Makarov

A Jewish presence in Makarov is first mentioned in regard to the early 18th century. The Jews of the town suffered greatly from the assaults of the Haidamaks in the 1760s and many Jews abandoned it during that period. The Jewish population of Makarov started to grow significantly in the late 18th century after the town became part of the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire. In 1897 3,953 Jews lived in Makarov, constituting 74.2 percent of the total population. Most of Makarov's Jews were small-scale merchants or craftsmen. Several dozen Jewish families of Makarov worked in agriculture. Jews figured prominently in the economic life of Makarov on the eve of World War II, owning most of the shops in the town. In 1881 the police prevented local peasants from carrying out a pogrom in town. The Jews of Makarov suffered greatly from the violence accompanying the years of revolution and civil war in Russia. More than 100 Jews were murdered in the pogroms carried out by various warring parties in 1917-1919; Jewish property was looted, damaged, and destroyed. at this time many Jews abandoned Makarov, seeking refuge in Kiev; only a small number of them returned when the situation stabilized. The ban imposed by the Soviet authorities on private economic activity forced many Makarov Jews to search for new occupations. Many of them turned to agriculture. In the 1930s a Jewish collective farm, called "Vozrozhdeniye" (Revival), was established in the town; 141 people worked on this farm. In 1939 269 Jews lived in Makarov,where they constituted 8 percent of population. German troops occupied Makarov on July 10, 1941. Some of the town's Jews managed to flee before the Germans arrived. In early August 1941 members of Einsatzgruppe C arrested and shot to death 14 Jews who were accused of being snipers, NKVD informers, or being responsible for deportations carried out by the Soviets. Most of Makarov's Jews were murdered in the summer or fall of 1941 in the town. About 50 Jews who had hid during the massacres but were discovered by local auxiliary policemen were deported to Kiev and murdered there. The Red Army liberated Makarov on November 8, 1943.