One of the synagogues in Kopaigorod was built in 1870 and a Jewish school was also located in its premises. It was located at No. 27 Pershotravneva street. After the synagogue was closed the same building housed a craftsman's club, and in Soviet times, a bakery. This building no longer exists as it was destroyed in 2008. Opposite the destroyed stone prayer house is a well-preserved Jewish house built at the same time and from the same bricks as the synagogue. It is currently home to a family that spent a good deal of effort and money to preserve this building.

The former synagogue and Jewish school building, 1989

The building is in satisfactory condition. It probably dates back to the late 19^th to early 20^th century. Despite the reconstruction, two sections of the synagogue are tracked here. This is a compact building with architectural decor in eclectic style. It is built on a brick plinth; the facades are finished with a brick cornice with a frieze framed by external pilasters. The facades are finished with stuccoed brick cornice. This is a building with two traditional volumes under a common roof. It is built according to a rectangular scheme. The overall external dimensions of the plan are 1459x1230 cm. The width of the walls is 60 cm. The walls are stone. The window frames are wooden, latticed, the doors are modern, wooden. The floor is flat, wooden. The holes are decorated with sandriks, small cornices over the windows.. There is no attic. The roof is pitched, covered with slate.

The front entrance presents the main facade which is two-stories high. There are three windows on the first floor and four windows on the second floor. There are three entrances in the northern facade. The original entrance is on the second floor and leads to the women's section. Another entrance was recently constructed under it, and the third entrance was created through a window opening. New construction was added to the eastern and northern facades, connected to the bakery. The window of the northern facade and the window of the western facade are bricked up. There is an entrance on the eastern side to the Aron Kodesh. The prayer hall has one tier, rectangular in shape, stretched from north to south. It is lit by rectangular openings with flat arches, and within the synagogue premises by small openings with flat arches. On the north side of the prayer hall there are four windows (one became a door), on the west side there are two doors (the lower door was recently made), on the east side there is one door. Two wooden carved columns supporting a wooden beam have been preserved in the hall. Adjacent to the prayer hall is the women's section on the synagogue premises. The floor here is wooden, and the walls are brick, plastered and whitewashed. The door frames are rectangular. The Bimah, usually in the center of the synagogue where there is a special table for the public reading of the Torah, no longer exists.

Such was the description of the synagogue. Of course, the decor of the synagogue was not preserved; everything had been destroyed. Despite the fact that there was at one time, a strong Jewish community in Kopaigorod, none of the three synagogues survived to our time. However, there still is a disappearing old Jewish cemetery and a few old abandoned houses that are being swallowed up by time and vegetation. Other religious institutions that previously existed in Kopaigorod were the Beis-Hamedrash (Talmudic prayer house), the proletarian, shill (simple) prayer house, and the Kloiz,or prayer house for craftsmen. They were registered, as required, on October 15, 1924 in the MICOSO of the Podilsk province (interdepartmental commission for trade unions and organizations).

A model of the synagogue in Kopaigorod, created by the staff of the Jewish Art Center

Plan of the former synagogue of Kopaigorod, which was recreated in 1998 by the expedition of the St. Petersburg Institute of Judaism

I bring to your attention that on the basis of the right granted to me by the King, who allowed me to build a garden in an empty and wild field of the village Galchyntsi, sacrificed with God's grace and help, in the city above the Nemia River, Novograd, and the residents called Kopaigorod (because it was dug up by a rampart), and also for the sake of safety from the enemies of the Holy Cross, it was fortified with ramparts, battlements and loopholes. Wishing to do everything for the word of God and so that Catholics could receive the holy sacrament, he built a cathedral. And so that the priest could live here, I assign him the following income: a tithe of grain from the farms of Kopaigorod, mills and ponds at 50 zlotys, from the village of Kurylivtsi, in addition to the tithe, another 20 zlotys. In the local pond, you can catch fish with two nets for your needs.

The cathedral made Kopaigorod a parish center for the Catholic community. At some point this cathedral was destroyed, and in 1798, a new stone cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit was built at the expense of Ya. Sulyatskyi. Construction was completed in 1814. Later a small chapel was built at the Polish cemetery. According to sources, the Catholic parish in Kopaigorod operated until 1933, after which it was closed and converted into a village club. Ksyondz was expelled from the town, and his home was used by the district branch of the NKVD. People were shot in the basement of that house. During and after the war, the cathedral was opened for a while and then closed again. According to the Department of Religious Cults of the Regional Executive Committee, as of August 1, 1950, the cathedral had 700 parishioners and no priest. In the mid-1950's, the cathedral was deregistered and preparations began for its conversion into a cinema. Our school would sometimes send us to help clear the area of the location of the church. The activity of the church was resumed in October 1998 in the same premises, but its architectural features were lost. The renovated church in Kopaigorod was consecrated in 1998 by Fr. Yan Olshanskyi. The building is an architectural monument of local importance and is protected by the state. The parish church was founded by Antony Ignatius Zaremba-Mankovskii.

