Miropol

The first references to a Jewish presence in Miropol relate to the beginning of the 18th century. At the end of the 19th century there were 1,912 Jews, who comprised about 39 percent of the total population. In the revolutionary years the Jews of the town suffered from several pogroms. By 1926 the number of Jewish residents had declined to 1,189. Until 1935 there was a Yiddish school there. Due to the presence of a military airport the town was bombed at the beginning of the war. The Germans occupied Miropol on July 6, 1941. Between July and August 1941 a ghetto was established and the Jews were incarcerated there. Ukrainian auxiliary police forced the Jews to perform hard labor: the men had to work at construction, while some women worked in the German military hospital. In the first murder operation, that took place on July 28-30, 1941 the members of the SS killed 24 Jews. The second operation was carried out on October 13, 1941, when, despite some resistance, 250 Jews were killed in the municipal park. In the third massacre that, according to different sources, was carried out at the same location, between December 1941 and February 1942 between 750 and 960 Jews were killed. The Red Army liberated Miropol on January 6, 1944.