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Compiled by William Leibner
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Edited by Ingrid Rockberger
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| Dora Bienstock-Altman and Bernard Altman, natives of Dziedzilow |
Translator's Note
I felt a need to erect a memorial to the Jews that were killed in Nowy Jarczow and in the surrounding areas. All traces of Jews and Jewish life were obliterated to the point that someone visiting the area today would not even notice a Jewish shadow. Yet, Jews lived in Nowy Jarczow (Polish name of town) or Novyj Yarytchov (Ukrainian name of town) since about 1577. The Jews even had a name for the town: Jarczow.
Generations of Jews lived, created and vanished. No monument for them, no memorial plaque, no library corner and no tombstone. The little information that is available is mostly written in Yiddish, which, unfortunately few Jews speak or read today. I therefore undertook to open a small window of Jarczow and the surrounding areas, by translating the Yiddish Yizkor book into English.
Please excuse the errors and omissions that were made in assembling and translating the material. We wanted to memorialize the Jews of Nowy Jarczow and vicinity, most of who disappeared without a trace, entire families without a survivor, their names are not even known or recorded. Presently, most of the Jews of the area are memorialized, especially the members of my wife's family: the Altmans, Bienstocks and Lowenkrowns, who lived in the area for generations and died without a trace.
May their memory be eternal!
Nowy Jarczow and Vicinity
The village of Nowy Jarczow was founded in 1451 by Polish nobility. It was incorporated as a city in 1563. The Tartars invaded the city twice (1578 and 1695) and practically devastated it. The first Jews appeared in 1577 and suffered at the hands of the Tartars. In 1628, the city records state that there are no taxpaying Jews in the city.
The Jewish community begins to grow with the final defeat of the Tartars. The Jews developed the ornamental belt industry that gave Nowy Jarczow its reputation. The Jews also introduced the weaving industry in town. The great fire of 1872 left 2000 Jews without a roof. Almost the entire city burned down, especially the Jewish section.
The city slowly rebuilt itself when WWI came along. The Russian forces looted and burned the Jewish homes. Due to the crowded living conditions and poor sanitary facilities, diseases ravaged the Jewish population. The Ukrainian provisional government did everything in its power to harass and persecute the Jewish population, which declined by 40% compared to the year prior to the war. Most of the Jews left for Lemberg and other large cities in the Austrian Empire or to America.
The Polish authorities restored some semblance of peace and tranquility, but the city never regained its former economic status. Most of the Jews that left the town during or immediately after the war, never returned to Nowy Jarczow or its vicinity.
The Jews dealt primarily in small trade and crafts, no industry to speak of. There were six Jewish farmers in Nowy Jarczow. The city was poor and offered few opportunities to the younger generation that was desperate to leave.
The Jews of Nowy Jarczow were very pious; most of them were followers of the Belzer Rabbi. The official rabbi of the town was Rabbi Pinhas Zhitomor, and there were also a few other rabbis in town.
The city continued to stagnate economically until WWII. First the Russians and then the Germans occupied the city. The Germans forced the Jews of Nowy Jarczow and the surrounding hamlets and villages to enter the ghetto.
On January 15th, 1943, all the Jews, about 2300-2500, were driven out of the ghetto and shot and their bodies dumped into prepared ditches. Then the Germans and the Ukrainians began massive hunts for surviving Jews in the countryside. Few Jews survived this police dragnet. In effect, Nowy Jarczow and the vicinity became “Judenrein” as of the month of January 1943.
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* This chapter also contains details about the communities of Kukizow, Pekalowice, Podliski-Pidelisek, Pidbaritz-Pobortse, Old Jarczow and Kameopole ** See also Destruction of Jaryczow: Memorial Book to the Martyrs of Jarczow and Surroundings |
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Updated 12 May 2018 by LA