Breslov World Marks Uman Massacre with Global Tefillos as Cemetery Desecration Continues

A day of prayer and remembrance for the victims of the Uman massacre took place this Thursday in Breslov shuls across the globe. Breslov communities in Yerushalaim, London, and  New York came together to remember thousands of kedoshim who were brutally tortured and killed al kiddush H-shem by Haidamaks, ysv"z. The tfilos was especially poignant, as the graves of the martyrs are being systematically destroyed by greedy illegal developers. Human remains were uncovered at the illegal construction sites multiple times, yet the desecration continues until this day. The mispallelim davened that chilul beis hakvures should be stopped, and neshamos of kedoshim who died al kiddush H-shem should have menucha nechona.

The infamous Uman massacare took place on on 5-7 Tamuz, 5528. At that time hordes of Haidamaks broke into the city of Uman and slaughtered every Jew they could find. They offered to spare anyone who would  convert to Christianity - yet no one agreed to shmad  himself. The few survivors buried the victims of the massacre in two mass graves at the Uman's Jewish Cemetery. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, zt"l, held that these graves possess a special level of kedusha and commanded his talmidim to bury him next to them.

Breslov chassidim traditionally commemorate the yahrtzeit of kedoshim with a day of reflection and prayer for the kedoshim. May their neshamos have an aliya and may they be melitzei yoshrim for our generation.

Uman Massacre - background

Uman massacre is an infamous page in the Jewish history. 5,6, and 7 of Tamuz became days of tragedy for Breslov chassidim and Jewish community in general. On these days back in 5528 hordes of Haydamaks led by Ivan Honta entered Uman. They brutally murdered every Jew on their path. Most of the remaining Jews fled to Uman's main synagogue. All of them, including women, children, and the elderly, were savagely tortured and killed over the three days period - June 21, 22, 23, 1768 (which corresponds to 6, 7, 8 Tammuz, 5528 in the Hebrew calendar). Thousands of innocent victims were murdered by Honta and his troops. Despite Haydamaks' offer to spare anyone who agrees to convert to Christianity, every Jew chose to die rather than betray their faith. Only a small group of Jews, led by R. Dovid Hazin, escaped the massacre by hiding in a cave outside the city. These survivors eventually buried the victims of Haydamak's massacre in 2 large mass graves in the Uman Jewish Cemetery.

One of of the most prominent early Chassidic Masters and a direct descendant of Baal Shem Tov - the founder of Chassidism - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, repeatedly expressed a wish to be buried among the victims of the Uman's massacre. He said that there is a special holiness at their resting place, as they were massacred for the belief in Al-mighty. After the Rabbi's passing on October 16, 1810 (18 Tishrei, 5570), he was buried between the two mass graves of Haydamak's victims.

R. Nachman expressed a wish for his Chassidim to come to pray at his grave every Rosh Hashana - Jewish New Year. This tradition began right after R. Nachman's passing and continues to this day. Even during communist rule, people risked their freedom to pray at R. Nachman's grave on Rosh Hashanah. Even the current Russian-Ukrainian war did not deter the Rosh Hashanah Pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman's grave.

The Historical Jewish Cemetery of Uman has endured much in the last hundred years. During Nazi occupation and the Soviet era, the cemetery was ransacked, tombstones were broken down and removed, and small private houses were built over the graves. Rabbi Nachman's grave was preserved, however, a private house was built right next to it (the house's outer wall adjoined the edge of the grave). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, then-President Kravchuk began the process of restoring the cemetery to the Jewish community, however this process was never completed. In the last several years, greedy developers began to purchase the land over the cemetery and build multi-story buildings. They used various illegal schemes, including unlawful privatizing of government-owned lands to gain control over the cemetery's area and start building.These constructions sites violate both the Ukrainian law and international agreements. Human remains were repeatedly uncovered at these illegal construction sites, prompting international outcry in defense of the cemetery.