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Read MoreKrivoye Ozero
Krivoye Ozero is an urban type village founded in the 18th century. It is located on the banks of the Kodyma River and holds a long history of both vibrant and tragic Jewish life. Since the 1970s, the village became the district center of the Nikolayev region, having previously belonged to the Odessa region. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Chumaky Way, a trade road through which products from Southern Ukraine were delivered to the center, laid across Krivoye Ozero, including during the time of the Russian Empire. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the village became part of the Balta Uyezd (Podolia Gubernia). Get Directions Beginning Jewish life in Krivoye Ozero came about parallel to the founding of the village in 1762. Almost a century later, there were three functioning synagogues. In 1896, five years after a pogrom took place, Nokhum Zeyev Tabachnik became the village rabbi. However, it was in 1905 after a wave of pogroms in neighboring villages that Jews began to settle more in Krivoye Ozero, leading to the rapid development of shtetl life. By 1910, there were six synagogues, one Jewish cemetery and a private Jewish college. Two years later, a Jewish savings and credit society was organized. In 1914, Leyba Eyzelevich Lemberg became the official rabbi of the shtetl. During this time, the main occupations of the Jewish population were craft and trade. Jewish owners also operated: three drug stores, one inn, ten forest warehouses, two creameries, 23 stalls, 33 manufactories. Krivoye Ozero entrepreneurs list from Russian Empire Business Directories by 1913: Amongst the Jewish population there were: two doctors, a jeweler, 20 blacksmiths, 20 carpenters, nine tinsmiths, twelve glaziers, 60 cobblers, 100 employees in 10 different creameries. Jewish population of Krivoye Ozero: 1847 — 1116 Jews 1897 — 5478 (70%) 1923 — 3939 Jews 1939 — 1447 Jews 1997 – 17 Jews 2002 – 6 Jews 2018 – 0 From December 1919, a pogrom committed by detachments of a volunteer army lasted several weeks. As a result Jewish homes, warehouses and shops were looted and destroyed. The number of deaths is unsure. While some sources claim 280, others claim that approximately 600 Jews were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Many Jews fleeing the pogrom froze to their death in the harsh winter conditions. Another pogrom was committed by Denikin’s soldiers. They killed hundreds of men on their way to Shabbat prayer on a Friday evening. The next pogrom was committed by Petliura’s people, who killed anyone who came into their sight. This...
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Read MoreBelilovka
Belilovka is a village in the Ruzhin district of the Zhitomir region. In the XVI through XVIII centuries, it was a village of Kiev county and voivodship, a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1793, it was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In the XIX and early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Berdichev uyezd, Kiev gubernia. The first records of Jews in Belilovka date back to 1719. Get Directions We learned that in April 1735 an attorney of Duke Liubomirsky, the owner of Belilovka, complained about several dozens of cossacks having attacked the village. They robbed, beat, and humiliated people of the shtetl, particularly Jews. Three Jewish citizens were tortured to death. In 1863, there were two synagogues in Belilovka. Shloyme Makhrinsky (1880 – ?) was a rabbi in Belilovka starting in 1900. In 1912, a savings and credit society was functioning in Belilovka. The main occupation of the Jewish population of Belilovka was traded. However, there were also Jewish pharmacists, dentists, and tailors in the shtetl. There was a tannery and a grits factory in the shtetl as well. Up to 200 Jewish families lived in Belilovka. In 1919, the Jewish population of the shtetl suffered from a pogrom. Belilovka Jews were looted. I didn’t find more information about this period 🙁 In the 1920’s, a Jewish school was opened in the shtetl. In the 1930’s, it was turned into a Ukrainian school but locals kept calling it “Jewish” even after WWII. The school building existed until 1981, and then a new school was built. Jewish population of Belilovka: 1763 – 124 Jews 1847 — 1008 Jews 1897 — 2223 (46%) 1923 — 2130 Jews 1939 — 633 еврея (11%). 2017 – 1 Jews 2018 – 0 Holocaust In 1939, 633 Jews lived in Belilovka. They were 11% of the total population. It was occupied in July, 1941. Some of the Jews had evacuated to the East before the occupation. Also, many young men had been called up for military service in the Red Army. About 300 Jews remained in the village… In July – October 1941, the village was ruled by the German military commandant’s office. Starting in November 1941, Belilovka was incorporated into Ruzhin gebit in Zhitomir General County of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. In Belilovka, Jews were ordered to wear the Star of David, to surrender all their gold and valuable, they were forced to do hard labor without being paid, they were prohibited from leaving...
