Jewish life in Kopaigorod did not end with the departure of Jews abroad. It continued, but in another dimension.

Natives from the town created the Jewish community of Kopaigorod in Israel. Rulya Fifer (Zus), also a member of the Association of Prisoners of Ghettos and Concentration Camps from the former Soviet Union, and was a prisoner of the Kopaigorod ghetto, was elected as the head of this organization. The first meeting of Kopaigorod residents took place in 1992. Since then it has become traditional to hold an annual meeting which allows us to express our unity as Jewish natives of Kopaigorod, and loyalty and devotion to our town.

On the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the Victory in 1995, a monument to those who died on the fronts and victims of the ghetto was erected at the expense of the community in Be'er Sheva. R. Zus, D. Gelen, S. Wasserman, L. Koyfman, E. German, H. Holoborodko, R. Gelman. and A. Koyfman took an active part in collecting funds and installing the stele. There is an urn under the stele which contains soil from the mass graves of Kopaigorod.

The annual meetings of former Kopaigorod citizens are held in different cities, so that no one is offended, having it closer or farther away over time. Every year, one of the Jews travels to Kopaigorod, to see his or her native places, and to walk among the streets of the town to visualize where and how relatives lived. Of course, this visitor also goes to the cemetery and Malka's grave.

Rulya Zus has been managing the community for 25 years. She was awarded a certificate by the All-Israeli Association of Former Prisoners of Ghettos and Concentration Camps, for her many years of fruitful public service on behalf of former prisoners of the Kopaigorod ghetto and the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust.

Memorial stele to honor the Jews who died in the Kopaigorod ghetto, installed in the city of Be'er Sheva. Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten.

A 1998 article in the Russian language newspaper in Israel titled, “Remember and do not forget” about the Kopaigrod ghetto

“Those of us who are alive have many human rights. However, there is one right that we don't have and never will. We do not have the right to forget our friends, relatives, and fellow countrymen who died and were killed. Because we think about the future more than anyone else, we have no right to forget about the past.” I don't remember where these words were from but they came to my mind when I read an article by Lina Torpusman that was published in “EK” 15.05.98.

Where does the lifelong road begin from? Surely from the doorstep of one's parents' house. The roads that start in a small shtetl like Kopaigorod lead a long way. It is a typical Jewish shtetl that looks like many others in the South-West area of the Vinnitsa region. It is a shtetl that comes to mind from the paintings of Chagall. I was born in this shtetl. I grew up here, studied, and experienced joy and sorrow. My great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, relatives, friends and people close to me lived here.

We lived in our Kopaigorod as one big mishpucha (family), always ready to help each other. There was a big synagogue, Jewish school, an amateur Jewish theater and even a Jewish collective farm “Dtr Yiddishe Poyer” (Jewish peasant) here.

But all of the centers of Jewish culture and Jewish life were closed in 1940. All of the crafts in the shtetl were in Jewish hands: tailors, shoemakers, hat makers, glaziers, carpenters, barbers, balagols (cab drivers), water deliverers and others. It was our small, amazing world of the heroes of Sholom Aleichem, world of sages, strange people and philosophers.

Residents of Kopaigorod now live in many towns of the former USSR. They have gone far away, flying away from the native shtetl nest. All of them became worthy people. They built, created, fought and died for the land of their grandfathers and fathers. The poet Vadim Khalupovich wrote about it:

Balagols, shoemakers,
We loved this land.
We were ready to die for it, When the enemy encroached on it.

Memories about our native Kopaigorod are the warmest and sweetest, but the most mournful for us. They are sad because there are no Jews left in the shtetl. They went to Israel, to the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, and to the cities and towns of the former USSR. The houses are overgrown with grass, the ceilings and walls have collapsed. Only homeless dogs and cats are surviving in the fallen houses. One can still find several half destroyed houses and workshops: that of Koyfman the hat maker, Shtivelman the tailor, the warehouse of Belenky, one of the Blekhman's forges, and the house of Anastasia Horbulska, {see page 172} our righteous gentile during the occupation. Her children and grandchildren converted to Judaism and live in Israel.

Emptiness breathes from this picture. This emptiness reminds us that the almost 400-year history of Jewish shtetl life has turned and pushed to the past and kept only in our memories. The saddest memories persist because we are the former prisoners of the camp of Kopay station and the Kopaigorod ghetto. These memories will always be with us as a bad dream that reveals the horrors of occupation and depth of our suffering. Our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren must know about it as the fate of each one of us who survived all of this, is a page of the book under the title “Catastrophe”.

