MELNITSA

v. MELNITSA I:     US Commission No. UA02180101
Alternate name: Melnitsa (Yiddish). v. Melnitsa is located in Volynskaya at 51º9 25º6, 60 km from Lutsk. The cemetery is located at 2.5 km SW of village on road to Brukhovychy. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
-- Local officials: Village Executive Council and Collective Farm of Yota Vladimir Ivanovich.
-- Regional: Oblast Cultural Dept.. Dept. for the Protection of Monuments- Chemeris E.V., Lutsk, Galana St. 2. State Archive of Volynskaya Oblast of 263024, Lutsk, Veteranov St. 21.
-- Volyn Jewish Community, 263000, Lutsk, Vinnichenka St. 49, apt. 6 [Phone: (03322)24713].
-- Others: Israel, The Federation of Volhynian Jews.
The earliest known Jewish community was 18th century. 1939 Jewish population (census) was 841. Effecting the Jewish Community were First World War and Civil War. The Jewish cemetery was established in the 18th century with last known Hasidic burial 1941. Goloby (10 km away) used this unlandmarked cemetery. The isolated rural (agricultural) flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by road to Bruhovichi, access is open to all. No wall, fence, or gate surrounds site. No stones are visible. Location of any removed stones is unknown. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. Municipality owns property is used for agriculture (crops or animal grazing) and other. Properties adjacent are agricultural. The cemetery boundaries are unchanged since 1939. The cemetery is visited rarely by private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish). The cemetery was not vandalized in the last ten years. There is no maintenance now. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access, pollution and vandalism. Slight threat: weather erosion and vegetation.
Documentation: Shmuel Spector. The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews. 1941-1945; Yad Vashem. The Federation Of Vohlynian Jews. Jerusalem. 1990, p. 73, 358. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible.
Kirzhner Moisey of 263005, Lutsk, Grushevskogo St. 18, apt. 38 [Phone: (03322) 34775] visited on 20/04/1995. Interviewed was Yota Vladimir Ivanovich on 20/04/1995. Kirzhner completed survey on 20/04/1995.
v. MELNITSA II:     US Commission No. UA02180501
The mass grave is located at 1.5 km west in sand quarry near abandoned Polish cemetery. The Jewish mass grave was dug in 1941. No Jews from other towns or villages were murdered at this unlandmarked mass grave. Between fields and woods, the isolated mass grave has signs or plaques in local language mentioning the Holocaust. Access is open to all. No wall, fence, or gate surrounds site. 1 to 20 common tombstones, all in original location with none toppled or broken, date from 1989. No stones were removed. The site contains marked mass graves. Municipality owns mass burial site. Properties adjacent are agricultural. Rarely, Jewish or non-Jewish private visitors stop. The mass grave was not vandalized in the last ten years. Occasionally, authorities clean or clear. Within the limits of site are no structures. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access. Slight threat: pollution, vegetation and vandalism.
Kirzhner Moisey of 263005, Lutsk, Grushevskogo St. 18, apt. 38 [Phone: (03322) 34775] visitedon 20/04/1995. Interviewed were Sichkar E.I. on 20/04/1995. Kirzhner completed survey on 20/04/1995. Documentation: Smuel Spector. The Holocaust of Vohlynian Jews. 1941-1945 ; Yad Vashem. The Federation of Vohlynian Jews. Jerusalem, p. 73, 358. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible.