-
Read MoreShpola
Shpola – Шпола (Ukrainian), Shpole, שפּאָלע (Yiddish) Shpola is a town in Cherkassy region, a center of Shpola district, a geographical center of Ukraine. 18,112 lived in the town in 2011. Before the Revolution, Shpola was a town of Zvenigorod Uezd of Kiev gubernia. I could find very little information about the history of Shpola Jewish community before 1917 🙁 The heyday of the Jewish shtetl and its emergence as a Hasidic center in the 18th century were connected with the tzadik Shpoler Zeide (“the grandfather from Shpola”). Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib ben Boruch (Saba from Shpola), also known as (1725, Uman – 1812, Shpola) – (‘grandfather’-a nickname given to him by the Baal Shem Tov at his circumcision), is famed as a miracle worker and devoted to the succour of poor Jews in distress. In his early years, he was a disciple of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, a leading figure in the first generation of Chassidim. The Shpoler Zeide was a key opponent of Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav. The sons of Rabbi Arieh Leib did not become Chassidic leaders. They settled in Shpola, and three of them were buried beside their father. At the request of the Shpoler Zeide, there is no tombstone at his grave, but a big box with the date of his death. Pilgrims to the site throw notes into the box. Jewish population of Shpola: 1720’s – 566 Jews 1847 – 1516 Jews 1863 – 2534 (50%) 1897 – 5388 (45%) 1939 – 2397 (16%) 2017 ~ 10 On the 18th-19th of February 1897, the local population smashed shops and apartments that belonged to Jews, but there were no victims. In 1905, the town had a society of benefits for the poor, an almshouse, four houses of prayer, a large synagogue. In 1910, a society for helping the poor was operating, there was an alms-house, four houses of worship, a large synagogue, private male and female Hebrew schools, an evening school for adult girls and a Talmud Torah More lists of Shpola entrepreneurs by 1913 Civil War During the civil war, the Jewish population of Shpola suffered from several pogroms, but they were not as severe as elsewhere in the district. As a result, a mass of Jewish refugees from eight destroyed shtetls of the district (more than 4,000 people) concentrated in Shpola. Also, Jews began to leave Shpola in great numbers in an attempt to reach the Romanian border and to immigrate to the USA to...
-
Read MoreTorgovitsa
Torgovitsa is a village of Novoarkhangelsk district, Kirovograd region. Before the Revolution it was a shtetl of Uman uyezd, Kiev province. I could find very little information about Jews from Torgovitsa 🙁 We visited Torgovitsa in 2017 and made few photos of Holocaust mass grave and remains of Jewish cemetery. According to 1897 census, 1299 Jews lived there (35% of total population). Before the revolution Jews lived mainly in Novaya street which was up to the Market square. There were no pre-revolutionary buildings in the village. Volko Solomonovich Golberg was a teacher in the village before the war. He had daughter Betia and son Yosef. Shmil (unknown surname) was a worker in the collective farm. All Jews of Torgovitsa were exterminated during the Holocaust… Incription on the fence Monument on the grave When the Jews were driven to the execution, Katerina Aksentyevna Puchkova (1898 – 1976) saved Jew Yakov Gorbatov. All his family was shot. He survived and lived in Kiev after the war. After the war, relatives of the Jews who had been murdered erected a monument on the place of the shooting. After the occupation, all the Jews of Torgovitsa were gathered together and shot outside the village. In 2017, a woman who remembered how a column of Jews was driven to be shot still lived in the village. She recalled only one name – Rosa Kozlenko. After the war, several families returned. These families had small shops situated in the center of the village. Soon they all went away. During our visit in 2017, no Jews lived in the village. A synagogue used to be in the place, where Marusya Bagriy’s property is now. It was destroyed after the war. Jewish cemetery After the war, stones from the Jewish cemetery were stolen by the local...
