Berezna

Jews settled in Berezna in the 17th century. A document from 1648 reports the destruction of the Jewish community of the town. Only at the beginning of the 19th century did Jews return to Berezna. In October 1905 a pogrom took place there: Jewish property was looted and Jewish shops destroyed. In 1919, during the civil war, units of Petliura's army looted Jewish possessions in Berezna. Under Soviet rule most Jews were small traders or artisans until private enterprise was banned at the beginnig of the 1930s. In 1926 a Yiddish school was opened in Berezna despite protests from local Orthodox Jews; that year most Jewish children studied in Berezna’s heders. In 1939 there were 211 Jews in Berezna; they comprised 3 percent of town’s total population. Berezna was occupied by German troops on September 5, 1941. Before then many Jewish families found a way to leave. The remaining Jews were murdered in two German operations. Berezna was liberated by the Red Army on September 19, 1943.