Zolochiv Old Jewish Cemetery

The first mention of the Zolochiv Old Jewish cemetery dates from the 17th century. It was marked on maps from the 1860s and 1880, but not on one from 1939. Presumably, the cemetery was demolished before WWII and built over later.

A synagogue, which was reconstructed after a fire of 1727, was built by the first Jewish settlers of Zolochiv in 1613. From that time it can be presumed that the Jewish community had emerged in the town. A mikva and a cemetery also functioned in the first half of the 17th century. 1,380 Jewish residents lived in Zolochiv in 1765. Hasidism gained followers among the local Jewish community during the 19th century. The Jewish population had increased to 5,086, around half of the total population of the city, by 1890. Jewish overseas charitable organisations helped reconstruct Zolochiv after the fire of 1903. WWI did not negatively affect the Jewish population, which numbered 5,744 (52% of the total population) in 1921. The Zionist movement was well-integrated in the political life of the community in the interwar period. It was occupied by the Wehrmacht on July 2, 1941. From the beginning of the occupation, the mass executions as well as a pogrom claimed thousands of Jewish lives. In late August and early November, 1942, nearly 4,500 Jews were deported to the extermination camp Belzec. On December 1, 1942, a ghetto was created for around 4,000 local Jews and those from surrounding villages. It was liquidated in early April 1943, and 3,500 Jews were shot. In 2006, a memorial was erected on the place of the mass shootings.