There is a story about another church. When a daughter died in the family of a landowner in the town, he built the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her grave. There was an organ in the church, but over time it had degraded and did not work. The church was closed in the 1930's. In the period 1895–1916, the priests were F. Adomkevich, V. Kobets, and A. Piantkovskyi. Saint Anthony Piantkovskyi and his mother are buried in the old Kopaigorod Roman Catholic cemetery. Batovsky was Ksyondz in the village until 1920; later he went to Poland. In the 1920's, M. Sokolovskyi worked here.

An impression of the seal of the Kopaigorod church and the signature of its abbot A. Piantkovskyi in the metric books for 1915. It further states that vital records and the original book are the same. “I signed the document personally and put a seal.” Abbot of the cathedral (signature)

A functioning church in Kopaigorod

Bishop Dmitry was welcomed to Kopaigorod with a special event:

His Holiness was met (in the city of Kopaigorod) by the singing of all parishioners, including adults and children of both sexes. Common singing in Kopaigorod was introduced by the priest Vladimir Shostaksky in 1869 which became so popular, that during the all-night service, as well as the liturgy, all those present in the church, including the parishioners, take an active part in the service and love their visits to their church. People from neighboring villages also come to Kopaigorod to listen to common folk singing. This feature of the Kopaigorod church attracted the special attention of the archpastors, Holy Justin and Donatus, who, while visiting the church, expressed their approval both to the priest and to the Orthodox parishioners of Kopaigorod. An all-night vigil was held on the beginning the evening of May 1 in the church of this town, for litany - praying and polyeleos {the most solemn part of the vigil or the festive morning}. In view of the narrowness of the church building, and in order to give the opportunity for all parishioners to be present and take part in the general church singing, the Reverend moved the vigil to the churchyard. (Podilsk eparchial (diocesical) information, 1894, No. 30).

A church in the village of Ukrainske (Romanky), southwest of Kopaigorod, was assigned to this parish. The church in the village of Romanki was built with a wooden belfry and consecrated in honor of St. Archangel Michael in 1761. Funds for its construction were raised by local residents. The church lands of both villages together consisted of 60 desitynas (about 65 hectares). The Kopaigorod church had a 200 ruble reserve fund which was funded by the eternal contribution of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin is an architectural monument of the Bar district. The landowner, burgher V. Bogutsky, built this church at his own expense in 1884–1885. The Church Bulletin No. 20 for May 1887 noted that Bogutskyi was given special notice for his services to the spiritual development of the town and support of the church. Blessings of the Holy Synod were held for him and for villagers Simeon Stolyar, Peter Demyanchuk, and Yakov Kushnir. The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin was closed at the end of the 1920's and reopened again during the war. Confessional information about the Kopaigorod church for the year 1825 was preserved, indicating the names of the parishioners. Boftalovsky and Kwiatkovsky were the priests. The nobles listed were Dobrovolskyi, Paslavskyi, and Yavorskyi. The peasants were Bidny, Bilinskyi, Biletskyi, Bodnar, Bondarchuk, Voznyuk, Voloshyn, Galamaichuk, Harmatovych, Hicaviy, Honchar, Demyanchuk, Dovben, Dubina, Ivanov, Ivanyuk, Kilimnyk, Kushnir, Kurylivska, Kuhar, Kutsy, Lyvar, Marchak, Makodziy, Melnyk, Mudryk, Namanyuk, Noga, Oliynyk, Pakholok, Prysiazhniuk, Rympovych, Rymar, Savchuk, Semenov (Faida), Serhiyko, Sydorenko, Slyusar, Starina, Ustinchuk, Folyushnyk, Furman, Shvets, Shmondiy, Shportiy, and Shpychka.

A confession list for 1840 with the names of the parishioners also remains. Clergy consisted of Kwiatkovsky, and Litevych. The nobles were Chernorutsky, Slavinska, Yavorsky, and Kirnytsky. Peasant names are Antoshka, Bidny, Bilinsky, Bodnar, Bondarchuk, Vozniuk, Galamaichuk, Harmatovych, Hiccup, Honchar, Grigortsev, Glukhii, Humpback (Vozniuk), Demyanchuk, Doberchuk, Zhmyrynka, Ivaskov, Ivanyuk, Kilimnyk, Kushnir, Kurylivska, Kuhar , Katrin, Kostiv, Kopachynskyi, Lyvar, Latkatyi (Voznyuk), Marchak, Makodziy, Melnyk, Mudryk, Morgun, Namanyuk, Noga, Oliynyk, Paholok, Pichkur, Pavlyuk, Romanov, Serhiyko, Slyusar, Stoliar, Slipyi, Savulka, Skorobogach, Furman, Fayda, Techmister, Shvets, Shportiy, Shimkov, and Yatskov.

