Vasilkov

Jews apparently started to settle in Vasilkov in the late 18th century. The number of Jews in Vasilkov grew steadily in the course of the 19th century. In 1897 Vasilkov's 5,156 Jews constituted 39.3 percent of the total population.

In 1881 the town experience a several-day long pogrom during which a number of Jews were murdered and Jewish houses and property were looted or destroyed. The Jews of Vasilkov suffered greatly from the violence accompanying the years of revolution and civil war in Russia. In the series of pogroms staged in 1919 by various warring parties a number of Jews was killed, Jewish women were raped, and Jewish property was severely damaged or destroyed. Many of Vasilkov’s Jews left the town during this period, seeking refuge in Kiev.

The ban imposed by Soviets on any kind of private economic activity seriously affected the Jewish population of Vasilkov. In the 1930s there was a Jewish collective farm, “Nayer Veg” (New Way) in Vasilkov. In addition many of Vasilkov’s Jews found employment at the local leather factory. In the 1920s and 1930s there was a Yiddish school in Vasilkov.

In 1939 1,736 Jews lived in Vasilkov, where they constituted 11.4 percent of the total population.

German troops occupied Vasilkov on July 31, 1941. Most of Vasilkov's Jews were murdered in the early fall of 1941 and in the summer of 1942 on the town’s outskirts. Jews brought to Vasilkov from other towns and villages of Vasilkov County, apparently including Jews from Borovaya, were murdered in Vasilkov, together with local Jews.

Vasilkov was liberated by the Red Army on November 6, 1943.