Skvira

Skver, Skvir, Skwere (Yiddish Transliteration), Сквира – Skvyra (Ukrainian), סקווירא (Yiddish)

Skvyra is a town in the Kiev Oblast (province) of central Ukraine.  It is the administrative center of the Skvyrskyi Raion (district), and is currently a regional municipality.

In the end of XIX – beginning XX century, Skvyra was a center of uezd in Kiev gubernia.

Information about post-WWII Jews of Skvira was provided by the chairman of the community, Yefim Schwarzburd. He was born in 1948.

Some book with a description of the pre-revolutionary town was published in Israel by a native of Skvira. However, I couldn’t find the author’s name, nor the title, nor the book itself.
Skvira Hasidim now living in the United States have some memories and materials about Skvira of the XIX – XX centuries, but it is difficult to find their contacts 🙁

The ancient town of Skvyra was completely destroyed at the end of the XVI century. In 1736, Skvyra was mentioned as a village (selo) leased to a Jewish tenant. According to the census of 1765, there were 124 houses in Skvyra, 51 of which belonged to Jews. In 1775, 116 Jews lived in Skvyra, in 1784 this figure rose to 204, and in 1787, to 144.

In the early nineteenth century, the court of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty was in Skvyra. It was founded by Rabbi Yitzchak of Skvyra (1812-1885), one of the younger sons of Rabbi Motel Tversky (1770-1838). After his father’s death in 1838, he spent several years at the court of his elder brother in Chernobyl, and in early 1840 moved to Skvyra, where he founded a separate court. The Skvirsky court gathered thousands Hasidim for high holidays but Rabbi Yitzhak almost never left the town.

After the death of Rabbi Yitzhak his court was headed by his son Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel of Skvyra (1826-1886), then Abraham’s sun – Rabbi Moshe Dan of Skvyra (? – Kiev, 1920). The next Skvir Rabbi became his son Rabbi Yitzchak of Skvira (Skvira, 1886 – Tel Aviv, 1986). Other sons of Abraham Joshua Heschel held the Skvirskaja Hasidic courts in Ilintsy and Mahnovka.

Rabbi Isaac, the second son of Rabbi Ytzchak, had several sons, one of whom Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Shpikova (? – 1887) lived in Shpikove and Raschkow, the third son Rabbi David (? – 1920, Kiev) and his children lived in Kiev.  In the 1920s, after the pogroms, many Skver Hasids left Skvyra. The Skver Hasidic dynasty has continued to exist and grow in number in the United States, notably in the New Square (anglicisation of New Skvir) township in Rockland County, New York.

After Skvyra was included in the Pale of Settlement, the town’s Jewish community increased. Its Jewish population was 2,184 in 1847 and grew to 8,910 in 1897 — 49.5% of the general population. At the end of the 19th century Skvyra had seven synagogues, a parochial school, a hospital, a pharmacist and a district doctor. Many Jews were engaged in grain and timber export. In the end of 19 century there were 7 Jewish prayer houses.

In 1912 S. An-skiy visited Skvyra during his ethnographic expedition. According to his records, the Hasidic court of Skvyra had declined and lost his prior glory by the time of his visit.

By 1910 the town had a Talmud Torah, a Jewish private boys’ school and two private girls’ schools. In 1913 Yampolskiy Usher Genzelevich was the town’s rabbi.

Civil War pogroms

There were two pogroms in the town in 1917 and a wave of six pogroms in 1919, some of which lasted for several weeks. Rapes were committed, houses were burnt down, and Jewish property was seized and destroyed or sold to local peasants, with 191 people killed and hundreds injured.

1st pogrom: On 23 October 1917 local peasants pillaged Jewish shops (no casualties).
2nd pogrom: In February 1919 it was organised by the troops of Simon Petlura, fighting for Ukrainian independence (15 victims).
3d pogrom: Organised by the Red Army and casualty-free but many Jews left destitute
4th pogrom: Organised by the Ukrainian People’s Army troops, led by Yu. Tyutyunnyk and Zheleznyak and went on for 10 days. 56 Jews were murdered, among them the members of self-defence unit.
5th and 6th pogroms: In September 1919 organised by the Petlura troops, 55 Jews murdered.
7th pogrom: Went on during October and November 1919, organised by local thugs, killing 5 Jews.
8th pogrom: Was organised by the troops of the White (Anti-Bolshevik) Army, led by Denikin, 60 Jews were killed and 300 injured, many women raped. All Jewish shops were looted by local peasants.

