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Read MoreVoznesensk
Вознесенск(Russian), Вознесенськ(Ukrainian) Voznesensk is a town and a district center in Nikolayev region. The city’s estimated population is 35.843 (as of 2015). In the XIX – early XX century it was a shtetl of Elisavetgrad Yezd of Kherson Gubernia. Get Directions When the foundation stone was laid on May 10, 1795, the population was composed of a mix of Ukrainians, Russians, and Moldovans. From the late XVIII century when Poland was partitioned and merged with the Russian Empire, Jews began to arrive, quickly contributing to the growth of the town. From the nineteenth until early twentieth century, it was a shtetl in Yelizavetgrad uyezd, Kherson gubernia. From 1828 until late in the nineteenth century, the town held the status of a military settlement, thus limiting the number of Jewish residents. Nevertheless, according to the 1897 census, by the late nineteenth century, Voznesensk Jews controlled nearly 85% of trade and 46% of artisan businesses. Jewish population of Voznesensk: 1864 — 1249 Jews 1897 — 5932 (37%) 1910 — 7663 (39%) 1920 — 6177 Jews 1926 — 5116 (23%), 1939 — 2843 Jews 1996 – 180 Jews 2018 – 50 Jews The first synagogue was completed In 1863, headed by congregation rabbis Khaim Gertsenshteyn (1864-1869), Iyeguda Teplitsky (1869-1895), and Yakov Meir Yako (1895-?). By 1909, the synagogue was supplemented by 6 prayer houses, private Jewish training schools for both boys and girls, as well as a Talmud Torah. In 1911, there were 85 students in the Talmud Torah, while 345 students attended the 14 kheders. More than 6,000 Jewish inhabitants of the town owned small tanneries, mills, and chaise workshops. Moreover, they were renowned specialists in leather currying, as well as cobbler and wheelwright businesses. Prosperous traders engaged in bread trading were among the shareholders of Voznesensk society of bread-traders’ and ship owners’ communities. Adolf Kibrik, father of the XX century People’s Artist of USSR Yevgeniy Kibrik, was a major agent in the bread trade and he owned of a fleet of barges. Zaychik, another wealthy trader, owned several houses in the center of the town – around the Pochtovaya market at Nikolayevskaya and Pushkinskaya streets – a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. In 1912, a Jewish savings and credit society was formed, and a railway line connecting Odessa and Bakhmach ran through the town, significantly contributing to growth of Voznesensk’s economic life. In 1916, a Jewish artists’ community was organized under the leadership of Zaslavsky and Basmanov. Before the Russian Revolution in...
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Read MoreLiubashevka
Любашівка(Ukrainian), Любашевка(Russian) Liubashevka is an urban-type settlement, a district centre in the Odessa region of Ukraine. In the 19th to early-20th centuries, it was a village in the Ananyev Uyezd of the Kherson gubernia. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much information about Liubashevka Jews’ life before WWII. In 2018, we visited the former shtetl during our summer expedition and didn’t find Jews there. Most information for this article was provided by a local teacher Valeriy Bondarenko (see video below). Get Directions Unfortunately, I didn’t find much information about Jew of Liubashevka before WWII. The settlement was founded in the late 18th century. It is known that 180 Jews (26%) of the total population) lived there in 1868. Since 1895, the Liubashevka rabbi was Shmuel-Zeev Shekhter (1875–?). In 1914, the only drugstore in the town belonged to a Jew. During In the Civil War period of 1917 – 1920 many rival armies passed through the town. In 1919 a Volunteer White Army unit wreaked a pogrom and havoc, some Jews escaping to the neighboring village Ivanovka. In 1939, 671 Jews lived in Liubashevka itself, while 1,021 Jews lived in the whole district. On June 22, 1941 Nazi Germany and its allies attacked the Soviet Union. Moisey Shmulevich Pustylnik (1910 – 1945, killed in action) was in charge of the evacuation of Jews from Liubashevka however 50-60 Jewish families failed to escape. In July 1941, the town was occupied by the Germans. A ghetto was established In September 1941. The following Nazi actions took place to terrorize the local Jewish population: · more than 350 local Jews were shot in Liubashevka · approximately 100 people in the village of Gvozdavka · approximately 100 people in the village of Yasenovo In the vicinity of Gvozdavka, 20 km away from Liubashevka, the Nazis organized a concentration camp in November 1941. Jews from Bessarabia, Odessa and Zhitomir regions were driven there, along with Jews. About 5,000 inmates died there: 2,772 Jews were executed and 2,000 died of starvation and diseases. Below is a short list (from a Russian archive) of a few Jews murdered in Gvozdavka: The Extraordinary State Commission carried out excavations in the area of Gvozdavka village. These excavations revealed 2,208 decomposed bodies buried in a 40 metre long anti-tank ditch The mass murder took place in the winter of 1941 –1942. Up to our time, people would discover unknown and unmarked mass graves of Holocaust victims in Gvozdavka area. Information of a Holocaust’s research carried out by the...
