Jezierzany

Several Jewish families were apparently living in Jezierzany (Ozierany) at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1880, under the rule of the Russian Empire, approximately 200 Jews lived in the town which had a total population of 700. During World War I the number of Jewish residents of the town declined. After the war, as a part of the Volhyn Region, Jezierzany was incorporated into the Polish state. In 1932 a major fire destroyed several dozen Jewish houses. In September 1939, following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and the German and Soviet invasions of Poland, Jezierzany became part of Soviet Ukraine. Around this time the name of the town was changed to Ozierany. Prior to World War II several dozen Jewish families were living in the town. Ozierany was occupied by the Germans in late June 1941. Sometime later an open ghetto was set up in the village, where several hundred Jews from the nearby village of Kupiczów and some other localities were also incarcerated. Apparently in late August 1942 the inmates of the ghetto, mainly women and children, were taken to a location near Sushibaba village, where they were shot to death by a German urban order police (Schutzpolizei) unit. Ozierany was liberated by the Red Army in July 1944.