Satanov

Jews began to settle in Satanov in the 16th century. The Jews of Satanov suffered greatly during the Chmielnitsky uprising (1648-1649) and in 1651 the Cossacks burnt down the town and destroyed the Jewish community. In 1756 some followers of Ya'akov Frank, who were accused of having religious orgies, were sentenced by the rabbinic court in Satanov to be publicly whipped. In 1897 the Jewish population of 2,848 comprised 65 percent of the total population of the town. Among the prominent Jewish figures connected to Satanov was David Vogel (1891-1944) - Hebrew poet, novelist, and diarist, who was arrested in France in 1944 and murdered in Auschwitz. In June 1915, during World War I, as a result of the antisemitic policy of the Russian military command, the Jews were expelled from Satanov. When they were allowed to return a year later, they found that their homes had been looted. Under the Soviets a Jewish rural council operated in the town. Many local Jews worked in state-owned cooperatives and factories near the town. The town had a Yiddish school until 1937. In 1939 Satanov's Jewish population of 1,516 comprised 48.1 percent of the total population. The Germans captured the town on July 6, 1941. In August several Jews were shot to death there. On May 15, 1942 the Gendarmerie and Ukrainian auxiliary police locked about 200 Jews, including many children, women, and old people, into a cellar in the center of Satanov, causing their death by suffocation or starvation. Probably during this period, about 180 Jews were shot to death near the town's Old Synagogue. Apparently in 1942, a group of Jews was taken to the town of Yarmolintsy, where they were shot to death, along with Jews from nearby towns. Satanov was liberated by the Red Army on March 25, 1944.