Information about the object:
The historic Catholic Cemetery in Drohobych used to be the main town cemetery, where burghers were buried from the end of the 18th century. The cemetery itself is located on a high hill near the city centre. Much of the cemetery's substance - including tombstones - is damaged, overgrown and covered with leaves that nobody cleans up.

Zamarstynov Cemetery is located in the northern part of Lviv, in the Shevchenko District (in Zamarstynov). The oldest part is the municipal cemetery, where the Polish inhabitants of Zamarstynov are buried. The second part is the cemetery of German soldiers and prisoners of war, and the third part is the cemetery of prisoners and those murdered in the Zamarstynov prison, who are buried in mass graves.

The cemetery located at the fork of Warszawska Street in Holosko is the least known cemetery in Lviv in the public mind, and it is located about 20 minutes' walk from the equally forgotten Zamarstynov Cemetery.

Zniesienie Cemetery is located in the Lychakivsky District on Zaklińskich Street. Burials were made there until the early 1980s. At that time, the authorities decided to liquidate the cemetery under the pretext of preparing the land for sports purposes - the ski track of the Dynamo club, some of the graves were destroyed, and the neglected ones were plundered.

Completed works:

2023
The task consisted of cleaning up the neglected Roman Catholic cemeteries in Lviv's Zamarstynov, Holosko Maly and Zniezno cemeteries by volunteers, students of the University of Silesia in Katowice and pupils of the Saint Mary Magdalene High School No. 10 in Lviv. They removed vegetation growth that threatened the graves and cemetery monuments and cleaned the tombstones and the inscriptions on them. They made photographic documentation of the most valuable graves and grave monuments and the preserved cemetery inscriptions.

The photographic documentation will be used to publish a work documenting the project and presenting the current state of the cemeteries. It will also be included in the Institute's Polonica Database.

2024

Continuation of volunteer cleaning and documentation work at the historic Catholic cemetery in Drohobych, Ukraine
The task was the continuation of cleaning and documentation works at the historic Roman Catholic cemetery in Drohobych, Truskavetska Street, carried out under the supervision of historians by volunteers from Poland, including students from the University of Silesia in Katowice and volunteers from Drohobych, Ukraine. The volunteers removed vegetation growth threatening the graves and cemetery monuments and cleaned the tombstones and the inscriptions on them. Photographic documentation was made of the most valuable graves and grave monuments and the preserved cemetery inscriptions in the following sectors. Simplified tombstone documentation cards were prepared, which will be used to supplement the Polonica Institute's database The task also involved 30 students from the I.J. Paderewski Secondary School No. 10 in Katowice. A total of 66 volunteers took part in the task.

Continuation of volunteer cleaning and documentation work in Lviv's cemeteries on Zniesienie and Levandovka
. The goal of the task was to stop the process of destruction and devastation of the Catholic cemeteries on Zniesienie and Levandovka in Lviv, and to prepare documentation for the cemetery tombstone inventory cards. Volunteer animators from Poland, together with volunteers from the St. Mary Magdalene Secondary School No. 10 in Lviv and members of the Association of Lovers of Polish Cultural Heritage "ZABYTEK" in Lviv - using equipment purchased and made available - carried out the most necessary cleaning work in these cemeteries, under the supervision of historian Tomasz Anton. Data was collected for simplified inventory cards of tombstones in both cemeteries, which will be used to supplement the Catalogue of Civil Cemeteries Documentation of the Polonika Institute. Volunteers from Poland also made photographic documentation of the graves and grave monuments, as well as of the preserved grave inscriptions. Each of the graves documented in the study was also geolocated. 31 volunteers took part in the task.

Funding: Polonica Institute programme "Polish cultural heritage abroad - volunteering".

More about the project: https://polonika.pl

• Stowarzyszenie „Wspólnota Polska”, realizacja w roku 2023 i 2024