Liubar
Lieber Tov (Yiddish), Ljubar, Luber, Lubar (Polish), Любар (Ukrainian), Любар – Liubar (Russian) Liubar is a small town on the Sluch River, about 60 km west of Berdychiv and 75 km southwest of Zhytomyr in Zhytomyr region. Majority of the text for this article was taken from the book of “Protecting Memory” project. The first Jews to settle in Liubar may have arrived as early as the 15th century, but their descendants fled the town during the peasant and Cossack uprising in the mid-17th century. Jews did not begin to return to Liubar until 1703. By 1765, the Jewish population had grown to 61, with another 100 Jews in the surrounding villages. Under the terms of the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Liubar fell to the Russian Empire. There, the town formed a part of the Volhynia Gubernia. In...
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Belohirya
Belohirya is an urban-type settlement and the district centre in the Khmelnytskyi region. In 2011, the population was 5,483. The settlement is located along the Gorin River. Before 1946, the settlement was known as Lyakhovtsi. Lyakhovtsi was first mentioned in historical documents in 1441. From the 16th to 18th centuries, it was a city in the Kremenets County of the Volyn Voivodeship within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1793, Lyakhovtsi became a part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th to early 20th century, it was a shtetl in the Ostroh County of the Volyn Governorate. Much more information about Lyakhovtsi can be found in this website. In 1708, the Jews of Lyakhovtsi suffered greatly from raids by Cossack, Swedish, and Russian troops. Representatives of the Jewish population and the bourgeoisie declared on December 5, 1708, that the city had been destroyed. In...
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Yampol
Yampol is a village in the Belogorie district of the Khmelnytskyi region. It should be distinct from Yampol in the Vinnytsia region, as these are two different places. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the village was called Yanushpol. So, likewise, it should be distinct from Yanushpol in the Zhytomyr region. More information about PreWWII Yampol can be found in Yampol memorial book. Yampol was part of the Volyn Voivodeship, Kremenets Powiat, during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the early 18th century, the inhabitants of Yampol, including Jews, were devastated by the armies of Cossacks, Swedes, Poles, and Russians. In 1765, the population was 476. At the beginning of the 19th century, Yampol was part of the Volyn Province, Kremenets District. Information about the lives of Jews in Yampol in the 1930s-1940s was taken from a two-hour interview with a...
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Teofipol
Teofipol is a town in the Khmelnytskyi district of the Khmelnytskyi region. In 2013, the population was 7686 people. The Jews called this town Tshon. Several short stories about the Jews of Teofipol before the Revolution can be found here. During the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Teofipol was part of the Volhynian Voivodeship, Kremenets Powiat. Teofipol was under the influence of the Kremenets kahal. However, in 1758, a separate kahal was organized in Teofipol and Jews from surrounding villages were subordinated to it. In 1765, there were 516 Jews in Teofipol and the surrounding villages. In the Russian Empire, Teofipol was a town of the Starokostiantyniv district, Volyn province. In 1897 the Jewish population of 2,914 comprised 65 percent of the total population. There were (in 1910) a private Jewish boys’ school and a private Jewish girls’ school. The main occupations...
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Khmelnik
Khmelnik is a city and the administrative centre of the Vinnitskiy district. As of 2013, the population of the city was 28,217 people. Khmelnik is located on the Southern Bug River, dividing it into Old and New cities. The city was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1363. It was situated 6 km from the Black Road, used by Tatars and Turks during their attacks on Ukraine, and was a gateway to Podolia from the northeast. Therefore, Khmelnik gradually fortified itself, and by 1434, when it became part of Poland, it was a fortified castle with houses around it. In 1448, Khmelnik was granted the Magdeburg law. In 1793, Khmelnytskyi became part of the Podolian Governorate of the Russian Empire. In 1881, Khmelnytskyi had one of the largest Jewish communities in the Podolian Governorate. During the Civil War, a...
