POGREBISHCHENSKI

POGREBISHCHENSKI (known as Pogrebishche up to 1945, referred to by the Jews as Pohorbishch and in Polish documents as Bohybryszcze ), town in Vinnitsa district, Ukraine. Jews settled in Pogrebishchenski at the beginning of the 17^th century, and it is listed among the communities destroyed during the *Chmielnicki massacres of 1648. The community, restored at the end of the 17^th century, suffered severely from the uprisings of the *Haidamacks in 1736 and 1768. There were 664 Jews in Pogrebishchenski in 1765 and 1,726 in 1847; the census of 1897 showed 2,494 Jews (39.5 percent of the total population). The 17^th-century wooden synagogue, whose construction and appurtenances were renowned for their original artistic execution, attracted the attention of researchers of Jewish art. During the years of the civil war (1918–21), a Jewish *self-defense group was maintained, which prevented bands of peasants of the region from attacking Jews. In the summer of 1919 troops of *Petlyura conquered the locality and ordered the self-defense group to be disarmed. A few days later (on Aug. 22, 1919) an armed band of peasants commanded by Zeleny entered and gained control of the town, carrying out a massacre of the Jews which lasted several hours. About 400 people were murdered, many were wounded, and property was looted. There were 2,881 Jews (30 percent of the total) in the town in 1926, dropping by 1939 to 1,445 (15% of the total population). Between the world wars there was a Yiddish school and a Jewish council. Most of the artisans in the two cooperatives were Jews and did not work on Saturdays. The Germans occupied the town on July 21, 1941. At the end of July 40 Jewish refugees were killed, and a ghetto was established. On October 18, 1941 more than 1,750 were murdered. The remaining artisans were killed later.

bibliography:

Committee of Jewish Delegations, The Pogroms in the Ukraine (1927), 231–3; E. Tcherikower, Di Ukrainer Pogromen in Yor 1919 (1965), 261–3.

[Yehuda Slutsky]