The names of the infamous concentration camps and ghettos are carved on the huge stone monolith in Yad Vashem. One stone reads, “Ghetto Kopaigorod.” These monoliths remind the visitor to Yad Vashem about what happened to our people, to make them think and not forget.

The seven days that separate the Catastrophe Day from the Day of Independence of Israel appeal to each of us. How do we carry the tragic heritage that was loaded on the shoulders of Jewish people by the Catastrophe and how do we carry the heritage of the life that was won through the independence of our country half a century ago.

“Zkhor Al Tishkakh”. Remember and don't forget. This quote from the Torah is carved on the monument that was erected in Be'er Sheva by the residents of Kopaigorod. The monument was dedicated on April 30, 1998 in honor of the 50-year anniversary of Israel and in the memory of the Kopaigorod Jews who were killed and died there. This monument was funded by former residents of the shtetl, their children and grandchildren who now live in Israel, the United States, Germany and Canada. It was very hard. But the initiative group of our homeland association decided that is better not to have any monument than to have a bad one.

We want to thank the Rabbinate of Be'er Sheva for their help in erecting this monument in the new cemetery. We also thank the members of the initiative group who provided their effort and energy to bring the idea of the monument to life. They are Rulia Zus, Lida Koyfman, David Gelin, Yefim German in Israel, Rum Firer, Raya Gelman in the United States, and Aleksandr Koyfman from Germany. The former residents from Kopaigorod have already met in Israel six times over six years, on the first Saturday of May. Five of the meetings took place in Zikhron-Yaakov, near Rothschild park. The sixth meeting was particularly special. First, the meeting took place on the day of the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel. Second, it was devoted to the opening of the monument. Third, it took place in Be'er Sheva. Boxes with the land from Kopaigorod rest under the monument. It is symbolic that the monument is in Be'er Sheva, in the place where our forefather Avram walked. It shows that the connection of the generations of our people is eternal, strong and immutable.

At the 19^th meeting, each family received a package with poetry about Kopaigorod, historical materials about the town, and discs with slideshows with photos of these meetings, photos from family albums, views of Kopaigorod from the 19^th, 20^th, and 21^st centuries, including the cemeteries where our ancestors rest. Zakhary Fishylevich and Yana Movchan prepared these materials. The disc ends with a beautiful song written by Mykhailo Grinman and performed by his children Igor and Lyuda.

A song sung by Kopaigorod residents in Israel at meetings

The 20^th anniversary meeting was held in 2012. As they spoke to each other, the participants recalled the years of life in Kopaigorod and how they came to settle and begin their lives in Israel. The participants enjoyed a traditional festive dinner, and collected funds to address the needs of the community and for the maintenance of the Jewish cemetery in Kopaigorod, which has been kept in good condition.

My former classmate, Izya Rosenblit lives in Israel. As the newspapers wrote about him in 2008, Itzik Rosenblit is a most popular figure in the northern section of Shomron. Soldiers and policemen respect this courageous settler (which, however, does not prevent them, or rather the command, from being angry at him) and the Arabs, residents of Dothan and Hermesh, recognize his authority. He is stocky with a gray beard. He drives a thirty-year-old Volvo 244 station wagon and he owns a rather scary looking dog.

Izya served in the VAT, the airborne forces of the Soviet Army. He was involved in various military operations, and was wounded in a battle. His strength did not fade over the years. Despite his seventy years, if he lightly squeezed your palm, your hand would hurt. In order to live and survive, faith alone was not enough. In some places strength was also needed, especially against those who respect only force. But Itsyk was not one to complain. He simply states the fact that serious financial assistance is needed, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the lives and safety of other Jews. The Arabs tell him that it is written in the Koran that this land belongs to the Jews. Give us money, they say, and we'll go. But we do not give up, especially those who emigrated from Kopaigorod.

I. Rosenblit, lives in Israel

Meeting of former Kopaigorod residents in Israel, 2012. First from the left is Rulya Zus, head of the community.

Meeting of Kopaigorod residents, 2019

Meeting of former Kopaigorod residents in Israel, 2021

I so often dream of a cherry garden,
In honey, fragrant bloom.
And mother's song, happy starfall,
Spring water in the sunlight.
Kopaigorod, an unforgettable world,
Childhood and family, sunny land.
Through the life obstacles of the years,
I fly again to your source.
Wandering along the path that my memory should follow
I lean on every blade of grass.
I am looking for a rainbow ford in Nemia,
I plunge into memories and sigh.
Life scattered us, we couldn't find the roads,
Whoever is in Petah Tikva, whoever is looking for more fortunes,
But I often dream of that parental threshold,
And my heart will pinch me with pain.

