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Read MoreSmotrich
Smotrich is a historic town located in Dunaevtsy district of Khmelnitskiy region. The town’s estimated population is 2,087 (as of 2001). During the time of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795), Smotrich was a town in Podolsk voivodeship (it received the Magdeburg Charter in 1488). Smotrich became a part of Russia Empire in 1795 , in XIX – beginning of XX century it was a shtetl of Kamenets Yezd of Podolia Gubernia. Smotrich is approx. 32 km from Dunaevtsy and in 280 km from Kamenets-Podolskiy. Beginning By the beginning of 18th century there was a Jewish community in Smotrich. A large synagogue, noted for its beauty, was built there in the 18th century. Jewish population of Smotrich: 1765 – 375 Jews 1847 – 1,274 Jews 1897 — 1,725 (40%) 1939 – 1,075 (18.5%) 2016 ~ 3 In 1712, a Jewish community with a rabbi existed there. In 1765, there were 375 Jews in Smotrich and nearby villages. According to the 1847 census, “Smotrich Jewish community” consisted of 1,274 people. In 1863, the local authorities made an attempt to close one of the synagogues which they considered unnecessary. The census of 1897 registered 4,399 inhabitants, 1,725 of them Jewish. The majority of Jewish population was engaged in trade, generally, agricultural exports along the Austrian border, only about 30 kilometers north of Smotrich, or were artisans. There were nine synagogues for craftsmen and different Hassidic factions in Smotrich before the 1917 revolution. The main one was Bolshaya (Great) synagogue, a timber building at the time. There were also heders (religious schools) for teaching children and yeshivas for older students, where all children were taught in the same room, with the heder run by Rabbi Moshe considered the best in town for the little ones. Older children attended Rabbi Vofsi’s heder. Civil War pogroms During the Russian Civil war (1918-1924) the town was governed by interchanging forces of the Bolsheviks, the Polish, the White Guard and various Ukrainian and Russian militias. The army of Ukrainian nationalist Symon Petlura remained in the collective memory of the Jewish people forever for the acts of terrible cruelty and atrocities perpetrated against the Jews. During the Civil war there were short periods when the town was left without any recognised government, and local gangs formed with army deserters in possession of weapons filled the political vacuum and often carried out looting of Jewish households. On July 8, 1919 the Cossacks carried out a pogrom against the Jews of Smotrich....
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Read MoreGermanovka
Germanovka is a village located in Obuhov district of Kiev. Germanovka is located on the Krasna River. The city’s estimated population is 1,667 (as of 2001). Before the Revolution it was a shtetl of Vasilkov yezd, Kiev guberniya. Germanovka is approx. 62km south of Kiev. Beginning While it is thought that Germanovka’s first Jewish community was established in the 17th century and suffered under the Khmelnytskyi pogroms, there is no data available to confirm this. The Jewish community re-appeared in the middle of the XIX century when Germanovka became an important trading centre. A synagogue was built in 1849. In pinkos dating back to 1848, a pogrom of 1881 is recorded. In 1864, the Jewish community of Germanovka numbered 442. In 1891, this number grew to 895. In 1897, the total population of Germanovka was 3,628, and there were 1,049 Jews among them. By 1900, there were 1,352 Jews in the town. Jewish population of Germanovka: 1861 — 422 jews 1897 — 1049 (30%) 1919 — 866 jews 1950’s ~ 15 2015 – 1 jew By 1900, there were 1,352 Jews in the town. Between 1908 and 1913 the town had two synagogues, a Talmud-Torah and three cheders. Local resident A.N. Shafarenko said that there were three synagogues in the town at the beginning of the XX century: – one of them was on the site of the present meat and milk market hall – the second one was were the village hall now stands – the third was situated near the cemetery on the territory of Shafarenko’s farmstead. According to local residents, the Jewish community lived in Zatserkva (beyond the Krasnaya River, on the peninsula). There was a line of Jewish shops from the Zatserkva bridge to the municipal grammar school. Altogether, there were 46 Jewish shops in the town. Only two of the buildings in which they were housed remain: the Patlakh family shop (now a gallery) and a drapery (the building across the street, 16 Shevchenko Street, currently the Museum of the Cossacks – in 2009 the museum featured an exhibition devoted to the Jews of Germanovka). Only two of the buildings in which they were housed remain: the Patlakh family shop (now a gallery) and a drapery (the building across the street, 16 Shevchenko Street, currently the Museum of the Cossacks – in 2009 the museum featured an exhibition devoted to the Jews of Germanovka). The basic occupation of the Jewish population in the XIX –...
