Jezupol (Zhovten)

(Sub-district: Stanislawow, District: Stanislawow)

Population

Urban settlement about 7 km from Halicz. Up until the end of the 16th Century, it was a village named Tzaishibeisi [phonetic], which had a wooden fortress. When the fortress was destroyed during one of the Tatar incursions (its defenders blasted it to turn away the besiegers), its private owner, Jacob Pototski, the Breslau Wojwoda, renamed it Jezupol after their prophet Jesus. In 1598, a fortress and Dominican monastery were erected, and the town developed next to it. The monastery accumulated a rich library of ancient scriptures and prints.

During the second half of the 19th Century a train station was built next to the town for the Lvov-Czernowicz line. In September of 1920 Petlura gangs raided the place and caused much destruction.

There are no signs of a Jewish settlement in Jezupol until the end of the 16th Century. A record from 1567 states that there were no Jews who paid per-capita taxes. In a record from 1636, the Jew Ber is mentioned as leasing the entire estate from its owners. In 1717 a per-capita tax was imposed on the Jews of Jezupol and nearby Maryampol for a total of 215 golden pieces. In the second half of the 18th Century there was in Jezupol an organized Jewish community that extended its services to the 49 Jews living in 7 nearby villages. The Jewish settlement developed only little during the 19th Century because of its closeness to the larger settlement in Halicz. The events of WWI and especially the 1920 attacks of the Petlura gangs agains Jews (5 Jews were badly hurt, 8 women were raped and the property damages were estimated at about 500,000 marks), caused the Jewish settlement to decrease by more than half. After the war, the remainder of the community was supported by the Joint, which helped rebuild their houses and businesses. In the 1930's in Jezupol, 22 Jews made a living from small trade, 11 from crafts, 5 from farming, 1 from day labor and for the remaining 6 no occupation is listed.

The Jews had a busy public and social activity. Proof of this, among others, is the Kupat Gemiluth Hassadim (Benefactory Fund) established in 1929; it granted many loans for relatively large amounts. 60 annual loans were granted in the years 1934-1936, for a total sum of some 10,000 zloty.

In 1934, the Jezupol Jews donated money for the Kolomyya orphanage. At that time, the name of the philantropist Josef Moshe Grummer became known; he donated large amounts to charity and to the Kolel in the Land of Israel. Jezupol became famous because the great Hassidic rabbis of the Stratin dynasty settled there – Rabbi Eliezer Brandwein b”r Yehuda-Zvi of Stratin held his court there from 1844 until his death in 1866. His son, Rabbi Uri Brandwein followed him, and then Rabbi Michel Brandwein (as from 1880). The great rabbis of Rabbi Eliezer's dynasty moved to live in Stanislawow but continued to be called “the great rabbis of Azipali”. Apparently, the Brandwein great rabbis officiated also as rabbis of Jezupol. In the early 20th Century, the town's rabbi was Rabbi Yeshayahu b”r Mordechai Zvi Landman.

Zionist organizations active in Jezupol during the inter-war period: a branch of Hitachdut (established in 1923), Mizrachi with a chapter of the B'nai Akiva youth group. In the elections to the Zionist Congresses, the Mizrachi list got all the votes (24 votes in 1933 and 33 in 1935). In 1937 Hebrew courses opened in Jezupol. In the elections to the local Jewish council in 1924, the Zionist National party was elected.

The Jews of Jezupol had also significant representation in the township council; in 1927 nine council members were Jews.

No detailed information is available as to the fate of the Jezupol Jews during WWII. When the Nazis invaded Jezupol on July 2, 1941, they forced the Jews to work on the repair of a bridge nearby. Many perished there as a result of the abuses. The small Jezupol community was apparently destroyed in September or October of 1942 by the uprooting of its members (some may have perished during the action) who may have been sent to the Stanislawow ghetto to die – as other refugees from the region – at the “Rudolf Mill”, or sent on to the Belzec extermination camp.

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Updated 27 Aug 2005 by MGH