Rechitsa

The beginning of Jewish settlement in Rechitsa dates to the 16th century. During the Chmielnitski uprising of 1648 – 1649 many Jews were massacred in Rechitsa. In 1897 its Jewish population numbered 5,334, comprising 57.5 percent of the total population. Most of the Jews made their living as small-scale merchants or artisans. In the late 19th century the local Zionist movement grew and a branch of the Bund was organized in the town. During a pogrom on October 23, 1905 a Jewish self-defense unit was organized in Rechitsa. In the 1920s Yiddish schools begin to operate in the town and operated there until the summer of 1938. Many of Rechitsa's Jews, especially youth, left the town as a result of the rapid urbanization of the USSR, while migrants arrived from small villages in the vicinity. On the eve of the German invasion about 7,000 Jews resided in the town, comprising about 25 per cent of its total population. When war broke out between the Soviet Union and Germany a large number of Jews fled the town. Rechitsa was occupied by German troops on August 23, 1941. The terrorization and murder of the Jews began immediately. Groups of Jews, as well as individuals, were abused and tortured on the streets of the town and, afterwards, murdered ion the spot. In late November 1941 the Jews of Rechitsa were ordered to gather at the local cultural center. The Jews were then forced into a two-storey building inside the former prison, which was used as a kind of short-term ghetto. According to other sources, the ghetto was established on the premises of a factory. The Jews of Rechitsa were annihilated between early September and late December 1941 in a number of murder operations of different scales at various murder sites. Among the locations were: the Dniepr crossing, the local cemetery, military camps near Ozershchina village, the Bronnoye village area, the vicinity of the railroad, the nail factory, the wine distillery, the air field, and a dug-out close to the prison. According to some sources, the largest murder operation was carried out in late December, 1941, when more than 500 inmates of the Jewish ghetto were murdered. The town was liberated by the Red Army on November 18, 1943.