Following the pogroms, an epidemic broke out, killing up to 30 people daily, most Jews decided to flee to Kiev, Odessa and Belaya Tserkov.

After Civil War

I find this report on JDC Archiv website, it gave wide description of Skvira Jewish community state in beginning of 1920’s:

Between WWI and WWII

Under the Soviet Union the religious and communal life of the Jews of Skvyra was dissolved.

The town’s Jewish population fell to 4,681 by 1926 (about 33.6% of the population) and 2,243 by 1939, but even so it remained among the biggest Jewish communities of Ukraine at that time.

In 1941, local authorities evacuated the contents from a local archive but the cars transporting these documents were bombed by airplanes. Thus, the most valuable records on the history of Jews from Skvira was destroyed.

Holocaust

A lot of Jews did not evacuate because they remembered the Germans during the Civil War and the order which they had brought.

In World War II German forces occupied the town at July 13, 1941. In July 15, 1941 Jews were ordered to ware David star and used to forced labor. In 2 weeks after occupation were killed 10 communists, among them were Jews. Judenrat was created for contribution gathering and exact Jews count. After complete of this task all members of Judenrat were killed.

During August-September 1941 the Einsatzgruppen 5 headquarters was in Skvyra ( head is Standartenfuhrer SS Schultz).  At the morning September 20, 1941 ( from another sources September 21, 1941) Jews were gathered near school on Bogachevskogo Street and shot in 3 pits in different parts of Skvira. At that day were killed approximately 850 Jews. Second “action” took place at October 17, 1941 – 170 Jews were killed near stable of Raipotrebsouz. Last mass killings took place at November 19, 1941 and December 20, 1941.

From another sources, the majority of local Jews were killed during the three day period from September 28,29,30, 1941. Both Germans and Ukrainians took part in shootings. Because of the lack of Germans local Ukrainians did more “dirty work”.

The majority of local Jews were killed during the three day period from September 28,29,30, 1941.

Ukrainian women Agata Melnichyk from village Berezyanka saved jewish girl Luba Volodarskaya (now living in Israel) who escaped from Skvira under unknown circumstances.

Skvira was liberated by Soviet Army at December 29, 1943. During Holocaust there were killed 1230 Jews.

According to the head of Skvyra’s Jewish community, there were mass shootings of Jews in the area of the market, the secondary school and in Bannaya Street.

In archiv of Illya Levitas (1931-2014) I found a story of  Michail Bykov (1920-2000) and his family. They were gathered in the yard of school №2 together will all local Jews but escaped with help of friend from Ukrainian police. Michail became a member of partisan detachment and survived in Holocaust as his mother and sister.

About 1,300 Jews were killed in Skvira…

The bodies of those who had been killed were reburied at the Jewish cemetery in 1947. This was organized by local Jews Tetiyevsky, Kofman, Pekar, and Magazinnik.

Jewish houses had been occupied by non-Jews during the war and only a few of them were returned to the owners after the war.

After the WWII

After the war a lot of Jewish families returned to Skvira from the evacuation and front. Among them there were the Kagans, Pekers, Tulchinskys, Kofmans, Krivitskys, Yudkovichs, Feldmans, Koyrakh, Lutskys, Slutskers, Goldenbergs, Vildmans, Kats, Shvartsburd, Vaysburd, Fuhrer, Reydman, Ginevskys, Slobotskys, and many others.
Only Jewish families were living in Nizhnegradskaya street after the war.
Petr Shapiyevsky and Mikhail Siderman were the unofficial heads of the Jewish community in the 1950’s-1960’s.
1,000 Jews lived in Skvira in 1953. The 1,000th Jew was a Jewish girl who was born that year. Several families baked matza. Gamarnik and Kofman families were among them. Although Jews weren’t pursued by Skvira authorities, matza was delivered to the homes when it was already dark.