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Novye Mlyny
Novye Mlyny is a village located in the Nezhin district of the Chernihiv region on the left bank of the Seim River. The population was 905 people as of 2006. During its prime, around 400 Jews were living in Novye Mlyny, and I am describing on this website shtetls where more than 1,000 Jews lived. However, in 2015, I accidentally purchased a book on Amazon called “Mother and Son” by Abram Vilcher. He describes in detail the Jewish town of Novye Mlyny in the early 20th century. The book’s author left the USSR in the 1920s and immigrated to the US with his family. Text from this book was used for this article. Also, there is possibly the last wooden synagogue in Ukraine. I visited the town during my expedition in 2020. Besides the synagogue building, no traces were...
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Dzyunkov
Dzyunkov, a village in the Pohrebyshchensky district of Vinnytsia region (Ukraine). Since 1793, it has been part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Dzyunkov was a small town in the Berdychivsky district of Kyiv province. In 2022, I visited Dzyunkov in search of any traces of Jews in the village. Instead, the locals showed me the remains of a Jewish cemetery on the slope of a hill on the outskirts of the village with several stones. Also, in the middle of the village, there is a vast space where the Jewish houses used to be, in the middle of which is an entrance to an old cellar. According to the locals, the cellar was used by Jews as a refrigerator. Remains of old cellar, 2023: I was unable to find much information about the...
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Borshagovka
Borshagovka is a village located in Pohrebyshchenskyi district of Vinnytsia district, Ukraine. In 2022, approximately 500 people lived there. Borshagovka locates near the confluence of the Orikhovatka and the Ros Rivers. In 1793, after the second partition of Poland, Borshagovka became a part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Borshagovka was a shtetls of the Skvira of Kyiv guibernia. Historically, the village was divided into three parts: Mestechko (the centre with a market square where Jews mostly lived), Sad, and Zarechye. Most of the information about the Jews of Borshagovka after the Revolution was obtained from an interview with a native of Borshagovka , Rakhil Karp, which she gave to the Shoa Foundation in the 1990s. Her entire family did not evacuate from the shtetl in 1941 and was executed in Pohrebyshche. In the...
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Shenderovka
Shenderivka is a village in the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi district of Cherkasy region. It is situated on the right bank of the Ros River, near its confluence with the Borovytsia River. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Shenderivka was a shtetl in Kaniv County of Kyiv Governorate. Information about the Jews of Shenderovka for this article was collected for over 30 years by Klavdiya Kolesnikova, the director of the Jewish museum in Korsun. The first written mention of the village dates back to 1659. In 1807, the village was granted town status, and trade and crafts flourished. Markets were held every two weeks on Mondays and bazaars on Fridays. The population of the town in 1864 was 2260 people. Centre of former shtetl, 2020: Jewish population of Shenderovka: 1847 г. – 282 Jews 1864 г. – 234 (11%) 1897 г....
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Steblev
Steblev is an urban-type settlement in the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi district of the Cherkasy region. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Steblev was a shtetl in the Kanev county of Kyiv province. Information about the Jews of Steblev for this article was collected over more than 30 years by Klavdiya Kolesnikova, the director of the Jewish Museum in Korsun. I visited Steblev in the summer of 2020 but could not find any information about the Jews in the town. Of the approximately one and a half thousand Jews who once lived in the town, only an overgrown Jewish cemetery remains. Center of the former shtetl, 2020: Jews began to settle in Steblev in the 17th century, but I could not find more accurate data. There is mention of 2 prayer houses (1864) and one synagogue (1900 and 1913) in Steblev....
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Yanushpol
Yanushpol (until 1946, known as Ivanopol) is an urban-type settlement located in the Chudnivsky district of the Zhytomyr region. I visited Yanushpol during my expedition in the summer of 2020. The local history teacher, Alona Hroza, shared with me many facts about the Jewish community of the village. Additionally, much of the information for this article was taken from an interview with Semion Bekker, born in 1935, which he gave to the Shoa Foundation project in Mariupol in 1998. Yanushpol was founded in the 16th century as Yanushpol of the Volyn voivodeship within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1793, it was a part of the Russian Empire and was a shtetls in the Zhytomyr uyezd of the Volyn guberniya. From the late 1930s until 1954, it was the district centre. Center of Yanushpol, 2020: In 1873, there were two...