Valentina Ksendzuk

Wherever former Kopaigorod residents meet, regardless of their status, they embrace each other as if they are always close. There is always something new to tell each other and offer help if necessary. It has always been like this and continues from generation to generation. The land of Kopaigorod and our life rests on this.

Many Jews emigrated from Kopaigorod in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries in search of a better life elsewhere. There was an active flow of correspondence among those who left and those who remained in Kopaigorod. Relatives abroad sent packages to their families back home. Some of those who left Kopaigorod were: Friedman, Seidman, Kulikovsky, Waxman, Task, Kibrik, Leiderman, Kalika, Brick, Aronson, Bereta, Lindvor, Shmukler, Ichelson, Zaliznyak, Hladky, Spector, Deren, Schneider, Messenger, Rosenzweig, Barsky, Kugelman, Rubinstein, Gulkis, Lehtus, Markus, Blinder, Kotler, Felberg, Fishylevich, Schwartz, Hershkovich and others. In the second half of 1913, with the help of the Jewish Emigration Society, M. Kozachinsky and M. Kotlov left Kopaigorod for the United States through the port of Galveston.

Parcels from the United States were delivered to Kopaigorod in the late 1940's. Some of those who received packages were: Moisha Friedman, Nahman Friedman, and Haim Gruzman, whose parents were M. Gruzman and Mintsa Cherkasskaya from the Kurylivtsi-Podilskyi aid committee. Residents of Murovani Kurylivtsi received 320 parcels worth $500. The Kurylivtsi-Podilskyi aid committee was able to send two parcels of clothes (10 pounds each) and one food parcel to a family of up to 3 people, and a family of 3 or more people received a parcel containing 40 pounds of clothes and 20 pounds of food. These items were provided to the committee by former Kopaigorod residents who had moved to the United States. Among those in Bar who received such packages were: Toiba Gelman, the daughter of Feige Mayes, and Fanya Gelman, Toiba's daughter. All of the parcels that Jews received were first opened and searched by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR.

There is a group of forty-two Jewish cemeteries on Baker Street in the West Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. These cemeteries, which were established in the 1920's, are located on land that was once part of Brook Farm, a 19^th century experiment in communal living. A series of small cemeteries are on both sides of the narrow driveway at 776 Baker Street, which leads only to the last cemetery. Each was owned and used by a separate community or Jewish organization in the Boston area. According to The Boston Globe, some Baker Street cemeteries are prime examples of historic religious architecture. The roads are dotted with 10 chapels and beautifully decorated synagogues, in miniature, with magnificent stained-glass windows, vaulted ceilings, decorative chandeliers, oak pulpits and other remnants of the final destination for members of a once-thriving immigrant society. One of these forty-two cemeteries is called Kopaigorod. Immigrants from Kopaigorod were able to obtain a plot of land for a cemetery, and they named it Kopaigorod. Jews originally from Kopaigorod and their family members are buried in this cemetery. My grandmother's brother, Harry (Hershl), his wife Hannah and other family members are buried here.

My grandmother Heika had a brother Herschel (Harry) who left for the United States in 1908. There he married Hana, a girl from Kalyus, now in the Khmelnytskyi region. He had three children: Abraham, Sidni and Nettie. Uncle Harry visited Kopaigorod with his family in the late 1920's. After the war our contact with Harry was cut off. We had to destroy knowledge of his address. Times were difficult in the Soviet Union, and everyone tried to protect themselves by denying connections to family outside of the country. We remembered only the name of the city in which Harry lived: Boston. It was only in 2019 that I managed to find this family, thanks to the help of Stephani Twyford, an American genealogist, for whom I hold a great amount of gratitude for the work she did to help me find my relatives. I am in touch with Harry's great-grandson, Russell Lisman, as well as my third cousin, Judith Coyne.

The American branch of my family includes the following: Harry (Hersh) Iosewicz (1884–1960) was married to Annie (Hana) Drucker from Calusa. They had three children. Avraham (born 1913), was married to Betrice Seidman (1919–2010). Avraham changed his surname to Yang. They had two children, Nedi and Eliu. Nettie Iosewicz (1917–1992) married Samuel Lisman. They also had two children, Judith and Edward. Judith has a son, Neil (Nathan, named after Nut's great-grandfather), born in 1948. Neil's son is Russell Lisman. Sidney Iosewicz (1923–1977) was married to Harriet Reisman and they had a daughter, Inessa.