An unofficial minyan used to gather in different houses. The authorities didn’t pursue the Jews for that. Mohel whose surname is unknown and shoykhet whose last name was Slutsker (his son lives in Israel now) were in the shtetl. The latter died in 1967. After that there was no shoykhet in Skvira.
After the war the level of mixed marriages was very small. Shadkhanit came from Belaya Tserkov, Zhitomir, and Berdichev. .
The amount of mixed marriages started to increase rapidly since the 1970’s.
In the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s there were five-six Jewish weddings per year. And in the 1990’s there were only two such wedding for 10 years.
Mass Jewish emigration from Skvira began in 1978-1979. Boris Lidkovich was the first to move to Israel together with his family.
About 100 Jews left Skvira for the USA in 1978-1979. Several hundreds of Jews went to Israel in the 1980’s.
Officially the Jewish community was registered in already independent Ukraine in the early 1990’s. Shika Pekar was its chairman until 1994. Then Yefim Schwarzburd took his place.In 2001, restoration began on the building of Duvidl Tverskoy’s synagogue. The work finished in July 2004. A mikva and a canteen were built in there. More than 1,000 people came to the opening ceremony from different countries around the world.

The Rabbi’s house was situated next to the synagogue but it wasn’t preserved. It has been restored from photos and now there is a hotel which can welcome 100 people

After the repair only the ceiling, the walls, and the front doors in the synagogue and rabbi’s house have been preserved in their original mid XX century condition. The building has been repaired and is now functioning. The work was funded by Skvira Jews living in the USA.
By 2014 tourists had been visiting the synagogue but since the Russian aggression began the level of tourism has decreased.
In the 2000’s, a Sunday school was functioning in the community. Nine students studied there. Later they all moved to Israel.
In 2009, a rabbi from Belaya Tserkov sent Benyamin Semeniuk to organize prayers, Shabbats, and Torah learning. It continued for four years until Benyamin left for Lugansk.
With the beginning of the Russian aggression Beyamin (Yuriy) Semeniuk fought on the side of illegal armed groups against the Ukrainian troops. His further fate is unknown.
In 2018, 35 Jews lived in Skvira. Those were mostly elderly people.

Leyb Surkis was the first Hassid who visited Skvira after WWII. In 1988, he arrived for the first time and at once met Yefim Shwarzburd in the street. The latter addressed him in Yiddish. Since then, the Hasidim from the United States who used to live in Skvira help the local Jewish community actively.

Until 1917, there were eight synagogues and 12 prayer houses in Skvira. At the moment, only the synagogue of Duvidl Tversky and one wall of the Great Choral Synagogue, which was destroyed during the war, have been preserved. Now this building is part of a factory.

Before the war the entire center of Skvira was occupied by Jews. However, except for a few houses, those buildings have not been preserved.

Famous Jews from Skvira

Ahad ha-Am (1856, Skvyra – 1927, Tel Aviv), writer and publicist (pen-name meaning “one of the people”; real name Asher Hirsh Gintsberg).

Yosef Shapiro (1902, Skvyra – 1978, Tel Aviv), Yiddish writer, the author of “Skvirer hurbn” (“Skvyra catastrophe”, 1924), “Vergangenheit” (“The Past”, short stories about the Jewish pogroms in Ukraine, 1925), “Moschichische Personlichkeiten” (“Messianic Personalities”, 1931).

David Lvovich Margulis (Skvyra, 1914 – 1993, St. Petersburg), Hero of the Soviet Union .

Restored synagogue

There were three Jewish cemeteries in Skvira:

Jewish cemetery in Sangorodetskaya street.

The cemetery was destroyed and then different houses and buildings were built on its place after WWII.

Old Jewish cemetery

It was situated on the bank of the river Skvirka not far from the center of the shtetl and covered 17 hectares. It was destroyed in the 1930’s and a brick factory was built on its place. We can assume that since 1917 this cemetery hasn’t been used.