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Salnytsya
Salnytsya is a village in Khmelnytskyi district of Vinnytsia Oblast in Ukraine. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a shtetl of Litin County of Podolia Governorate. Jews called the village “Solchev” in Yiddish. Most of the information for this article was taken from the book “Roads of Memory” by Faina Braverman, a native of Salnytsya (1923, Salnytsya – 2003, Kyiv), which I accidentally bought in 2019. Parts of this book can be found here. A lot of information was also taken from a three-hour interview by Sophia Attenzon (Becker) with the Shoah Foundation, where she described the pre-war history of Salnytsya and how her family survived the Holocaust. I visited the village during my expedition in 2020. Vera Stepanenko, who works in the Salnytsya library and is the author of the village’s website, was very helpful...
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Ulanov
Ulanov is a village in the Khmelnitsky district of the Vinnitsa region. According to the 2001 census, the population of Ulanov was 3,038. From the 19th – early 20th centuries, Ulanov was a shtetl in the Litinsky district of the Podolsk province. I visited Ulanov in 2020, I managed to talk with Yadviga Stepanovna Mikolyuk, born in 1928, who lived all her life near Jews and remembered a lot. I did not manage to find any local historian who could tell me about the Jews of Ulanov. A lot of information about the Jews of Ulanov was provided by Anatoly Kerzhner, a descendant of the last Jews of Ulanov. Only the old Jewish cemetery, several Jewish buildings and the mass grave of the Jews of Ulanov, Salnitsa and the surrounding villages, who were killed by the Nazis and their...
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Bazar
Bazar is a village in the Korosten district of the Zhytomyr region. In the early 1980s, about 2,500 people lived here, but most of the population left after the Chornobyl disaster. As of 2019, 573 people lived in Bazar. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Bazar was a town in the Ovruch district of the Volyn province. During the Soviet period, Bazar was a district centre until 1956. From 1956, it was a village in the Malyn district, then in the Narodychi district. I visited the village during my expedition in the summer of 2019. At that time, I could talk to the head of the town, who provided information about the Jews who lived in the village after World War II. I took many facts for this article from the book by Aaron Shinderman (1877-1968), “From the...
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Kornyn
Kornyn is a village in Zhytomyr district, Zhytomyr region. According to the 2014 census, the village had a population of 2283 people. After the second partition of Poland in 1793, Kornyn became part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a shtetl in the Radomyshl district of Kyiv province. In the summer of 2022, I visited the town in search of any traces of the Jewish population, but I could not find anything. The only remaining old building in the village is the ruins of an old mill, which is the only witness to the existence of a Jewish community here. Kornyn belonged to the Brusilov kagal. According to the 1765 census, 7 Jews were living here. However, in 1787, no Jews were recorded in the settlement. In 1900, there were 418 Jews...
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Khodorkov
Khodorkov a village in the Zhytomyr district, Zhytomyr region. According to the 2001 census, the village had a population of 1,371. In 1793, after second partition of Poland, Khodorkov became part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a shtetl in the Skvira district, Kyiv province. In 1787, 349 Jews were living in the shtetl. In 1864, 1,421 Jews were living in the shtetl, comprising 43% of the population. In 1900, 3,299 Jews lived in the Khodorkov volost (district), 15% of the population. Most of them lived in the shtetl of Khodorkov. In 1887, a felt production facility in Khodorkov was owned by Gersh Simkovich Heylomsky. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 100 shops in the shtetl. One of the central enterprises in the shtetl was a sugar factory, which...
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Pervomaysk
The city of Pervomaysk is situated where the Siniukha River flows into the Southern Buh. It is 180 km away from Nikolayev, with a population of 82,000. Pervomaysk is an amalgamation of three earlier settlements: Olviopol, Holta and Pervomaysk. During the 18th century, the Olviopol settlement belonged to the Russian Empire, Holta belonged to Turkey, and Bogopol belonged to Poland. In 1919, these settlements were merged into a single city, thereafter called Pervomaysk. My locationGet Directions Olviopol In 1676, on the left bank of the Siniukha River near the Polish-Turkish borders, Cossacks built a fortress. Shaped like an octagon, it was called Orlik. This territory was sparsely inhabited and frequented by Crimean Tatars. It was a wild territory, near the deserted steppes of the Black Sea coastal region. Jewish population of Olviopol: 1867 — 199 Jews 1897 — 1482 (21%)...