We had many relatives in Kopaigorod. Elya Kisner and his wife Ita, had a daughter, Ida, who married S. Milman, a boy from Dzhuryn. They went to live in Kharkiv. Bentsion Iosevych (my

Registration card of H. Iosevych, who arrived in America in 1908

Harry and Hannah are sitting. From left to right, their children: Sidni, Nettie, Abraham. Photo from the 1930's

Mass emigration from eastern Europe began in 1881 after a wave of pogroms in Russia. Emigration continued and increased until the mid-1890's. Later, after some decline, it increased again after the pogroms in 1905. Before World War I, there were two waves of mass immigration to Eretz Israel: the first aliyah - 1882-1904, and the second aliyah - 1904-1914. The first aliyah consisted mainly of representatives of the Zionist movement, whose goal was to return to the land of their ancestors and to establish agricultural settlements in Eretz Israel. The earlier wave of emigration included a broad swath of all social classes. The emigration at the end of the 19^th century included many from the peasantry class. The areas from which most of Jewish emigration took place were Russia, the eastern regions of Austria-Hungary (especially Galicia) and Romania, which also included Ukrainian lands. About 85% of the emigrants went to the United States where there were no administrative restrictions on immigration at that time. The rest went to Canada, Argentina, Eretz Israel and South America.

For example, Meyer Badner from Kopaigorod, left for America at the age of 26 in November 1912. He was married, a carpenter by profession, earning 7 krb. per week, but he was unemployed. He traveled by steamer from Breslau to the port of Galveston, and from there to San Francisco where he was met by representatives of the Kopaigorod community. Meyer's father and his wife remained in Kopaigorod. After settling in America, he planned to call the whole family here or return to Kopaigorod himself. This is roughly how emigrants planned their journey abroad.

Jewish emigration from Ukraine in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries was a complex multifaceted phenomenon that had a significant impact on the social, political and economic picture of the history of the Jewish ethnic group, as well as on the ethnic and social-psychological processes that took place both in Ukraine itself and in the countries where the Jews arrived.

The envelope was signed by I. Gelman, a resident of Kopaigorod. Letter to the United States, August 1938.

The Security department in the Vinnytsia region tried to locate the family ties abroad of its citizens through the use of informants. Thus, in 1950, the Kopaigorod Regional State Security Bureau (MGB) recruited an agent, Yurta, a Jew from Kopaigorod to maintain connections with the Kopaigorod Jewish Committee which was located in New York, and with the local Kurylovtsi-Podilskyi Aid Committee which assisted Jews in Ukraine. The intention of the MGB was to expose the existence of a Jewish nationalist Zionist underground organization. However, this agent failed to establish contact in Mohyliv-Podilskyi with the suspect M. Zavodnyk who was associated with the Murovani-Podilskyi Committee. Ultimately, the State apparatus terminated cooperation with this agent, Yurta.

There is a bus station in Kopaigorod and a railway station in the village of Kopay, which is five km from the town. There were always many young people waiting for the train to depart or to arrive. Jews rarely went anywhere except to visit their children in another city, or if they had to travel to see a doctor or attend a wedding. Cabmen took passengers to the Kopay railway station from their homes, and also brought arrivals to the town. The cabmen (balaguls) would meet the visitors near the carriage and grab the traveler's belongings and claim the ride. It also happened that one suitcase could be in the hands of one balagul, and a second suitcase was grabbed by another balagul. That made it harder to prove the cabman's rights to the passenger. The cabmen always liked to talk to their passengers, and would tell them about the town, important news, and various fables and stories, as they rode to their destination.

I try to recreate in my memory the figures of those old town people. What was common among them? It was the fear in their eyes. They called themselves poor, fussy and scared. This fear seemed to express the pain in the soul. After all, this was a generation that miraculously survived pogroms, the revolution, civil war, and the Great Catastrophe. And even then, in the 1970's and 1980's, they still continued to feel fear. They feared for their children and grandchildren much more than for themselves. They were afraid of the anti-Semites who insulted and humiliated them at every step. They were afraid of the authorities, who made it difficult to earn an honest living. They were afraid of the lack of products in times of general scarcity, as obtaining the things necessary for life took considerable effort.

Old Jews did not like to leave their homes. But if they really had to go someplace they gave instructions to their children or relatives to come and check on the house. While they were leaving, they checked a thousand times to make sure that everything was in its place. They always filled their bags with groceries as if they were traveling not for one day, but for a month. It seems to me that this fear of leaving their home increased since the war. The Jews were constantly worried about their children and their homes, and it was important for them to know that there was enough food in the refrigerator or in the cellar. When this generation sat around in the evenings, recalling the war years, they remembered with horror how they were always starving. I now understand how the greed and frugality they expressed arose. When buying this or that thing, they were concerned about the quality and durability of the item. It was important for them to know how many years to expect the item they were buying would serve them. They had a great fear of losing people and their things, so it was difficult for them to leave something or someone close to them, even for a short period of time.

