Podolia gubernia

A Brief History of Podolia Gubernia

Jews began to come to Podolia in significant numbers from the West in the 1500's, particularly after 1569 when most of what today is the Ukraine was annexed to Poland. By 1569, approximately 750 Jews lived in 9 localities in Podolia. By 1648, the year of the Ukrainian revolt led by Khmelnitsky, there were approximately 4000 Jews living in 18 localities in Podolia.

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Map of Podolia gubernia

Seth Orloff has plotted most of the towns in Podolia gubernia, coding them as to population size. You can read more about it!

Rabbis of Podolia in 1883

Yackov Berkun found this information in the Shprinzak Central archive of Jewish History, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. in 1998.

1897 Census for Polodia

Art Hoffman researched the microfilm containing this Census statistics, as part of his work for the Geographical Dictionary for Podolia Gubernia (today included in the Ukraine Website database and JewishGen Communities Database). He has posted a description of what’s available from this film here .

Stories from Podolia

Tale of Two Sisters, or… Finding and Losing Stara Ushitsa

By Erol Oktay

I made a trip to Ukraine, to locate the village where my family lived before coming to the US. I knew that my father, Harry Shaberman, had been born in a town that bordered on Romania, at least it did when he left in 1906. Sadly, he had passed away a year ago, so it was a fitting time to be thinking about his life and to honor his memory. This is how it all started.

Read this story at "Tale of Two Sisters"

"Zhvanets to Prague" - a trip into history

by Barbara Taylor Freedman

In May of 2004 I decided to go on a guided tour of Eastern Europe that began in Warsaw, continued on to Krakow, Budapest, Vienna and Prague. I visited the Jewish quarters in all of these exciting and amazing cities and also spent a day at Auschwitz and Birkenau. In the initial stages of planning I realized just how close I was to the Ukraine and arranged a private tour to visit ‘my’ shtetl of Zhvanets. I want to share with you, my dear family and friends, my journey to my past.

Read this delightful story at Zhvanets to Prague

Yanoff to the Golden Land - Ben Pennock's story

Submitted by Judy Dennen

Time passes, from birth to death. Saying it so, means life is short. But - there is more to a person's life span than being born and dying.

My life on the earth began on December 10th, 1908. Born when only a woman known as a midwife, and the mother, were present at the birth of the child.

Read the rest of Ben's story here.

Towns in Podolia

Here are some of the towns and cities in Podolia Gubernia:

Kamenets-Podolskyi		Chmelnitsky (Proskurov)
Novo-Ushitsa		Dinovets (Dunayevtsy)
Snitkov		Kitaigorod
Balta		Kryzhopol
Pishonka		Proskurov
Chernevtsy

Postcards from Podolia

Nova Ushitsa, Podolia

Snitkov

This original drawing of the Snitkov synagogue by Michelle Frager is based on preserved architectural and photographic evidence. More information is at the Snitkov ShtetLink webpage.
No reproduction without the express permission of Michelle Frager

Sorrow, Rage, Frustration and Restitution:
The Reasons Behind a ShtetLinks Page

In the 1970s, I tiptoed into genealogy. That brought more open discussions with our elders than anytime before, uncovering formerly covert parts of their old lives. But surprisingly, instead of ‘closure’, the more we learned of our family’s unwilling role in history’s vilification, the angrier and more frustrated we American generations grew.

Then, two years ago, while researching online at ShtetLinks, something ‘flipped’. From one moment to the next I was not looking at a research screen, but at a personal opportunity. A mind-boggling opportunity when I thought about it, to reverse history’s efforts to obliterate our family, its background, it’s honor, its unassuming but legitimate place in history.

Read the rest at Reasons for a ShtetLinks Page by Michelle Frager.

Trostyanets History

Wayne Frankel has provided us with a history of Trostyanets, from "Jewish places in the Ukraine, A historical guide, Volume 2". You can read the article here, or open it as a pdf file here.

ShtetLinks in Podolia gubernia