Spichintsy

Jews first settled in Spichintsy in the mid-18th century but few Jews lived there until the following century, when the economic development of the area led to the growth of Spichintsy's Jewish population. In 1897 the town's 937 Jews comprised 35.9 percent of the total population. Most Spichintsy Jews were small-scale merchants or artisans. The Jews of Spichintsy suffered from attacks from various warring parties during the revolutionary years and civil war in Russia. During the first years of Soviet rule the Jews of Spichintsy were still able to work in private trade or as artisans, but then the ban imposed by Soviet authorities on private economic activity forced them to search for other occupations. Many of them began to work in municipal or government service. In 1926 Spichintsy's 774 Jews comprised 25.2 percent of the town's total population. In the 1920s and 1930s there was a Yiddish school in the town. During this period many younger Jews left the town in search of educational and vocational opportunities. The Jews of Spichintsy did not manage to leave after Germany invaded Soviet Union in June 1941. Soon thereafter Jewish refugees from the western Ukrainian areas arrived in Spichintsy. German forces occupied Spichintsy on July 22, 1941 and then Jewish houses were immediately marked either with the word "Jude" or a Star of David. Jews were also made to wear armbands with the Star of David. Most of the time there were no German authorities in the town, their place being taken by a Ukrainian administration, which appointed three Jews to serve as a Judenrat. The Judenrat members had to collect money and other valuables from the Jews and were severely punished if they failed to carry out the orders of the occupation authorities. Spichintsy Jews were constantly abused, robbed of their possessions, and forced to perform various types of hard labor. In September 1941, led by a teacher, local Ukrainian pupils staged a pogrom during which Jewish property was damaged and a number of Jews were injured. About 300 Spichintsy Jews were murdered in the spring of 1942 several kilometers outside of town. Spichintsy was liberated by the Red Army in January 1944.