The location of the grave of the founder of Skvira dynasty was determinated in the end of 1980’s due to maps of Skvirer Hasidim from USA. Ohel was established in 1989-1990.
A mikva was built near the ohel. However, local inhabitants used it as a place where they could drink alcohol so Jews themselves dismantled it.
Yefim Schwarzburd found several matsevas on the river bank and brought them to the ohel. However, the Ukrainians broke them. Matsevas from the destroyed cemetery can still be found in the locals’ yard.

Itskhok Tverskoy (1812-1895) and his sons  who died of typhoid.
Their whereabouts were found with the help of the maps which had been kept by Hasidim in the USA. The maps showed trees which had been growing there for more than 80 years.
Thus, with this information the exact location of the graves was determined. Ohel was established in 1989-1990.
A mikva was built near the ohel. However, local inhabitants used it as a place where they could drink alcohol so Jews themselves dismantled it.
Yefim Schwarzburd found several matsevas on the river bank and brought them to the ohel. However, the Ukrainians broke them. Matsevas from the destroyed cemetery can still be found in the locals’ yard.

Photo of these gravestones were shot by Lo-Tishkah expedition in 2009-2010.

The cemetery site is located next to the River Skvyra, on a hill. The ohel is located at the foot of the hill, next to a water pipeline belonging to the neighbouring brickyard which owns the cemetery land. The site is also adjacent to private dwellings.

The cemetery site is undemarcated and (apart from the ohel) unmarked. It is not possible to ascertain its boundaries. It is not known whether the burial index for this cemetery is still in existence.

The cemetery site is located on the territory of the local brick factory. It is unmarked and undemarcated and there are no remaining gravestones at the site. Two gravestones can be found close to the site by the bank of the river and are at risk from vegetation and water damage and weather erosion.

They were previously used by local people and were bought back by the Chairman of the Skvyra Jewish community Yefim Davidovich Shvartsburd.

Inscription on the oldest gravestone:

פ איש נ
חשוב מ נחמיה
בר אפרים נפ ז
אלול תרנה תנ
צבה האמערע[ז]

(Trans. Here lies an important man, Mister Nehemiya, the son of Efraim. Died on 7 Elul 5655. May his soul be tied in the knot of life. Gomere [z]).

New Jewish cemetery

It started being used in the XIX century. All the tomb stones were stolen by local Ukrainians in 1941-1943. Now there is a large empty place covered with grass in the middle of the cemetery.
After the war Jews continued to bury their relatives here. In 1944, girl named Liusia was the first person to be buried there after the war. She came back from the evacuation together with her family and died of dysentery.

The cemetery is surrounded by a concrete wall, with a large iron gate at the entrance. The gate features a Star of David and two menorahs.

Date Of The Oldest Known Gravestone: 1880 – Khaya Feyga

Graves in the old part:

Graves in the new part:

Two old tombstones dating from 1880 and 1913 have been preserved in the old section (perhaps brought from the old cemetery).

Holocaust Mass graves:

In 1947, the remains of Holocaust victims from three different shootings in 1941 were reburied at the cemetery. There are lists with the names of people whose remains are in these mass graves but the lists are incomplete. In the early 2000’s, a monument was built on the largest mass grave.

List of the names:

Second Holocaust mass grave:

Genealogy

In 1941, local authorities evacuated the contents from a local archive but the cars transporting these documents were bombed by airplanes. Thus, the most valuable records on the history of Jews from Skvira was destroyed.

Geneologist Boris Finkelshtein (bob-fink@yandex.ru) researched many Archiv documents related to Skvira Jewish population in XIX-XX century. He provided next surnames and documents names:

• Skvira revision tale by 1850 (Archiv of Kiev oblast, file 280/2/1012) -257 surnames

