Old Jewish cemetery in Vinnytsia
According to the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS), the Jewish cemetery in the Old City near Zamkova Hora hill (literally Castle Hill) was founded around 1727, and did not appear on official maps of the Russian Empire until the 1900s.
This is the oldest cemetery in the city, owned by the once local Jewish community, is included in the US list of cultural heritage sites. The reason is that it is said to be the burial place of the world famous Jewish sage Yisrael-Isser ben Zeev-Wolf, who died in 1829. He is the author of the book "Shaar Mishpat" ("The Gates of the Law"), which is still used in various Jewish religious educational institutions.
During the Second World War, the Germans carried out executions of the Jewish population of Vinnytsia on the territory of the cemetery. In October 1949, the cemetery was officially closed for burials.
Today, in fact, only a part of the Jewish cemetery remains. The rest of the territory is either built up (a kindergarten is located) or used by local residents as vegetable gardens. On one of them there is a white obelisk with an inscription in Russian and Hebrew that the Jewish cemetery of the city of Vinnytsia is located here.
And although quite a lot of matzevahs have been preserved in the cemetery (according to some estimates, about 500), most of them are dumped into separate piles, and some are scattered around the territory. Most of the available tombstones date back to the 19th century - the first half of the 20th century. There is also an ohel in the cemetery.
The cemetery belongs to the city council, has fences, is locked and guarded. The length of the perimeter is about 900 meters.