Cemeteries




The history of the Jewish cemeteries of Odessa is inseparable from the history of the city's Jewish community. Without doubt the most painful pages of this history are closely connected with the Holocaust and communist rule.

The first Jewish cemetery was developed in the 1780s and was situated nearby Odessa, by Lake Khadzhi-Bei. A century and a half later, it was destroyed during the occupation of Odessa in World War II, when the tombstones were torn down and the land ploughed over.

One of the grave stones at the First Jewish Cemetery (old photo) The first Jewish cemetery within the city limits was established a year before the official founding of Odessa in 1791. It functioned for many years; among the first people to be buried in it was Rabbi Meir, son of Itzhok Halevi, "who passed away on the 13th day of Nissan 5553" (April, 1793). Thousands of Odessa Jews were buried in the cemetery and family mausoleums were built here. Torah scrolls damaged during the bloody pogrom of 1905 were buried here in a grave that became sanctified ground for the entire Jewish population. The cemetery became known as the "Old Cemetery," but was destroyed in 1936 at the same time as the adjacent Christian and Moslem cemeteries. Later, a stadium was built on the site, and in the early 1990s, the remains of those buried in the cemetery were profaned when a trench was dug. Today all that remains are some sad memories, a few old pictures of the ancient tombstones and some lines in one of the books by the Odessa Jewish writer, Osip Rabinovich: "They approached a small house with a high stone wall that stretched away into the distance. An inscription on the front wall of the house read 'The last shelter for all living things.' It was the entrance to the Jewish cemetery."

The second cemetery was opened in 1885 adjacent to the road to the suburb of Lustdorf, and was officially called the Second Jewish Cemetery. Many Jews were buried here, among them writers such as Mendele Mocher Sfarim and Lasar Karmen; the poet Shimon Frug; Professor Bardach, the founder of Odessa's first ambulance station; A. Minkus, the architect; E. Babel, an Odessa merchant and father of Isaac Babel, the famous writer killed during Stalin's terror. It was here, in 1905, that some 300 Jewish victims of the pogrom were buried; a large granite monument designed by the Odessa architect Troupansky was later erected over their graves. The Wall and the Gates of the Second Jewish Cemetery (old photo) The Grave Stone of the writer Isaac Babel's Father (unique photo) A Grave Stone of the Second Jewish Cemetery (old photo) The fate of the Second Cemetery was as tragic as that of the first: it was destroyed following a decree by the authorities in 1978 and only a few graves were moved to other cemeteries. The remains of thousands of Jews buried in the cemetery remain here; their burial places have no tombstones or other distinguishing features, and have become overgrown with trees and bushes.

The memorial to the victims of the 1905 pogrom removed to the Third Jewish Cemetery, which still functions, and which was the burial place of the rabbis of Odessa at the beginning of the 20th century. The Memorial to the Victims of the Pogrom of 1905 The Tombs of the Rabbies

Copyright © 1997-2000, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.
Copyright © 1999-2000, Center of Jewish Self-Education "Moria"