» Articles » Jewish cemetery in Krychaw

Jewish cemetery in Krychaw

Jews have been settling in Krychaw since the 15th century. By the end of the 19th century, 2.5 thousand Jews lived here, who made up 38.6% of the local population. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city had 5 synagogues and a Jewish cemetery.

After 1918, all cemeteries became communal property. In 1927, the Jews of Krychaw and the regional executive committee clashed over the old Jewish cemetery. The regional authorities decided to give the territory of the cemetery for construction. On behalf of the community, Rabbi Leiba Eselev Krendel applied to leave the cemetery for the community. When the authorities rejected the request, the Jews drew up a second one. It proposed to create a park on the territory of the cemetery.

The regional authorities have transferred the land of the Krasny Kirpichnik artel for the construction of the plant. Construction began and did not stop even after the intervention of the regional authorities. To stop the work, local Jews went to extreme measures. They occupied the territory of the cemetery. As a result of the conflict, it came to a fight with the participation of the chairman of the district executive committee. Party organs from Mogilev intervened in the situation. An instructor from the regional executive committee was sent to Krychaw. He arranged an analysis of the situation at the district party and trade union meeting. Based on the results of his work, the authorities made a compromise decision. The cemetery was taken away from the artel, but not returned to the community. It was transferred to communal ownership.

Since the 1990s, not only Jews have been buried in the cemetery. The local population believed that if the graves were not looked after, they could be destroyed. Ancient monuments and fences were demolished and piled into a ditch near the cemetery. New graves appeared in their place. The Jews who remained in Krychaw protested against the destruction of the cemetery, but the authorities ignored the complaints.

In the cemetery, there are the remains of the premises where the ablution and farewell to the dead took place.

The burials of the Krychaw cemetery are cataloged. Three types of burials have survived here: pre-revolutionary, pre-war and post-war. Some old matzevahs have preserved inscriptions and symbols.

More than 260 graves are included in the catalog. Surnames have not survived on 42 monuments, and names can be read only partially. Of these, 11 burials date back to the 19th century. The earliest burial is dated 1820. Only the inscription "Urievna" has survived on it. The earliest grave, on which all the anthroponomical data have been preserved, belongs to Tubina Khana Batya Shmuel Khaimovna. The date of birth has not been preserved, but the date of burial is indicated - 1888.

One of the most recent burials belongs to Omerova Tsila Iosifovna (1919-2007).