jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and mass grave sites in ukraine

secure walls or fences, and descriptive or commemorative markers. They are subject to natural
deterioration, theft, vandalism, and land development. Many have already been encroached upon
for industrial, agricultural, residential, or recreational use. They remain imperiled by further
development.
The state of Jewish cemeteries and mass burial sites has become worse in recent years. The main
problems are obliteration and vandalism. For example, visitors to the Jewish cemetery in Khust
(Zakarpatska oblast) were shocked to find over eighty gravestones vandalized – an apparently
recent act. 47 Not all of the vandalism, however, is the result of any overt anti-Semitic action. It
is more often due to the removal of gravestones for household needs.
In most cases, there is no care whatsoever for Jewish cemeteries. Only where there is a Jewish
community or perhaps several Jewish people in the village (extremely rare cases) is there some
care for the cemetery or mass burial site. For example, such care is provided in Mohyliv-
Podilskyj and Bershad (both in the Vinnytska oblast). In the village of Ternivka (also Vinnytska
oblast), there is only one elderly Jewish resident (Haim Mikhaylovich Stein). Despite his age, he
takes care of a mass grave where 2,300 people are buried. In Lvivska oblast, where many
historic cemeteries are located, Meylakh Sheykhet, director of the Lviv-based Union Council of
Soviet Jews Ukrainian-American Human Rights Bureau, has organized private caretakers for
many cemeteries. Payment for these services is collected from private international donors.
In some places, there are enthusiasts who try to keep the memory of Holocaust victims alive.
For example, in the village of Pochapyntsi (Cherkaska oblast), there is a history teacher (Mikhail
Teofanovich Lavrega) who has organized local students to search for mass burial sites and take
care of them. These instances, are the exception to the rule.
47 Letter from Rabbi Joseph Weber to then Commission Chairman Michael Lewan, March 16, 1998. “On a recent
trip to visit the gravesite of our grand rabbi’s holy ancestor at the city of Chust, we were shocked to see the
vandalism that took place there…The local residents …claim that no action was taken, neither by the local police
nor by city authorities to apprehend the vandals, and no criminal investigation was instituted…”
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