Zaporozhye

Jews probably settled in Zaporozhye (before 1921 Aleksandrovsk) at the end of the 18th century. The Jewish population of the town suffered from several pogroms that started on May 1, 1881. On September 6 - 7, 1904 (Yom Kippur) recently mobilized solders on their way to the Russo-Japanese front carried out a pogrom during which more than 20 Jews were wounded, with some of them eventually dying from their wounds. More than 30 Jews were killed or wounded during a pogrom on September 22 - 23, 1905, when 17 Jewish shops were totally destroyed. In the spring of 1917 Jewish shops were destroyed in another pogrom. In 1921 the city was renamed Zaporozhye. In 1939 the 22,631 Jews living in Zaporozhye comprised 7.8 percent of the total population. The city was occupied by German forces on October 3, 1941. On October 14 the Jews were ordered to register at the Judenrat office located in a former synagogue building. According to some sources, the Judenrat was ordered to collect several kilograms of gold in order to pay the German authorities so that they wouldn't murder a number of Jews. The Jews succeeded in collecting the required amount. All Jews from the age of fourteen were ordered to wear a Star of David on their clothes. The Jews were not allowed to buy food in local stores or at the market and were prohibited from working. The Jews of Zaporozhye were shot to death in two major murder operations. In November 1941 (according to other sources, in March 1942) several dozen Jewish men and boys over the age of 15 were shot at the local stadium. On March 28, 1942 about 3,700 Jewish men, women, and children were taken to an anti-tank trench near the Stalin sovkhoz and shot there. Zaporozhye was liberated by the Red Army on October 14, 1943.