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Read MoreKrasnoe
Krasnoe is a historic village located in Tyvrov district of Vinnitsya region. Krasnoe is located on the Krasnyanka River, a tributary of the Southern Bug. The village’s estimated population is 1,110 (as of 2001). Krasnoe became a part of Russia Empire in 1793, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Yampol Yezd of Podolia Gubernia. Beginning The Jewish community was first mentioned in the town of Krasnoe in 1605. The area where Krasnoe Jews settled was the older part of the town. During Khmelnytsky Uprising (the Cossack-Polish insurgency in 1648-1654 under the command of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky) the Jewish population in Krasnoe was completely decimated by Khmelnytsky’s Cossack military units. In the first half of the XVIII century, when a revival of the Jewish communities began in Bratslav area, Jewish colonists migrated from different areas to revive the community of Krasnoe. They gradually re-populated the center of the old town. Overcrowded, densely built dwellings of local Jews encircled the market square. The houses were built out of local timber and stone, with storage and workshop space on the ground and basement level. What was interesting is that the basements of the houses located on main trade streets were quite spacious and joined by means of underground passages. Some of these passages formed ‘underground streets’ leading into the remains of the old castle basements. Some houses had terraces where the owners could enjoy the sunshine on fine days. All houses had spacious Italianate or gable tiled roofs with an ornate fron door and a side service entrance. In 1784 560 Jews lived in Krasnoe, including 323 residing in the town proper and the Jews from 30 surrounding villages, associated with the local Jewish community. Three years later this number went up to 596 Jews, with 328 living in Krasnoe. Jewish population of Krasnoe: 1784 – 560 jews 1847 – 1747 jews 1897 – 2599 (91%) 1924 – 1,433 (99%) 2010 – 4 jews In 1793 the town of Krasnoe and the surrounding area became part of the Russian Empire (1791 – 1917), forming a pale of Jewish settlement beyond which, under various tsar decrees, the Jews were prohibited to live; however, the day-to-day life of the community changed little. The Jewish population in Krasnoe was growing fast, with 1,747 Jews recorded in 1847, according to the town archives. 49 years later this number went up to 2,599 Jews out of 2,844 residents of Krasnoe. There was a synagogue and a heder as well as...
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Read MoreDymer
Dimer (Yiddish Transliteration), Dymir (Polish), Димер – Dymer (Ukrainian), Дымер – Dymer, Dimer (Russian), דימער (Yiddish) Dymer is a historic town located in Kiev region. The town’s estimated population is 5,817 (as of 2001). Dymer became a part of Russia Empire in 1793, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Kiev Yezd of Kiev Gubernia. Dymer is approx. 32 km from Kiev and in 93 km from Chernobyl. Beginning Over the course of several centuries several ethnic groups co-existed on the abundant soil of Dymer. The Jews lived in Dymer since the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth rule. In the XIX – beginning of the XX centuries the Jews were mostly engaged in handicrafts and trade. The Jewish population of Dymer was 273 in 1847. According to the outstanding local historian Lavrentiy Pokhylevych, 1,773 Orthodox Christians of both genders and 624 Jews lived here in 1887. From 1906 Itzkhak Klodnitskiy (1886 – ?) was the rabbi of Dymer. By the end of XIX century the town had acquired a bleaching plant which belonged to Eil Aronovych Rubinshtein, and in 1912 a Jewish loans and savings society operated in Dymer. Civil War pogroms During the Russian Civil War in Ukraine (1917–1922) Dymer Jews suffered from endless pogroms. In autumn 1917 an armed Jewish self-defence force had already been established. In January 1918 a detachment of Jewish soldiers stopped a pogrom attempt. The autumn 1919 was marked with devastating pogroms when on 5 September the units of the Volunteer Army (an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War) instigated a pogrom where over 40 women were raped, and a Cossack detachment headed by Struk instigated another pogrom in November. The following passage about Struk pogrom comes from a witness statement written by Moshka Iyosifovich Khabenskiy, a resident of Ivankov settlement, Kiev guberniya, Radomyslskiy uyezd , formerly a Dymer resident, on October, 29, 1919. “On Thursday evening of 18 September, a cavalry detachment headed by Struk entered Dymer. The officer stayed at Hilel Rubinshtein’s house and demanded the Jews to bring him 18,000 of poultry, 1,000 cigarettes and 10,000 rubles. The poultry and cigarettes were delivered, but only 5,000 rubles were collected. Iyosiph Litvinov gave the money to the officer in charge of the detachment. The next day on the orders of Struk a settlement governor Pavluschenko sent for Khanon Koganovskiy to come to the volost (a small administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe). I.T. Struk himself and a local clerk waited for him. Struk...
