Voznesensk Old Jewish Cemetery

According to local historian Boris Sokolov, the Jewish cemetery in Voznesens’k appeared in a second half of the 19th century. During WWII, it was destroyed and the gravestones were used by Germans for construction of the Bolgarskiy bridge over the river Mertvovod. It is possible that the Voznesens’k New Jewish cemetery developed out of a part of the town’s old Jewish cemetery.

Jews supposedly began to settle in Voznesens’k after the Russian-Turkish wars, in late 18th until the early 19th century. In 1863, 778 Jews were living in Voznesens’k. In 1863, a synagogue was operating. The Jewish population had reached 5,932 (38% of the total population) in 1897. In 1909, two government schools for boys and girls, as well as a Talmud Tora were functioning. Seven synagogues were operating in the city in 1910. In 1925, seven Jewish families from Voznesens’k founded the Jewish farming society in the region of Kherson. The Jewish population numbered 6,177 in 1920, but decreased to 2,843 in 1939. Nazi troops occupied Voznesens’k on August 6, 1941. During the period of occupation, 3,174 people from the region were executed, most of whom were Jewish. There was a Jewish population in Voznesens’k after WWII. Today, the Jewish community of the town numbers 48 people.