On June 23, 2021, Metropolitan Varsonofy of Vinnytsia and Bar celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, of Kopaigorod in the Bar diocese. With the blessing of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the clerics of the Bar deaconry archpriest George Kholod and Volodymyr Kyvak, were awarded the right to perform the liturgy with the “Royal Gate'' open to the Cherubim song. Many children, mostly pupils of the local Sunday schools from Kopaigorod and other villages, took part in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The rite of the glorification of the Holy Trinity took place after the divine service. Metropolitan Varsonofiy congratulated all the parishioners on the Feast of Pentecost and thanked the abbot, Father George, for his many years of work in the parish.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, built in 1884

May 2 19. Kopaigorod in Mogilev deanery district. Church dedicated to the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, stone, with the same bell tower, built in 1883 by parishioners with the help of assistant Marian Sulyatitsky; the architecture of the temple is very beautiful and from a distance it seems very wide, as if located on an elevated place, but unfortunately among Jewish houses.

There were various Jewish institutions in the building, and possibly another synagogue. After its closure, the building was used for a country club. It became a cinema after the transfer of the former church premises to the Polish community. Currently, the building is empty and in disrepair.

There are two Jewish cemeteries that have been preserved in Kopaigorod. One cemetery is from ancient times, perhaps even from the time of the first Jewish settlements. There is at least one matzevah dating from 1728. There are about twenty tombstones that were preserved in the old Jewish cemetery in the village. The rest of the stones are buried, or they were destroyed during the occupation. The cemetery is overgrown with moss and lichens. Mosyshe Koyfman, my maternal grandfather, was buried in this cemetery, but his grave was not preserved. Among those tombstones that are still standing one can see beautiful carved ornaments depicting lions, unicorns, two bears carrying a bunch of grapes, hares, squirrels, flowers, and more. Almost all of the tombstones are decorated in some manner. They are not distinguishable by their shape, but there are some triangular stones. Gravestones in the cemetery are quite thick (up to 21 centimeters), which is more than in the cemeteries of other towns, and they all face southward. The old cemetery is located in a so-called, mountainous place. This is because the community had to buy land with its own money and non-agricultural land was less expensive.

The grave of the righteous Tzadikeit Malka bat Moshe, the granddaughter of Rabbi Meir from Przemyśl, was preserved in the old Jewish cemetery. She died in 1743. Judging by this date, she could have been familiar with the Baal Shem Tov. Hasidism was not a formal religious movement at that time, however, and not yet connected to the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov.

The burial sites of many famous tzadikim (holy men) have been preserved in Ukraine. Local residents are accustomed to pilgrims visiting these graves. For example, the grave of the righteous Y. Soros is in the village of Yaltushkiv, not far from Kopaigorod. But Kopaigorod stands apart from all of the other grave sites. The fact is, that only in Kopaigorod do religious Jews come to pray at the graves of righteous women.

There are legends associated with these women. Malka was a “straw widow”, that is, her husband disappeared without providing her with a “get” or divorce document. Malka met BESHT, the Baal Shem Tov, who gave her a blessing in exchange for a promise to not marry again. Why this particular condition was required remains a mystery. But whatever it was, BESHTA's blessing worked. Malka helped many people during her life. Even after she died, the Jews of Kopaigorod and other towns prayed at her grave to ask her for help. Her well-kept grave is made of stone 21 cm thick, and the top is carved in the form of a triangle. Descendants of the people from the small Podil shtetl keep this tradition even today. When they come to Kopaigorod, they visit Malka's grave. Thus, the small town of Kopaigorod can be considered almost the first center of feminism in Europe.

The old Jewish cemetery in Kopaigorod is unique because it is the only place of pilgrimage of this kind in Ukraine. A memorial monument was installed there in May 2021, funded by the United Jewish Community of Ukraine together with the Jewish community of Zhmerynka. The Kopaigorod Settlement Council meeting of April 1, 2021 granted permission to install this memorial. The draft decision read:

After considering the letter from the United Jewish Community of Ukraine (UECU) and in accordance with Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine “On Public Associations” , articles 7, 15, 18, 20, 24 of the Law of Ukraine “On Appeals of Citizens”, I propose to grant a permit to install a memorial plaque at the old Jewish cemetery in the village of Kopaigorod, Vinnytsia region.

The memorial erected in the old Jewish cemetery in May 2021 The words on the monument say, in Ukrainian, English and Hebrew: Old Jewish cemetery of Kopaigorod village, and on the bottom are the names of those who helped to establish the memorial.

