Zborov

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ZBOROV

ZBOROV (Pol. Zborów ), city in Tarnopol district, Ukraine. The Jewish community had considerable influence in Zborov in the 17^th century. The peace treaty signed in Zborov in 1649 between John ii Casimir and the Cossack rebel *Chmielnicki forbade Jews to live or work at *arenda (leaseholding) in the same towns in which Cossack troops were encamped. In 1689 King John iii Sobieski gave the Jews rights equal to those of other citizens of the town, with the provision that all legal cases between Jews and gentiles be tried in government courts. Four market days were arranged each year to stimulate economic growth, and Jews were allowed to operate taverns if gentiles did not claim this privilege for themselves. There were 655 Jews in Zborov in 1765; 2,109 (54% of the total population) in 1880; 1,873 (46%) in 1890; 2,080 (40%) in 1910; and 1,184 (32%) in 1921. In the early 19^th century Ẓevi Hirsh of Zborov (d. 1841) influenced the community toward Ḥasidism. In 1930 the Jewish quarter was damaged extensively by fire.

[Shimshon Leib Kirshenboim]

Holocaust Period

On the outbreak of World War ii, there were about 1,800 Jews in Zborov. In July 1941 an Aktion took place and 850 Jews were killed. In September or October 1942 some of the Jews were deported to the *Belzec death camp. The ghetto was liquidated in April–June 1943. A number of Jews were imprisoned in a forced-labor camp in Zborov established at the end of 1941. This camp was liquidated in July 1943 when all its inmates were killed. After the war the Jewish community of Zborov was not reconstituted.