Stryy Old Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Site address
Stryy Old Jewish Cemetery
GPS coordinates
Perimeter length
494 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
Type and height of existing fence
No fence
Preservation condition
Demolished and overbuilt Jewish cemetery
General site condition
Demolished and overbuilt Jewish cemetery. The cemetery site is overbuilt with flats.
Number of existing gravestones
No tombstones preserved
Date of oldest tombstone
Date of newest tombstone
Urgency of erecting a fence
Fence is not needed
Land ownership
Preserved construction on site
There is a memorial sign in honour of the demolished cemetery and famous local rabbis that were buried on the cemetery site.
Drone surveys

Historical overview

The cemetery was established in the early 18th century. It can be supposed that it was demolished during WWII and later built over by the USSR government. The Jews were present in Stryy from 1563. In 1672, 70 Jews were inhabitants of the city. In 1689, a synagogue was established. In the 16th-17th centuries, it was subordinated to Przemsyl Kehila. Stryy community became independent in the 18th century when it was incorporated with eight smaller communities. The local Jews were mainly engaged in moneylending and tax farming. The author of “Ketzot ha-Hoshen” Aryeh Leib ben Yosef ha-Kohen served as a rabbi in Stryy. The Zionist movement began to spread from 1880 and contributed to the education of children of the local Jewish community. At that time, the Jewish population reached 5,245 (41,5% of the total population). In 1900, it numbered 8,647 (37,2% of the total population). In the pre-war period, “Shomer Israel” was the most influential social trend. The Jewish population grew to 10,718 (34,6% of the total population) in 1910 and reached its peak 10,980 (30,5% of the total population) in 1921. The post-war economic declination made a dent in the Jewish community. Stryy was captured by the Wehrmacht units on July 2, 1941. In the first days of the occupation, a massacre was committed by the local population. In February 1942, the open ghetto was created. On June 10, 1942, 9,744 Jews were prisoners of the “Jewish residential area”. The ghetto was liquidated in the early June 1943 when 3,000 Jews were murdered. During the Nazis’ occupation, the Jewish population rubbed through the four actions of transportation and parallel actions of mass executions. Few dozens of Jews broke cover after WWII was finished.

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