Many trains stopped at the Kopay station during the years of the USSR. The station is located between the Mytky bus stop (distance 12 km) and Kotyuzhany station (distance 13 km), and is an intermediate station of the 5th class. Kopay station is large enough to handle its volume of trains. There are many old conifers growing along the track near the platform. Currently, the following trains pass through the Kopay station: Zhmerinka–Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Kyiv–Mohyliv-Podilskyi and Kyiv–Kyshiniv. The trains stop for one to two minutes which seems to be enough time for passengers to board or disembark. After a twenty-four year hiatus, train service on the international Kyshiniv-Kyiv route resumed on November 6, 2002, thus connecting the capitals of Moldova and Ukraine with a direct route. The first trip from Kyiv to Kyshiniv took place on November 5. The Ambassador of Ukraine in Moldova, Marko Shevchenko, said that this railroad connection would ensure access of Ukrainian citizens to Europe: “This train has an important symbolism. This is the “Train to Victory”, each carriage of which represents a temporarily occupied region. One is dedicated to Kharkiv Oblast, which has already been liberated, and I am sure that it will really become a train of Victory. It is also a symbol of our partnership; we are glad to have you with us.” This route was initiated to run through the Kopay station.

There are two more stops on this line in Volodiyivtsi and Lisove. Currently, the station is actually a junction - a dividing point on a single-track railway line. In the past, there were two active tracks here on both sides of the main track, but one was dismantled, leaving the one closer to the station. Kopay Station is an attraction for tourists traveling by rail. There is a single-track with a non-electrified section, and a convenient schedule for a one-day trip to a picturesque landscape and clean air.

According to legend, the railway was supposed to be located in Kopaigorod, but someone from the landowner's family did not want the noise of the trains to disturb him, and he managed to negotiate the transfer of the station. The construction of the railway was a significant event. Sholom Aleichem wrote that the town's Jews said: “Why is there a railway here? Are they not used to traveling another way but by railway?” And others joked and laughed, pointing on their palms: “When the hair grows here.” But when the engineer arrived and started planning, taking measurements in the field, everyone fell silent. Later, residents of Kopaigorod and the surrounding villages approached the engineer with recommendations and requests for jobs. Everyone was looking for money. The merchants also rushed there. They became contractors and concessionaires.

From a collection of poems by my classmate Ye. (Zyuni) Vynokur. A sketch of our childhood station at Kopay.

The Kopay railway station. Many started on their road to another life from this station.

Around that time, G. Sulyatska and her husband Yurkovsky provided their land and funds for the construction of a railway from the Kopay station to the Mohyliv-Podilskyi station. In their honor, the stop was named Sulyatska, and the village was named Yurkivka. The original plan for the Kopay station was that it would be constructed near V. Bogutsky's estate, but after thinking about the implications of that, it was built four kilometers from his house. His son F.V. Bogutskyi worked at the South-Western Railway as an auditor. Sulyatskaya's relatives worked on the railway in various positions (newspaper “Robitnyche slovo” No. 43, November 2008).

The Bogutskyi family. Victor Bogutskyi with his children Fedor, Yelena, Grigory and Vladimir.

A segment of the Soviet map indicating narrow-gauge railways and the section of the Kopaigorod–Mykhailivka route in the 1930's

Bus stop in the town

In July 2019, the Ukrainian writer O. Horobets, passed through Kopaigorod on his way to the village of Volodiyivtsi for a public event, which was the 119^th anniversary of the wedding of the President of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile A. Levytskyi to Maria Tkachenko. The following is how he expressed his observations about Kopaigorod:

Hopeful with the joyful prospect of finally ending this long journey of searching for a place to moor my literary heroes, I am marching forward. Therefore, we pass the village of Ukrainske. Rolled into Kopaigorod. This is the former district center. But how everything here is broken, gutted. And sometimes, by human negligence. It seems that a devastating tornado swept over the village a long time ago, and since then (probably since September 1959, when the district center was taken away from here!) no one has tried to restore the economic system even a little. The entire infrastructure of the village turned into slums. Probably in much worse conditions than Mariyka Tkachenko-Levytska before her marriage, mother Neonila from Volodievets, who came here for herring, salt, blueberry and other shops before her sister's famous wedding saw it 119 years ago.

This is how Kopayhorod seemed to the writer who once worked as a correspondent for the Vinnytsia regional newspaper Vinnytsia Pravda and was familiar with the area.

