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Polohy Jewish Cemetery

Country

Ukraine

Region

Zaporizhya

District

Pologovskiy

Settlement

Polohy

Site address

From No.9 Peschany Lane, drive northeast for 60m, then turn left and continue for another 180m. Behind the church on the left hand side there is an entrance to the municipal cemetery. The Jewish section is on the right hand side.

GPS coordinates

47.496000, 36.254990

Perimeter length

226 мetres

Is the cemetery demolished

Type and height of existing fence

The entire territory of the cemetery, including the Jewish sector, is fenced off. The iron fence around the perimeter is approximately 1.7m high.

Preservation condition

Jewish section

General site condition

The territory of the cemetery is well-groomed. Some gravestones require clearing from dense vegetation. According to the museum there used to be a Synagogue in the town of Polohy, however there is only the cemetery nowadays. The cemetery is Orthodox, it has a Jewish sector. The museum has an old tombstone from this sector. Also in this museum (No. 10 Vodoprovodny lane) there are tombstones from 1902 & 1910 from the village of Chubarovka, Zaporozhye region.

Number of existing gravestones

There are approximately 500 gravestones. There are several Christian burials in the Jewish sector.

Date of oldest tombstone

1943 (the earliest tombstone found by ESJF).

Date of newest tombstone

2009 (the latest tombstone found by ESJF).

Urgency of erecting a fence

Fence is not needed

Land ownership

Municipality

Preserved construction on site

Drone surveys

Yes

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. Given that the oldest preserved tombstone dates to the mid 20th century, it can be gathered the Jewish sector was founded in that era. It cannot be found marked on old maps of the region.

Polohy (Ukr., Rus. Пологи, in 1933–38 Chubarivka, Ukr. Чубарівка, Rus. Чубарёвка) was established in the late 19th century when a railroad was built in the area. It is likely that Jews were among the first settlers. Polina Zhemchuzhina (Perl Krasovskaya, 1897–1910), a Soviet politician and the wife of the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, was born in Polohy. During the Soviet period, the Jewish population decreased from 706 in 1926 to 416 in 1939 (3% of the total population). After the Germans arrived in October 1941, most of the Jews who remained in Polohy were killed in the winter of 1941–42. According to the 2001 census, there were 12 Jews in Polohy and the neighbouring areas.

It is not known when exactly the cemetery was founded. The only remaining traditional-style gravetone, dating to 1910, is now at the local museum.