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Read MoreCherniakhov
Черняхов(Russian), Черняхів(Ukrainian) Cherniakhov is a small town, a district center of the Cherniakhov district, Zhitomir region. In the early XX century it was a shtetl of Radomyshl uyezd (district), Kiev province. Most information about the post-war Jewish life of Cherniakhov was provided by the unofficial head of the Jewish community in Cherniakhov Raisa Makovoz during our visit in the summer of 2017. Idl Ayzman’s (1922, Cherniakhov – 2017, Petah Tikva) fascinating diaries (here and here) shed light on the Jews of Cherniakhov in the 1920s – 1930s. Virtually no information could be found on the Jewish life of Cherniakhov in the XIX – early XX centuries. Get Directions Beginning The Cherniakhov settlement was first mentioned in 1545. According to the 1897 state census, the Cherniakhov Jewish community included 1,774 members. It was just under a half of the whole population of the shtetl. Ten pogroms occurred in Cherniakhov during the 1917 revolution. As a result, the shtetl was comprehensively looted with no record of the victims. In 1919, the authorities of the Ukrainian Republic refused local Jews to join the enlisted army. In the 1920s, the synagogue was closed and was turned into a club. In 1922, a Jewish school and kindergarten were built. The building houses a printing workshop nowadays. The Gruzinsky and Shats families used to be the drovers in the shtetl. Despite the fact that their horses were taken to the Jewish collective farm, they bought new ones and lived much better than other Jews. In the 1920s, the local Jews Ershl, Landman, Shloyme Polevoy, Meir (surname unknown) were considered to be poor in the shtetl. In 1937 – 1939, a local doctor of Jewish ancestry Bliashev organised a hospital in Cherniakhovsk. For that the local authorities awarded him with a personal car, which he donated to the hospital. It was the first emergency vehicle in the shtetl. During the World War II, he was called up to the army and organized a hospital, where 30 out of 37 doctors were Jewish. After the war he did not return to Cherniakhovsk. Jewish kindergarten in Cherniakhovsk, 1920’s. Photo provided by Raisa Makovoz. Jewish population of Cherniakhov: 1897 – 1774(~50%) 1939- 1,482 (20%) 1950 ~ 250 Jews 1990 ~ 30 Jews 2017 – 5 Jews Idl Ayzman mentions the following pre-war inhabitants of Cherniakhov: Etl Dubenko, the village council deputy; Shlema Levkovsky, Elia Vesler, tailor Itsik Igdal. Most of them were murdered in the Holocaust. Moisey Shpoliansky led the choir and the...