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Read MoreBrovary
Brovary is a city located in Chernigov region of northern Ukraine. The city’s estimated population is 100,865 (as of 2016). Brovary became a part of Russia Empire in 1667, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Oster Yezd of Chernigov Gubernia. It is approx. 51 km from Kozelets and in 28 km from Kiev. Beginning The Brockhaus-Efron Encyclopaedia notes that Brovary was a mansion settlement with a Cossack population of more than 10 per cent. According to the law of May 14, 1840, Jews were not permitted to settle there; apparently, an 1845 attempt to do so failed. However, in Chapter 55 of the 1866 Respons by the Tzemach Tzedek Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the inhabitants of Brovary are mentioned with regards to a question on the suitability of cereals for Pesach. Therefore, in 1866 (or even earlier, given that the Responsa was compiled over many years), it can be presumed that there was a Jewish community in Bravary with connections to the hasidic Habad dynasty Under the 14 May 1840 decree, Jews were not allowed to settle in Brovary. Later the decree was overturned. In 1897 there were 888 Jews, making up over a quarter of all 3817 residents of Brovary. They had a prayer house and a Jewish cemetery. Jewish prayer houses were also located in Zavorychi and Semipolki villages (a village of Gogolev had its own prayer house and there was a rabbi called Liber Liberzon (1867–year of death unknown). The Jews in Chernogov guberniya (pre-1917 administrative district) owned 1,144 pubs by 1882. To add to that, there was a great deal of unpatented pubs, outside of the police and excise officials records. By that time the pub in Brovary belonged to one Izhac Paliy who also owned the village post office. Jewish population of Brovary: 1897 – 888 (23%) 1923 – 646 jews 1926 – 526 (10%) 1939 – 485 (5%) 1989 — 360 jews 1999 – 110 jews The Jews in Brovary were mostly engaged in small-scale trade and medical services which contributed greatly to the town development. Thus, in 1898 a Jew named Shperling, a local merchant, set up a soft drinks manufacture in Brovary, a similar business founded in 1907-1908 by another merchant called Eistrakh. Another Jewish merchant A.V. Yaniskor built two, soap and leather producing factories in Brovary in 1904, and in 1907 a merchant called I.M. Iyerusalimskiy built an ironworks on the land he had rented. He also owned a steam powered mill. A bit earlier, in...
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Read MoreByshov
Byshov is a historic town located in Makarov district of Kiev region. Byshovis located on the Lupa River, a tributary of the Irpen. The town’s estimated population is 2,773 (as of 2001). Byshov became a part of Russia Empire in 1793, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Kiev Yezd of Kiev Gubernia. The earliest source of data on the Byshiv Jewish community states that there were 142 Jews in the village in 1765. Population numbers peaked in 1864 at 780, and dropped to 597 by 1897 (17% of total population). According to the Brockhaus-Efron Encyclopaedia, in the archives of the town owners in Pashkotz, a document has been preserved in which an Itsko Ozerovich proclaims his free will to swear loyalty in the synagogue. In 1768, the Jews of Byshiv were victims of the Haidamak pogroms. In 1900 there was one synagogue in Byshiv. I haven’t find much info about Byshev Jewish community and this article will consist of some photos only 🙁 We know the names of 2 local Jews who were killed by Germans and members of local police: -Tatyana Yakovlevna Konopatskaya (journalist) – Jewish men with nickname Vilchek (tailor). His last words were: “Forgive me for all, I do nothing bad for you” After the war few Jews returned in Byshov: – Fanya Moiseevna Kerzhner (she was a Head of Education department) – systers Roza and Katya Feldman – Morgulis (he survived during the Holocaust and repatriated to Israel) Systers Feldman died in 1970’s-1980’s. They were last Jews of Byshev…....
