Old Jewish cemeteries represent some of the most significant monuments of the material and spiritual culture of various Jewish sub-ethnic groups within the former Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire. Regrettably, most of these monuments are currently in a state of severe neglect. Consequently, the documentation and recording of surviving epitaphs and figurative material remain virtually the sole method of preserving these monuments for posterity. Efforts of this nature commenced over 30 years ago, yet the majority were never brought to completion. Only in recent years have several large-scale research projects been developed (specifically with the support of the EAJC), the continuation of which offers hope that this work, resulting in unique data that clarifies numerous issues in cultural studies, Jewish history, sociology, genealogy, literature, and other related subjects, will finally be accomplished.

The centuries-long history of various Jewish sub-ethnic groups in Ukraine has left behind numerous monuments of material and spiritual culture, with Jewish cemeteries being among the most significant. Regrettably, most old Jewish cemeteries are currently in an extremely precarious state. In addition to natural decay, the deliberate destruction of Jewish cemeteries was carried out both by German National Socialists during World War II in certain regions of Ukraine and, on a larger scale, by Soviet communists in the post-war period; this destruction continues. Virtually the only way to preserve these monuments for future generations is through their documentation and the recording of surviving epitaphs and figurative material. Attempts to catalog Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine began three decades ago, but the majority were never completed. Nonetheless, several large-scale research projects have been developed in recent years (notably with the support of the EAJC), the continuation of which provides hope that this work will ultimately be achieved.

The pioneer of Jewish cemetery research in Ukraine was the Karaite antiquarian Abraham Firkovich (1787–1874), who, starting in 1839, spent several decades studying the Crimean necropolises of Chufut-Kale, Mangup, as well as Yevpatoriya, Feodosia (Kaffa), and Staryi Krym (Solkhat). In 1872, he published 769 epitaphs, the oldest of which was dated by Firkovich to 6 CE.

Approximately 200 epitaphs from the cemetery in Chufut-Kale, several dozen from the Mangup cemetery, and a few epitaphs from other cemeteries were forged by Firkovich (mainly by altering dates to appear older) in order to prove to the Russian government that the ancestors of the Crimean Karaites arrived in Crimea prior to the Christian era and thus bore no "responsibility" for the crucifixion of Jesus. (It should be noted that Firkovich achieved his goal: all restrictions imposed on the Jewish population of the Russian Empire were lifted from the Karaites. Furthermore, the development of Firkovich's historical concepts by subsequent generations of Karaite national revival figures helped the Karaites avoid the tragic fate of European Jewry during the Shoah). Firkovich's discoveries sparked an intense and prolonged controversy, initiated by the prominent Russian Hebraists Daniel Chwolson and Albert Harkavy. In 1878 and 1881, Chwolson also conducted active fieldwork at the Chufut-Kale cemetery.

At the turn of the 20th century, continuing the traditions of the Jewish Enlightenment in studying the Jewish heritage of Eastern Europe, the first attempts were made to research the Jewish cemeteries of mainland Ukraine, including Berdychiv, Ostroh, Lviv, and other cities (notably, many of the inscriptions published during this period no longer exist). In the early 20th century, following the ethnographic expeditions of S. An-sky, artists S. Yudovin and M. Malkin published an album based on the material of carved and decorated Jewish tombstones in Ukraine. Subsequently, for several decades, the artist David Goberman studied and photographed Jewish tombstones in Ukraine and Moldova. Understandably, with the near-sole exception of D. Goberman, the study of Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine virtually ceased during the Soviet era (up until the late 1970s and early 1980s). During the interwar period, isolated studies continued on certain cemeteries in Galicia, which was then under Polish rule, particularly in Lviv and Halych.

Following the Shoah and the destruction of the majority of Jewish communities in Nazi-occupied territory, the vast majority of Jewish cemeteries fell into complete decay, and many were destroyed during the war and post-war periods. Only in the final years of Soviet rule did field research on Jewish cemeteries begin to revive. As in the 19th century, these efforts commenced in Crimea, where, with the support of the Mangup archaeological expedition led by A. Gertsen, occasional studies of the Chufut-Kale and Mangup cemeteries were conducted by M. Elizarova, N. Babalikashvili, E. Meshcherskaya, A. Khosroev, N. Kashovskaya, and M. Makushkin (Ezer).

In the 1980s, enthusiasts from the underground Jewish movement began organizing trips to Jewish cemeteries in Western Ukraine. With the collapse of the USSR and the establishment of Jewish universities, this work began to take on a systematic character. Between 1990 and 1997, the Petersburg Jewish University (since 1998, the Petersburg Institute of Jewish Studies) conducted a series of expeditions (with the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem becoming a partner from 1992 onward), led and actively joined by I. Dvorkin, B. Khaimovich, V. Dymshits, M. Nosonovsky, M. Bruk, and others. During these expeditions, virtually all of the most significant and oldest Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine, such as Medzhybizh, Sataniv, Vyshnivets, Bolekhiv, Brody, Buchach, Kremenets, and others, were partially documented. Although many valuable scholarly works have been published based on the expedition materials, a significant portion of the epigraphic data remains unpublished to this day.