At the end of the 19^th century Ivan Kryzhanivskyi was appointed to be a priest in the village of Volodiivtsi. The mother was his wife Neonila Varfolomiivna from the house of Tkachenko. Maria Tkachenko, a graduate of the Kyiv Fundukliyiv Girls' Gymnasium, who was Neonila's sister, often came to visit her. From an early age, after the death of her mother, the girl was raised by her father, who was the manager of a commercial bank in Zhmerinka. In 1900, Andriy Levytskyi, a graduate of the Law Faculty of Kyiv University, a well-known political figure in Kyiv and an associate of Andriy Antonovych, Mykola Porsha, Mykola Mikhnovsky and other revolutionaries, proposed to her younger sister. However, the groom's parents, nobles from Zolotonosha, Poltava province, did not give their blessing to the union because the son was actively involved in political activities. He was often persecuted by the gendarmerie because of his unreliable nature and calls for the overthrow of the tsar, while his friend Maria Tkachenko helped him in every possible way. Maria's father, Varfolomiy Semenovych Tkachenko, did not bless the marriage either. The case was taken up by the girl's elder sister, Neonila Kryzhanivska, a nun of the church in the village of Volodiivtsi.

On July 15, 1900, the priest of Volodiyivtsi, Ivan Kryzhanivskyi blessed the marriage of Andriy Levytskyi and Maria Tkachenko. Their wedding took place in the priest's house, and was attended by Kyiv students who arrived at the Kopay station by train.

Over time, Andriy Levytskyi became a member of the Ukrainian Central Council. During turbulent times he was a provincial commissar of the People's Republic of Ukraine in the Poltava province, deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers in the offices of Boris Martos and Isaac Mazepa, and deputy minister and minister of justice in these governments. During 1920-1921, he served as the acting head of the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic. After Simon Petlyura died, Andriy was appointed as the permanent head of the Directory, and the chief of the troops of the Ukrainian People's Republic, from 1926 until he died on January 17, 1954.

After their marriage in the village of Volodiyivtsi, Andriy and Maria Levytsky had two children: a daughter, Natalya, born in 1902, and a younger son, Mykola, born in 1907. Natalya Andriivna Levytska-Kholodna became a famous Ukrainian poetess whose works are studied in school. She lived for more than 102 years (1902-2005). Twelve years after the death of his father, Mykola Andriyovych assumed the presidency of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile. Their mother, Maria Levytska, wrote and published a book of memoirs, On the Brink of Two Centuries, in which she wrote about her wedding in the village Volodiivtsi, and about her visits to Kopaigorod.

Oleksandr Horobets, an author and historian wrote about comments made by some residents of Kopaigorod about the state of the town at that time:

It is bitter and scary to watch our Kopaigorod decay before our eyes. In the 1950s, there was a district center with appropriate structural organizations, industrial enterprises worked here, trade developed, and practically nothing remained of all this. They liquidated and destroyed the PMK (institution that carried out construction work) , a motorcade, a dairy and a bakery, an inter-collective farm building, the autodor (roads) department, a fire station, and a music school. The team of the therapeutic department of the former district hospital, which the authorities have long wanted to optimize, still works on bird rights {almost illegally} in the village, and we must defend the Oschadbank branch under any conditions and with all efforts - up to protest actions and the blocking of the Stalin Highway.

I will add the following. There is no bakery, no sewing factory (including a workshop for sewing cotton blankets and felts), no butter factory, no sausage and fish shops, no confectionery shop, no soft drinks shop, no music school, no PMK -207, no highway section. Can one list everything!? By the way, the music school was organized at the initiative of the local authorities and approved by the Vinnytsia Regional Executive Committee back in July 1978 and was housed in the former high school building.

After the liquidation of the district in 1959, the following enterprises were initiated: the Kopaigorod Department of Communal Economy replaced the district department of the communal economy; instead of a hatchery station, a workshop for feeding poultry, and later pigs, was created in 1960, and there was an AVM-0.4 grass drying unit. In November 1968, the Communist Party of Ukraine built stations for filling gas cylinders with liquefied gas, and since 1974 a gas distribution station serving fourteen villages has been operating here. In 1965, the construction of the Kopaigorod substation of the Bar Electric Networks was completed and the electrification of Kopaigorod and the surrounding villages was achieved. In September 1965, an inter-collective farm road section was built, which was subordinated to the Vinnytsia Trust “Oblmizhkolhospdorbud” (road building organization). In 1967, a land reclamation station was created on the site of the original Agricultural Machinery station, and since March 1970, it has been PMK-207, the organization that repaired agricultural machines, of the Vinvodbud trust, which carried out reclamation works in seven districts of the region. In June 1968, a new bakery was built, which had the capacity to bake sixteen tons of bread and three tons of various bakery products, but it was closed in 2000 for a number of reasons. In 1970, a linear repair and construction section of the Zhmeryn RBU (road repairing department) was organized, which was engaged in carpentry work. In December 1971, fire department No. 46 was set up, with two fire trucks and the necessary fire-fighting equipment. In January 1971, the Kopaigorod SST (trade department) opened a new two-story department store with jobs for fifteen people. A branch of the Bar household factory was put into operation in 1975, which combined two sewing workshops, a photo studio, a shoe repair and tailoring workshop, a bathhouse, a hairdresser, and a rental office. In addition, there were sixteen shops, two pharmacies, a kindergarten, a music school, branch No. 5 of Zhmeryn Telecom, a communications department, a television studio, a savings bank branch, three libraries, a branch of the Bar sports school, a stadium, a sports hall with basketball and volleyball courts, and a museum of school history.

