Historic Jewish Cemetery In Ukraine Desecrated by Farmer

Police in Ukraine have opened an investigation after a local farmer destroyed a 19th-century Jewish cemetery, plowing through kevarim and shattering matzeivos, Arutz 7 reported Tuesday.

The destruction took place in recent weeks near the village of Pankratova, within the city limits of Yuzhnoukrainsk in the Mykolaiv region, where the cemetery had stood for more than 150 years.

Local historians Vasyl Slyabin and Oleksandr Shiva uncovered the damage and immediately alerted authorities after discovering that heavy agricultural equipment had been used on the cemetery grounds, according to the report.

According to historical records and local knowledge, the Jewish cemetery had been in continuous use since the 19th century, and its location was well known among residents of the area.

Vitaly Kamuzin, director general of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, said the farmer had initially rented land adjacent to the cemetery but gradually encroached onto the burial site itself. “The farmer rented land adjacent to the cemetery, but gradually took over part of the historical area itself, destroying tombstones and plowing the land,” Kamuzin told Arutz 7.

Kamuzin explained that the Jewish community that once lived in the area existed alongside a small German colony in the 19th century, and the cemetery had been designated specifically for the Jewish population.

He added that the cemetery’s location had previously been confirmed through Soviet-era maps from the 1930s and 1940s, as well as through testimony from elderly local residents who remembered the site.

Following the historians’ formal complaint, Ukrainian police launched an official investigation. Kamuzin said the Jewish community will file an urgent request demanding a thorough examination of how the destruction occurred and who bears responsibility.