In the mid-1990s, under the auspices of the Vaad of Ukraine, the first attempt was made to compile a database of all Jewish cemeteries in the country, but the results of this research also remained largely unpublished.

The Current Situation

The systematic study of Crimean Jewish cemeteries began in 1996. Between 2004 and 2009, a team of researchers and students, brought together by the International Center for Jewish Education and Field Research under the direction of A. Fedorchuk, completed a full description and cataloging of the oldest Jewish cemetery in Ukraine, located near the "cave city" of Chufut-Kale, 2 km from Bakhchysarai. The cemetery contains approximately 7,000 tombstones, of which about 3,420 bear epitaphs. The oldest surviving monuments date back to 1364 and 1387, while the most recent date to the 20th century (there are also several cenotaphs erected in the 21st century)[1]. The description of the region's second oldest cemetery, also located in Crimea near the "cave city" of Mangup, 17 km from Bakhchysarai, was initiated in the 1980s by M. Ezer (Makushkin) and N. Kashovskaya. This work was completed during expeditions in the early 21st century. The cemetery contains over 1,000 tombstones, 222 of which feature epitaphs dating from 1444 to 1777. Alongside epigraphic work, archaeological investigations of the Mangup Jewish quarter complex and urgent conservation work on the excavated synagogue complex have been conducted since the beginning of the 21st century. Between 2014 and 2018, despite challenges arising from the political situation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, including the issue of sovereignty over the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, annual expeditions to Mangup continued to monitor the site's condition. Starting in 2017, rescue and conservation measures were resumed, which, if completed, will preserve this unique archaeological site and highly significant tourist landmark.

Another region with few equals in Ukraine and Eastern Europe in terms of the number of partially or fully preserved Jewish cemeteries is Transcarpathia. This is due to several factors. Firstly, a large number of small rural communities developed in Transcarpathia during the 19th century (Transcarpathian Jews were frequently engaged in agriculture, forestry, etc.), almost each of which had its own cemetery. Many of these were located in relatively inaccessible areas, which shielded them from destruction in the post-war period. Secondly, during World War II, Transcarpathia was under Hungarian occupation, and no mass extermination of the Jewish population occurred on its territory. Deportations of the Jewish population only began in the spring of 1944, and a small number of Transcarpathian Jews (estimated at no more than 15,000 out of a pre-war population of over one hundred thousand) managed to survive. Most did not return to the region after the war and the subsequent annexation of Transcarpathia by the Soviet Union, but some did return, and Jewish life continued in several towns and villages during the Soviet period. Finally, many surviving Transcarpathian Jews and their descendants visited their ancestral homes after Ukraine declared independence, and in several instances funded the restoration, fencing, and maintenance of the cemeteries.

Between 2010 and 2015, under the auspices and support of the "Lo Tishkach" project (2010–2011) and the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative (ESJF, 2015; coordinated by Y. Yanover), as well as with the support of the Vaad of Ukraine and the EAJC, five expeditions were conducted under the direction of A. Fedorchuk, during which over 200 cemeteries in the Zakarpattia Oblast were documented. (18th-century tombstones survive in Vynohradiv, including at the grave of Rabbi Yitzhak Baruch, father of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad, as well as in Lypcha, Berehove, and Uzhhorod, while 19th-century tombstones survive in more than 150 towns, settlements, and villages).

The study of Transcarpathian Jewish cemeteries has provided researchers with unique material, allowing them to address long-debated questions regarding the timing and presumptive pathways of the emergence of Jewish communities in the region. For instance, epigraphic data does not support the "Sephardic" theory, which suggests that Sephardic Jews appeared in Transcarpathia as early as the 17th century during Ottoman rule in Transylvania, nor does it confirm written records of Jewish communities in the first half of the 18th century. However, it does provide detailed indirect corroboration of the limited written sources regarding two main migration waves in the second half of the 18th and 19th centuries: from the mid-18th century to the Transcarpathian plains from the central regions of the Kingdom of Hungary (which had been under Austrian Habsburg rule since 1526), and across the Carpathians from Galicia after its annexation to the Habsburg Empire following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, when the border between Transcarpathia and Galicia became porous for nearly a century and a half. Epigraphic sources suggest that Jewish migration from Galicia at the end of the 18th century initially proceeded along the primary trade route through the Verecke Pass, then through the Wyszków (Torun) and Uzhok passes (in the west of the region), and apparently only closer to the mid-19th century did movement begin through the Yablunytsia Pass (in the east).

