Bakhmach

Jews first settled in Bakhmach in 1796. In 1905 a pogrom was prevented there by a Jewish self-defence group. During the Russian civil war there several pogroms were carried out: by a local gang in April 1918, by Petliura’s men in the winter of 1918-1919, and by Denikin’s White Army. In 1939 295 Jews lived in the town, comprising 2.9 percent of the total population. Bakhmach was occupied by German troops on September 10, 1941. By that time most Jews had already succeeded in leaving. In December 1942 the remaining Jews of Bakhmach were murdered by Germans. Most of them were shot although several Jews were burned alive, together with some non-Jews from Bakhmach. Among those murdered in Bakhmach were Jews from Grigorovka, Peski, Parafiyevka, Novyye Mnyly, and Pliski, who were shot between January 1942 and March 1943. Bakhmach was liberated by the Red Army on September 9, 1943.