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Read MoreRykun
Rykun village is a part of Dymer, an urban-type settlement in Kiev region, Ukraine. It was founded as a Jewish agricultural settlement in Kiev Uezd of Kiev province in 1853. Since the 1980s it has been the village of Dymer district, Kiev region. The city’s estimated population is 275 (as of 2001). Beginning The origin of the village name is not known. A local historian from Dymer, Grigoriy Alekseenko reckons that Rykun is the surname of one of the first Jewish settlers who came there from Uman. This version was first suggested after a visit of an emigrant descendant from Uman, Jonathan J.Rikoon whose last name is similar to the village name.As a representative of American Heritage Commission, he visited the inauguration of the Holocaust memorial in Dymer in 2011. In 1850 32 families resided in the village, 323 people (34 families) lived in Rykun in 1898. In 1917 there were 288people. Starting from 1941 the number of the inhabitants was decreasing, down to just 150. Starting from 1853 in Dymer suburbs each colonist family was assigned 11 plots of land to use and was to be “compensated” in perpetuity for the use of their land. The state-owned land was not particularly productive and consisted of 16.2 acres (compared to 54-108 acres that were assigned to the first colonists in South Ukraine and Bessarabiya). The settlement farming was not profitable, and most Jewish colonists who were not good at agriculture rented the land plots out to the local peasants. Some Jews even left this farming settlement; most of those who stayed returned to their previous activities: handicraft, wood trading, food and goods resale. In 1863 The Jewish colonist families numbered 236. 14 years later the total area of the state-owned land the colonists cultivated was 585.4 acres and the number of families who were engaged in farming was growing and reached almost 70% of all the inhabitants in 1898. The colonists grew rye, wheat and barley. There were also two brick kilns in the village where the Jews successfully produced brick and sold it to other villages and towns. Jewish Pogroms In the beginning of the XX century, frequent pogroms engulfed the South-Western territories of Russian Empire, and Rykun was not left behind. In November, 1905, 62 Jewish families suffered from the pogrom where the damage to the Jewish community reached 18,000 rubles. During another pogrom in 1919 four Jews were shot. “…on the 16th of September an armed wing headed...
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Read MoreBoryspol
Boryspol is a historic city located in Kiev region,Ukraine, center of Boryspol district. The city’s estimated population is 60,102 (as of 2013). Boryspol became a part of Russia Empire in 1667, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Pereyaslav Yezd of Poltava Gubernia. Boryspil was first mentioned in the XI century as ‘Lta’, when the son of Prince Vladimir, Boris, died at the river Alta. It is presumed that the modern name appeared during the XVI century, in honor of Saint Boris. It is not known exactly when the Jewish population arrived in the city, although we know that the community suffered during the Khmelnitsky pogroms of the XVI century. Jewish population of Boryspol: 1897 – 1094 (12,2%) 1910 – 955 jews 1923 – 419 jews 1939 – 375 jews 1989 – 68 2010 ~ 40 As in most places in Poltava province, the Jewish community in Boryspil re-appeared in the XIX century. Jacob Rubin wrote that his grandfather, Moshe Bernstein, served with General F. Trepova during the Crimean War and in one battle saved his life. When the General resigned, he appointed his rescuer to administer his mansion in Boryspil. At Moshe’s request, the General received the Tsar’s permission for Jews to settle in Boryspil. Around 60 people came to the city from Ovruch and formed a community. On June 12, 1881, anti-Jewish riots took place in the city and were suppressed by force. According to “The Provisional Regulations” of 1882 (forbidding Jews from buying and owning land in rural areas), in 1882-1903 the Jews were restricted in Boryspol. According to the census of 1897, the city’s total population was 8,953 inhabitants – among them 1,094 Jews. Zalman Shimon Zelikman (1870-?) was the rabbi of Boryspil in 1905. For many years, the community had a cheder and a synagogue and by the beginning of the XX century there were two synagogues and Jewish cemetery in the city. The Jews lived in close contact with the Christian population, and were mainly engaged in trade. According to older residents, in the center of Boryspil there were rows of Jewish shops including a dry goods store owned by Berk Ryabiy, a leather shop owned by Niesel Vinnik, a sewing workshop owned by Itsk Rabinovich and a shop owned by Gershk Rayshkin. In the city museum there is a postcard of 1912 featuring the central street of Boryspil and showing these and other shops. Civil War In 1918 pogrom occurred in Bortspol....
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Smotrich
Smotrich is a historic town located in Dunaevtsy district of Khmelnitskiy region. The town’s estimated population is 2,087 (as of 2001). During the time of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795), Smotrich was a town in Podolsk voivodeship (it received the Magdeburg Charter in 1488). Smotrich became a part of Russia Empire in 1795 , in XIX – beginning of XX century it was a shtetl of Kamenets Yezd of Podolia Gubernia. Smotrich is approx. 32 km from Dunaevtsy and in 280 km from Kamenets-Podolskiy. Beginning By the beginning of 18th century there was a Jewish community in Smotrich. A large synagogue, noted for its beauty, was built there in the 18th century. Jewish population of Smotrich: 1765 – 375 Jews 1847 – 1,274 Jews 1897 — 1,725 (40%) 1939 – 1,075 (18.5%) 2016 ~ 3 In 1712, a Jewish community with a rabbi existed there. In 1765, there were 375 Jews in Smotrich and nearby villages. According to the 1847 census, “Smotrich Jewish community” consisted of 1,274 people. In 1863, the local authorities made an attempt to close one of the synagogues which they considered unnecessary. The census of 1897 registered 4,399 inhabitants, 1,725 of them Jewish. The majority of Jewish population was engaged in trade, generally, agricultural exports along the Austrian border, only about 30...
