KYIV, Ukraine — A Jewish community organization in Ukraine said a farmer destroyed part of a historic Jewish cemetery near the village of Pankratove in the Pivdennoukrainsk region, prompting calls for a criminal investigation and urgent steps to protect the site.
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The United Jewish Community of Ukraine said local researchers discovered that gravestones were knocked down and the land plowed after a farmer who leased an adjacent plot gradually expanded into the cemetery’s boundaries.
Local historians Vasyl Seliavin and Oleksandr Shyva documented the damage and said the burial ground dates back more than 150 years. The cemetery served a small Jewish community that lived alongside German colonists in the nearby 19th-century settlement of Novyi Landau, they said.
According to the community organization, the location of the cemetery is confirmed by Red Army maps from the 1930s and by accounts from longtime local residents.
The United Jewish Community of Ukraine said it has appealed to law enforcement to assess possible criminal violations and has asked the Pivdennoukrainsk municipal community to formally survey the land, restore the cemetery and install fencing to prevent further damage.
Jewish heritage advocates say the case highlights ongoing risks facing historic burial sites in rural areas, where unclear land boundaries and weak enforcement can leave cemeteries vulnerable to encroachment.
Not only did some want to kill Jews, but even to wipe out the dead Jews – so that there is even no memory of them.
Hashem will destroy him and his family and property iyh