Third guild merchants: Baraban Belogorodskaya  Weisberg  Wooleys  Gronshteyn Zaslavsky  Zozovsky  Kaplun  Kardash  Kotlyarskii  Krasniy  Kryvitsky  Labunskiy Logvinsky  Lodak  Natenzon  Olin  Pereltsvayg  Polyak  Roytbarg  Segal  Sirota  Strokov Trachtenberg  Faibishenko  Chariton  Khinchin  Cherniavsky  Shapira  Eidelman Yampolsky
Bourgeois:  Avrutsky  Akselrud  Alberkant  Balaban  Bezfamilny  Belilovsky  Belokopyt Benditovich  Berezovsky  Berlyand  Berner  Bespechansky  Blelfer  Bloch  Bobel Bogoslavskih  Borshchahivskiy  Bosin  Bril  Brodsky  Brudnik  Bryl  Brysylovsky  Bubar Bugai  Burdinsky  Burstein  Bykov  Bialik  Weinstein  Weisberg  Vaysburd  Vaks  Vaser Wachmann  Vilsky  Vinokur  Wolinsky  Galant  Galiotka  Gamarnik  Gimelshteyn Gitelmaher  Glatshteyn  Glaze  Goyhtul  Golden  Goldman  Gokhshtein  Grinbarg Greenberg  Groisman  Gruz  Gruzman  Gudzenko  Hutz  Gupner  Gurovich  Gusak  Gufan Dikhtyar  Domen  Domentovsky  Donskoy  Dubenskiy  Ermulnik  Erusalimsky Zhivotovsky Zhitman  Zhuravitsky  Zhuravlinsky  Zarudinetsky  Zeltsah  Zilevits  Zolotussky  Kagan Kamenyatsky  Kapler  Katz  Kaczynski  Kvyat  Keyzerman  Kigel  Kizhberg  Kirgel Kitaevskiy  Kleyzerman  Kleiman  Kozlowski  Kolman  Kolomeets  Kolominsky  Koltun Koretsky  Kosy  Kotlyar  Krantz  Krasniy  Kreynin  Krivitsky  Kubernik  Kupershtein Kuryanetsky  Kushnir  Labunskiy  Laynburd  Lev  Lewenstein  Lieberman  Lipinets  Litvak Luzhanska  Lukatskii  Lukashevsky  Lustenberg  Lutskiy  Lvovskiy  Lublinskiy  Lyubomsky Magdalinskiy  Mazur  Makarovskiy  Medvedovsky  Merbarg  Mizis  Mirgorodsky  Mlonchin Mysenznik  Nemerovsky  Novogradsky  Novofastovsky  Olin  Order  Orlik  Pack Petrikovskiy  Pinka  Pogorily  Pogrebysky  Polyak  Pasternak  Prokobovsky  Prus  Pteyh Ptuh  Pyatigorskiy  Rabinovich  Rayzburd  Rahman  Revich  Rovinskii  Royzenblyum Royzental  Royzentul  Romanovsky  Rohlis  Rudak  Rudnik  Ruzhynskiy  Rumennik Ruyaninsky  Salganik  Sapozhnik  Segal  Siry  Smuglyansky  Snitsarenko  Sobel  Sobol Stulsky  Suslik  Taborovsky  Taran  Tarashchansky  Tonkonogiy  Toporovsky  Torchinskiy Ulis  Fager  Faynburd  Fastovsky  Feldman  Figa  Finkovsky  Frenkel  Friedel  Fur  Hantsin Hasmenut  Hasminuy  Heylovsky  Khinchin  Khirman  Hirhel  Khmelnitsky  Khodorkovsky Hurman  Chervinskiy  Chernobylskiy  Chertok  Chorny  Chudnovsky  Shapira  Saffran Schwartz  Shvartsbarg  Shvartsburd  Schwartzman  Shvidky  Shiber  Shnaper  Shpektor Spiegel  Shraibman  Shtekelbarg  Shterin  Shtof  Shtulsky  Shtut  Shumsky  Eidelman Ekshtut  Elenkrant  Yufed  Yampolsky  Janiszewski

• Skvira revision tale by 1858 (Archiv of Kiev oblast, files 280/2/1490,1491) – 230 surnames

