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 Jews of Dzyunkov.

In 1865, there was a synagogue in Dzyunkov.

From 1889, the rabbi of Dzyunkov was Shmuel-Yuda Dinin (1865-?). In 1910, the pharmacy was owned by Shevel Alperovich.

Dzyunkov ceased to exist as a Jewish town during the Civil War of 1917-1920 when, due to numerous pogroms, Jews were forced to flee to other places.

Local partisans organized the first pogrom on June 1, 1919. The partisans gathered Jews in the synagogue and demanded a contribution of 300,000 rubles from them. The Jews could only collect 50,000. Then the pogromists killed 35 people with swords. About forty Jews were seriously injured.

The Sokolva gang organized the second pogrom in August 1919. They robbed the city and killed six Jews.

In December, local hooligans attacked the town again. They looted shops and apartments and also killed four Jews.

In February, a detachment of the Volunteer Army invaded the city. Immediately upon their arrival, they began to loot homes and shops, rape women, and beat and torture Jews who fell into their hands. They also killed Rabbi Chaim Dinin, 28, and Eliyahu Zinger, 24. In total, the Denikinists killed seven people.

In March 1920, a local gang led by Strymetsky, 27, who served in the Petlyura army, invaded the city. He looted the city, killed ten Jews, and injured five.

When wealthy Jews saw their lives in danger due to constant attacks and pogroms, especially after local robber Strymetsky began to attack the city very often, they left the town. They moved to Pohrebyshche, where there was organized and armed self-defence.

Former center of the shtetl:

A self-defence force of 70 people with 50 rifles was organized in Dzyunkov, but it did not last long. After the arrival of the Petliurists, they confiscated all weapons.

More information about pogroms in Dzyunkov can be found here.

Non-Jewish part of Dzyunkov, now it is a center of village:

Memorial to soldiers who were drafted from the Dzyunkov and killed in action during WWII (no Jewish names mentioned):

Holocaust

According to the memories of residents, the Germans mocked Jews. For example, they harnessed them to a barrel on wheels and forced them to carry water around the village.
During the war, a German manager named Kurtz in the village participated in the mockery and extermination of the Jewish population.
In April 1942, 94 Jews were shot in D. According to one account, they were deported to Pogrebishche and shot there, while others claim it happened somewhere in the village.
I could not determine if Jews lived in the village after the war.

Genealogy

Some documents can be found here

Jewish cemetery

The Jewish cemetery is located on the slope of a hill.
In the 1980s, up to 50 tombstones could still be seen in the cemetery, but they were stolen in the 1990s. So now, only a few tombstones can be found among the bushes.
At the bottom of the hill stands a solitary house where a local policeman lived after the war and participated in the extermination of the local Jews.

Yes, it is a cemetery…

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