The well-kept grave of Tzadikeit Malka, 1989

The renovated monuments in the new Jewish cemetery

Portion of the list of religious communities of Mogilev-Podilsky District in Kopaigorod District, 1927 201. Supivka Kopaigorod district 202. Voodsatsi 203. Ukrainske 204. Maryanivka 205. Snitkovo 206. Komarovtsi 207. Shypynka 208. Barok 209. Borlintsi 210. Popovtsi 211. Kopaigorod 212. Poliovi Borlyntsi 213. Shevchenkovo 214. Shervone 215. Khrynivka 216. Petrivka 217. Kornivka 218. Kornivka 219. Popovtsi 220. Snitkovo 221. Snitkovo 222. Stanislavshyk Stanislavsky district 223. Voznovtsy 224. Budky 225. Aleksiyevka 246. Stanislavchek 247. Dovchany 248. Tarasivka 249. Luka Vovchanska 250. Noskivtsi 251. Dalevo 252. Katsmazovo

Jews have lived in Ukraine for over 1,000 years as one of the oldest native communities in the country. The vast majority of Ukrainian Jews are Ashkenazi. According to the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine, approximately 300,000 people with Jewish roots live in Ukraine. As a result of the Holocaust, more than half of Ukrainian Jewry perished in the Second World War. The descendants of those who survived were forcibly assimilated by the Soviet authorities. The full recovery of the community and the gradual rebuilding of synagogues, of which there were once up to 800 in Ukraine, began with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

There is evidence that congregants of Kopaigorod synagogues complained about excessive taxes and anti-Semitism by the local authorities in the years before the war. The full text of a particular complaint, written in 1924 to the Central Committee of the Central Committee follows:

Letter from a group of Jews of Podolsk province to the Central Committee of the People's Republic in 1924. Letters of citizens - Jews from cities and towns located on the Polish-Romanian border.

First of all, we ask you to listen and pay attention to the words that are written here not with ink, but with blood and tears. You will not push away a hand extended to you with a request for help. You will at least do something so that the hand extended for the help of many tens of hundreds of people, hungry, exhausted, weak, with sickly faces, faces blacker than a coal, will not remain hanging in the air. We know very well from the life of former times that we, the Jews, are scapegoats in all cases. A landlord will argue with a landlord - who will get it? - a Jew. The bailiff will not get along with the official - who will be put in prison? - A Jew. The landlord is arguing with the peasants about the work - it's a clear case, who should be flogged? - A Jew.

