TOPOROV

TOPOROV I:     US Commission No. UA13580101 Alternate names: German: Toporov Polish: Toporow. It is located in Lvovskaya Oblast at 50º07' 42º25', 33 km from Radekhov. Near elevated entrance to village at high-voltage line stands cemetery. Present town population is 1000-5000. No Jews. Town officials: Village Soviet Chief Shpur Petro Vasilievich; center of the village, inside tel.: 784 (village soviet.) Village Soviet of Toporov, center of the village, in front of the school. Regional officials: Lvov Regional State Administration, Lvov Vinnichenko St., 18, reception room, tel.: 722947, 728093. Lvov Center State Historical Archives (CSHA), Sobornaya square, 3a, tel.: 723508. Lvov Jewish Community, Lvov Mikhnovskih St. 4, Rabbi Mordekhai Shloime Bold, tel.: 330524. The unlocked cemetery has no caretaker. The earliest mention about Jewish community is 1603. The Jewish population was 1400 Jews in 1900. Effecting Jewish community was the Ukrainian-Polish war (1648-1654). The unlandmarked Orthodox cemetery was created in the 2nd half of 17th century. The isolated rural hillside and hill peak among fields and forests has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off the road, access is open to all. No wall, fence or gate surround. The approximate size of the cemetery before the World War II and now is 0,29 hectares. There are visible gravestones, but no structures. More than 75% of stones are broken. Some of the removed stones are part of roads or structures. The cemetery has no mass graves. Municipality owns site used for cattle grazing. There is also a high-voltage line on the cemetery. The cemetery is borders agricultural area, fields, and highway. The cemetery boundaries are the same as in 1939. Private visitors and local citizens visit rarely. The cemetery was vandalized during the World War II and between 1945 and 1981. After the World War II, local citizens stole tombstones as building material. There are no visible gravestones. Very serious threat: Vegetation overgrowth covers hill with high grass and bushes that prevent access. Iosif Gelston, Lvov, 290049, PO Box 10569, tel./fax: (0322) 227490 completed survey on 4.10.1998. Gelston visited the site for this survey in 2.10.1998. Shpur Petr Vasilievich-Village Soviet chairman, citizen of Toporov, inside tel.: 784 and old citizens of Toporov who did not give their names were interviewed. Documentation: CSHA, Fond 186, Inventory 6, 1267 Points of Safe, pages 11-12; Jewish Encyclopedia, T. 14, p. 907, St Petersburg; Slownik Geograficzny Krolewstwa Polskiego, T.12, St 399, Warszawa, 1883 (in Polish); Book of Busktown court, B.12, p.99-100 (CSHA, Lvov.) TOPOROV II:     US Commission No. UA13580102 The cemetery is located at the Christian cemetery in front of an old mill, north from village center. The unlocked cemetery has no caretaker. Shpur Petro Vasilievich, Village Soviet chairman, citizen of Toporov, inside tel.: 784 may have information. The unlandmarked Orthodox cemetery was created at the end of the 19th century, beginning of 20th century with last known Jewish burial in 1930s. The isolated rural plain among fields and forests, but next to the Christian cemetery, has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off the road to the right from the center of the village to the Christian cemetery, access is open to all. No wall, fence, or gate surround. There are no visible tombstones, structures, or mass graves. More than 75% of 20th century sandstone gravestones are broken. After WWII, stones were broken and stolen by local citizens for building material. Municipality owns property used tillage field or cattle grazing. The cemetery borders the road and birch grove. Rarely, local citizens visit. The cemetery was been vandalized during the World War II, and between 1945 and 1981, but not during last 10 years. There has been no care or restoration. Very serious threat: vegetation overgrowth, vandalism. In summer the cemetery land is getting covered with high grass and bushes that prevent access to the cemetery. Iosif Gelston, Lvov, 290049, PO Box 10569, tel./fax: (0322) 227490 completed survey on 4.10.1998. Gelston visited site on 2.10.1998. Interviewed were Shpur Petro Vasilievich, Village Soviet chairman, citizen of Toporov, inside tel.: 784 and unnamed old citizens of Toporov. Documentation: CSHA, Fond 186, Inventory 6, 1267 Points of Safe, pages 11-12, Lvov; Jewish Encyclopedia, B.14, p.907, St Petersburg; Slownik Geograficzny Krolewstwa Polskiego, T.12, St. 399. Warszawa, 1883 (in Polish); Book of Busktown court, B.12, p.99-100 (CSHA, Lvov.)