Aleksandriya

Jewish residence was first noted in Aleksandriya in the 18th century. In 1897 the local Jewish community numbered 3,735 or almost 27 percent of the total population. The Jews of Aleksandriya suffered a number of pogroms starting in 1882. During the second one, in 1904, 20 Jews were killed. There were also two pogroms in 1919. The Yiddish newspaper Shtern was printed in the town in the 1920s and 1930s. Aleksandriya had a seven-year Yiddish school. In 1939 the town's 1,420 Jews comprised 7 percent of the total population. Aleksandriya was occupied by German troops on August 6, 1941. According to Soviet documents there were two separate murder operations, one targeting women and children, at the local shooting range, and the other - targeting men, at the storehouse. The town was liberated by the Red Army on December 6, 1944.