And after such calamities, after so many pogroms, when our blood was flowing in rivers from one end of our country to the other, when our fathers were cut, mothers were shot, children were killed, sisters were raped, brothers were interrogated, property was looted, houses were burned, and so on, and all this for what? We are all Jews - Communist-Bolsheviks. In our small towns on the Polish-Romanian border, from whence the landowners fled during the imperialist war, the Austrians and Germans entered, then Petliura (may he be cursed), then the Poles, then again Petliura with his army, there was nothing left to loot. They killed, robbed, burned. Those in power changed ten times, half of the population remained alive, survived and endured everything, and those who remained, along with you, hoped that the blood shed would not be lost in vain, and that our victory would be a real victory. When we reached the day when the entire Soviet Union calmed down and breathed freely for three or four years, that was for everyone, “except for the Jews.” This “except for the Jews” has not yet been forgotten. Why? For the fact that we had to endure all the horrors we are writing to you about. If you knew everything that we know, when comrades, the Red Army-Bolsheviks came to our small houses and we offered them our last pieces of bread and sugar, and there was not a single Russian around who would not pass it on to our enemies - the torturers: to Petlyura soldiers, Denikin soldiers, and Tiutiunik soldiers, and we were beaten and robbed for that. We are well aware of your work, your malnutrition, your deprivations, your sleepless nights and painful days, all of which are racking our brains, how to do better for each person individually, and this causes us more pain, because we “in the back” see how your labor is wasted. We, the Jews, not only did not live to breathe in a lighter atmosphere, to take advantage of the goods obtained by our comrades, hungry, exhausted, who are straining all their strength to improve the situation, but they are trying to oppress even more. Our disasters and privations are mocked, they make anti-Semitic jokes, they say: “After all, this is your Jewish power, because you wanted it.” This is a counter-revolution. With such antics they incite the people, incite the peasants against the workers against you. What for? They cause us such pain that even the enemy itself cannot bear it, shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders: “That's power.” They themselves need to feast on Jewish blood. This is not only happening in our town, but it is happening in all the border towns of Ukraine. Here we will present to you the town of Kopaigorod (Mohilev district of the Podolsk province), which suffered more than others because it was the center of all moving armies and gangs. The town consists of 142 houses. You may think they are real houses, but they are just little huts. One-hundred-twenty of these huts consist of one small room and a kitchen. There are twenty that have two small rooms and a kitchen. Three-quarters of them have small rooms with stalls together. There are 195 families in Kopaigorod. Fifty-six families are artisans who have no bread; they have no place to earn a living. There are thirty-two families of widows and orphans, the inheritance of Petlyura bandits and others, who have no livelihood. There are twenty families consisting of old people, looking to their graves from a need and hunger. There are thirty-five unemployed families, five laborers, eight former butchers who have no one to sell meat to, one rabbi, and two butchers who are paid with water from a well. Thus, our so-called bourgeoisie remains, and you know who they are. Fifteen families have first-class patents {the rights to sell goods}, two own one register list for employment and each of them has goods worth five or six rubles including two dozen matches, twenty pounds of salt, one pound of monpassier candy, twenty sheets of the parchment paper and several spools of thread. He buys all these goods himself from cooperatives and stands with him on the street, right on the ground, or he goes to the nearest fair to earn a pound of bread. Eleven families have a patent of the 2^nd category, and such are considered big bourgeois in our country. He goes to Zhmerynka for some goods, something like: a barrel of herring, five poods of kerosene, twenty pounds of candy, one-hundred packs of matches - all this costs fifty to sixty rubles. The patent holders of the 3rd category are the largest merchants, three-quarters of whom own goods from 20 to 100 rubles. These are manufactures, and the law requires that once he has a manufactory worth 30 rubles, he must have a patent of the 3rd category. There are only six families with goods worth 500 rubles. These are the 192 families of the mentioned town, and you can imagine the good life of the town. What do those above mentioned say? As Comrade Merezhin {Jewish politician, Zionist, publicist} writes in {the Jewish journal} EMES, that the head of the regional executive committee is from the Petlyura gang. The head of the state farm is the same, the financial agent is a former exciseman, the police department is the same, the people's court, head of the militia and his assistant are the same, and the elected council is all anti-Semitic. They are ready to kill all the Jews at any moment, and these are the cream of the society in our town. The leaders of the volost are no better. In our town, everyone is united by one desire: the regional executive committee, the district, to exterminate all Jews. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned place is called “KOPAY HOROD”, probably because they dig wells there. Day and night, our government throws lavish parties with plenty of drinks, and this requires decent sums, but the head of the militia finds a way out. Money is needed: “Now it will amount to forty-fifty unsanitary acts and the money will be there.” We are quite clean. We have nothing to do, so we clean the streets every day, ours is much cleaner than in Moscow. But the authorities, after all, need money, so they fabricate protocols and hand them over to the national court, and there they judge without witnesses, etc. The next day they bring the last remaining pillows for sale. Everyone is standing on the roofs and painting the pipes, they are afraid of fines, then it is up to the shop assistants. Why did they open their shops from 12 to 4 o'clock? And after all this, they issue an order that the signs be painted with red paint, that they must be 1 1/2 arshins {1 arshin is 0.71 meter} in width. Fines are charged for all inaccuracies, and “the money goes into their own pocket.” In addition, bribes are taken from all sides, parties are held and such outfits are made, much more beautiful than the outfits of the former landlords. And this is what our good leaders do. Ten to twenty housekeepers are also not left alone. Previously, they were hostages, and the authorized person lived at their expense, like a count, turning them into watchmen, putting them outside at night in the rain, and for this the count still got paid. Now this is done with these 10-20 housekeepers. They take revenge on them in the worst way. All in order to have a good drink. In our opinion, all this is done on purpose to pump out the last money. They are put in prison for 14 days. Every day they have to stand on their feet, as with Nicholas. They should not eat bread together with their family. If any of them goes to the village to buy bread for their family, they are sent to prison for 14 days. These 10-20 householders do not own property worth even 10 rubles. The question is, why does a small town need 10-20 housekeepers? Suddenly there is a plan to conduct electricity in the town, who needs it? Fifty artisans, thirty-two families of widows and orphans or twenty families of old men dying of hunger? And about the five laborers and the thirty-five unemployed, who are almost identical to these housekeepers - after all, needless to say. And they are supposedly already provided with work and bread, and it is light for them even without electricity. Isn't this done in order not to take away the last belongings? So there remain these thirty families of traders, about whom we have already written. A policeman stands over their head and sings a song to them. For example, if within 24 hours they do not pay him 120 rubles for 38 stalls, and 150 for synagogues, he will show what the police can do: an unsanitary protocol, protocols for signs, for pipes - then, of course, it will be more expensive. And if a citizen allows himself to ask any question, he will be told that this is counter-revolutionary agitation. Then the whole mass is intimidated, and because of fear, the last shirts are sold, and everything is fulfilled. In addition, someone comes, calling himself an agent of Komtorg (Committee on Trade) and calls a meeting of all citizens. Then they order them to leave the meeting, because they did not want to gather them, only the peasants, because at the meeting they must discuss how the Jews are tortured and strangled. There are no bread harvesters among the Jews, since we do not have land for Jews, we have to go and look for this land. The question is, where to take money for traveling? Would you like to sell your house for 200 rubles? And after all, recently in the newspapers they wrote about such elements that they cannot be touched. On the other hand, because the house, strictly speaking, is not one's own, and the Executive Committee decides to nationalize several houses. If you appeal to the national court, you will get an answer that, it is true, nationalization does not exist in such places, but the executive committee has rights. After all these gatherings, the appropriate drinking is arranged. After the Komtorg meeting, the audience was especially pleased, as you can see - they hit the spot. But now the assembly remembered that tomorrow the commission is going to Bar to determine the equalization fee. The “nice” Komtorg agent Bobkov, goes there to the inspector and takes part in the meeting, tries to get the whole commission abolished, and he himself “stays at the table” to determine the nice sums for our rich place. So, for example, 90 rubles is equalized for patent holders of the 2nd category, and patent holders of the 3rd category, whose goods cost 300 rubles, are taxed in the amount of 120 rubles, and shopkeepers whose own goods worth 500-700 rubles are taxed in the amount of 800 rubles. This phenomenon is quite understandable because the local executive committee is interested in it, it takes half of the total amount for the needs of the local budget, and this is quite a good salary. Who is left to complain now: the executive committee or the financial agent, when they are so friendly with each other, when they together organize fun parties and dress themselves up in rich outfits, like princes who engage in prostitution? All this consumes a lot of money, but they don't need money. They will put some poor Jews in prison - some for an hour, some for six months, and this will give him immeasurable pleasure. Anti-Semitism is so strong that they do everything, like the most terrible gangsters of gang times, just to take revenge. Then the story about hiring policemen begins. Why is this necessary? Is the product guarded? After all, every shopkeeper carries his goods home every night, so why does he keep watch? The head of the militia wants to have lackeys, live like a count, because everything is clear here. Not out of loyalty to the population, but exclusively out of the interests of personal gain and with the money recently taken from the population (90 rubles), the police chief maintains a servant. Meanwhile, terrible robberies are taking place on all the roads of the entire neighborhood, robbing people to the last thread. There are many gangs in the groves and on the roads, and neither the executive committee nor the police pay attention to this. They are better at closing the newly renovated bathhouse (by order of the executive committee), and the population suffers from poor sanitation. Is it supposed to be like that? They want 200 rubles from the poor townspeople. In general, we draw up acts for nothing - for a straw, etc. It is cleaner in our town than in a big city. What's the matter? We provide you with evidence that this has the character of undermining the authority of Soviet power in the eyes of the surrounding peasants. The peasants who come to us, the Jews, ask why we are so sad, can't smile, what kind of anger has spilled over your towns? Everywhere you look - here they remove possessions, here they take away the last pillows, there they arrest. All this has the worst effect on the peasants. The peasant shakes his head and expresses regret. Oh, how painful it is to see how the peasants feel sorry for us. It is easy to imagine what can happen next. So, we extend our hands to you and ask you, as the leaders and thinkers of the people, for help, to correct and make it better for everyone, regardless of nationality. Good people and friends. Think for a minute and find a way out. The blood shed was Jewish communist blood. And justice demands that the Jews also take advantage of their freedom. We ask you for this matter not to get cold, not to be transferred to the center, and from there to the province, then to the district, and not to sink along the way. We ask a special person to be sent to us for the investigation, which should be conducted in the Jewish language, then everything will be clear, because the Jewish population will be able to speak. We ask the investigation to be conducted secretly for the local authorities, so that they cannot take revenge right away. Our fear of the authorities is unimaginable, we certainly do not live in a free country, but in the countries of the Inquisition. Only then, we hope, will we be freed from bandits-inquisitors who are still like cockroaches in the cities and towns on the Romanian border. We end our letter with the hope of help. Cities and towns: District Bar, Shargorod, Kopaigorod, Yaltushkiv, Snytkov (districts of the Mogilev county of the Podolsk province).

