Lysyanka

Jews apparently started to settle in Lysyanka in the late 17th century. In the course of the 18th century Lysyanka Jews were assaulted repeatedly by the Haidamaks. In 1897 2,845 Jews lived in the town, where they constituted 39.5 percent of Lysyanka's total population.

The Jews of Lysyanka suffered greatly from the violence accompanying the years of revolution and civil war in Russia. At least 50 Jews were murdered in pogroms carried out by armed gangs in Lysyanka between 1918 and 1920. The number of Jews in Lysyanka declined steadily during the 1920s and 1930s as many left for larger towns and cities in search of educational and vocational opportunities.

In 1939 215 Jews lived in the town, constituting 4.7 percent of Lysyanka's total population.

German troops occupied Lysyanka on July 22, 1941. Most of the Jews from Lysyanka and the County were taken to the labor camp at Budishche village, about 5 kilometers southeast of Lysyanka. The inmates of this camp were forced to carry out heavy road construction work. Those deemed unfit for work were murdered throughout 1941 and in 1942 in the Bordyugovo Forest, east of Lysyanka.

The Red Army captured Lysyanka on January 28, 1944, but the Germans recaptured it in February of the same year.

The Red Army finally liberated the town on February 20, 1944.