-
Read MoreLuginy
Luhin (Yiddish), Лугины – Luginy (Russian) Luginy, an urban-type settlement (since 1967)is a district center in the Zhytomyr region. In the XVII-XVIII centuries it was governed by the Kiev voivodeship as part of the Commonwealth, and since 1793 by the the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries it was in the township of Luginy Ovruch uyezd, Volyn Gubernia. Jewish population of Luginy: 1847 – 1154 Jews 1897 – 1599 (64%) 1923 – 1709 Jews 1939 – 857 (37%) 1989 – 20 Jews 2017 – 2 Jews In the early XVII century, there was a Jewish community in Luginy. In 1648, Jews escaped from Luginy, rescuing themselves from attacks by Cossack detachments of B. M. Khmelnitsky. In 1721, the Jewish community was reborn. In 1867, there were two synagogues in Luginy. Basic occupations of the Jewish population were handicrafts, mainly sewing, shoemaking,and woodworking, and small trade. In 1914, Jews owned the only drugstore, pharmacy warehouse, the only warehouse of kerosene. there were 71 shops including 37 grocery stores and 15 factories. On January 2 1918, a pogrom in Luginy was committed by soldiers of the Russian army; a pogrom on January 8 1918 was prevented by the squads of Jewish self-defense. Rahmil Vaitman with wife Beila Vaitman (Gershman) and daughter Klava Gozova (Vaitman), Luginy. Photo provided by Gennady Shmukler Hava Vaitman (Voltinuk) with brother Leiba Voltinuk, Luginy. Photo provided by Gennady Shmukler In 1919, there was a pogrom in Luginy, arranged by parts of the Directory. Jewish houses were destroyed and 11 people were killed. Weinerman Todres was among those who were killed. Between the Wars In the 1920’s, a there was a Jewish school Luginy. In 1925, natives of Luginy (ten Jewish families – 56 people) organized a Jewish collective farm “Emes”in Kherson district. Since 1926, a Jewish national village council has been formed in the town. In 1927, a Jewish elementary school was opened in Luginy where four teachers worked and 173 girls and boys were studying. In 1934, a seven-year school was opened on the basis of this school. Up to 300 Jewish children studied there. They were taught by four teachers. At that time, a building for the seven-year school was built. In 1937, the elementary school and the seven-year one were united. The building of the former Jewish school was destroyed in 2012. Before the war there were two synagogues in Luginy. The largest (three-storied) was destroyed in 1939, and the second was burned down...
-
Read MoreSlovechno
Словечне – Slovechne (Ukrainian), Словечно – Slovechno (Russian) Slovechno is a village in Ovruch district, Zhitomir region. The population is 1,725 people (in 2001). In the early XX century, Slovechno was a shtetl of Ovruch uyezd, Volin gubernia. The village was a district center of the Zhitomir region from 1923 till 1962. Part of the information for this article was provided by local historian Oleksiy Gorbachevskiy. Much more of information about Jews of Slovechno can be found in the book Slovechno is My Shtetl by Isaak Kipnis. But it is in Yiddish 🙁 In 2017, local historian Oleksiy Gorbachevskiy provide for us good excursion in Slovechno. You will be able to see him on all videos in this article. There isn’t much information about the pre-revolutionary history of Jews in Slovechno. In 1913, Jews owned all 19 grocery stalls, all three hardware stalls, both manufacturies, the only clothing shop, as well as the butcher’s and baking house. One of two mills belonged to a Jew man, Engelbrekht. The owner of the drugstore was Abram Yurovskiy. He rent it to his compatriot Leyzer Markman. Jewish population of Slovechno: 1847 – 444 Jews 1897 – 1187 (56%) 1926 – 2916 Jews 1939 – 879(27%) 1950’s ~ 50 2017 – 0 There were five or six rich Jewish families in the shtetl. Their houses were situated on a single street. Rabbi Ratner’s house was located on that same street. Old-timers recall the names of two local rich men, the merchants Leyba (surname is unknown) and Motel (surname is unknown). The synagogue in the shtetl was in the center of town, and it was burnt down by pogromchiks during the Russian Civil War. In late 1910’s, Itsik Kipnis organized amateur literature and drama groups in the shtetl. Pogroms After the beginning of the 1917 revolution, there weren’t any anti-Semitic deeds in the shtetl for a long time. However, in July 1919, the local Ukrainian population organized a pogrom. As a result, 72 people were viciously killed and about 100 were wounded. A local rabbi was among those Jews who were killed. He was in his fifties. According to local legend, in the 1920’s, children played in ruins of local Rabbi Ratner’s house and found a rucksack with golden coins. I couldn’t find more information about Jews in the period between the two world wars. Holocaust In 1939, 879 Jews (27.6% of the total population) lived in the village. 503 lived in the surrounding...