The exact translation is correct: Assistant Secretary of the Central Committee of Jewish section at the Executive Committee of the worker-peasants Party Burshtein.

It is clear from this letter that merchants and artisans were taxed so heavily, that their work was pointless. The local authorities ignored the needs of the Jews. Jews were not admitted to the committee of the poor. They were excluded from the trade unions. Jewish artisans were not included in the initiative to give land to artisans to create a cooperative (artel). Jews were provided limited access to the local mutual aid funds. On December 24, 1924, the Main Bureau of the Jewish Sections of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bolsheviks in Ukraine, considered the appeals by Jewish citizens from the cities and towns of the Mogilev district of the Podillia province to the Central Bureau of Jewish Sections at the Central Committee of the worker-peasants and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine at the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee, with complaints against representatives of the local authorities accused of bribery and anti-Semitism. The Committees decided to conduct an examination of the alleged anti-Semitic conditions. In the April-September 1924 report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the essence of the economic problems of Jewry was characterized as follows:

Nowadays, with the development of state trade and cooperation, which has a catastrophic effect on private capital, there is a desperate situation among the Jews. The Central Committee of National Minorities (CCNM) was faced with the question of giving a way out to a larger population, that is, involving them in agricultural work. Considering the level of social and political tension in the places of Jewish concentration, it should be recognized that the Jewish agricultural colonization was the government's proposed alternative to the mass emigration of Jews outside the USSR.