And let us remember the motorcade. The Kopaigorod Autokolona, which managed lorries and buses, was originally part of the Vinnytsia depot of Vodhosp, and was called - Kopaigorod AK-3. On April 1, 1996, the Kopaigorod AK was separated from the Vinnytsia motor depot and was named the Kopaigorod motor vehicle convoy of the Vinnytsia Oblvodhosp. On September 10, 1996 Kopayhorodskaya Autokolona was established. The certificate of state registration was issued by the Bar District State Administration No. 84. OJSC. The Kopaigorod Autokolona provided services to enterprises of the Bar, Mogilev-Podilsky and Shargorod districts. Its main customers were the Bar and Brailiv sugar factories, PMK-207, as well as the Mohyliv-Podilsky mash plant.

For comparison, consider the beginning of the 21^st century. The Oktan gas station, a small enterprise, was opened in 2001. On January 1, 2003, the Kopaigorod SST was reorganized into a section of the Bar consumer society, which was a division under the direction of the entrepreneur, V.I. Padalko. As of January 1, 2005, twenty-one people worked in the division.

On March 1, 2003, Kopaigorod PMK-207 was reorganized into the Kopaigorod construction and assembly management with thirty-two employees.

In May 2003, it was separated from Bar Vodokanal. On January 1, 2005, sixteen people worked in the Kopaigorod department of the communal economy.

As of January 1, 2005, there were sixteen stores owned by various entrepreneurs that were operating in Kopaigorod.

On January 1, 2005, seventy people worked in the Kopaigorod district hospital. The hospital had forty beds, ten doctors, thirty-three additional medical staff, and two dentists from the Bar dental clinic. In connection with the reforms in medicine, the administrative and business staff of the hospital, a family medicine clinic, a clinical diagnostic laboratory, and an X-ray room remained in the town. The hospital in the town was closed in 2017.

According to eyewitnesses, the therapeutic department was closed due to the background difficulties of the viral pandemic. There is a notice on the door of the branch of the state savings bank of Ukraine, Oschadbank, about its closure, dated August 2020.

However, Kopaigorod is beautiful, especially in spring! Neat houses look out from under the greenery of flowering trees, which invite everyone with their white intoxicating aroma. It seems that they are covered with white snow on green leaves. Everything is pleasing to the eye, even those old, crumbling houses that are already a hundred years old. You can hear the chirping of birds all around and the happy buzzing of the bees, as they get to work. The khrushchi spring beetles are also preoccupied, humming, and hiding in the greenery. The aroma of lilac envelops us with warmth and brings an intoxicating feeling of happiness. The sun's rays warm the Nemia River, where proud handsome swans have appeared. The old park near the river is silent in sad silence. Time seems to have stopped here.

Suddenly the clouds rolled in, a warm rain fell, and immediately green raindrops glistened through the sun's rays. Dandelions instantly shone. Everyone is happy with life. We walk carefully on the ground, treading gently, because all living things want to live. Life goes on. Visit your native homes, bow to them, your little homeland, and your dreams will come true, as they did in childhood.

A poignant poem by Yakov Zaltsman, dedicated to the town of Shargorod, was published in the Podolsk Jewish Almanac. I think that these words can be said from the heart about every town in Ukraine, and of course about Kopaigorod.

After I graduated from school, I worked in the communications department as a telephone and telegraph operator over the course of two years. I could have entered the communications institute with this experience, but somehow it didn't work out and I decided to attend the food industry's technical school in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. After the course of study at this technical school, I worked in the city of Vinnytsia. I again returned to Kamianets-Podilskyi where I attended the Odessa Technological Institute of the Food Industry, named after M.V. Lomonosov. A few years later, I moved to Bar to work there. Bar is 25 km from Kopaigorod. A cannery was built there and specialists were needed.

Back in 1973, Bar provided me with a calm and sheltered life. I wondered at first, where did I end up and what should I do here? That was my initial impression of this town. What was ahead for me, but work, work and more work? This is how my life here began. But that's another story.

