THE JEWISH CEMETERY OF BERDICHEV

(Courtesy: JewishGen)

BERDICHEV:
It is now be possible to correctly delineate the Berdichev Jewish cemetery boundaries. The extensive cemetery is bounded on the west by the major highway that leads N from the city; on the N by a road; on the S by the railroad right-of-way. Primarily on the eastern side of the cemetery, numerous garages have been built, desecrating the cemetery. While construction work on the garages is ostensibly frozen, work continues, without permission. Bones are still regularly unearthed. The cemetery urgently needs to be marked and fenced. Construction material and unfinished garages should be removed. Then, over time, the functioning garages could be relocated one by one and the cemetery returned. Source: Samuel Gruber in US Commission report.

US Commission No. UA.05020102
Alternative names: Yiddish-Berdichev, German-Bardichev, Polish-Berdichov, and Ukrainian-Berdycsow. Berdichev at 49º54' 28º35', 43 km from Zhitomir, 174 km from Kiev, and 32 km from Vinnitsa. Present town population is 25,000-100,000. The cemetery is located in the central part of the town at bottom part of Shevchenko Park in Zhitomirskaya Oblast .The present Jewish population is 100-1000.

- Town: town soviet, Oktyabrskaya Square, 1; Chairman. Khiluk Alexei Alexeevich, tel.: (04143) 2-01-58, 2-22-55. - Town soviet, Center of Municipal Enterprises, Berdichev, Krasnin St., 3, tel. (243) 2-61-93.
- Berdichev Jewish Community, chairman: Ella Elgunovna Vainshelboim, tel.: 2-55-25 (home). Rabbi Shlomo   Braier, Berdichev Jewish community, Vorovskiy St., 3, tel.: (04143) 2-39- 38.
- Regional: Community of Historical - Monuments Security, Zhitomir, Mikhailovskaya St., 10a; Chairman Borisuk   N.E. tel.: (0412) 37-08-07
- State Archive of Zhitomir Region, Zhitomir, 8 Marta St., 20, tel.: (8-22) 24-45-27.
- Morokova Nataliya Borisovna, secretary of "Books of the Memory", tel.: 2-47-42. State Archive of Zhitomir   Region, Zhitomir, 8 Marta St., 20, tel.: (8-41) 24-45-27.

The 18th cemetery is unlocked with no caretaker. The earliest mention about Jewish community in the town is 1593. 1926 Jewish population was 30812. Struggles in 1919 effected community. Persons of note of the town: Rabbi Elnezer Liber 'Great' (died in 1771), Tzadik Levi Itskhak (died in 1809); cantor Abras Iegoshua; Khazan Pitsi (1829-1883); band-master David Novakevskiy (1848-1921; prose writer Iliya Severtsev Vaisfeld (born in 1912); writer Mendels Moikher-Sforim /Sholom-Yakov Abramovich (1836-1917); banker Izrail Galperin. Mendels Moikher-Sforim /Sholom-Yakov Abramovich (1836-1917); banker Izrail Galperin. Cantor Yakov Bakhman (1846-1905); composer Viktor Beli (1904-1983); literary man Neyakh Prilutskiy (died in 1941); violinist Avraam-Moishe Kholodenko Pedotser (1828-1902); Vladimir Horovits (1904-1989); Soviet Union Hero Polina Gelman (born in 1919); writer Grossman Vasilii (1905-1964). The last known Jewish burial in the Orthodox not land-marked cemetery was in 19th c. The cemetery location is urban, on a plain, and isolated with no sign or marker. It may be reached by crossing Shevchenko Park. Access is open to all. There is only a general park fence with no gate and a fence around the Elnezer Liber's flat concrete grave).

The cemetery size before the World War II was about 10,000 square meters. Now, its size is 16 square meters. There is only one gravestone on the cemetery, in its original location. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem that prevents access. Drainage in the cemetery is good year round. No known mass graves. Present owner of the cemetery property is municipality. The cemetery property at present is used as a park, bordered to residential area (Lenin St., Shevchenko St., 9 Yanvarya St.), and is smaller than in 1939 because of building of Shevchenko Park in 1932. The cemetery is visited rarely by local citizens. The cemetery was vandalized before World War II. Jewish groups within the country and foreign Jewish groups are responsible for restoration in 1990s (reerecting stone). At present, occasionally persons clean the cemetery. Within the cemetery are pavilions and subsidiary structures of the park area.

