Chernigov Jewish cemetery

The Jewish cemetery in Chernigov is located on Lyubetskaya Street. This is a unique cemetery, because it is not only one of the oldest in Ukraine, but it is also reserved only for the burial of Jews.

The date of the foundation of the cemetery can not be precisely determined. In Chernigov, it appeared in the first or second half of the nineteenth century, when this territory was bought out by the Jewish community. The area of ​​the cemetery was constantly increasing: in 1908 it was 2.5 hectares, and in 1953–4.6 hectares. Now the necropolis occupies 4.3 hectares of land, while only 60% is reserved for burial.
Most of the tombstones and monuments, dating from the last quarter of the nineteenth century, is completely destroyed. The biggest pogrom in the cemetery occurred during the Second World War. In 1968 the cemetery was officially closed. The latest burial date from the mid-1970s.

Almost all of the tombstones of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have epitaphs in Hebrew. On the graves of the twentieth century, all inscriptions are made in Russian or in two languages ​​- Hebrew and Russian.

In our time, the cemetery is cared for by the Chernigov Jewish community. But despite this, a huge number of graves remain in terrible condition. Besides, vandalism is often observed in the cemetery. At the cemetery in 2012, on the first day of one of the most important Jewish holidays — Shavuot, anti-semitic vandals defeated 19 monuments.

An interesting fact is that the Second Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Dov-Bera, also known as the Mitheler Rebbe (Middle Rebbe) and Admur Ha-Emzaai are buried in Chernihiv Nezhin. Rabbi Dov-Ber Schneerson, born in 1773, took the leadership of Chabad in 1813 after his father, Rabbi Shneur-Zalman of Lyad, died. It was he who transferred the center of Chabad and his residence to Lubavitchi. Rabbi Dov-Bera remained at this high religious post for 14 years and all this time he was engaged in the revival of Jewish settlements that were destroyed as a result of the war with Napoleon, and also founded several Jewish agricultural colonies. He created the first Chabad communities outside the Russian Empire — in 1817 a community was founded in Hebron, in Eretz Yisrael.