Bukharian Jewish genealogy has its own resources and its own challenges. With most of the community in diaspora (50,000 in Queens; tens of thousands in Israel and Vienna; fewer than 100 still in Bukhara), the institutional knowledge of who is buried where now lives across three continents. This article covers the practical search method.
Tashkent Textile Jewish cemetery — 16,300 graves across 8 sectors (6 Jewish + 2 Russian). For families whose ancestors moved from the smaller centres (Bukhara, Samarkand, Kokand) to Tashkent during the Soviet period — and many did — this is the first cemetery to search. Sectors are organized roughly by community origin; the administration has a register.
Old Bukhara Jewish cemetery — ~10,000 graves, the deepest historical centre. Bukharian families with pre-Soviet roots (rabbinic families, merchants of the medieval mahalla) usually trace back to this cemetery. The Bukhara Fund administration keeps informal records of community burials.
Samarkand Old Jewish cemetery — at the foot of Hojum Hill, adjacent to the Mahalla Yahudi. Several large families maintain ancestral plots; rabbinic families of Samarkand are buried here.
Smaller community cemeteries: Kokand (Khanate-era), Andijan, Margilan, Margilan have Jewish plots whose maintenance has been irregular. For ancestors from these towns, expect a slower search.
Tashkent Botkin Ashkenazi section: 1930s–1940s burials of Ashkenazi Jews evacuated from European Russia, Ukraine and Belarus during Stalin's repressions and WWII. Often overlooked because it's not the Bukharian community's primary cemetery — but if your ancestor migrated to Tashkent in the 1930s, this is the place to check.
Key databases: IAJGS Cemetery Project (Uzbekistan section has indexed entries for Bukhara, Tashkent, Samarkand), JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry, Bukhara Fund's informal records (accessible via the Queens or Israeli community).
What we offer: we have direct working relationships with the Bukhara Fund and the Tashkent Textile administration. We can search by Hebrew name (kept on the matzevah), Russian/Yiddish name (kept in the cemetery register), maiden name, and approximate Hebrew dates. Coordination with the family is in English, Hebrew or Russian.
Start with the live search at `/poisk-mogil` filtered to «Jewish cemeteries». For Bukharian-specific cases, open a Premium ticket with as many family details as possible — including any old photographs of the deceased or family in front of a known location.