jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and mass grave sites in ukraine

‣ Cemeteries with no in situ gravestones, but where the boundaries have been determined
through research and the site has been cleared and fenced. Examples include Komarno and Sasiv
(Lvivska oblast). In both cases, new ohels have been erected on the presumed sites of earlier
structures (ohels are small permanent structures built to protect special graves, traditionally
reserved for graves of venerated rabbis and scholars). In Belz (Lvivska oblast), some stones
have been raised and others lie in the field (figure 46). No ohel has been built, but the site is
fenced.
‣ Cemeteries where substantial numbers of original gravestones clearly indicate the sites as
a Jewish cemetery, but no protective measures are taken to preserve the site. Examples of such
places include Busk (Lvivska oblast) (figures 4, 5, 50), Deliatyn (Ivano-Frankivska oblast), and
Sataniv (Khmelnytska oblast).
‣ Cemeteries where substantial numbers of gravestones remain, and all or part of the
original cemetery has in some way been fenced or protected. Such sites include Brody (Lvivska
oblast), Medzhybizh (Khmelnytska oblast) (figures 11, 45) and Ternopil (Ternopilska oblast).
‣ The troubled history of Ukrainian Jewish cemeteries is perhaps typified by the fate of the
cemetery in Ostroh (Rivnenska oblast). The old Jewish cemetery survived the Second World
War, only to be demolished by the Soviets in 1961 to make way for a dance hall, which was later
demolished after independence. Now, the site is a landscaped park with memorials and a single
grave memorializing Solomon Luria (see note 46). A simple elegant entry gate leads to a
memorial stone, inscribed in Yiddish and Ukrainian (figure 49).
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