-
Read MoreOlevsk
Olevsk is a city in Zhytomyr region. It is the administrative center of Olevsk district. In 2001, population was 10,896. In the XVI – XVIII centuries it was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Olevsk has been incorporated into the Russian Empire since 1793. In the XIX – early XX century it was a shtetl of Ovruch uyezd, Volyn gubernia. Olevsk has been known since 1488. In 1641, it received the Magdeburg right. Much more information about Holocaust and PreWWII Olevsk can be found in the book by L.Znakovskaya. Beginning Jews in Olevsk were mentioned for the first time in 1704, as leaseholders of the town. In the second half of the eighteenth century there were between 21 and 32 Jewish houses in Olevsk; by the mid-nineteenth century (1867) the number of Jewish houses reached 106. In that year the authorities counted in Olevsk one synagogue, officially permitted in 1854, and one prayer house, which existed without permission and was, therefore, ordered to close. Indeed, the order was probably carried out, since the Polish geographical dictionary mentioned only one synagogue in 1870. The town began to prosper after construction in 1903 of the Kiev-Kovel railway, which passed through Olevsk. The timber traders, whose majority were Jews, greatly benefited from the railway. In the XIX – early XX centuries the main spheres of economic activity of the Jews of Olevsk were petty trade, various crafts, artisan production. The Jews played an important role in wholesale and transit trades. In 1912, a Jewish savings – and – loan society worked in Olevsk. In 1914, the Jews owned the only drugstore, both pharmacy warehouses, baking houses, the only warehouse of gasoline, both forest warehouses, the only steam mill, the only printing house, tavern, more than 120 stalls and shops including 55 out of 56 groceries, all nine manufactories, all eight bakeries. The only dentist, three out of four midwives, and a doctor were Jewish. According to the memoirs of the merchant and Zionist Abba Haim Shapira, there were six synagogues in Olevsk at the beginning of the twentieth century, namely the Great Beit Midrash, the synagogues of the Stolin, Chernobyl, Berezna, and Hornostaipol Hasidim as well as the Tiferet Israel Synagogue – “of the Zionists and the youth in general.” According to the memoirs of Yaakov Bar-Midot, the Great Beit Midrash and the Berezna Hasidim Synagogue stood on one side of the street leading south of the Market Square (today Khmelnytskoho St.),...
-
Read MoreNorinsk
Norinsk is a village in the Ovruch district, Zhitomir region (Ukraine), first recorded in 1545. In the XVI-XVIII centuries, it was a shtetl in the Ovruch district of the Volyn voivodship in the Commonwealth of Lithuania. In 1793, it became part of the Russian Empire and until early XX century, it remained a shtetl of Ovruch uezd in the Volyn gubernia. According to the 2001 census, its population is 1,360 people. Some information in this article was provided by Aleksandr Efman. He was born in Norinsk before the war and has been living in Ovruch since 1955. In 1847, 566 Jews lived in Norinsk, in 1897, this number went up to 584 (34.7%), in 1923, to 329. Jews have been living in Norinsk since the XVIII century. The Jews of Norinsk were mainly engaged in different crafts, retail trade, and rent. In the XIX century, the local Jews took up such occupations as tailoring, shoemaking, and joinery. In 1867, two synagogues were open in Norinsk. In 1883, Iyeshua-Falik Kipnis (1848 – ?) was a rabbi in Norinsk. In 1911, Shmuel Kipnis was a rabbi. In 1914, the local Jews owned all six grocery stores, all four hardware stores, and the only millstone shop in Norinsk. In 1918 – 1920, the Jewish population of Norinsk suffered from the pogroms carried out by various gangs. Some Jews left Norinsk. JDC report about Jews of Norinsk in the beginning of 1920’s: Norinsk is a small town, about 60 versts [an old Russian Imperial measure, roughly equivalent to a kilometer] from the railroad station of Korosten. The distance separating the town from the railroad and lack of industry prevented the town from further development. The majority of the population is wage earners, such as black-smiths, shoemakers, and joiners. The artisans used to sell their produce in surrounding villages which provided a relatively good standard of living. The remaining population consisted of small traders, farmers and shop-keepers. There used to be 10 shops in Norinsk, with only one remaining nowadays! Norinsk greatly suffered from a pogrom perpetrated on February 19 by the Petlura gang, when 13 people were killed, and almost all the Jewish property looted; in Norinsk there are presently 10 widows, 16 orphans, 26 half-orphans and 10 disabled people. The Jewish population may be classified as follows: . 20% artisans, 30% peddlers, 50% wage-earners and unemployed. Some relief was administered to the pogrom victims. There are no children’s institutions in Norinsk. There...