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Germanovka
Germanovka is a village located in Obuhov district of Kiev. Germanovka is located on the Krasna River. The city’s estimated population is 1,667 (as of 2001). Before the Revolution it was a shtetl of Vasilkov yezd, Kiev guberniya. Germanovka is approx. 62km south of Kiev. Beginning While it is thought that Germanovka’s first Jewish community was established in the 17th century and suffered under the Khmelnytskyi pogroms, there is no data available to confirm this. The Jewish community re-appeared in the middle of the XIX century when Germanovka became an important trading centre. A synagogue was built in 1849. In pinkos dating back to 1848, a pogrom of 1881 is recorded. In 1864, the Jewish community of Germanovka numbered 442. In 1891, this number grew to 895. In 1897, the total population of Germanovka was 3,628, and there were 1,049 Jews among them. By 1900, there were 1,352 Jews in the town. Jewish population of Germanovka: 1861 — 422 jews 1897 — 1049 (30%) 1919 — 866 jews 1950’s ~ 15 2015 – 1 jew By 1900, there were 1,352 Jews in the town. Between 1908 and 1913 the town had two synagogues, a Talmud-Torah and three cheders. Local resident A.N. Shafarenko said that there were three synagogues in the town at the beginning of...
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Shtetls of Volyn gubernia
We first appeared here about 500 years ago… On the eve of the first world war around 400,000 of our ancestors lived in over 100 shtetls of Volyn Gubernia. Most of Volyn shtetls are on this map Nowograd Wolynsk, Zviagel, Zwiahl, Zwiahel (Polish), Zvihil, Zvil, Zvehil, זוויל ,זוועהיל, Zvhil (Yiddish), Новоград-Вол 9378 Jews according to 1897 census (55% of total population) Ovruc, Ovrutch (Yiddish), Owrucz (Polish), Ovruch (Russian) 3445 Jews according to 1897 census (46% of total population)...
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Fastov
Фастов (Russian), Хвастів – Khvastiv (Formerly), כוואסטוב ,חוואסטוב (Yiddish) Fastov is a historic city located in Kiev region, center of Fastov district. Fastov is located on the Unava River, a tributary of the Irpen. The city’s estimated population is 47,284 (as of 2016). Fastov became a part of Russia Empire in 1793, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Vasylkov Yezd of Kiev Gubernia. Fastov is approx. 40 km from Belaya Tserkov and in 73 km from Kiev. Beginning While the first Jewish...
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Krasnoe
Krasnoe is a historic village located in Tyvrov district of Vinnitsya region. Krasnoe is located on the Krasnyanka River, a tributary of the Southern Bug. The village’s estimated population is 1,110 (as of 2001). Krasnoe became a part of Russia Empire in 1793, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Yampol Yezd of Podolia Gubernia. Beginning The Jewish community was first mentioned in the town of Krasnoe in 1605. The area where Krasnoe Jews settled was the older part of the town. During...
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Dymer
Dimer (Yiddish Transliteration), Dymir (Polish), Димер – Dymer (Ukrainian), Дымер – Dymer, Dimer (Russian), דימער (Yiddish) Dymer is a historic town located in Kiev region. The town’s estimated population is 5,817 (as of 2001). Dymer became a part of Russia Empire in 1793, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Kiev Yezd of Kiev Gubernia. Dymer is approx. 32 km from Kiev and in 93 km from Chernobyl. Beginning Over the course of several centuries several ethnic groups co-existed...
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Trypillia
Trypillya is a historic town located in Obukhov district of Kiev region. Trypillya is located on the Dnieper River. The town’s estimated population is 3,001 (as of 2006). Trypillya became a part of Russia Empire in 1667, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was shtetl of Kiev Gubernia. Trypillya is approx. 280 km from Vinnitsya and in 50 km from Kiev. Beginning Historically, people settled in Trypillya because of a ford across the Dnieper river and a strategically important hill rising high...
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