Dneprodzerzhinsk

Jews started to settle in Kamenskoye at the end of the 19th century. In 1897 852 Jews lived in Kamenskoye, comprising about 5 percent of the total population. In 1905 there was a pogrom, during which 3 Jews were killed and Jewish property was severely damaged. During the Russian civil war the Jewish population of Kamenskoye suffered from violence on the part of Denikin's White Army troops. Under Soviet rule during industrialization many modern plants and factories were opened. With the opportunities this provided, the total population of the city, including the number of its Jews, increased significantly. Many of the city's Jews abandoned traditional Jewish occupations to become engineers, technicians, or workers at these local enterprices. A vocational school which opened in Kamenskoye at the end of the 1920s had classes for some of the students in Yiddish. In 1936 the name of the city was changed to Dneprodzerzhinsk. In 1939 4,900 Jews lived in Dneprodzerzhinsk, comprising 3 precent of the total population of the city. Most of the city's Jews succeeded in leaving before the city was occupied by German troops on August 22, 1941. The remaining Jews, numbering under 300, were murdered in the autumn of 1941 or the winter of 1941/1942. Dneprodzerzhinsk was liberated by the Red Army on October 25, 1943.