Semenovka

Jews settled in Semenovka in the early 19th century. Two pogroms took place there in October 1905. One Jew was killed and eight were injured. One year later a wave of pogroms led to the deaths of 30 Jews. During the civil war several pogroms took place in Semenovka; many Jews were killed or injured. This war resulted in the impoverishment of the local Jewish community and a general deterioration of conditions in the region. Most local Jews in the 1920s continued to work in trade or crafts but approximately 45 Jewish families worked on a Jewish kholhoz. Many Jews left Semenovka, with only 402 Jews remaining there in 1939, when they comprised 5.4 percent of the total population. When German troops occupied Semenovka on August 25, 1941 most local Jews had already succeeded in leaving; about 15 percent of the prewar Jewish population remained. Those Jews were ordered by German authorities to register and to wear a white band with a yellow star on their sleeves. The able-bodied were forced to perform hard labor. In November 1941 the Jews of Semenovka were incarcerated in a ghetto on Kovalevka Street. Several days later about 55 Jews from Semenovka were murdered by the Germans. A second German murder operation was carried out in January 1942. Semenovka was liberated by the Red Army on September 22, 1943.