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Volodarka
Volodarka, an urban settlement, district capital in the Kyiv region. In 1793, after the second division of Poland, Volodarka became part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th and early 20th century, Volodarka was a shtetl in Skvirsky county, Kyiv province. This article was translated by Maria Mafter. Jews lived in Volodarka from the 17th century. In 1750 the Jewish community was destroyed by the Haidamaks, and in 1768 the Jewish population was again plundered by the Haidamaks. In 1841 L. Abramovich founded a cloth factory. In 1863 there was a synagogue. In 1912 there was a Jewish savings and loan partnership. At the beginning of WWI, about 2,000 Jews and 5,000 Christians lived in the town. There were about 400 Jewish houses and 200 shops, five industrial enterprises owned by Jews, and several synagogues. Volodarka entrepreneurs...
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Brusilov
Brusilov is an urban-type settlement and the district centre in the Zhytomyr region. This article was translated by Daniel Pesin. In 1793, after the second partition of Poland, Brusilov became part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th – early 20th centuries it was a shtetl in the Radomysl district of the Kyiv province. When the Jews appeared in Brusilov is not exactly known. The first documented mention of Jews in Brusilov dates back to 1609, when Polish documents mention the Pavolotsky Jew Michal, who kept Old and New Brusilov in rent. In 1611, Stary (Old) Brusilov was rented from the Jews Yakush and Mishka Kholoevsky. Brusilov received Magdeburg rights in 1585. Center of Brusilov, 2021: During the uprising of Bogdan Khmelnytsky, the Jews of Brusilov were forced to flee to Volhynia. After the conclusion of the Andrusovo...
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Pikov
Pikov is a small village in the Kalynivka raion, Vinnytsia region of Ukraine. As of 2023, around 2,000 lived there. In the 19th – beginning of 20 century, Pikov was a shtetl of Vinnitsa uezd, Podolskaya Gubernia. In the past, Pykiv consisted of two parts called Novy Pykiv (New Pykiv) and Stary Pykiv (Old Pykiv), which were on opposite sides of the Snyvoda River. According to historical documents, they were separate towns until they merged in 1960. Before the revolution, most of the Jewish residents lived in Novy Pykiv. When I visited the former Pykiv shtetl in winter 2020, all that remained of the Jewish community were a Jewish cemetery and the ruins of a big Jewish house. The first reference to a Jewish presence in Pikov dates back to the beginning of the eighteenth century. During the...
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Borodyanka
Borodyanka is an urban-type settlement (since 1957). In the XVI-XVIII centuries. – a place in the Kyiv povet (district) and voivodeship (province) at the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the second partition of the Commonwealth (1793), the shtetl of Borodyanka was part of the Russian Empire. It was a shtetl in the Kyiv district, Kyiv province. This article was created by Anna Ponomarenko and the full version can be found here Anna interviewed more than 10 people and collFected all the information in the article. Below is just a small part of the collected information. Article was translated by Daniel Pesin. The Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron says that Jews began to settle in Borodyanka in the 18th study, until 1765. Their colony was called Mariyampol. About 300 Jewish families lived in Borodyanka at the beginning of...
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Miropol
Miropol, a village in the Romanovsky district of the Zhytomyr region, stands on the Sluch River. In 1957, the village of Kamenka, which stands on the left bank of the Sluch River, was annexed to Miropol, but the locals still continue to call this part of the village Kamenka. In the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Miropol was the shtetl of Novograd-Volynsky uezd, Volyn province. From 1925 it was the centre of the Jewish village council of the Dzerzhinsky district of the Volyn region. Article was translated by Daniel Pesin. The first references to a Jewish presence in Miropol relate to the beginning of the 18th century. At the end of the 19th century there were 1,912 Jews, who comprised about 39 percent of the total population. Miropol in 2020: Jewish population of Miropol: 1847 — 865...
