1991–Present: Independent Ukraine

1991: Independent Ukraine

Khotyn became part of independent Ukraine in 1991. Family history research increasingly brought descendants into contact with archives, local residents, and surviving Jewish sites.

Records of the town are held in several countries because its administrations and borders changed repeatedly. The records page brings together links to those collections.

Family research across borders

Digitized memorial books, name indexes, and archival catalogues have made it easier to research Khotyn from abroad. Descendants can compare family documents with town histories and photographs, then follow references to the original records.

2010: The Jewish cemetery photographed and indexed

In July 2010, a JewishGen project photographed and indexed 2,693 burials in Khotyn’s Jewish cemetery. The records are available through the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry, known as JOWBR.

Separate heritage surveys document the cemetery’s boundaries, structures, and surviving stones. Find the projects and their different uses on the cemetery page.

2013: Photographing Jewish Khotyn

Anna Royzner’s 2013 photographs show streets, former Jewish houses, community rooms, the cemetery, and memorials. They also include a man identified in the collection as the head of the local Jewish community.

The photographs record Jewish communal life as well as surviving buildings. Browse the collection in the Photo Gallery.

Surviving sites and family connections

The former Great Synagogue, now used for housing, and the Jewish cemetery remain visible in Khotyn. Local heritage organizations, cemetery surveys, and family visits document these sites and their condition.

Descendants preserve family photographs, memoirs, and immigration records in collections across the world. Hometown mutual-aid societies and their burial plots connect these families with Khotyn. Research often brings together material held in several countries.