-
Read MoreHorodnytsa
Horodnytsa is a town in Novograd-Volynskyi district of the Zhitomir region. Its population was 5,470 in 2011. Before the revolution of 1917, Horodnytsa was a small town in the Novograd-Volynskiy uyezd of the Volin gubernia. Horodnytsa is situated on the River Sluch, 42 km northwest of Novohrad-Volynskyi and 121 km northwest of Zhytomyr. The small town initially belonged to the Korecki family and from 1651 – to Princes Chartoryski. In 1810 it passed to Princes Lubomirski, and in 1856 – to Waclaw Rulikowski. We don’t know for sure when the Jews first arrived in Horodnytsa. We can only assume that it was sometime in the XVII century. In the XIX century, the history of Horodnytsa was connected to the local faience and porcelain factory, which was established by Prince Jozef Chartoryski in Korets in 1799 but moved to Horodnytsia in 1807. Throughout 1882-1907, while the factory belonged to succeeding owners, its leaseholder and manager was Aizik Fishl (Feliks) Sussmann from Lviv. Sussmann employed about 350 Jewish women to do various tasks in the factory. The Horodnytsa porcelain factory continued to function during Soviet times and was named “Komintern” (after the Communist International). It closed in the 2000s. Jewish population of Horodnytsa: 1847 – 427 Jews 1897 – 1310 (57%) 1926 – 1126 (41%) 1939 – 1212 (24%) 1989 – 30 Jews 2017 – 5 Jews The rest Jews worked as stallers, artisans, and traders. They mostly sold lumber and wooden products. However, their income was also connected with the porcelain factory. The town’s population included several prosperous families. During the tsarist period, there wasn’t a state-appointed rabbi in the shtetl, only a spiritual rabbi. That’s why the state-appointed rabbi from Korets, Rabbi Gershgorn, used to come to the shtetl on official visits. In the early XX century, a typhus epidemic broke out in the shtetl. Jews erected a “black chuppah” in the cemetery for the poorest Jewish man and woman of the shtetl in an effort to stop the epidemic. In the late XIX century, according to memoirs published in 1947, the majority of Jews in Horodnytsa were Hasidim and they existed 5 synagogues and prayer houses and one Kloyz. One of these was wooden Great Syangogue which was probably built around 1890 and mentioned in 1898, when a Zionist preacher delivered a eulogy on the death of the head of Hibat Zion movement Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever (1824-1898). The town was heavely damaged by fire in June 1903 and seemingly all...
-
Read MoreKorosten
Искорость – Iskorost’ (Russian), Коростень – Korosten’ (Ukrainian) Korosten (Iskorosten – by 1923) is a town, a district center in Zhitomir region. Since the 14th century it has been incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since 1569 it has been a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Since 1793 – a part of the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries it was a shtetl of Ovruch uyezd, Volyn gubernia. Beginning Jews in Korosten were first mentioned in 965. In the mid-XVII century, Cossack squads of Bogdan Khmelnitskiy almost completely destroyed Jewish population of Korosten. A Jewish community was reborn in the XVIII century. In 1865, there were two synagogues in Korosten. In the XIX century, the construction of the Warsaw – Kiev – St Petersburg railroad line contributed to the demographic and economic growth of the settlement. In 1897 1,266 Jews were living in Korosten, where they comprised 48 percent of the total population. By 1914 numerous local shops and small businesses were owned by Jews. Six synagogues were functioning. In 1918, the organization “Poalei Tsion” was functioning in Korosten. Civil War pogroms In February 1918, military units of Central Rada carried out a pogrom against the Jews of Korosten. On the 13th of March 1919, Red Army units also carried out a pogrom. 70 houses were destroyed. A cantor of the synagogue was killed. The pogrom was stopped due to unexpected cannonade from Petliura’s side who began to attack Korosten. On the 20th of July 1919, Sokolovskiy’s band organized a pogrom. In 1919 – 1920 also while revolting against Soviet rule, numerous local armed groups attacked Jews and plundered their property in various settlements around Korosten. In reaction, many Jews fled to Korosten. Between the Wars During the early Soviet era most of Korosten’s Jews were artisans and could barely make a living. In 1925 a Jewish agricultural cooperative “Obraztsovyy Trud”(“Model Labor”), consisting of 21 families, was organized in the town. In 1925, branches of various Zionist organizations were functioning. Two Yiddish speaking clubs, five libraries with Yiddish books, four Jewish six-form schools, and 15 organizations of Jewish youth functioned in Korosten. In 1925, the Jews from Korosten organized seven Jewish agricultural collective farms in Kherson region: “Red cereal grower” (53 people), “Royter Poer” (98 people), “New life” (44 people), “ Rakovskiy collective farm” (77 people), “ Nae Lebn” (34 people), “Red worker” (100 people), “Usher Shwartsman collective farm” (18 people). In 1926, a Rabbis’ Conference took...