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Read MorePiatigory
Piatigory is a village in the Tetiyev district of Kiev region. In the XVI – XVIII centuries, it was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Starting in 1793 it was in the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Tarascha uyezd, in the Kiev gubernia. Get Directions In 1787, there were ten traders among the Jews. In 1873, a synagogue was functioning in Piatigory. In 1865 – 1910, Moyshe Lerman (? – 1910) was a rabbi in Piatigory. When M.Lerman had died his son Tsvi-Itskhok (1866 – ?) took his place and was a rabbi in the shtetl starting in 1910. In 1914, two synagogues were opened in Piatigory. There was a Jewish cemetery in the shtetl. Jewish population of Piatigory: 1847 – 603 Jews 1897 – 1385 (31%) 1923 – 244 Jews 1926 – 531 Jews 2018 – 3 Jews Jews owned both chemists’ warehouses, both mills, and 46 stalls in Piatigory, including all 15 groceries, all nine manufactories and all 11 bakeries. During the Civil War the Jewish population of Piatigory suffered pogroms, including the pogroms committed by the parts of the Volunteer Army in 1919. The majority of Jews left Piatigory. In 1925, a society of immigrants from Piatigory was organized in the USA which helped the Jews living in Piatigory. In the 1920’s, a Jewish school was open in the shtetl. In the end of 1930’s, Klotsman (his name is unknown) was a head of the village council. Holocaust Before the war Piatigory had the largest Jewish population in the Tetiyev district. 200-300 Jews lived here and there were about 50 Jewish houses. (Tetiyev Jewish community was exterminated in pogroms in 1919-1920.) Because of this, Jews from the entire Tetiyev district were brought here to be killed. The majority of Jews hadn’t evacuated and stayed in their village. On July 19 1941, Piatigory was occipied by Wehrmacht regiments. On the 31 of July 1941, two Jewish hostages were killed in Piatigory. On August 28 1941, all Jewish men age 14 and older were ordered to come to school for a meeting. The 17 Jews who came were all killed. Bunia Klotsman and Avram Strizhevsky were among them. In November – December 1941, Piatigory was incorporated into Tarascha gebit , Kiev general district. Soon a ghetto was formed. On April 25 1942, all able-bodied Jews of Piatigory were deported to the labor camp in Buki The rest of the Jews (133...
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Read MoreGoloskovo
Goloskovo is a village in Kryve Ozero district, Nikolaev region. In the XIX– early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Balta uyezd, Podolia gubernia. Nowadays Goloskovo has completely merged with the neighboring village of Oniskove wiith one common village council. However, ini 1917 they had been two separate villages inhabited by people of different nationalities, the Jewish shtetl of Goloskovo and the Ukrainian village of Oniskove. Get Directions Information about Jews of Goloskovo was collected during our ethnographic expedition in the summer 2018. More information can be provided by local former teacher of history Valentina Volodimirivna Granovska +38(096)544-91-77 In 1863 there was a synagogue in Goloskovo and in 1889 there were two synagogues there. In 1909, after Yakov-Elia Shapiro’s death, his son Khaim Shapiro (1867-?) became a rabbi of Goloskovo. In June 1919, a pogrom was conducted by parts of the Volunteer Army. <strong>Jewish population of Goloskovo:</strong><br> 1863 – 305 Jews 1897—1272 (84,1 %) 1926—1572 Jews 2018 – 0 Information about the pogrom was recorded from the words of a local in 2018. “ A band entered the shtetl and announced that all the Jews would be resettled to Goloskovo. A column of Jews was taken outside the village where two machine guns had been waiting for them. 74 Jews were killed that day. They were buried at the Jewish cemetery in separate graves which were marked with a circle of stones. After the Second World War, these graves could still be seen. “ During the revolution a Jewish self-defense detachment was organized in the shtetl. In the 1920’s, Jewish organizations from the USA helped the Jews who had suffered from the pogroms. In the 1930’s, there were two collective farms in the village – a Jewish collective farm named after Vorovsky and a Ukrainian one named after Stalin. Before the war they had been merged. Before the Great World War and after it, Shimon Naftulovich Kropchansky was a head of the collective farm. His father emmigrated to US before Revolution and helped to son’s collective farm by money. The exact amount of the Jews living in the village before the war is unknown but we can assume that there were 200-300 people. Information about the Holocaust in Goloskovo was taken from different sources. According to Soviet Archives, 241 Jews were shot in September 1941 in Goloskovo. In 2018, local inhabitants claimed that the Jews were gathered in column and taken to Vradiyevka where they were shot...
