Starodub

Jews first settled in Starodub at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1648 the Jews of the town were attacked by Cossacks who occupied the town. In 1708 about 50 Jews were murdered by local residents. Jews resettled in Starodub at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1891 the Jewish population of the town suffered a pogrom initiated by local merchants of the Old Believer faith who resented competition from the Jews. Another pogrom took place in the fall of 1905, when a synagogue and many small Jewish shops were set on fire and some Jews were killed. In 1910 the Jewish community of Starodub had a one-year vocational school for men, a private vocational school for women, and a talmud torah. During the early Soviet period most Starodub Jews were artisans. There was also a Jewish kolkhoz in the town. In 1939 Starodub's 1,629 Jews comprised almost 13 percent of the total population. The town was occupied by the German troops on August 18, 1941. In late September about 1,400 Jews were forced into a ghetto in the Belovshchina neighborhood on the outskirts of Starodub. The ghetto population was liquidated in two major murder operations – in October 1941 and in March 1942. 150 more Jews died due to the harsh living conditions in the ghetto. Starodub was liberated by the Red Army on September 22, 1943.