korzhivka was established in the 1860s. It was renamed to Snovs’k at the end of 19th century. The earliest known Jewish community was established at the end of the 19th century. Jews were given permission to settle down in 1882. The village was home to Jewish owned drugstores, grocery stores, a metal trade, a haberdashery, a timber store, and a draper’s shop. In the early 1900s, the rabbi was Shneur-Zalman Gorelik (1880-1984). Before the revolution, the Jewish population of Snovs’k was estimated at about 1,000. During the Second World War, many Jewish families were able to evacuate. The city was occupied on September 3rd, 1941. In November 4th, 1941, 38 adult men were arrested and shot. The arrests continued throughout December and January. All of those arrested were killed in Chernihiv. In January 1942 the remainder of the Jewish population was shot in the forest outside the city. After the War the remains of the Jews killed in Snovs’k and Snovs’k county were relocated to this cemetery. A monument was erected in their memory. The Jewish community was reestablished in the 1990s. The first Head of community was local journalist Mark Spektorov (who emigrated to Israel). After his emigration. the position was occupied by Mark Lustikman. In 2006, Marina Abramovna Pismennaya became the Head of community. The town has an estimated population of 11,471 (as of 2013). Natan Grigoryevich Rakhlin, Ukrainian conductor, was born in Snovs’k in 1906. Chaim-Shaul Bruk, a famous Rabbi, was born in Snovs’k in 1894. He studied at the “Tomhey-Tmimim” yeshiva (Lubavitch). In 1928-29 he led a illegal Lubavitch yeshiva in Novograd-Volynskiy. Yehuda Slutsky, historian and writer, was born in Snovs’k in 1915. The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. Given the oldest preserved tombstone dates to the first half of the 20th century, it can be inferred the cemetery was founded in that era. It can first be found marked on a Russian map of the region from 1907.