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Read MoreNovaya Odessa
Novaya Odessa is a district center of Nikolayev region. It was founded in 1776. In the XIX – early XX centuries, known as a shtetl of Novaya Odessa (Fedorovka), Kherson uyezd and gubernia. During our ethnographic expedition in the summer of 2018 very little information was found on the Jewish history of Novaya Odessa. Jews settled in Novaya Odessa in the late XIX century. In 1897 1,010 Jews lived in the town, where they comprised 18.3 percent of the total population. Get Directions In 1868, there was a working synagogue in Novaya Odessa. In 1910, two synagogues were registered in the shtetl. Jewish population of Novaya Odessa: 1897 – 1010 (18%), 1910 – 4205 (42%) 1923 – 389 Jews 1939 – 228 Jews 1990х ~ 45 Jews 2018 ~ 10 Jews In the 1890s, Lev Kagan was appointed a rabbi there, the town’s only chemist’s and both ironmongery stalls owned by the local Jews. The Jewish community was severely persecuted during the Civil War. In 1926, the Jews from Novaya Odessa organized four Jewish farming societies in the Kherson region. Seven families joined the first one (name not known), with the same number in the second one “Rakitno”, four families in the third one “Pervoye Odesskoye”, 14 families in the “Pervoye Odesskoye Pereselencheskoye” society. In the interwar period there was a Yiddish school in Novaya Odessa that was closed down in the late 1930s. By the end of the 1930s, most Jews had left Novaya Odessa: in 1939 the remaining 228 Jews made up only 3.8 percent of the population. Holocaust Information about Holocaust in Novaya Odessa was taken from YadVashem website. German and Hungarian troops occupied Novaya Odessa on August 12, 1941. Most of Novaya Odessa Jews managed to leave before the arrival of the enemy armed forces. In September of the same year, a ghetto was established in Novaya Odessa in a large courtyard between houses on the town’s main street. The exact location of the Jewish ghetto in the town is unknown. Jews from Novaya Odessa and from the villages in the region, along with refugees from Bessarabia, were brought there. The ghetto inmates were forced to sew Stars of David onto their clothes. They were brutally maltreated and forced to perform grueling work. Assisted by the local collaborators, the Germans separated ghetto inmates in categories. The Jews who had a trade that the Germans could use were separated, together with their families, from the other...
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Read MoreSmela
Smela (Yiddish), Smela – Смeла (Russian) Smela is a city in the Cherkassy region. It is situated on the left bank of the Tiasmin river. The population of Smela was 69,000 people in 2005. The first settlement on the Tiasmin river dates back to 1542 and was called Yatskovo, later it was called Tiasmino. The shtetl of Smela was founded in 1633 with the support of magnate Stanislav Kontsepolskiy. In 1650, Smela Jewish community was first mentioned. In 1773, at the request of then-owners of the town the Liubomirskys, the Polish king gave the town the Magdeburg Right. In 1795, Smela became a part of the Russian Empire. It was a shtetl of Cherkassy uezd, Kiev gubernia. Get Directions In the XVIII century, Smila was often subject to pogroms by Haidamaks, especially in 1768, when Zheleznyak entered the city with a detachment of rioters and, as described by Pohilevich: “the detachment of 300 people, under the leadership of Zheleznyak himself, killed the Polish nobles and the Jews.” As a result of the pogroms, the Jewish community disappeared and it was only revived in the mid-XIX century. More names In the 1830’s, its industrial development began. Jewish population of Smela: 1765 927 (in kagal) 1847 – 1270 Jews 1897 – 7475 (50%) 1925 – 5881 Jews 1939 – 3428 (10%) 1990’s ~ 600 Jews 2018 ~ 50 Jews Count Alexey Bobrinskiy played an important role in the town’s development. He founded a sugar factory in 1838 and a mechanical plant in 1840. In 1863, there were 6,906 Jews in Smila, or 40%). Among the 23 local merchants of the Third Guild, 18 were Jews. The railway line from Fastov to Znamenka was started and went through Smela in in 1876. It accelerated the economic development of the shtetl. On May 3-4 1881, a pogrom was committed in Smela. It was quelled by newly arrived troops. During the pogrom in Smela two male and one female peasant were killed by the troops; three male and one female Jews were killed, 19 Jews were wounded by the bandits. Soon one of those Jews died. Leather factory of Abraham Moishi on the bank of Tyasmin river, beginning of XX century: In the early XX century, there was a synagogue and two other houses of worship in the town as well as one boys’ and two girls’ private Jewish schools. A list of the synagogue of Smela in the late XIX-early XX centuries which...