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Chudnov
Chudnov is a city in the Zhytomyr region, located on the river Teterev. Before the Revolution of 1917, it was a shtetl of the Zhytomyr district of the Volyn province. Until the 20th century, there were 2 separate settlements – Novy (New) and Stary (Old) Chudnov, separated by the Teterev river. It was in Stary Chudnov that the majority of the Jewish population lived. Two settlements were merged into one in the 20th century. I visited Chudnov during an expedition in the summer of 2020. Places connected with Jewish history were shown to me by the local historian Yuri Gaidash. Author of this article and Yuri Gaidash Me (right) and my friend Sergo aka Kote during our visit to Chudnov in 2020 Article was translated by Daniel Pesin. I managed to find very little information about the history of...
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Nosovka
Nosovka, a city (since 1960), is a district centre in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine. The population is 13,310 people, according to the 2020 census. The city stands on the Nosovochka River, which is a tributary of the Ostra. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a town of Nezhinsky district of the Chernihiv province. I could only find very little information about the Jews of Nosovka. Article was translated by Daniel Pesin. 542 Jews lived in Nosovka in 1910; in 1920 Jews made up 1.2% of the town’s population, in 1939, 116 Jews lived in Nosovka. In 1864, a synagogue was operating. In 1886 a Jew owned a pharmacy in Nosovka. In the 19th century the rabbi of Nosovka was Yitzchok Teleshevsky; from 1887 it was Chaim Sheyniuk (1863-?); from 1908 it was Shmuel Goldshmid (1881-?)....
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Raygorodok
Raygorodok is a viallge in Berdichev district, Zhernigov region. In Yiddish, Raigorodok is called Rardek. In 19th -20th century, it was a shtetl of Berdichev uezd, Kiev gubernia. Raygorodok, Zhitomir region, should not be confused with the village of Raygorod in Vinnitsa region. Both the settlements were shtetls with big Jewish communities. Part of the information for this article was taken from an interview with Sofia Yakubova (Gleyzer), a native of the town of Sofiivka, which she gave to the Shoa Foundation in the 1990s. According to the 1897 census, 2058 residents lived in Raygorodok where 946 Jews constited 45% of the total population. My locationGet Directions In the southern outskirts of the village a market square and a synagogue used to make the center of the Jewish shtetl. Nowadays this territory remains almost undeveloped. It is right opposite...
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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. My locationGet 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...
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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). My locationGet 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...
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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 in the 1920s – 1930s. Virtually no information could be found on the Jewish life of Cherniakhov in the XIX – early XX centuries. My locationGet 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...
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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. My locationGet 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...
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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 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 My locationGet Directions Beginning The settlement’s history goes back to 1362. It was originally a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and...
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Savran
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....
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Ladyzhinka
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. My locationGet 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...
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Golovanevsk
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. Most of the information about the post-war Jews of Holovanivsk was provided by Leonid Shmaevich, who was born there in 1946. 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. My locationGet 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...
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Ushomir
Ushomir is a village in Korosten district, Zhytomir region. The village’s population is 1323 (as of 2019). Ushomir is located on the Uzh River, a tributary of the Pripyat. In the late XIX – early XX century, Ushomir was a shtetl in Zhitomir district, Volin guberniya. In 2017, local teacher Nikolay Palamarchuk was our guild in the village. He provided a detailed map of Jewish places of former shtetl which you can see below. My locationGet Directions Beginning The first mention of Jewish families in Ushomir date back to the XVII century. For 20 years (between 1870 and 1890) there were breweries, two leather factories, three tar factories, and glass factories functioning in Ushomir. A brick factory and a pottery shop had been expanded. Almost all enterprises employed Jews – from masters to workers. Some of the industrial enterprises...
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Ananyev
אַנאַניעוו (Yiddish), Ана́ньїв (Ukrainian), Ананьев (Russian) Ananyev is a city and the administrative center of Ananyiv district in the Odessa region. It stands on the Tyligul River. Population: 8,495 (2015 est.) Ananyev became part of the Russian Empire in 1792, registered as a district town (uyezd) of Kherson gubernia in 1834-1920, then assigned to the Odessa gubernia in 1920. In 1924-1940, Ananyev was part of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Republic of Ukraine. David Vladimirovich Neifleisch (born in 1948), a deputy of the local town council and one of the last remaining Jewish residents of Ananyev shared his memories of the post-war Ananyev in the summer of 2018. His father’s first family, a wife and two children (a boy and a girl) perished in Ananyev during the Nazi occupation. Neifleish could remember the photo of...
