In Kovel, Volyn, hundreds of matzevot—Jewish gravestones rescued by the Lutsk Jewish community around 15 years ago—have been moved to a new storage site. The information was reported by the ESJF charitable foundation (European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative).
The gravestones come from one of Kovel’s Jewish cemeteries, destroyed in the 20th century. In recent years, they had been stored on the premises of a local enterprise. However, after the change of ownership, the new administration could no longer keep the matzevot on the site, which was needed for production purposes.
With the assistance of Kovel city authorities, including city council member Andrii Myroniuk, a site was allocated for storing the matzevot on the grounds of the municipal enterprise Dobrobut. ESJF, the Volyn Religious Community of Progressive Judaism, headed by Serhii Shvardovskyi, and the United Jewish Community of Ukraine helped organize the transportation. The pallets used for transportation and subsequent storage were provided by Illia Miretskyi, a member of the Lutsk Jewish community.
Several Jewish cemeteries once existed in the city, but none of them has survived to this day. ESJF noted that Jewish gravestones in Ukraine are often found in the walls of buildings, on roads, and in the courtyards of government institutions. Efforts are being made to preserve them or return them to cemetery grounds, including by creating lapidaria.