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Read MoreKhoroshev
Khoroshev is an urban-type village, a district center in the Zhitomir region. Khoroshev has been a part of the Russian Empire since 1793. In the XIX – early XX centuries it was a shtetl in Zhitomir uyezd, Volyn gubernia. The settlement has been renamed several times: by 1607 – Alexandropol, in 1607-1912 – Goroshki, in 1912-1923 – Kutuzovo, in 1923 – 1933 – Volodarsk-Volynskiy, and in 2016 – Khoroshev. We gathered information about post-war Jews of Khoroshev during our summer expedition in 2017. Get Directions The first mention of Khoroshev dates back to 1545. Jews have been living in Khoroshev since the XVIII century. Their main occupations were crafts and petty trade. In 1912, a Jewish service and credit society was established in Khoroshev. In early September 1919, the 44th Soviet Division retreated through Khoroshev. For three days and three nights they terrorized the Jewish population. They broke into stalls, took goods out of them, entered homes and committed robberies and murders. Jewish population of Khoroshev: 1897 – 2018 (62%) 1926 – 2068 (51%) 1939 – 988 (28%) 1989 — 76 Jews 2017 – 1 Jew After this, the shtetl was looted repeatedly by the local bands. In the 1920’s., kheders were closed, a mikvah was destroyed. In the late 1920’s, a Jewish community rebuilt a new mikvah with the help of Y.-I. Shneyerson’s representatives. In 1928, two synagogues were closed. In the 1920’s, Bentsion Fridman was a rabbi in Khoroshe. In the 1920’s, a Jewish school was opened in the shtetl. In the 1930’s, it was a center of the Jewish national village council. Holocaust In 1939 there were 988 Jews (28% of the population) living there. Anarchy came to the village when the Red Army had left it. Robberies of the shops and houses began. An announcement was made that all citizens ( ‘except Jews”) were invited to a meeting in a local theater By the time of the occupation (August 12, 1941) there were not only local Jews living there but now also refugees from the other places in Khoroshe Occupants changed the name of the town back to its old name , Goroshki. The Jews were sent to dig the trenches, clean the streets, and do other types of hard work. On August 20, 1941, one of the German officers, with the help of a local girl, warned the Jews that their detail would soon leave Khoroshe and then a punitive detachment would come...
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Read MorePuliny
Puliny (from 1935 until 2016 called Chervonoarmiisk) is an urban-type settlement in Zhytomyr Oblast. It is the administrative center of Puliny Raion. Population: 5,454(2013 est.) In XIX – beginning of XX century it was a shtetl of Zhitomir Yezd, Volyn Gubernia. In the mid-nineteenth century, Puliny did not form an independent Jewish community and in 1867 there were only 43 Jewish houses. Get Directions In 1867 the Russian authorities knew about one prayer house in Puliny, which was officially registered in 1854. Most probably, the prayer house was built around 1850. It was also mentioned in the Polish geographical dictionary in 1870. In the early XX century, however, Puliny developed into a settlement with 200 wooden houses. Two rows of wooden stalls stood in the middle of the Market Square. According to Jewish folklore, the Rebbe of Makarov blessed those stalls that no fire would damage them, and they survived all subsequent fires. According to the memoir of Yaakov Ben-Dov, in the early twentieth century there were already four synagogues in Puliny. The Old Synagogue was the prayer place of the rabbi, shollets, and important balabatim. The Kloyz of the Makarov Hasidim was described as “beautiful” and housed the association Hevra Shas for studying the Gemara. The Prayer House of Tailors had the association Hevra Tehilim, the members of which recited Psalms. The forth prayer house was that of the Butchers. All four synagogues were registered by the Soviet authorities in 1922 and 1924. I couldn’t find any detailed information about pogroms during the Civil War. However, there are no doubts that the shtetl suffered from the pogroms. In December 1921, a Jewish children’s house was formed to help those who had suffered in the pogroms. Sixty children from Jewish families lived there. Local Jews used to work in that house. Children from Ukrainian and Jewish families began to study separately in the Puliny school in 1924. In 1927 a Jewish village council was formed in Puliny. In 1929 the first Jewish collective farm was organized by L.A. Vainshtok. Synagogue”Bais Sheni” was probably closed in 1927 and converted into a Yiddish school. After World War II it became a kindergarten and from the earn 1970’s — a dwelling house. All other synagogues were closed also at the same time. Holocaust In 1939, 523 Jews, 18.7 percent of the whole population, lived in Puliny. It was occupied by the Germans on July 10th, 1941. By December 30 all the Jews...
