Mielnica

Jews were living in Mielnica in the 16th century. In 1897, under the Russian Empire, they numbered 1,599, comprising 61.8 percent of the total population. In 1914, during World War I, when the front was approaching the town, the Jews were expelled by Austrian forces; some of them returned at the end of the war. In 1920, during the Soviet-Polish war, Balachovtsy (groups led by Bulak Balachovich) killed several Jews in the town. After World War I Mielnica was incorporated into the independent Polish state. In 1921 its 875 Jews comprised 64 percent of the town's population. Local Jews were artisans, craftsmen, or small merchants. The Beitar and Hehalutz Zionist youth movements were active in the town. In September 1939, with the arrival of the Red Army in the town following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Mielnica became part of Soviet Ukraine.

The Germans captured Mielnica on June 26, 1941. At the end of June they killed several dozen Jews after claiming that they or their relatives had been Komsomol (Communist youth league) members under Soviet rule. On July 16 about 300 Jewish men were shot to death outside the town by a German unit. In the summer and fall of 1941 the German authorities introduced a series of anti-Jewish measures in Mielnica. The Jews were registered and ordered to wear distinctive markings on their clothing. They were forced to give up the land surrounding their houses to Ukrainians, and were compelled to cease practicing their professions and engaging in other types of employment. The Germans also demanded a ransom in money and gold from the Jews. A Judenrat was established that organized forced labor of the Jews, mostly in cutting peat. Apparently in late August or on September 1, 1942, a local ghetto was set up to hold both local Jews and ones from the surrounding villages, such as Kaszowka. At this time the Germans demanded a further ransom and when the Jews were unable to meet this demand, the Germans murdered the rabbi of the town and the head of the Judenrat. On September 3, 1942 the ghetto was liquidated and the remaining Jews were shot to death at the sand quarry just southwest of Mielnica. The local police continued to search for Jews hiding in and around the ghetto, murdering all they found.

Mielnica was liberated by the Red Army in March 1944.