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Domanevka
Domanevka is an urban-type village, a district centre in the Nikolayev region. It was established in the early XIX century. In the XIX to early-XX centuries, it was a shtetl in the Ananyev Uyezd district of the Kherson gubernia. When we visited Domanevka in the summer of 2018, we were unable to collect any meaningful information about local Jews. There were no Jews in the town, and local Ukrainians could tell us very little. We were shown only the remains of a New Jewish cemetery on the “Jewish mountain”. It was so overgrown by the forest that it would have been impossible to find without help. However, in the winter 2019, I came across a novel by Valery Varzatsky, in which he described Jews of post-war Domanievka in detail. Much of this article is based on information gathered from...
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Krivoye Ozero
Krivoye Ozero is an urban type village founded in the 18th century. It is located on the banks of the Kodyma River and holds a long history of both vibrant and tragic Jewish life. Since the 1970s, the village became the district centre of the Nikolayev region, having previously belonged to the Odessa region. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Chumaky Way, a trade road through which products from Southern Ukraine were delivered to the center, laid across Krivoye Ozero, including during the time of the Russian Empire. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the village became part of the Balta Uyezd (Podolia Gubernia). My locationGet Directions Beginning Jewish life in Krivoye Ozero came about parallel to the founding of the village in 1762. Almost a century later, there were three functioning synagogues. In 1896, five years...
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Belilovka
Belilovka is a village in the Ruzhin district of the Zhitomir region. In the XVI through XVIII centuries, it was a village of Kiev county and voivodship, a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1793, it was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In the XIX and early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Berdichev uyezd, Kiev gubernia. The first records of Jews in Belilovka date back to 1719. My locationGet Directions We learned that in April 1735 an attorney of Duke Liubomirsky, the owner of Belilovka, complained about several dozens of cossacks having attacked the village. They robbed, beat, and humiliated people of the shtetl, particularly Jews. Three Jewish citizens were tortured to death. In 1863, there were two synagogues in Belilovka. Shloyme Makhrinsky (1880 – ?) was a rabbi in Belilovka starting in 1900. In 1912, a...
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Piatigory
Пятигоры (Russian), П’ятигори (Ukrainian) Piatigory is a village in the Tetiyev district of Kiev region. In the XVI – XVIII centuries, it was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Starting in 1793 it was in the Russian Empire. In the XIX – early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Tarascha uyezd, in the Kiev gubernia. My locationGet Directions In 1787, there were ten traders among the Jews. In 1873, a synagogue was functioning in Piatigory. In 1865 – 1910, Moyshe Lerman (? – 1910) was a rabbi in Piatigory. When M.Lerman had died his son Tsvi-Itskhok (1866 – ?) took his place and was a rabbi in the shtetl starting in 1910. In 1914, two synagogues were opened in Piatigory. There was a Jewish cemetery in the shtetl. Jewish population of Piatigory: 1847 – 603 Jews 1897 –...
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Goloskovo
Goloskovo is a village in Kryve Ozero district, Nikolaev region. In the XIX– early XX centuries, it was a shtetl of Balta uyezd, Podolia gubernia. Nowadays Goloskovo has completely merged with the neighboring village of Oniskove wiith one common village council. However, ini 1917 they had been two separate villages inhabited by people of different nationalities, the Jewish shtetl of Goloskovo and the Ukrainian village of Oniskove. My locationGet Directions Information about Jews of Goloskovo was collected during our ethnographic expedition in the summer 2018. More information can be provided by local former teacher of history Valentina Volodimirivna Granovska +38(096)544-91-77 . You can download her book about Jewish history of Goloskovo (in Ukrainian). In 1863 there was a synagogue in Goloskovo and in 1889 there were two synagogues there. In 1909, after Yakov-Elia Shapiro’s death, his son Khaim Shapiro...