On April 3, 1925, the secretariat of the Central Control Commission of the Communist Party of Ukraine summed up the issues related to the survey of Jewish towns of the Podillia province, based on the materials of the commission of the Podilsky Province Committee and the District Committee of the County. The decision was sent to the provinces the following day. The Podilsky Province Committee of the Communist Party offered to resolve the issues of abuse revealed by the inspection, to determine the measures of punishment of the guilty persons and to monitor their implementation. At the same time, in the resolution by the secretariat, a question was raised before the Central Committee about the need for increased inspection of towns in other provinces.

In the 1920's, a significant part of the Jewish population of Kopaigorod, such as former shopkeepers, small craftsmen and worshipers throughout the country, were declared “non-working elements”. They were deprived of the right to vote, limited in hiring and housing opportunities, and unable to receive food cards and free medical care. Only with the support of the “Joint”, which was forced to work with the Jewish Public Committee, controlled by the Bolsheviks, did the artisans manage to create a loan and savings association in the town. Using funds from the Joint, the committee opened a kindergarten, a nursery, a canteen, as well as a Jewish orphanage for orphans who lost their parents during the years of pogroms. People were ready for anything to earn money. “Provide me with a job for 15 rubles a month, and I will still be the best Bolshevik for you. I will give myself to Bolshevism with my soul and body,” said a local merchant frankly. But no one accepted shopkeepers for government work, and their children were not accepted into the Komsomol. “After all, he is a sinner. His father is a bourgeois.” It was especially difficult for the Jewish youth. Everyone hated trade lately, and the majority of able-bodied Jews were small merchants. But trade no longer kept one fed. With the advent of Soviet power, trade was considered an unworthy business, and handicrafts were considered productive work. The majority dreamed of physical labor, at least rough work. But there was no work anywhere. The children argued with their parents over everything as this generational enmity had an economic basis. Synagogues were empty. Children stopped reciting the Kaddish prayer for their dead parents. Jewish youth fraternized and mingled with non-Jews. Under these conditions the Jewish town went full speed to its destruction. And then the Nazis completed this process.

Have people completely forgotten how Jews lived in the small towns of Ukraine after the arrival of Soviet power?

I painfully remember those crooked streets with tiny huts huddled together, with thatched roofs. I remember the speech of the Jews of Kopaigorod in an amazing mixture of Ukrainian, Russian and Yiddish. My grandmother knew many Ukrainian proverbs, which she constantly spoke:

A man loves a woman so much that he doesn't see the world behind his fists.

Pop punishes people, but he himself does evil.
Serve the master faithfully, and he will do harm to you.
One cries that the borscht is runny, and another cries that the corals are rare.,
Where you are loved, don't go there, and where you are not loved, don't go at all.”,
Kushnir himself said that this is a good hat.
I will give my misfortune to Ivan.
Yes, it is not for nothing that they say: He who lives with a cripple learns how to limp.

Legends have been told about the wisdom of the Jews for centuries. The insight and wit of the Jews were known to everyone. Each nation has its own vision of the world, and this vision is often featured in colloquial proverbs and sayings. For example, the following are translated from Yiddish:

Don't be sweet - otherwise you will be eaten. Don't be bitter - otherwise you will be spit out.
A bad wife is worse than rain: rain drives you into the house, and a bad wife drives you out of the house.
As a person gets older, he sees worse, but more.
If you don't want people to sit on your neck, don't bow low.
God protects the poor, at least from the sins of the rich.

One could hear a number of Yiddish expressions exclaimed in Kopaigorod, as well as in other towns. For example: Vus in der kurt. This is what they said about a person who did not inspire confidence. But the words are literally translated as “everything in the circle”. A person with a mustache in der kurt has no morals, is loose and dirty. Over time, I realized that these words (kurt), mug and map sound the same, that is, they are homonyms. And with cards, everything falls into place. Cards are a bad, dirty game for money, and the player is a dirty person.

When my mother was angry and wanted to scold someone, she said: “Sheimen zolst di deh in dan punim aran!”, which meant, you should be ashamed! And to express a strong degree of shame, they said: “Si sheyltseh up dis punim”, which literally means that the skin comes off the face. Both of these expressions were uttered with a good deal of humor.

There are more proverbs you might hear: “Ven mi schluft mit a gypsyner af ein kishn, vert mein oyhet schwarz”, which is interpreted as: with whom you behave, that is what you get. The the literal translation is, if you sleep with a gypsy on one pillow, you yourself will turn black. And here are some of my grandmother's pearls of wisdom. “Di manse ot shoin grouve burd” which mean, the story already has a gray beard. “Eir macht ir gebrutene leber” or in English, he makes her a roasted liver; “Az mi vyl a sah, hot men gurnisht” means, if you want a lot, you will not get anything. “Alz ineinem nyshtu bai keinem” means, all together - no one has anything. Such were the wise and colorful proverbs and sayings in Yiddish, in which, like nowhere else, the wisdom and soul of the people was vividly felt. It is an oral folk art, and it lives beyond time.