Very serious threat: vandalism and incompatibility with the present park. After the World War II, the different recreational entertainment things, pavilions and other structures, were built. The cemetery stones were took away. Slight threat: erosion, pollution and vegetation overgrowth.
Leonid Kogan, Novograd-Volynskiy, Lenin St 107, fl. 42, tel.: (04141) 5-42-59 completed the survey 18 August 1996. Documentation: Jewish Encyclopaedia and map of Evpatoria city (Simferopol, 1995). He visited the site on 15 August 1996 and interviewed Skoblitskiy Efim Gershkovich, Vorovskiy St, 15, fl.8, tel.: (8-243) 2-34-36.

BERDICHEV II: US Commission No. UA05020101.
The last known Jewish burial was in the 1990s. The Jewish community was Hasidic and Progressive/Reform. No other towns or villages used this isolated, urban, flat land with no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a Lenin St., access is open to all via a continuous fence with a non-locking gate. 501 to 5000 stones, most in original location and 50%-75% of the surviving stones toppled or broken date from the 18th century. Location of removed stones is unknown. Some tombstones have traces of painting on their surfaces, portraits on stones and/or metal fences around graves. The municipality owns the property used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are commercial or industrial. The cemetery boundaries are unchanged since 1939. The cemetery is visited occasionally by organized Jewish group tours or pilgrimage groups and local residents. The cemetery was vandalized occasionally in the last 10 years.

Now, there is occasional clearing or cleaning by individuals. Within the limits of the cemetery are other structures. Vegetation overgrowth is a constant problem, disturbing graves. Water drainage is a seasonal problem. Moderate threat: vegetation, existing and proposed nearby development. Slight threat: uncontrolled access, weather erosion, pollution and vandalism.
Hodorkovskiy Yuriy Isaakovich of Kiev, Vozduhoflotskiy prosp.,37a.apt.23 [ph: (044)2769505] visited the site and completed the survey on 8/23/94. No interviews were conducted for this survey.

BERDICHEV III: US Commission No. UA.05020103
The unlocked 1972 cemetery is located in the SW part of the town at Voikov St. 98. The caretaker is Pukhanskiy Valerii Viktorovich. Work address and phone number: Berdichev, Voikov St, 98, tel.: (243) 2-50-70. The last known Orthodox Jewish burial was 1996. The unlandmarked isolated suburban site, part of municipal cemetery, has no sign or marker. It may be reached by turning directly off the road. Access is open to all. A continuous fence and gate with no lock surround the 108,000 square meters. There are 500-5000 gravestones on the cemetery. The oldest gravestone is dated 1973. The 20th century marble, granite, iron and labradorit gravestones are finely smoothed and inscribed stones, double graves, or sculptured monuments with traces of paint on their surfaces, portraits, and/or metal fences around graves.

Inscriptions are in Yiddish and Russian. No known mass graves. The municipality owns the property. The cemetery property at present is a non-sectarian cemetery with mainly non-Jewish graves but with a separated Jewish part. Agricultural and residential areas and the highway to Zhitintsy border the cemetery. The cemetery is visited from occasionally by private visitors. The cemetery has never been vandalized. Stones re-erection and vegetation clearing by local municipal authorities and Jews who live within the country has been done since the 1970s. The government pays the caretaker. Within the cemetery are a well and other subsidiary structures. Slight threat: safety, pollution, vegetation overgrowth, and vandalism.
Leonid Kogan, Novograd-Volynskiy, Lenin St 107, fl. 42, tel.: (04141) 5-42-59 completed the survey 18 August 1996. Documentation: map of Evpatoria city (1990). He visited the site on 15 August 1996 and interviewed Skoblitskiy Efim Gershkovich, Vorovskiy St, 15, fl.8, tel.: (8-243) 2-34-36.

BERDICHEV IV: US Commission No. UA.05020501br
The 1941 mass gravesite is located in central part of the town in the area of the former Carmelite monastery. Access is open to all with no caretaker. The unlandmarked and isolated urban, hilltop has no sign or marker. It may be reached by entering the monastery area gate. There is continuous fence but no gate. Current size is 240 square meters. One 1950s granite finely smoothed and inscribed memorial with traces of paint on its surface and a metal fence around the memorial is on the mass burial site. The Ukrainian inscription reads "960 Soviet citizens-victims of German-fascist terror are buried here: 1941-1943". Some separate gravestones are dedicated to Holocaust victims. Present owner of the site is municipality, a non-sectarian cemetery with mainly Jewish graves, bordering a residential area and museum-reserve area (ex-monastery). The mass gravesite is visited occasionally by organized groups, private visitors, and local citizens. The site never was vandalized since its creation. The monument was created in the 1950's. At present, authorities sometimes clean the mass burial site with no structures. Slight threat: safety, erosion, pollution, vegetation overgrowth and vandalism.

