Dzyunkov

Jews lived in Dzyunkov since the early 18th century. In 1897 1,137 Jews lived there, comprising 26.4 percent of the town's total population. Most of Dzyunkov's Jews were merchants or artisans. The Jewish community of Dzyunkov suffered greatly from the calamities of the revolutionary years and the civil war in Russia, including from the violence of various warring parties. A large-scale pogrom in early July 1919 claimed 195 victims from among the town's Jews. During this wave of violence the majority of Jews abandoned Dzyunkov. The slow revival of Jewish life in Dzyunkov started with the establishment and stabilization of Soviet rule. In 1926 365 Jews lived in Dzyunkov, comprising 8 percent of the total population. In the 1930s many young Jews left Dzyunkov for larger cities in search of educational and vocational opportunities. In the 1920s and 1930s there was a Yiddish school in Dzyunkov. German troops occupied Dzyunkov in July 1941. In 1942 German and local auxiliary policemen murdered about 90 Jews who were living in Dzynkov at that time. Dzyunkov was liberated by the Red Army in early January 1944.