Poroshkovo Jewish Cemetery

This cemetery is in the farmyard of a family living in Poroshkovo.  Before our 1997 visit, it had been identified as a cemetery containing our Friedman family's graves and was cleaned before our visit.  Haystacks and a cornfield are next to--almost in--the cemetery.  In addition to the stones shown here, there were many stones that were worn beyond recognition, or broken.

The family told us that at some time in the past, a man living in the area removed some stones to use as tabletops in his shop.  However, he had bad dreams in which ghosts appeared to him, so he replaced the stones in the cemetery.

Click on thumbnails for a larger view of each stone.   Note the Cohen blessing hands on the stones of Cohanim.  Also note the willow design which is very common on gravestones of Hungarian Jews; the Poroshkovo area, like other riverfront villages in Hungary, is lush with willow trees.

As is traditional in Jewish cemeteries in the 19th century, men's graves are at one end of the cemetery, women's at the other end.  Quite a few of the deceased were rabbis, and one woman is noted as a teacher.  Photographs are arranged in order as found in the cemetery.  A list of names follows the photographs.

DOV ben Moshe (?) Reuven HaCohen FRIEDMANN

5682, 1922

Yitzhak HaCohen. No photo available.

YEHUDAH YITZHAK ben Morenu HaRav Simeon [Ari?] HaCohen

Died on the holy Shabbat [or month of Shevat--unclear] 5684, 1924

DAVID ben Shmuel

Our master and rabbi, David, son of our master and rabbi Shmuel

Rosh Hodesh (?) Sivan 5695, June 2, 1935

MEIR ben ___ Tzvi

(date unclear) Tammuz 5620, June 1860

This stone does look older than other stones in the cemetery.

TZVI ARI, Cohen

Difficult to read, appears to either be son or father of Ezri Simeon

Buried 5 Kislev 5672, 26 November 1911 OR (hard to read date) 5 Kislev 5692, 15 November 1931.

Note acrostic epitaph with name, TZVI ARI, going down on right stone of stone.

MOSHE TZVI, haCohen, FRIEDMANN with fragment above

Moshe Tzvi ben Eli (or Ari?) Ha Rav Morenu HaCohen Friedmann (father Eli--or Ari--was a rabbi and teacher.)

Adar (?) 5677, February 1917 OR 5697, 1937. Date difficult to read.

FRAGMENT year appears to be 5680 = 1920

Eliahu ben Jacob HaCohen. No photo available.

Very old stone, mostly unreadable.

MOSHE MEIR ben David

The honored Rabbi

(father David from Vinograd)

Date unreadable

YAKOV ben [David?] Moshe HaCohen FRIEDMANN

Buried the second day of the festival of Shavuot (7 Sivan 5685), May 30, 1925

BASHA bas Shmuel HaCohen FRIEDMAN

Buried 27 Av 5694 (August 8, 1934)

Berta Friedman

Spitz Ernone (wife of Erno Spitz)

CHANA ESTHER bas Cohen Baruch, wife of Shmuel HaCohen FRIEDMAN "brilliant light"

Buried Rosh Hodesh Nisan 5693, March 28, 1933

CHANA bas Cohen Avraham

Buried 21 Tevet 5694, January 8, 1934

RIVKAH bas Moshe HaCohen FRIEDMANN

"Eshet Hayil Morah"--Woman of Valor, Teacher

Wife of David Polatshek.

Buried on 17 Elul 5693, September 8, 1933

CHENTSHE bas Feige FRIEDMANN

Wife of Dov HaCohen, FRIEDMANN

Buried 25 Sivan 5697, June 4, 1937

Lynn Saul at cemetery, July 1997. Note haystack in background.

In front of stone of BASHA

 
LIST OF NAMES (note:  only a few Hungarian names are given; even with last name FRIEDMAN(N), first names are Hebrew or Yiddish)
Friedman, Berta (Spitz Ernone) Basha bas Shmuel haCohen
Friedman, Chana Esther, wife of Friedman, Shmuel haCohen
Friedmann, Chentshe, wife of Friedmann, Dov HaCohen
Friedman, David ben Shmuel
Friedmann, Dov ben Moshe HaCohen
Friedmann, Moshe Tzvi ben Eli (Ari?) HaCohen
Friedmann, Rivkah bas Moshe HaCohen (Wife of David Polatshek)
Friedmann, Yakov ben (David?) Moshe HaCohen
Polatshek, David (not buried here, but named on gravestone of wife Friedman, Rivkah)
Spitz, Erno (not buried here, but named on gravestone of wife Friedman, Berta)
Chana bas Avraham haCohen
Eliahu ben Jacob HaCohen
Meir ben Tzvi
Moshe Meir ben David
Tzvi Ari
Yitzhak HaCohen
Yehudah Yitzhak ben Simeon HaCohen
 
Photographs of Poroshkovo Jewish Cemetery from The Center of Jewish Education in Ukraine
        (Under construction--will be re-activated soon.)

Photographs of Poroshkovo

Photographs of residents

Poroshkovo Home

Copyright © 2008, 2011 Lynn Saul