Staryy Ostropil Old Jewish Cemetery
Cemetery Information
Historical overview
The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. It appears on old maps from the end of the 19th century. There are no preserved gravestones older than early 20th century. There are revived borders of a mass grave of the victims of the Khmelnytsky Uprising dated to the mid-17th century, so it can be assumed that the Jewish cemetery existed during that period. The fence was installed by the Ohalei Tzadikim — Gader Avot union in 2014.
The Jews of Staryy Ostropil’ suffered in the Khmelnytskyi massacres in 1648. A wooden synagogue, built in the 17th century, preserved till the early 20th. A Yiddish prankster and a badchen (comedian) of Tzaddik Boruch of Medzhybizh, Hershele Ostropoler was born here in 1757. In 1765, 122 Jews resided in Staryy Ostropil’. According to the census of 1897, there were 2,714 Jewish residents (36% of the total population). A Talmud-Torah and Jewish private vocational school were in operation in 1910. The Jewish population declined to 1,325 in 1926 and continued to decrease to 1,063 in 1939. A Jewish rural council and elementary school functioned under the Soviets. On July 10, 1941, the Wehrmacht occupied the town. In late June 1942, 581 Jews of Staryy Ostropil’ were executed in Starokostyantyniv together with the Jews from other districts. The remnants (73 people) were expelled to Lubar in Zhytomyr district, where they were murdered.