Last added Shtetls
News
Most Recent Articles
Shpola
Shpola – Шпола (Ukrainian), Shpole, שפּאָלע (Yiddish) Shpola is a town in Cherkassy region, a center of Shpola district, a geographical center of Ukraine. 18,112 lived in the town in 2011. Before the Revolution, Shpola was a town of Zvenigorod Uezd of Kiev gubernia. I could find very little information about the history of Shpola Jewish community before 1917 🙁 The heyday of the Jewish shtetl and its emergence as a Hasidic center in the 18th century were connected with the tzadik Shpoler Zeide (“the grandfather from Shpola”). Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib ben Boruch (Saba from Shpola), also known as (1725, Uman – 1812, Shpola) – (‘grandfather’-a nickname given to him by the Baal Shem Tov at his circumcision), is famed as a miracle worker and devoted to the succour of poor Jews in distress. In his early years, he was a disciple of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, a leading figure in the first generation of Chassidim. The Shpoler Zeide was a key opponent of Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav. The sons of Rabbi Arieh Leib did not become Chassidic leaders. They settled in Shpola, and three of them were buried beside their father. At the request of the Shpoler Zeide, there is no tombstone at his grave, but a big box with the date...
Read More
Torgovitsa
Torgovitsa is a village of Novoarkhangelsk district, Kirovograd region. Before the Revolution it was a shtetl of Uman uyezd, Kiev province. I could find very little information about Jews from Torgovitsa 🙁 We visited Torgovitsa in 2017 and made few photos of Holocaust mass grave and remains of Jewish cemetery. According to 1897 census, 1299 Jews lived there (35% of total population). Before the revolution Jews lived mainly in Novaya street which was up to the Market square. There were no pre-revolutionary buildings in the village. Volko Solomonovich Golberg was a teacher in the village before the war. He had daughter Betia and son Yosef. Shmil (unknown surname) was a worker in the collective farm. All Jews of Torgovitsa were exterminated during the Holocaust… Incription on the fence Monument on the grave When the Jews were driven to the execution, Katerina Aksentyevna Puchkova (1898 – 1976) saved Jew Yakov Gorbatov. All his family was shot. He survived and lived in Kiev after the war. After the war, relatives of the Jews who had been murdered erected a monument on the place of the shooting. After the occupation, all the Jews of Torgovitsa were gathered together and shot outside the village. In 2017, a woman who remembered how a column of Jews was driven to be shot...
Read More
Luginy
Luhin (Yiddish), Лугины – Luginy (Russian) Luginy, an urban-type settlement (since 1967)is a district center in the Zhytomyr region. In the XVII-XVIII centuries it was governed by the Kiev voivodeship as part of the Commonwealth, and since 1793 by the the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries it was in the township of Luginy Ovruch uyezd, Volyn Gubernia. Jewish population of Luginy: 1847 – 1154 Jews 1897 – 1599 (64%) 1923 – 1709 Jews 1939 – 857 (37%)...
Read More
Slovechno
Словечне – Slovechne (Ukrainian), Словечно – Slovechno (Russian) Slovechno is a village in Ovruch district, Zhitomir region. The population is 1,725 people (in 2001). In the early XX century, Slovechno was a shtetl of Ovruch uyezd, Volin gubernia. The village was a district center of the Zhitomir region from 1923 till 1962. Part of the information for this article was provided by local historian Oleksiy Gorbachevskiy. Much more of information about Jews of Slovechno can be found in the...
Read More
Olevsk
Olevsk is a city in Zhytomyr region. It is the administrative center of Olevsk district. In 2001, population was 10,896. In the XVI – XVIII centuries it was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Olevsk has been incorporated into the Russian Empire since 1793. In the XIX – early XX century it was a shtetl of Ovruch uyezd, Volyn gubernia. Olevsk has been known since 1488. In 1641, it received the Magdeburg right. Much more information about Holocaust and...
Read More
Shtetls of Kherson gubernia
All places with significant Jewish population in former Kherson gubernia on one map according to 1897 census. On the eve of World War I, more than 340 000 Jews lived in this area. Kherson 17492 Jews according to 1897 census (30% of total population) Берислав – Berislav (Russian) 2641 Jews according to 1897 census (22% of total population) Nikolaev 19555 Jews according to 1897 census (21% of total population) Александрия – Alexandriia (Russian) 3735 Jews according...
Read More
Norinsk
Norinsk is a village in the Ovruch district, Zhitomir region (Ukraine), first recorded in 1545. In the XVI-XVIII centuries, it was a shtetl in the Ovruch district of the Volyn voivodship in the Commonwealth of Lithuania. In 1793, it became part of the Russian Empire and until early XX century, it remained a shtetl of Ovruch uezd in the Volyn gubernia. According to the 2001 census, its population is 1,360 people. Some information in this article was provided by...
Read More