Yasinia. The kirkut, a monument of the history and culture of the Jewish people

Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine hold historical, cultural and artistic value. According to Jewish traditions and rites, burials are not relocated and are regarded as inviolable. Jewish cemeteries have their own features and distinctions.

Yasinia. The Jewish cemetery (Kirkut)

To reach the burial ground in the Zakarpattia village of Yasinia, you have to climb a dirt road up a high hill.

The kirkut, as the burial grounds of Jews are called in Western Ukraine, is fenced with a wooden paling, and you have to hunt for the wicket gate. In the uncut grass in summertime there may be ticks and snakes.

 

Yasinia. The road to the kirkut

The cemetery existed from the end of the 19th century and was in use for about a hundred years. The Jews buried their dead on high ground, to be closer to the sky. The practicality of such a decision lies in the fact that the spring waters and the currents of the mountain rivers Chorna Tysa and Lazeshchyna do not destroy the necropolis.

 

On a small plot, several hundred grave headstones are pressed against one another in rows, their shape recalling a temple.

 

As a sign of eternity and faith, the monuments are made of stone. Some of the portals have gone askew and grown into the ground.

 

On the slabs the names of the deceased are given in Hebrew, along with the dates of death by the Jewish calendar. There are no portraits or sculptural compositions on the graves. Sometimes the inscriptions, resembling a cipher, tell of the deceased's occupation and righteous deeds. The matzevot are decorated with engravings of plant ornaments, flowers, six-pointed stars, religious symbols, five-branched candlesticks, and images of birds and animals.

No two monuments are alike, and the drawings and inscriptions are the individual life story of the deceased.

 

The first Jews appeared in Yasinia almost 150 years ago; they supplied goods to the border towns. The Jewish community had a synagogue. During the years of the Second World War, the Jewish population was exterminated everywhere by the occupying authorities. This monument of the history and culture of the Jewish people is located in the northern part of the village, 500 metres from the bus station.