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Velyka Kisnytsya Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Vinnytsia
District
Yampolsky
Settlement
Velyka Kisnytsya
Site address
Starting at 50 Yasenev street (formerly Kirov street), head north for 112 metres, at which point the cemetery can be found in the woods to the right of the road.
GPS coordinates
48.14859, 28.44183
Perimeter length
311 мetres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
There are visible remnants of a ruined masonry wall.
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is severely overgrown with trees and bushes. Fencing and cleaning are required
Number of existing gravestones
Approximately 100.
Date of oldest tombstone
1888 (the earliest tombstone found by ESJF).
Date of newest tombstone
1954 (the latest tombstone found by ESJF).
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Municipality
Preserved construction on site
According to locals, there is a pre-burial building on the site. The team were unable to locate it.
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

According to the Commission on the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, the cemetery was founded in the 18th century.

The village of Velyka Kisnytsya exists on maps dated back to 1650. Four Jews were present there in 1765, when the region belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In 1793, after the Second partition of Poland, it came under the control of the Russian Empire, and became a part of the Podolia Governorate (Podolskaya Gubernia).
In 1897, the Jewish population of Velyka Kisnytsya numbered 781, which was less than 15% of the total population of 5861, in 1897. In that period there were 2 Jewish prayer houses.
After 1922, Velyka Kisnytsya became a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR and in 1939, the Jewish population dropped to 164.
In 1941, a few Jews succeeded in fleeing to the East. Those who remained after the German occupation in July 1941 were murdered along with the other Jews of the region in the fall.
In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Velyka Kisnytsya became a part of the independent Ukraine.
The Jewish cemetery of Velyka Kisnytsya today contains around 100 tombstones, which date back to between the second half of the 19th until the first half of the 20th century.

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