Home - Surveys - Ukraine - Zaporizhya

Velyka Znamyanka Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Zaporizhya
District
Kamensko-Dneprovsky
Settlement
Velyka Znamyanka
Site address
Behind No.138 Moskovs’ka street.
GPS coordinates
47.45925, 34.34169
Perimeter length
It was not possible to ascertain the perimeter, since no one had heard of the cemetery.
Is the cemetery demolished
yes
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is demolished, the territory is not fenced.
Preservation condition
Demolished Jewish cemetery that has not been built over
General site condition
The cemetery is covered with dense seasonal vegetation. A stone cross is visible. The cemetery is demolished. The location of the cemetery has been determined according to the KSEN data. None of the locals knew anything about the Jewish cemetery. Locals remembered the old German cemetery (it was demolished, and the tombstones were reburied by relatives), the old Orthodox Christian cemetery and the Scythian one. Nobody knew anything about Jewish burials. On the maps of the 19th century, a cemetery is recorded here.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved.
Date of oldest tombstone
N/A
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
State
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
No

Historical overview

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. According to the Commission on the Preservation of Jewish Heritage (KSEN), after the construction of the reservoir in the 1950s, some ashes and matzevot were transferred by relatives to the city of Nikopol (Dniepropetrovs’k region). Several surviving matzevot were found in the water near the coast at a decent depth. It is marked on maps from the 19th century.

The village of Velyka Znamyanka had a Jewish prayer house as of 1885. The Jewish population stood at 205 (1% of the total population) in 1910, but dropped to 21 in 1939. During the German occupation, 9 Jews were murdered at the beginning of 1942.

The cemetery was submerged in water when the Kakhovka Reservoir was created in 1956, thus its location cannot be established with total certainty. It is not known when exactly the cemetery was founded. The Encyclopedia of Russian Jewry mentions that it already existed in 1910. According to the 1994–95 survey of the Jewish Preservation Committee (KSEN), some of the remains and the tombstones were transferred to Nikopol.

Back to the map