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Read MoreBerezovka
Beresowka (Yiddish), Березівка – Berezivka (Ukrainian), Березовка – Berëzovka (Russian) Berezovka is a city and administrative center of the Berezovka Raion in Odessa region. In 2016, the population is estimated to be 13,421. During our visit in the summer 2018, we could get almost no information about Jews from Berezovka. There wasn’t a Jewish community in the town at that moment. Jews didn’t live there anymore. Get Directions On April 26–27, 1881, the Jews were attacked in a pogrom, and, out of the 161 buildings owned by Jews, only the synagogue and pharmacy were undamaged. Description of 1905 pogrom: «The population of Berezivka was extremely anxious at the rumor of the total extermination of Jews. One of the scruffles between the tradeswomen at the market turned into a fight. The crowd immediately rushed to the Jewish stalls, destroying everything on their way. There were calls to “kill the Jews who killed our Tsar”. Many buildings were set on fire. Only when a hundred Cossacks arrived, did they manage to get the situation under control. As a result of the pogrom, 159 houses, 17 stalls, and 11 cellars were devastated. The damage amounted to 450,000rubles». The local Jewish Community was affected by the pogroms in 1918 and 1920. During the Soviet period Jews were employed in artisan cooperatives and Jewish kolkhozes. A Yiddish elementary school, a Yiddish evening school, a club, and a library were in operation In 1939, 1,424 Jewslived in Berezovka (16.5% of the population), and 800 Jews lived in district villages. Jewish records with stamp and sign of Berezovka rabbi: Holocaust Berezovka was taken by the Germans on August 10, 1941. Later a ghetto was formed there. On August 14, 1941, Sonderkommand 10a shot 41 Jews in Berezovka. The remaining 211 prisoners of the ghetto were killed in the fall of 1941. Jewish population of Berezovka: 1897 – 3458 (56%) 1926 – 3223 (42%) 1939- 1,424 (16%) 2018 – 0 At that time Berezovka became a center of Berezovka uyezd in Transnistria under Romanian control. Ten ghettos were formed in the uyezd. From January to February 1942, trains with Jews from Odessa arrived at the railway station in Berezovka. From that station, they were driven to the Southern Bug and killed on the way. In total, 5,511 Jews were killed in Berezovka and nearby villages. Some of them, including children, were burnt alive. Jews who froze in cold wagons during the transportation from Odessa to Berezovka (according...
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Read MoreKhaschevatoye
Хащувате(Ukrainina), Хащеватое(Russian) Khaschevatoye is a village in Gayvoron district, Kirovograd region. Its population is 2,260 people. The village is on the Southern Bug River. It used to be a town of Gaysin uyezd, Podolia gubernia from the late 18th through the early 20th century. From 1923 through 1932, Khaschevatoye was a district center of the Odessa region. Information about Jews from Khaschevatoye was obtained from several different sources, including books by Solgutovsky and Khaim Melamud, and from various websites as well. In the summer of 2018, we explored Khaschevatoye’s points of Jewish interest, with the guidance of Yelena Mikhaylovna Vdovichenko, the principal of a local school. More information about the Holocaust in Khaschevatoye can be found in khashchevato1942.ru Get Directions Beginning The settlement’s history goes back to 1362. It was originally a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was called Kachuchinka. In the early 15th century, it was renamed Khaschevatoye. There had long been a main road from Odessa to Kiyev that went through Khaschevatoye. However, when the South-West railway was built, the road became far less popular. In 1893, a railway was constructed in the village. In 1905, Khaschevatoye had 720 houses, with a total population of 4,335 people. The village contained an orthodox church, a synagogue, a prayer house, a village council, a post office, a village bank, a merchants’ council, a town hall, a drugstore, three pharmacy warehouses, a hotel, four inns, a water mill, one-classroom school, and a parochial school. In the 19th century, Jews made up half of the population and played an active role in the economic life of the village. Khaschuvatoye was a large shtetl with well-developed trade and craft industries. Large fairs took place weekly and attracted traders from Uman and Balta; there they sold corn, wheat, rye, cattle, as well as products produced by various industrial and artisanal industries, such as pottery, shoes, saddles, and barrels. There were several oil and grain enterprises situated along the street that began at the railway station. One oil mill even had a steam engine. These mills were so successful that together they employed more than ten men. On this street there were also smithies who produced carts and wheelbarrows. In the market square, there was an assortment of workshops representing a variety of industries: timber, construction materials, cooperages, metalwork and tin, ropes, leather harnesses and other leather goods, etc. The market square’s site is now occupied by a Khaschevatoye school building. The butcher’s...
