Zarichanka Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. According to the research by the IAJGS the tombstones dated back to 1860 on the cemetery but in 2019 they were not detected by ESJF surveyors team. The cemetery appears on Russian maps from the 1880s so it can be assumed that it emerged during that period.

In the 16th century, the organised Jewish community existed. In 1765, 609 Jews lived in Zarichanka. In the 1750s, the Polish career of Jacob Frank began from Zarichanka (former Lanckoroń). Here, in one of a private houses the followers of Frank danced around a naked woman, who symbolized the Torah in one of interpretations. In the late 18th – early 19th century, the community has been affected by epidemics. In 1867, four synagogues and a Jewish cemetery operated. In 1847, the Jewish population numbered 939, and swelled twice to figure of 1,893 (50% of the total) in 1897. Jewish children received education in a local heder, which functioned in the late 19th century. The first forerunner of the Zionist movement in Zarichanka was a Zionist circle (headed by I. Bronstein), which acted illegally from 1911. In 1913, five synagogues were in operation. In the 1920s, the Zionist cells “Ge-Halutz” and “Forein” were active, as well as the Zionist organizations “Yalde Zion” and “Ha-Tsofe” (in 1925). The magazine “OSM” was distributed. А Jewish school with a reading room, educational program, and drama circle functioned. In 1926, a Jewish council and a Jewish court were created. In 1923, 1,578 Jews resided in Zarichanka and this figure reduced to 915 Jews in 1939. The Jewish population of Zarichanka were deported to the Kamyanets’-Podil’skyy ghetto where they were executed.