The Jewish Cemetery at Sestroretsk- News, July 2021

The Jewish Cemetery at Sestroretsk - What's New?

For the past several years, social activists Ilya and Lubov Bruk, have been leading the efforts to restore the Jewish cemetery at Sestroretsk. We caught up with Lubov to hear about the progress made since our last update. We are also calling out for volunteers looking to get involved!

Since we last wrote about the Sestroretsk Cemetery, several major events have occured, making a substantial impact on the preservation efforts.

The Children's Dunes Sanatorium: Descendants of the Founder Have Been Identified

We have been contacted by the Klyachko family; they were able to trace back their family tree and are making efforts to reach out to other relatives.

We were pleased to discover that Lev Klyachko, founder of the Children's Dune Sanatorium, had several equally impressive brothers.

Lev Klyachko

One of the brothers, Simon, a pharmacist and an owner of a local apothecary, had been the speaker of the Irkutsk city council (municipal duma) from 1917 to 1920.

Simon Klyachko

Another brother, Leon, had been the owner and chief editor of the "Raduga" (Rainbow) journal published in Petrograd; the publication featured, among others, several notable Russian writers: Chukovski, Marshak, and Barto.

Leon Klyachko

Help needed! If you are in possession of any information regarding the Klyachko family, kindly reach out to us at [email protected].

The Restoration of Several Headstones

We have been contacted by the descendants of the Samuylov family, who currently reside in the US; our mutual work commenced in the restoration of the headstones of Girsh Izkovich Samuyalov and Hena Isaevna Samuyalov.

Before the restoration

Before the restoration

After the restoration

After the restoration

We were also able to restore the tombstone of Girsh Ruvimovich Lapuk, dated to the soviet era.

Tours of the Sestroretsk Cemetery

The cemetery can now be toured as part of an excursion; trips to the cemetery grounds are being led by local tour guides and are attended by an increasing number of residents and visitors.

The Passing of Boris Rivkin

We were deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Boris Eremeyevich Rivkin in October of 2020- an outstanding ethnographer and activist whose faith had been inseparable from the Sestroretsk cemetery. Boris had made an immeasurable contribution to the preservation of the cemetery's history and had been actively taking part in the restoration efforts. Thanks to his work, an important historic document outlining the establishment of the cemetery, dated to times of Tsar Alexander III, had been uncovered.

Help to Clean Up the Cemetery is Needed!

We have recently conducted a thorough cleaning of the cemetery grounds and made some much-needed landscaping improvements.

More work is needed! In order to prevent the cemetery from being covered with weeds and vegetation, many plants must be uprooted and removed. Before our restoration work had begun, the cemetery grounds have been unpassable and overgrown by the adjacent forest. In efforts to preserve and improve its current condition, we are planning a Sunday cleanup; we call out for any volunteers interested in helping our cause. If you are able to help, please reach us out at 8-911-953-60-01. We encourage you to join our VK and Facebook groups; reaching out to a large audience helps our cause to preserve the cemetery.