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Read MoreSavran
Kanetspol – XVIII, Sawrań (Polish), Саврань – Savran (Russian) Savran has been an urban-type village since 1957, a district center of the Odessa region. It has existed since the late XIV century. In the XVI – XVIII centuries, it was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1793 it was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of the Balta uyezd, Podolia gubernia. Since 1926 Savran has been a center of a Jewish national village council. We visited Savran during our expedition in the summer 2018. In 2019, Vladimir Chaplin, a director at the Odessa Jewish Museum provided us with audio records and photos of the ethnographic expedition to Savran in 2012. An interview with unofficial head of the Jewish community of Savran Mikhail Usilnikov was especially valuable for us. He died in 2016. Get Directions Beginning I didn’t find information about Jewish community of Savran in the XVIII-early XIX century. In 1870, two synagogues were functioning in Savran. In 1889 there were three, in the early XX century – four. In 1912, there was a Jewish savings-and-credit society in Savran. In the XIX – early XX centuries, the main occupations of the Jewish population of Savran were crafts and trade. In 1914, Jews owned four drugstores, both hotels, both forest warehouses, two mills, the only creamery, 66 stalls and shops, including all 17 groceries, all 17 textile shops, all three shoe-making shops, the only furniture shop, all three wine stores and all six bakeries. Savran Hasidic Dynasty Rabbi Moshe Tsvi Giterman was born in approximately 1775. He is considered to be the first Savran rabbi, a great student and follower of Levi Itskhak from Berdichev. and also of Rabbi Barukh from Medzhibozh, a grandson of Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judisiam. (after Levi Itskhak’s death Giterman become a rabbi in Berdichev) Jewish population of Savran: 1847 — 2548 Jews 1887 – 2900 (68%) 1897 — 3198 (54%) 1923 – 2851 Jews 1926 — 3415 Jews 1939 — 1101 Jews 2012 — 6 Jews 2018 – 1 Jew In 1811, rabbi Moshe Tsvi Giterman became a rabbi of Savran shtetl and a leader of Hasidim. He founded one of the most powerful Hasidic dynasties. His authority as a Tzaddic increased gradually, he became as famous as rabbi Israel from Ruzhin and rabbi Mordekhay from Chernobyl. He arranged assistance to hasids by collecting money in Israel. Rabbi Moshe Tsvi’s...
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Read MoreLadyzhinka
Ладижинка (Ukrainian) Ladyzhinka is a village in Uman district, Cherkassy region. Since 1726 it was a part of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1793, it was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries, it was a shtetl in Uman uyezd, Kiev gubernia. Beginning Jews lived in Ladyzhinka from the XVIII century. In 1795, the Jewish community consisted of 400 people. Get Directions In the second half of the XIX century, the village grew into a town, and craftsmen began to settle there, particularly tailors, weavers and blacksmiths, who were mostly Jews. They lived in the center of the town, built houses and shops there and a few wealthy families were tenants. There were also three inns in Ladyzhinka and the owners were Jews. The population consisted of 1,470 Orthodox Christians, 12 Roman Catholics and 825 Jews. By the end of the XIX century, Jews accounted for 31,5% of the total population (1173 people). The town had two synagogues and a Jewish cemetery. During the pogroms in 1906, many Jews left Ladyzhinka. In the 1910s, a Jewish savings and loan society operated, Jews owned eight stores, two inns, a restaurant and a pharmacy. In 2017, one local citizen recalled rich Jewish woman Gesia who used to rent three ponds and owned a mill before the revolution. There was one large synagogue and perhaps a smaller one in the shtetl. The location of the second synagogue is unknown. The main synagogue was destroyed during the pogroms of 1919. An inn was situated near the main synagogue. It was destroyed after the war. Pogroms The pogroms in Ladyzhinka did not differ in severity from those throughout the Uman area and there was looting and attacks on old people, women and children. Particularly brutal was the gang from Semiduby. On May 14, 1919, during the pogrom, 100 Jews were killed. In July 1919, almost all the Jews left Ladyzhinka in search of asylum, most fleeing to Golovanevsk, Uman and Odessa. Jewish population of Ladyzhinka: 1795 ~ 400 Jews 1897 — 1173 (31%) 2017 – 0 In May-June 1919, more than 100 Jews of Ladizhinka were killed by their Ukrainian neighbors. The biggest pogrom in the shtetl happened on July 12, 1919 during a weekly fair. The horrors of this pogrom are described in Russian below. Peasants cut both arms off of the local rabbi and stabbed him with pitchforks. After the pogrom 69 dead bodies were buried as...