Then there is a saying, Gib lushn. It is used when people meet and don't know what to talk about except the weather. Then one will say to the other: “Well, gib lushn!” meaning, come on, keep the conversation going! This also happens when a guy and a girl meet and don't know how to start a conversation. Yes, they talked about different things in Kopaigorod.

I remember a story my parents told me. In the 1920's, in Kopaigorod, poor Manya sued her young neighbor Raya, who owned a goat. Manya was a lonely, exhausted old woman, but Raya had her goat, her children, and her husband, Haim. The townspeople in the best country, at open trials, in the cramped halls of the People's court, watched free performances of our illiterate grandmothers in the case of, His Goat (tsig) My Roof. One day, the goat somehow ended up on the thatched roof of the lonely Aunt Manya. You can only imagine what this goat was doing up there. The roof was destroyed, as if a hurricane had passed through it. Manya's pitiful requests to repair her roof remained only in Raya's promises. Unable to endure her difficult situation, the illiterate old woman filed a complaint against her neighbor and her goat. What a shame, “a bezoi”, when a Jewess sues a Jewess.

There was a trial. Breathing heavily, Manya spoke, her voice trembling as she said: “Do you understand? The goat climbed onto the roof of my house. I tell her, and she laughs. Well, Mr. magistrate, it ni tsizepenish.” Manya spent a long time choosing words, using Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish, and the judge could not completely understand her appeal to the people's court. And again, she pointed to Raya, and said: “So, her goat climbed onto my roof and tore it off.” The judge patiently listened to the primitive language of the old woman, smiled sweetly and calmed her down as best he could. The judge calmly asked for a translation, addressing those who were present in the hall. Those present translated in unison, and told the judge that Raya's goat climbed on the victim's roof. And having become completely emboldened, Manya again said: “Her goat climbed onto my roof, and I told her that the goat tore off my roof.” A fellow judge asked the victim: “And to whom did you, as a citizen, turn to? To the goat or to your neighbor - citizen Libman? “Oh, nein,” muttered Manya in response to the judge's question. No, Raya tore my roof, and her crazy goats. And let my husband and Rivka, oh Azoi, repair my roof. “And that's right,” shouted two people's deputies. This is where the performance began. Raya, supporting her hips with her hands, shouted in a bass voice: “And absolutely, comrade judge, the goat does not belong to Haim, as you loudly expressed. My goat is my nurse, because I have only trouble and boys from Haim, and the benefits from such a man, excuse the word, are like milk from a crazy goat. Do you think that I didn't tell him to patch Manya's roof with metal? If not, then all of you sitting here are very wrong. But this night giant can't do anything except make children. During the day he does nothing.” Of course, those present in the hall of the court burst into laughter, but Raya paid no attention to all of those who laughed, and seriously continued her speech: “So I say, maybe I need to hire a master on the side, but will he want one who has no money? Well, if, let's say, I myself climb onto the victim's roof, then what will be left of her in the end? From such excess weight, not only the roof, but also the attic will not remain, and my little children will be left without the mother.” Everyone laughed out loud, even the judge. But in order not to finally turn the courtroom into a theater, the judge got up from the high chair and loudly announced to everyone that the court was going to deliberate. And then the door opened, the judge entered the courtroom with the jury, and again everyone stood up as the secretary cried: “The court is proceeding!” The judge rose and loudly read the decision of the court: “On the basis of such and such article and chapter in the law of the Ukrainian SSR, the Libman family must repair the roof of citizen Fishylevich within a week. At the same time, within ten days, citizen Haim Libman will get a job. In case of non-compliance with the court's decision, Comrade Haim Libman will be prosecuted for parasitism.” The crowd was immediately informed that the court was closed. And it became so good and fun for everyone to live in the best country. After a good performance, the yakhnas, the quarrelsome women, whispered among themselves and dispersed to their poor huts in our small Jewish town, waiting for new sessions and new meetings in the hall of the open people's court. Such was the town talk: Yiddish-Ukrainian-Russian with elements of Polish. It was everyday surzhyk, the mixture of different languages that was heard in the town until the 1940's. And, these real-life stories turned into vivid literary characters loved by many.

Of course, Jews have been in courts before. As early as 1910 the Vinnytsia District Court heard a case between two Jews from Kopaigorod, A. Gulkis and M. Spektor, about the right to own real estate. It is also known that the attorney, Lyuty, was in Kopaigorod in the mid 1920's. The poor could not turn to him because he asked for a lot of money for his work, and helped only the rich and various bandits. And the Jews were brought before the court. So, in the database about Jews with the surname Horodetskyi it is indicated: Volko Aronovych Horodetskyi, a native and resident of Kopaigorod, convicted in 1902 by the Mogilev Congress of Justices of the Peace under the Drinking Statute, received four months in prison for theft. And at the same time, on April 20, 1902, Khana Leibivna Horodetska, possibly the wife of V. Horodetsky, was sentenced to four months in prison under the same article at the age of sixty-five.

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