Abramovich  Akslirud  Alberpont  Amboym  Balaban  Bareschevsky Begelfer  Bezfamilny Benditovich  Berezovsky  Berlend  Berner Bespechansky  Bililovsky  Bloch  Boben Boguslavskiy  Borshchahovskiy  Bosin  Brodsky  Brudnik  Brusilovsky  Bryl  Bubar  Buzhai Burdyansky  Burstein  Bykov  Bialik  Vayzberg  Weinstein  Vaks  Vaser  Vatnik  Vachmann Veksler  Vilsky  Vinokyr  Woks  Wolinsky  Wolff  Galant  Gamarnik  Gimelshteyn Gitelmaher  Gladshtein  Glas  Goyhtut  Goldenvaser  Goldman  Goldrah  Golodka Goldenberg  Golfand  Goreskiy  Gokhshtein  Grinbarg  Groisman  Gruzman  Gudzenko Gysak  Dekhtyar  Dolin  Domskiy  Dubenskiy  Duvidovich  Erusalimsky  Zhivotovsky Zhitman  Zhuravitsky  Zak  Zeltseh  Zilovets  Zolotusky  Kagan  Kamyanetsky  Kapler Kaplun  Katz  Kvyat  Keyzerman  Kinzbarg  Kitaevskaya  Kichinsky  Kleiman  Kleinman Kobernik  Kozlowski  Kolomiets  Koltun  Colman  Kosiy  Kotlyar  Krant  Krantz Krasnoselskiy  Krasniy  Kreynin  Krivitsky  Kuryanets  Kuryanitsky  Kushnir  Labunskiy Lev  Lowenstein  Lieberman  Lipinets  Litvak  Loytburd  Lomish  Luzhanskiy  Lukatskii Lukashevsky  Lustenberg  Lutskiy  Lublinskiy  Lyubomsky  Magdalinskiy  Mazur Makarovskiy  Medvedovsky  Mesberg  Meshbarg  Mizis  Mirgorodsky  Mlonchin Mosezhnik  Nemerovsky  Novogradsky  Nofohvastovsky  Ovrutsky  Olen  Order  Orlik  Pack Petrinovsky  Pinka  Pinkovsky  Ploschinsky  Pogorelyi  Pogrebysky  Polyak  Pasternak  Prus Ptah  Ptukh  Pyatigorsk  Rabinovich  Rayzburd  Revich  Royzembman  Royzenblyum Royzentol  Royzentul  Romanovsky  Romantovsky  Rohlis  Rohman  Rudak  Rudnik Ruzhynskiy  Rumennik  Siderman  Siry  Smol  Smulchisky  Sobol  Solganik  Spector Spitsarenko  Stulsky  Sumskiy  Suslik  Taborovsky  Taran  Tarashchansky  Tonkonogiy Toporovsky  Torchinskiy  Ulis  Faer  Faibishenko  Faynburd  Fastovsky  Feldman  Figa Flick  Freydel  Frenkel  Friedman  Furmandsky  Chariton  Hasshinuy  Herman  Khinchin Khirman  Hirshan  Hitovsky  Khmelnitsky  Khodorkovsky  Horiton  Chervinskiy Chernobylskiy  Cherniy  Chisnik  Chortok  Chudnovsky  Shapira  Saffran  Schwartz Shvartsburd  Schwartzman  Shvidky  Sheyngayt  Shenglayd  Shiber  Shnaper  Shraibman Shteren  Shtivelmaher  Shtikselberg  Shtof  Shtut  Eidelman  Ekshpun  Elinkrach  Yufid Yampolsky  Janiszewski  Yarmulnik

• Skvira census by 1897 (Archiv of Kiev oblast, files 384/10/all) – more than 1100 surnames

File 2: Berlyand Bernstein Bubar Bystritskii Vaks Vaser Goldfain Gulkin Dah Dubinsky Kagan Kesner Kimbarg Koltyansky Komorowski Kotlyar Lev Lembergsky Leszczynski Mirshtat Moroz Nerubay Oberfeld Pliskovsky Polyak Rapoport Royzentul Rubalsky Starik Tartakovsky Fainburg Frenkel Henven Tsalenko Chervinskiy Cernik Chernyansky Shapira Spiegel Spiegelman

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