Leonid Kogan, Novograd-Volynskiy, Lenin St 107, fl. 42, tel.: (04141) 5-42-59 completed the survey 17 August 1996. Documentation: 1. Acts of Commission on Investigation of German-fascist actions of April 1944 (State Archive of Zhitomir Region, Fond 2636, inventory 1, file 9); 2. Map of the town (Vinnitsa, 1990); and 3. S. Elisavetskiy "Berdichev Tragedy" (K., 1991). Leonid Kogan, Novograd-Volynskiy, Lenin St 107, fl. 42, tel.: (04141) 5-42-59 visited the site on 15 August 1996 and interviewed Elisavetskiy Ster Yakovlevich, Iskrevskaya St, 3, fl. 6.

BERDICHEV V: US Commission No. UA.05020502
Cemetery: Elling, 4 km S of the town and 1.5 km west of the highway to Vinnitsa. The unlocked Orthodox non-landmarked cemetery has no caretaker. The isolated rural (agricultural) plain has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing tank-training area, access is open to all. There is continuous fence and no gate. The cemetery did not exist before the World War II. Current size is 100 square meters. Only one memorial marker, in original location, exists with metal fence around it. The labradorit, finely smoothed and inscribed (Russian) gravestone dates from the 1980s, reading "Russian Soviet citizens who died because of Fascist executioners, 1941-1944". There are some separate graves dedicated to Holocaust victims. There are marked mass graves on the cemetery. Present owner of the non-sectarian but mainly non-Jewish cemetery property is municipality.

The cemetery borders a residential area and a tank-training area. The cemetery is visited rarely by organized groups, private visitors and local citizens. The cemetery has never been vandalized. At present, authorities sometimes clean the cemetery. Within the cemetery are no structures. Moderate threat: safety and vegetation overgrowth. Slight threat: erosion, pollution, vandalism and incompatible planned building.
Leonid Kogan, Novograd-Volynskiy, Lenin St 107, fl. 42, tel.: (04141) 5-42-59 completed the survey 18 August 1996. Documentation: Acts of the Commission on Investigation of Fascism Actions (April 1944) -State Archive of Zhitomir Region; Fond 2636, inventory 1, file 9, S. Elisavetskiy 'Berdichev tragedy' (K. 1991). He visited the site on 16 August 1996 and interviewed Elisavetskiy Ster Yakovlevich, Iskrevskaya St, 3, fl. 6.

BERDICHEV VI: US Commission No. UA.05020503
The unlocked 1941 landmarked mass gravesite is located at W outskirts of the town, near the brick factory, 300 m N of highway to Khmelnik with no caretaker. The mass gravesite is listed in reference book "Monuments of History and Culture of USSR" (Kiev, 1987). The isolated suburban plain has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off the road, access is open to all with no wall, fence, or gate. Current size is 0.01 hectares. The 1983 granite memorial marker, inscribed in Ukrainian, is in original location. Present owner of the site is municipality. The mass grave property at present is used only as Jewish cemetery and is bordered by a field and brick factory. The site is visited rarely by organized groups and private visitors and never has been vandalized. Care includes erecting the stones and clearing the vegetation by local municipal authorities in 1983. No current care, caretaker, or structures. Moderate threat: safety, pollution and vandalism. Slight threat: erosion, vegetation overgrowth and incompatible building.

Leonid Kogan, Novograd-Volynskiy, Lenin St 107, fl. 42, tel.: (04141) 5-42-59 completed the survey 26 February 1997. Documentation: Acts of the Commission on Investigation of Fascism Actions (April 1944)-State Archive of Zhitomir Region-Fond 2636, inventory 1, file 9; S. Elisavetskiy "Berdichev Tragedy" (K. 1991). He visited the site on 20 February 1997 and interviewed Kozachuk Nikolai Mefodievich, Berdichev, Uliyanovoi St, 59.

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