There are very few sources providing information on the early period of the cemetery’s existence. During the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648), many refugees from Ukraine arrived to Gomel. When the Cossacks entered the town, they murdered about 2,000 Jews. The victims were buried in the existing cemetery. The first entry in the pinkas of the local burial society dates back to the year 5527, or 1766 according to the Gregorian calendar.

The first attempt to close the cemetery was made in 1922. Several hundred matzevot were removed. Stables were to be built at the site and the matzevot were to be used for their construction. The local Jews only managed to preserve the cemetery thanks to a letter written to Trotsky by several well-respected representatives of the Jewish community.

In April 1924, the Jewish community in Gomel was officially registered as a kehilla. It owned a mikveh and a cemetery, collected money for community needs, and employed three rabbis. However, in 1927 the municipal authorities liquidated the cemetery without moving the remains of the buried to another place. One of the factors which led the Town Hall to such a decision was the burial of Tzaddik Icchak ben Mordechai Epstein (1770-1857). He was the most prominent student of Tzaddik Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and many pilgrims came to visit his grave.

The cemetery was eventually demolished during the atheist campaign in 1961, and a playground was built in its place. However, the remains of the buried Jews remained in the ground. Renovation works at the site started in 2008. On 2 April 2008, human remains were found. At the end of April 2008, some of the remains were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Prudok by a representative of the burial society from Jerusalem, Rabbi Kalmanowicz. More remains were discovered by activists from the Jewish community, who constantly supervised the construction site. Rabbi Rafael Rothschild arrived to Gomel from Jerusalem for the ceremony of their re-burial.

At present, there is no trace of the cemetery. It has been replaced by a modern football pitch complex.