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Read MoreGolovanevsk
Golovanevsk is a district center of Kirovograd region. Population is 5 982 people (2016). In the XIX – early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Balta uyezd, Podolia gubernia. Jews lived in Golovanevsk starting in the late XVIII century. In the shtetl there were two synagogues in 1889, a private male training school in 1909, and a Jewish savings and credit society in 1912. Get Directions In 1905, a pogrom nearly happened in the shtetl. 15 Jews from Golovanevsk were fiercely beaten at the fair in the neighboring village of Troyany (now Zaporozhye region – editor’s note), a Jewish market was looted. After that event there was great anxiety among Jews of the shtetl. The non-Jews who came from Troyany after the fair to the village were beaten severely. A man was sent to Balta in order to buy 15 revolvers for the shtetl. Khaim Ostroy organized a self defense detachment in the village. He collected money from wealthy Jews and bribed some officers in Balta, so they sent 100 soldiers to guard the shtetl. Thus, the pogrom was prevented in 1905. Civil War pogroms On December 18, 1917 a pogrom took place in Golovanevsk. It was stopped by the forces of the self-defense detachment. Nine non-Jews were killed. In 1918 Chaim Ostroy organized a Jewish self-defense unit that numbered several hundred armed people. The unit successfully protected the county population from pogroms and attacks of gangs. Thanks to the self-defense detachment, Golovanevsk became an asylum where thousands of Jews fled from nearby shtetls that had been seized by pogroms. Because of the overcrowding, a typhus outbreak occurred in the shtetl killing hundreds of people. Unfortunately, the self-defense detachment couldn’t confront huge military forces. In August 1919, the detachment was defeated by the Volunteer Army under the command of General Slaschev. Khaim and Yakov Ostroy were shot on Saturday, 12 days before Rosh ha-Shana. As a punishment for the fierce opposition of the detachment, the White Guards massacred 200 Jews in Golovanevsk. However, the local Roman Catholic priest hid the families of the detachment fighters, and consequently many Jews survived including Esfir, Khaim Ostroy’s daughter. It happened on August 4, 1919. Boris Shmidt and Yakov Zaydman, members of the detachment, testified about the Ostroys’ murders in the Golovanevsk People’s Court which took place on the 28th of October 1931. The pogroms caused a wave of internal emigration. According to statistical data, 43 families of Jewish refugees from Golovanevsk lived...
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Makhnovka
Makhnovka is a village in the Kazatinsky district of the Vinnitsa region, 12 kilometers from the Kazatin railway station. The population at the 2001 census was 3,467. A rather picturesque river Gnilopyat flows near the village. Before Revolution, Makhnovka was a shtetl of Berdichev uezd, Kiev gubernia. From 1935 to 2016 – the village was called Komsomolskoye. In 2016, the historical name of Makhnovka was returned to the village. Beginning Documentary references to Makhnovka have been known at least since the first half of the 17th century (according to some sources, even from 1611). The town was the private property of the Tyshkevich magnates, whose ancestors received these lands in 1430 from the Lithuanian prince Svidrigailo, who owned this part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Together with Berdichev and other estates, it was inherited by the princes Radzivils. Anthony Pototsky took possession of part of Makhnovka at the beginning of the 17th century, and the other part was owned by the princes Radziwill. During this period, a stone castle and a Bernardine church were built. Get Directions Then Makhnovka completely passed to the Pototskys. (There is a lot of information about Makhnovka’s history in the Polish Slownik geograficzny tom 875). During the uprising of Bogdan Khmelnitsky of 1648-1654, a battle took place...
