Steblev

Jews are first mentioned as living in Steblev in the late 18th century. In 1897 there were 1,472 Jews, comprising 25.6 percent of the town's total population. Most of Steblev's Jews were engaged in leasing, small-scale trade, or crafts. On the eve of World War I Jews played a prominent role in the economic life of Steblev, owning most of the shops, as well as two textile factories. The violence of the revolutionary years and the civil war in Russia did not bypass Steblev. However, its Jewish self-defense force successfully repulsed all attempts to carry out pogroms in town. The lives of the Jews in Steblev changed significantly during the early Soviet period. The ban imposed by the Soviet authorities on private economic activity forced the local Jews to search for new occupations. Some of them turned to agriculture, establishing a Jewish collective farm near the town. In the 1920s and 1930s there was a Yiddish school in Steblev. In the course of these two decades many Jews, especially the younger ones, left Steblev for larger towns and cities in search of educational and occupational opportunities. On the eve of the German invasion of the USSR only several hundred Jews were still living in the town. The Germans occupied Steblev in late July 1941. In the fall of that year about 150 Jews still living at the town were murdered in the vicinity of Steblev. The Red Army liberated Steblev in mid-February 1944.