My parents and my brother Yukhym, who was still studying at school, remained in Kopaigorod. After Yukhym finished eighth grade he entered medical school, then served in the army, studied at the Vinnytsia Medical Institute, and then worked as a doctor in the city of Vinnytsia. Now he lives in Jerusalem with his family. My sister also graduated from medical school and she worked as a laboratory technician at the Kopaigorod Hospital. After the death of our father, she and her family moved to live in Vinnytsia, and later they moved to live in Germany. Unfortunately, she is no longer with us.

Today, if a rooster awakens you in the morning, and you are living in the countryside, you don't like this intrusion. But at one time this loud singing was so much a part of our life that we did not pay attention to it. It used to be fun for us to walk down the central street, and being able to buy something always made the day feel like it was a holiday. Today, such things are everyday, and do not bring this kind of satisfaction and joyful anticipation. Today, we call our neighbors if we want to talk to them. In the past we shouted through the fence for them to come out to talk, or we showed up to speak to them in person. Everything has changed, we have changed.

Our parents always taught us to never be sad, to love and respect ourselves and others. Tractate 1:14 from Pirkei Avot (The Sayings of the Fathers) is the familiar saying: “If I am not for myself, then who is for me? But if I am only for myself, then what am I worth? And if not now, then when?” After all, life is given once and one must remain human in all situations. The wheel of life is constantly turning. Today it is gloomy and it is raining heavily, but tomorrow the sun will definitely come out.

Life consists of moments and events that you want to remember forever, or always forget. I want to remember Jewish weddings, with their fun and noise, but forget those in attendance whose talk brought others down. We want to remember and be proud of the Kopaigorod Jews who collected funds for tombstones for those poor Jewish families who did not have the money for it. And you want to forget how some Jews treated you if you were poor or your parents weren't good enough to be accepted into the best circle. I want to remember those joyful moments when everyone gathered together and sang Jewish songs at the table. I want to remember the concerts and performances that were held in the club, for which everyone dressed up as if they were attending a wedding. But how to forget about the salary of 55 rubles, which was barely enough for life, not to mention some left over for pleasures, like the concerts. We must remember those, who before the departure of their neighbors to Israel, came to say goodbye to them, without fear of the authorities. We want to forget those Jews who embarrassed the emigrants at town meetings. Living in Kopaigorod among Jews was good, but sometimes unbearable.

“Zol zan in a gite shu!” Many times I heard these words from my relatives and friends. Let it be for luck, in a good time! How good it is to hear such words from people who love and care about you. Only over the years do you begin to understand the true value of such words.

“Ales siz git in zain tzayt.” Everything is good in its time. Dear friends, may you also have everything you desire for yourself in a good time. We, who were born right after the war and into the famine of 1947, know that Kopaigorod is called the last Jewish town. Our parents were still alive then, and enmeshed together in civic life, as they quietly followed their traditions. There was a shopkeeper in the town. There was a secret synagogue in one of the private houses, where the minyan gathered every day. All of the Jews attended the secret synagogue on holidays, except for the communists, while women gathered in Rivka's house. Everyone celebrated Jewish holidays. The town smelled of delicious holiday mahuln (dishes) at these times. Such was our life. And no one will take this memory away from us. I write these words so that we remember not only the silent pictures, but also the living residents of our native Kopaigorod, the aromas and tastes of those times, relatives and friends, everything that was in our previous life. I am sure that while engrossed in this book, readers will mentally move to their own ideal of Kopaigorod, Sataniv or Murovani Kurylivtsi, to remember their childhood and school years and, like me, will involuntarily wipe away a tear. These poignant and somewhat sad memories of the old, broken and slightly forgotten homeland will be memories of our loved ones and their bright souls. We cannot boast of an ancient synagogue. But my town gave the world simple, soulful Jews, children of the Torah, ordinary people. I spoke the language of the town; this Jewish town was my life, where everyone spoke Yiddish. Now you won't see anything like it. And if you can look down from above, the town is like one big house in which we all lived. We grew up in a former Soviet country, but we were and still are Jews. Everyone left, but they were happy and full while living here. The graves of our relatives and friends remained behind. Perhaps I did not remember everything and did not relate everything about my town, where there are no longer Jews within its area, but the memory of them remained forever. Sholom aleichem! Peace to you!

Kopaigorod, May 1979, photograph by Dmytro Malakov showing residential buildings on Pershotravneva Street

Also Pershotravneva Street, 1979

There was a post office in this building, and before the liquidation of the district it was a bank. Photo from 1979 by Dmytro Malakov

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