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Troyanov
Troyanov is a village in Zhytomir district, Zhytomir region. Troyanov is located on the Gnilopyat River, a tributary of the Teterev. The village’s estimated population is 1929 (as of 2001). In 19th – beginning of 20th century it was a shtetl of Zhytomir Yezd of Volyn Gubernia. I visited Troyanov during the 2020 summer expedition. Afterwards, I was able to put together the little information I collected about the Jews of the village. There haven’t been any new buildings in the village since the beginning of the 20th century. The only remnant reminding of a once-great Jewish community is a large overgrown Jewish cemetery. A local teacher Volodymyr Matsun took us about the cemetery. A former resident of the village Yakov Yolin, who currently lives in Zhytomyr, told us about the post-war Jews. Beginning The first reference to Jews in Troyanov relates to the mid-18th century. At the end of the 19th century, the Jewish population of Troyanov numbered about 1,469 and comprising 18.6 percent out of the total population. In 1905 the town suffered from several pogroms, after which the Jews of Troyanov, together with the Jewish community in Zhitomir, organized a Jewish self-defense force. It is known that local Ukrainian peasants killed ten Jewish boys from a nearby shtetl Chudnov, who had taken part...
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Voznesensk
Вознесенск(Russian), Вознесенськ(Ukrainian) Voznesensk is a town and a district center in Nikolayev region. The city’s estimated population is 35.843 (as of 2015). In the XIX – early XX century it was a shtetl of Elisavetgrad Yezd of Kherson Gubernia. Get Directions When the foundation stone was laid on May 10, 1795, the population was composed of a mix of Ukrainians, Russians, and Moldovans. From the late XVIII century when Poland was partitioned and merged with the Russian Empire, Jews...
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Liubashevka
Любашівка(Ukrainian), Любашевка(Russian) Liubashevka is an urban-type settlement, a district centre in the Odessa region of Ukraine. In the 19th to early-20th centuries, it was a village in the Ananyev Uyezd of the Kherson gubernia. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much information about Liubashevka Jews’ life before WWII. In 2018, we visited the former shtetl during our summer expedition and didn’t find Jews there. Most information for this article was provided by a local teacher Valeriy Bondarenko (see video below). Get Directions Unfortunately, I didn’t...
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Cherniakhov
Черняхов(Russian), Черняхів(Ukrainian) Cherniakhov is a small town, a district center of the Cherniakhov district, Zhitomir region. In the early XX century it was a shtetl of Radomyshl uyezd (district), Kiev province. Most information about the post-war Jewish life of Cherniakhov was provided by the unofficial head of the Jewish community in Cherniakhov Raisa Makovoz during our visit in the summer of 2017. Idl Ayzman’s (1922, Cherniakhov – 2017, Petah Tikva) fascinating diaries (here and here) shed light on the Jews of Cherniakhov...
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Berezovka
Beresowka (Yiddish), Березівка – Berezivka (Ukrainian), Березовка – Berëzovka (Russian) Berezovka is a city and administrative center of the Berezovka Raion in Odessa region. In 2016, the population is estimated to be 13,421. During our visit in the summer 2018, we could get almost no information about Jews from Berezovka. There wasn’t a Jewish community in the town at that moment. Jews didn’t live there anymore. Get Directions On April 26–27, 1881, the Jews were attacked in a pogrom,...
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Khaschevatoye
Хащувате(Ukrainina), Хащеватое(Russian) Khaschevatoye is a village in Gayvoron district, Kirovograd region. Its population is 2,260 people. The village is on the Southern Bug River. It used to be a town of Gaysin uyezd, Podolia gubernia from the late 18th through the early 20th century. From 1923 through 1932, Khaschevatoye was a district center of the Odessa region. Information about Jews from Khaschevatoye was obtained from several different sources, including books by Solgutovsky and Khaim Melamud, and from various websites...
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