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Novaya Odessa
Novaya Odessa is a district center of Nikolayev region. It was founded in 1776. In the XIX – early XX centuries, known as a shtetl of Novaya Odessa (Fedorovka), Kherson uyezd and gubernia. During our ethnographic expedition in the summer of 2018 very little information was found on the Jewish history of Novaya Odessa. Jews settled in Novaya Odessa in the late XIX century. In 1897 1,010 Jews lived in the town, where they comprised 18.3 percent of the total population. My locationGet Directions In 1868, there was a working synagogue in Novaya Odessa. In 1910, two synagogues were registered in the shtetl. Jewish population of Novaya Odessa: 1897 – 1010 (18%), 1910 – 4205 (42%) 1923 – 389 Jews 1939 – 228 Jews 1990х ~ 45 Jews 2018 ~ 10 Jews In the 1890s, Lev Kagan was appointed...
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Smela
Smela (Yiddish), Smela – Смeла (Russian) Smela is a city in the Cherkassy region. It is situated on the left bank of the Tiasmin river. The population of Smela was 69,000 people in 2005. The first settlement on the Tiasmin river dates back to 1542 and was called Yatskovo, later it was called Tiasmino. The shtetl of Smela was founded in 1633 with the support of magnate Stanislav Kontsepolskiy. In 1650, Smela Jewish community was first mentioned. In 1773, at the request of then-owners of the town the Liubomirskys, the Polish king gave the town the Magdeburg Right. In 1795, Smela became a part of the Russian Empire. It was a shtetl of Cherkassy uezd, Kiev gubernia. My locationGet Directions In the XVIII century, Smila was often subject to pogroms by Haidamaks, especially in 1768, when Zheleznyak entered the...
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Khoroshev
Khoroshev is an urban-type village, a district center in the Zhitomir region. Khoroshev has been a part of the Russian Empire since 1793. In the XIX – early XX centuries it was a shtetl in Zhitomir uyezd, Volyn gubernia. The settlement has been renamed several times: by 1607 – Alexandropol, in 1607-1912 – Goroshki, in 1912-1923 – Kutuzovo, in 1923 – 1933 – Volodarsk-Volynskiy, and in 2016 – Khoroshev. We gathered information about post-war Jews of Khoroshev during our summer expedition in 2017. My locationGet Directions The first mention of Khoroshev dates back to 1545. Jews have been living in Khoroshev since the XVIII century. Their main occupations were crafts and petty trade. In 1912, a Jewish service and credit society was established in Khoroshev. In early September 1919, the 44th Soviet Division retreated through Khoroshev. For three days...
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Puliny
Puliny (from 1935 until 2016 called Chervonoarmiisk) is an urban-type settlement in Zhytomyr Oblast. It is the administrative center of Puliny Raion. Population: 5,454(2013 est.) In XIX – beginning of XX century it was a shtetl of Zhitomir Yezd, Volyn Gubernia. In the mid-nineteenth century, Puliny did not form an independent Jewish community and in 1867 there were only 43 Jewish houses. My locationGet Directions In 1867 the Russian authorities knew about one prayer house in Puliny, which was officially registered in 1854. Most probably, the prayer house was built around 1850. It was also mentioned in the Polish geographical dictionary in 1870. Members of Tsvet family, who emigrated from Puliny to Odessa in the end of 19 century – beginning 20 century (Photo provided by Leonid Tsvet): Sonya Tzvet (first from left)) Chaim and Sara (sitting on left...
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Kamenka
Kamenka is a town in the Cherkassy region with the population of 11,978 (2016). Before the 1917 revolution, Kamenka was a shtetl of Chigirin uyezd, Kiev guberniya. No much information was available about Kamenka’s Jewish history in the XIX – early XX century. In the early XX century, there was one synagogue and a prayer house in the town. During pogroms, the synagogue and the Jewish amateur theatre were destroyed. In 1919, it has about six thousand inhabitants; about 540 Jewish families. The pogrom was perpetrated by the Grigorievists in the middle of May, approximately May 14-20. There were 76 Jews killed (62 men and 14 women). In the early 1920s, a Jewish self-defense unit, 25 people strong, was formed Photod of the Jewish family in Kamenka was provided by rabbi Meinard Bell from US to Judaica Institute, Kiev: Children of...
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