Burial Sites Clearing Season Ends for 2025

Last week, Marla and I heard through our colleague Vasyl Yuzyshyn that the two men who manage the clearing and maintenance for us at the Jewish burial sites in Rohatyn have finished their work for 2025. It is much cooler in Rohatyn and the region now, and sunlight hours are diminishing fast, so vegetation growth has significantly slowed as it does every year at this time.

This year as in the three previous years, the clearing work was completely managed and documented for us on behalf of Jewish descendants by two men who live and work in Rohatyn. Once again we are pleased with this year’s work and with the results, which are seen in several photos here from throughout the clearing season.

Ihor Zalypko, a vodokanal engineer who lives just up the road from the old Jewish cemetery, again made three complete clearings of wild grass and shrubs there through the growing season, ending a few days ago. Ihor’s regular work at the site was interrupted for a few weeks this year while he recovered from a serious illness, but the old cemetery remained visibly cared for and accessible to visitors throughout the year, and will continue in good condition through winter. We are glad for Ihor’s return to good health.

As in prior years, Vasyl Yurkiv, a bicycle mechanic who lives across a road from the new Jewish cemetery, made four complete clearings this season and performed small maintenance tasks on the grounds, this year aided by his son Artur. Every year Vasyl and Artur spend time to flatten molehills on the cemetery, a task which simplifies the clearing work and reduces trip hazards for visitors in addition to making the grounds look clean.

Ihor Zalypko also continued his maintenance work at the two wartime Jewish mass grave sites, a task now spanning several years since the retirement of Mykhailo Vorobets z”l. As every year, part of the work this year was cutting wild grass and weeds, three times at the south grave site and five times at the north grave site. Ihor separately cut the dangerously poisonous Sosnowsky’s hogweed at the south site, and planted flowering shrubs at both sites, making both memorials presentable and clean for visitors. He also monitored both sites for any needed light maintenance on the memorial monuments.

Regrettably, the Russian war on Ukraine has now lasted more than three and a half years, persistently draining resources and manpower across the country, including in Rohatyn. We remain grateful that Ihor and Vasyl have again this year attended to the care of the burial sites and managed site issues as they arise without significant involvement from us. When Marla and I met with them in Rohatyn in August, both men indicated their willingness to continue the work next year, health and the war permitting. During our visit we paid them both in advance for the planned site work in 2026; our RJH colleagues Vasyl Yuzyshyn and Wito Nadaszkiewicz continue to manage communication and local problem-solving for RJH on a volunteer basis. With the help of all of these men and others in Rohatyn and Lviv, we feel strongly that Rohatyn’s Jewish heritage and history will be preserved even in the face of the political and military aggression from abroad.