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Krivoye Ozero
Krivoye Ozero is an urban type village founded in the 18th century. It is located on the banks of the Kodyma River and holds a long history of both vibrant and tragic Jewish life. Since the 1970s, the village became the district center of the Nikolayev region, having previously belonged to the Odessa region. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Chumaky Way, a trade road through which products from Southern Ukraine were delivered to the center, laid across Krivoye Ozero, including during the time of the Russian Empire. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the village became part of the Balta Uyezd (Podolia Gubernia). Get Directions Beginning Jewish life in Krivoye Ozero came about parallel to the founding of the village in 1762. Almost a century later, there were three functioning synagogues. In 1896, five years after a pogrom took place, Nokhum Zeyev Tabachnik became the village rabbi. However, it was in 1905 after a wave of pogroms in neighboring villages that Jews began to settle more in Krivoye Ozero, leading to the rapid development of shtetl life. By 1910, there were six synagogues, one Jewish cemetery and a private Jewish college. Two years later, a Jewish savings and credit society was organized. In 1914, Leyba Eyzelevich Lemberg became the official rabbi...
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Belilovka
Belilovka is a village in the Ruzhin district of the Zhitomir region. In the XVI through XVIII centuries, it was a village of Kiev county and voivodship, a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1793, it was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In the XIX and early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Berdichev uyezd, Kiev gubernia. The first records of Jews in Belilovka date back to 1719. Get Directions We learned that in April 1735 an attorney of Duke Liubomirsky, the owner of Belilovka, complained about several dozens of cossacks having attacked the village. They robbed, beat, and humiliated people of the shtetl, particularly Jews. Three Jewish citizens were tortured to death. In 1863, there were two synagogues in Belilovka. Shloyme Makhrinsky (1880 – ?) was a rabbi in Belilovka starting in 1900. In 1912, a savings and credit society was functioning in Belilovka. The main occupation of the Jewish population of Belilovka was traded. However, there were also Jewish pharmacists, dentists, and tailors in the shtetl. There was a tannery and a grits factory in the shtetl as well. Up to 200 Jewish families lived in Belilovka. In 1919, the Jewish population of the shtetl suffered from a pogrom. Belilovka Jews were looted. I didn’t find more information about this period 🙁...
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Piatigory
Piatigory is a village in the Tetiyev district of Kiev region. In the XVI – XVIII centuries, it was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Starting in 1793 it was in the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Tarascha uyezd, in the Kiev gubernia. Get Directions In 1787, there were ten traders among the Jews. In 1873, a synagogue was functioning in Piatigory. In 1865 – 1910, Moyshe Lerman (? –...
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Goloskovo
Goloskovo is a village in Kryve Ozero district, Nikolaev region. In the XIX– early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Balta uyezd, Podolia gubernia. Nowadays Goloskovo has completely merged with the neighboring village of Oniskove wiith one common village council. However, ini 1917 they had been two separate villages inhabited by people of different nationalities, the Jewish shtetl of Goloskovo and the Ukrainian village of Oniskove. Get Directions Information about Jews of Goloskovo was collected during our ethnographic...
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Novaya Odessa
Novaya Odessa is a district center of Nikolayev region. It was founded in 1776. In the XIX – early XX centuries, known as a shtetl of Novaya Odessa (Fedorovka), Kherson uyezd and gubernia. During our ethnographic expedition in the summer of 2018 very little information was found on the Jewish history of Novaya Odessa. Jews settled in Novaya Odessa in the late XIX century. In 1897 1,010 Jews lived in the town, where they comprised 18.3 percent of the...
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Smela
Smela (Yiddish), Smela – Смeла (Russian) Smela is a city in the Cherkassy region. It is situated on the left bank of the Tiasmin river. The population of Smela was 69,000 people in 2005. The first settlement on the Tiasmin river dates back to 1542 and was called Yatskovo, later it was called Tiasmino. The shtetl of Smela was founded in 1633 with the support of magnate Stanislav Kontsepolskiy. In 1650, Smela Jewish community was first mentioned. In 1773,...
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Khoroshev
Khoroshev is an urban-type village, a district center in the Zhitomir region. Khoroshev has been a part of the Russian Empire since 1793. In the XIX – early XX centuries it was a shtetl in Zhitomir uyezd, Volyn gubernia. The settlement has been renamed several times: by 1607 – Alexandropol, in 1607-1912 – Goroshki, in 1912-1923 – Kutuzovo, in 1923 – 1933 – Volodarsk-Volynskiy, and in 2016 – Khoroshev. We gathered information about post-war Jews of Khoroshev during our...
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