In Ukraine, the Jewish civilization had been flourishing for more than five hundred years: unique culture, language, literature, religion were developing here. Ukraine is the birthplace of Hasidism – a religious movement, which influenced Judaism worldwide. In Ukraine dozens of Jewish schools and temples were opened. A special phenomenon was the emergence of an original traditional shtetl Jewry: there were their own rules, style and way of life, their festivals and chronology, culture, traditions and language.
Meanwhile, there is little left that reminds us of the rich historical Jewish tradition, which has existed on the lands of Eastern and Central Europe. Over the past 80 years, cultural centers of European Jewry virtually disappeared in the form in which they had existed prior to World War II. For example, during this time the Jewish population in the territory of Ukraine has decreased by almost 10 times. If in the past Jews spoke mostly Yiddish, today it is more possible to find a Jew who knows their language anywhere in New York than in Chernivtsi. Similarly, scrolls, manuscripts, books, menorahs and national recipes were taken by their owners everywhere. The Holocaust, globalization, mass migration completed the process of the destruction of a unique cultural environment.
The thing that is left and reminds of the rich Jewish heritage in Europe every day is the Jewish cemetery. Across the continent, there are Jewish burials as a direct proof of continuous connection between the epochs. On these days, many of them are in poor condition: they are overgrown with bushes and grass, traces of many of them are lost. The centuries-old memory of Jewish presence in Central and Eastern Europe is being lost this way.
By the way, the Jewish cemeteries are not just the old tombstones. They are the monuments of the Jewish architecture, they contain a unique historical and genealogical information. Many of them are the works of folk art and writing. On the tombstones epitaphs were often written, due to this one can study the regional language of Jews, and the large scale of material allows conducting extensive sociological researches.
In Ukraine, many municipal authorities openly state that no one monitors the state of the Jewish cemeteries on their territory. Previously, this was done by the local Jewish communities, however, now there is simply no one to do it.
In 2015 ESJF was founded - European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, which deals with the protection of Jewish heritage. The aim of the organization is to find Jewish cemeteries, restore them, define clear borders and fencing.
The organization is funded by the German government. Within the pilot project 1 million Euros has been allocated to fund 30 projects for the protection of Jewish cemeteries in four European countries. One of the tasks of the initiative will be the foundation of administrative and research structure, which will be responsible for similar projects in other countries.
According to statistics, only in the territory of 46 European countries it is known about the existence of nearly 10 thousand of Jewish cemeteries. Three-quarters of them are in the former USSR and South-Eastern Europe. In Ukraine, there are hundreds and hundreds of them. In 2015, a pilot project of ESJF covered 27 places of Jewish burials in Ukraine, during 2016 it will cover 46 more. The members of initiative find in the archives, according to the testimonies of local residents, the old Jewish cemeteries, clean the area, put up fences and agree to take care of the territory.
One should always remember that only the people that knows and remembers its past well, has the future. This is even more necessary now, when Ukraine has become an independent state and is studying its own history in a new light.