Another crucial region for the study and preservation of Jewish monuments, and the commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust, is Northern Bukovina and Northern Bessarabia, where two expeditions led by A. Fedorchuk were conducted in the summer of 2016 under the auspices and support of the Vaad of Ukraine. During these expeditions in the Chernivtsi Oblast, 88 sites in 65 settlements were surveyed. Among them were 35 Jewish cemeteries (5 of which had been demolished), 50 mass grave sites, and 3 villages with isolated Jewish graves (Bochkivtsi, Kamyanka, Petrychanka). In the cemetery of Sadgora (now within the city limits of Chernivtsi), 18th-century tombstones have survived, and 19th-century tombstones remain in another 24 cemeteries. The existence of other demolished cemeteries cannot be ruled out, though our searches have not yet yielded results. Commemorative markers must be erected at the sites of demolished cemeteries (as has been done in Vyzhnytsia and Berehomet). Ten cemeteries are almost completely overgrown. In Kitsman, the cemetery is located in the courtyard of multi-story residential buildings and is used as a dumping ground, while in Verenchanka, three surviving matzevot are located among graves in a later Orthodox Christian cemetery.

In August 2016, an expedition led by B. Khaimovich as part of the "Jewish Galicia and Bukovina" project (executive director I. Lurie) conducted cataloging work on the Jewish cemetery in Vyzhnytsia. During this expedition, more than 2,000 tombstones were documented, the oldest dating back to 1863.

The study of Jewish cemeteries in the Chernivtsi Oblast has provided researchers with significant material to complement our understanding of the region's Jewish history. The cemeteries of major Hasidic centers—Sadgora and Vyzhnytsia—as well as Khotyn, are of the greatest interest. It must be noted that the Chernivtsi Oblast was established in 1940 following the Soviet occupation of several Romanian regions, combining the northern areas of Bukovina, northern Bessarabia, and the Hertsa region. Therefore, to construct a more detailed picture of Jewish migrations in these areas, the results must be compared with epigraphic data from cemeteries in Southern Bukovina (Romania) and adjacent districts of Bessarabia (Moldova).

From both a scientific and public perspective, the description and finalization of the database of Jewish cemeteries in Ukrainian Galicia (requiring the completion of cemetery documentation in the Ternopil and Lviv Oblasts), as well as Transcarpathia, Northern Bukovina, and Northern Bessarabia, remains an urgent priority. More than 10 cemeteries in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil Oblasts were fully documented under the direction of B. Khaimovich between 2006 and 2018 as part of the "Jewish Galicia and Bukovina" project. In the summer of 2017, under the auspices and support of the Vaad of Ukraine, two expeditions led by A. Fedorchuk were conducted, surveying 101 sites in 52 settlements of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast: 53 Jewish cemeteries (25 of which had been demolished) and 48 mass grave sites. 17th-century tombstones have survived in Bolekhiv, Solotvyn, Yabloniv, and Rohatyn; 18th-century tombstones in an additional 13 cemeteries; and 19th-century tombstones in another 8. In April–June 2018, I. Yurchenko documented the Jewish cemetery in Burshtyn and is currently preparing a catalog of this cemetery for publication. In the summer of 2018, I. Yurchenko, in collaboration with M. Nosonovsky, published a catalog of the Rabbanite cemetery in Halych. Under the direction of M. Osborn, research on the Jewish cemeteries of Rohatyn has also continued in recent years. Finally, in July 2018, an expedition led by K. Malakhova and A. Fishel was conducted under the auspices and support of the Vaad of Ukraine, with the objective of documenting and cataloging the Jewish cemetery in Berezhany (Ternopil Oblast).

In terms of historical data, the 17th-century cemeteries of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast represent the greatest interest. Specifically, the oldest tombstones in the Bolekhiv cemetery provide evidence that a Jewish community emerged in the town at the very dawn of its history (Bolekhiv received town status in 1612). The Bolekhiv cemetery contains the graves of several prominent figures from the town's Jewish community, including the memoirist and translator Dov Ber Birkenthal (1723–1805), as well as his wife, whose epitaph was apparently composed by Dov Ber himself. The Karaite cemetery in Halych is also of significant interest as one of the few surviving Karaite cemeteries in Eastern Europe; comparing its material with epigraphic data from Chufut-Kale, Mangup, and Trakai (Lithuania) offers crucial insights into the history of Eastern European Karaite communities.

Thus, the study and recording of Jewish tombstones in Ukraine and other regions of the former Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire provide researchers with unique data that helps clarify numerous questions of Jewish history, particularly regarding migration patterns. The epitaphs also contain valuable genealogical information (including details about prominent figures in Jewish history). Some epitaphs represent fascinating literary monuments that remain largely understudied. Furthermore, the carvings on the tombstones serve as unique examples of Jewish decorative art. The vast volume of Jewish epitaphs allows for their application in various sociological studies.

Regrettably, the destruction of Jewish cemeteries is an ongoing process. In many cases, the sole method of preserving the unique monuments that have survived to this day is to record them in the greatest possible detail. Compiling a comprehensive database of the Jewish cemeteries of Ukraine remains a paramount research objective, the completion of which, given the necessary resources, is entirely feasible in the coming years.

[1]Fedorchuk A., Shapira D., Vasyutinsky-Shapira D. Tombstone Inscriptions from the Jewish-Karaite Cemetery of Cufut-Qal’eh, the Crimea. Vol. I: The Oldest and Forged Inscriptions. Leiden, 2020, forthcoming.