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Zhornyshche Old Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Ukraine
Region
Vinnytsia
District
Ilyinetsky
Settlement
Zhornyshche Old
Site address
The cemetery is located at 1 Mira Street.
GPS coordinates
49.06876, 29.08434
Perimeter length
555 мetres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is located in the backyard of 1 Mira Street. The house itself is fenced, but the yard is not.
Preservation condition
Unfenced Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is located on a slope. It is covered with seasonal vegetation. Domestic animals graze on the site. The cemetery is located on private land belonging to the homeowner of 1 Mira Street. According to the homeowner, over the past few years, many of the tombstones which are partially embedded in the ground have become visible. The owner attempts to look after the cemetery, but it is difficult. Apparently there are parties interested in restoring the cemetery.
Number of existing gravestones
Approximately 10 stones. The stones are difficult to locate among the bushes.
Date of oldest tombstone
1905 (the only legible tombstone).
Date of newest tombstone
N/A
Urgency of erecting a fence
High
Land ownership
Private
Preserved construction on site
According to the homeowner there are plans to build a Tziyun on the site.
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

According to the Commission on the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, the cemetery was established in the second half of the 18th century. The house on the cemetery site was built in the 1930s.

Zhornyshche was apparently established in the first half of the 15th century. From 1569 the region belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Jews began living in Zhornyshche in the late 17th century. In 1768 the Jews of Zhornyshche suffered from attacks by the Haidamaks and, as a result, the Jewish population of the town was severely reduced. The significant growth of the Jewish population in Zhornyshche started in the 19th century, when in 1793, after the Second partition of Poland, it came under the control of the Russian Empire, and became a part of the Kiev Governorate (Kievskaya Gubernia). In 1847, the Jewish communnity of Zhornyshche numbered 887 members, in 1897, the Jewish population comprised almost 30% of the town: 1040 of 3518. In 1865, there were 2 synagogues, a stone one and a wooden one. In 1909 a Jewish school operated.
The Jews of Zhornyshche suffered greatly during the revolutionary years and the civil war in Russia and in mid November 1917 there was a pogrom in town.
After 1922, Zhornyshche became a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. The Soviet rules brought changes to the occupational structure of Jews. Many of them were integrated into food processing and food distribution networks. Many younger Jews left town in search of vocational and educational opportunities. In 1926 the 996 Jews living in Zhornyshche comprised 21.8% of its total population. From the mid-1920s to the late-1930s there was a 4-year Yiddish school in Zhornyshche.
Zhornyshche was occupied by the Germans in July 1941 and a ghetto was established there. Most inmates were shot to death or perished due to deprivation.
In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zhornyshche became a part of the independent Ukraine.
The old Jewish cemetery of Zhornyshche is almost totally demolished and built over. Its remains can be found in the backyard of a private house.

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