- December 19, 2025
- 5:00 pm
- Ukraine, Video
“The Sataniv Jewish cemetery operated for almost 500 years. The ancient core of the cemetery is the burial of the 15th, 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. It numbers about one thousand tombstones. This period marks the flourishing of the carving art of the Jewish people.”
In the Horodok district of the Khmelnytsky region of Ukraine, ancient cemeteries are being studied. This is done within the framework of the “Graves of Ancestors” project in cooperation with the public organization “Ukraine Incognita.” Fourteen Ukrainian, Polish, and Jewish cemeteries have already been studied. The Jewish ones are the best preserved.
What the texts, ornaments, embossed images, and inscriptions on the matzevot tell about was explained by the head of the department of culture, religions, and tourism of the Horodok City Council, Oleh Fedorov, in a report by “Suspilne”.
This is the old part of the Sataniv Jewish cemetery. Burials here date back to the 16th – early 19th century.
“This is one of the most beautiful tombstones of the Sataniv necropolis. It is not the oldest, it is from 1800. Here lies Sarah, the daughter of Rabbi Meir from Lviv,” said researcher and local historian Dmytro Polyukhovych.
Researcher and local historian, member of the public organization “Incognita Ukraine” Dmytro Polyukhovych says the tombstones are decorated in the Baroque style and have a number of symbols.
“It is said here that the girl buried here is righteous in her deeds, modest. This is a very romantic epitaph: ‘for this beauty, which will decay in the ground, I weep.’ Here we see symbols of maiden purity: does — a symbol of maiden purity and beauty, resting — a symbol of innocence and purity, lions — a symbol of the Jewish people. And this is actually a portal.
On another tombstone ceiling, matzevot, three hares are depicted. They have become symbols of the three world religions.
“The image of three hares first appears in China, in a Buddhist cave monastery and dates back to the 4th century AD. In Europe, it became a symbol of Christianity: three hares, each separately and all together — one whole. Such an image is found in many Christian medieval churches of the 10th-11th centuries in Western Europe. And from there it already reaches the Jews,” said the researcher and local historian.
And this is a woman’s grave from 1799. Wolves with prey are depicted on the tombstone — a symbol of premature death. This monument is the most saturated with symbols of death, said Dmytro Polyukhovych.
“This is a symbol of premature death. Next, we see a candlestick, a five-branched one, which is characteristic of women’s tombstones. It indicated that the woman was righteous and has a five-branched candlestick. However, instead of the central candle, there is an eagle, the fifth. The candle holders themselves are very interesting here. We see snakes, in whose mouths candles are inserted.”
According to Dmytro Polyukhovych, The Sataniv necropolis is one of the oldest Jewish necropolises in Ukraine.
“The Sataniv cemetery operated for almost 500 years. The ancient core of the cemetery is the burial of the 15th, 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. It numbers about one thousand tombstones. This period marks the flourishing of the carving art of the Jewish people.”
The head of the department of culture, religions, and tourism of the Horodok City Council, Oleh Fedorov, said that the cemetery research was conducted by their department within the framework of the “Graves of Ancestors” project in cooperation with the public organization “Ukraine Incognita.” In total, fourteen cemeteries have already been studied.
“The Jewish cemeteries of the 17th-18th century are best preserved here because they were usually in such inaccessible public places, on high hills, so they are better preserved. This is truly a museum of stone carving,” said Oleh Fedorov.
According to Oleh Fedorov, The Sataniv Jewish necropolis deserves the status of a national monument.
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