Sosnytsya Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. The oldest tombstone dates from the early 20th century. It first appears on a Russian map from the second half of the 19th century and, later, on another from 1939.

During Khmelnitsky’s uprising, a total expulsion of Jews from Sosnytsya took place. The Jews eventually returned to the area in the early 19th century, when the Chernihiv province was incorporated into the Pale of Settlement. According to the census in 1847, there were 1,210 Jews in Sosnytsya. According to the census in 1897, 1,842 Jews lived there (26% of the total population). In 1865, the official rabbi was Yankel Krichevskiy, and between 1883 and 1894, the rabbi was Leiba Berkovich Levitskiy. In 1873, two prayer houses were founded, and later, a third house of prayer was constructed. In the late 19th century, Sosnytsya county was already home to 4,000 Jews. There were 30 Jewish merchants and 542 burghers in the city. During the pogrom of November 15th-18th, 1905, 22 Jewish homes and a yeshiva were destroyed. In 1919, the Jewish community survived pogroms led by Petlura. According to the census in 1939, the town was home to 370 Jews. At the beginning of the war, most of the local Jews were unable to evacuate. Sosnytsya was occupied on September 8th, 1941. The first mass shooting took place on September 12th. The whole Jewish population of Sosnytsya was destroyed in 3 “actions” on November 10th, 1941 (66 Jews); November 16th, 1941 (100 Jews); and March 10, 1942 (100 Jews). The Jewish community of the Sosnytsya district was completely destroyed during the Holocaust. In total, over 300 Jewish residents were shot. The Jewish community was registered again in Sosnytsya in 1996. At the time 20 Jews lived there. In 2008, 6 Jews lived in Sosnytsya. As of 2014, the population was 7,695. The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. The oldest tombstone dates back to the early 20th century. It first appears on a Russian map from the second half of the 19th century and can be found, later, on another from 1939.