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Jewish cemetery in Bershad, Ukraine

Bershad is a city in the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine, where Jews from the end of the 19th century to the end of the 1930s accounted for more than 70% of the population.

There are two Jewish cemeteries in the city. The old one operated in the 17th - 19th centuries. It is known for the fact that at the end of the 19th century, on one of the graves, researchers discovered an epitaph dedicated to the Jews who died in 1648.

This cemetery has preserved the division into male and female parts, as well as traditional matzevahs with inscriptions in Hebrew. The cemetery is in poor condition, but the local Jewish community is taking steps to preserve it. It created a website that contains photographs of about 500 graves in the old cemetery.

The new Jewish cemetery has been operating since the beginning of the 20th century. It is cataloged. More than 1,500 graves have been entered into the electronic register. 384 of these are completely or partially lacking chronological and anthroponymical data.

The earliest burials date back to the 1920s. These are the graves of Farstendikher Yitzhok Nakhmanovich (1876-1924) and Bogovol Ruhel Yakovlevna (she died in 1927). Late burials date back to the 21st century. These are the graves of Shvartsman Shiki Mordkovich (1934-2016) and Klyakhnadler Lev Borisovich (1933-2016).

The cemetery is interesting for the presence of various types of graves. Therefore, there are two burials on it, made in the form of a chopped off tree trunk. They belong to Talianskiy Grisha Menashevich (1946-1963) and Shoikhet Mikhail Iosifovich (1926-1965).

Noteworthy is the double burial, which indicates the origin of the deceased. There is an inscription on the tombstone: “Beinberg Rukhl Leibovna (1893-1941) from Edintsy. From grieving children and grandchildren." Below it is written: “Golenthal Leia (1881-1941) from Edintsy."

A collective burial with inscriptions in the Latin alphabet stands out. The names of nine people are listed on the tombstone: Burg Elias, Blucher Moses, David Baze, Berkovich Tsilya, Berkovich Moses, Brunwasser Leiser, Blucher Hani, Brunwasser Sara, David Gedalia. Epitaphs and chronological data are missing.

On a number of gravestones, inscriptions are made in Hebrew and Russian. For example, at the grave of Biler Avrukh Borukhovich (died in 1944), Angert Riva Mordukovna (died in 1969) and a number of others. There are burials on which the inscriptions are made exclusively in Russian. For example, the grave of Rybak Faina Mikhailovna (1915-1986).

On the grave of Zeltser Izya Benyumenievich, at the top of the tombstone there is an inscription: "For what?" Below are written anthroponymical data and chronological information detailed up to the day and month: “2.VIII. 1935 - 11.II. 1963 ".