Zbarazh Old Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. Since it appears on cadastral maps of 1830, it can be assumed that the cemetery emerged in the early 19th century. It appears later on Wojskowy Instytut Geograficzny (WIG) maps of 1939. The cemetery was vandalised during WWII.

The Jews started to settle down in Zbarazh in the late 15th century. In the first half of the 17th century, a synagogue was built. The Jewish community of Zbarazh suffered the Khmelnytskyi massacres in 1648-49, Turkish occupation in 1675, and Haidamak raids of 1798. In 1765, 910 Jews were inhabitants of Zbarazh. In 1880, the Jewish population reached a peak of 3,768 (46,7% of the total population). In 1858–93, Ishiyagu Babad (1821–1893) fulfilled the duties of an Av Beit Din. Zbarazh became one of the earliest centres of Haskala in Galicia. In the early 20th century, the Hasidic court of Yom Tov-Lipman Geller (died in 1910) seated here. By the late 19th century and in the interwar period, various Zionist organizations were active. “Hazionim Hazaerim” was one of the first established Zionist group. In 1907, Hebrew school for over 500 students appeared. The number of Jewish residents dropped to 2982 (35,5% of the total population) in 1921. In 1931, 2870 Jews resided here. In the 1930s, a WIZO orphanage, a trade association and a Jewish bank operated. The thousands of the Jewish refugees arrived from Poland when WWII started. The Wehrmacht troops occupied the town on July 6, 1941. In September 1941, 76 Jews, mostly intellectuals, were executed in the Lubianki forest. In June 1942, nearly 600 Jews were shot. By the early autumn of 1942, the hundreds of Jews were deported to the Belzec extermination camp. After a ghetto establishing, thousands of Jews were sent to the Belzec extermination camp. The ghetto was liquidated on June 8, 1943.