Clay in My Boots: A Romp Through My Genealogical Past

The Jewish cemetery on a hill in the outskirts of Kremenets.  I have ancestors and cousins buried here; including Shabsa Oks and  Nekha Shkurnik Oks, my GG Grandparents.  Half the stones are overturned. It is terribly overgrown with weeds up to your waist. A narrow trail runs up the right side of the cemetery to allow you get to the top of the hill. A few apple trees dot the landscape. I had loaded up my pocket with stones back at the quarter. As I ventured off the trail to get a few pictures, pause for a moment, and leave a tsror/stone to pay my respects.   —— Pictures of select headstones:

In about 1871, the Oks family moved from Radyvyliv to Kremenets.   Kremenets was the administrative center of the region. The town was enlightened with a culture of education. Kremenets boasts having the most scenic panorama in all of this part of Eastern Europe.  Kremenets is nestled in a valley of the Kremenets mountains (named for the flint that can be found everywhere). The castle mountain overlooking Kremenets does provide a great view of the surrounding farm land, mountains, and town. You can see the Orthodox Church complex of Pochayiv. Kremenets had a thriving Jewish community, 38% Jewish of 17,000; but most lived in the packed Jewish quarter near the center of education spreading off to the east where the cemetery on a hill side was safely placed.  The only remaining synagogue is now a bus depot at the far end of town. We would have liked to walk the Jewish quarter, but it all burned down. But, it has been preserved as a park with the old streets serv...