Druzkopol

Jewish settlement began in Drużkopol in the second half of the 17th century. After the Second Partition of Poland (1793), under the Russian Empire the town's border location stimulated the local economy, especially due to trade with neighboring Austro-Hungarian Galicia. In 1897 the Jewish population stood at 870, out of the total of 1,340. During World War I, during the retreat of the Russian army, the Jews suffered from the Cossacks, who set the town's houses on fire. Shortly afterward, under Austrian rule, Jewish stores were looted and emergency regulations were issued, resulting in the paralysis of the local economy. After World War I Drużkopol was incorporated into the independent Polish state. The Jews slowly returned to engaging in small trade and crafts. From the 1920s a Hebrew school, along with Hebrew and Yiddish libraries, operated in the town. Various political organizations, including orthodox Agudas Israel, Zionist parties, and youth movements such as HaMizrachi, the Revisionists, Beitar, and HeHalutz were prominent in the Jewish life of the town. After September 17, 1939, with the arrival of the Red Army in the town following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Drużkopol became part of Soviet Ukraine. The Germans occupied Drużkopol on June 22, 1941. Shortly afterward, the Germans arrested five Jewish residents of the town and killed them on the pretext of their being Communists. On July 10, 1941 a Judenrat (Jewish council) was appointed and the Jews had to wear distinguishing marks on their clothes. They were also made to perform forced labor in the forest and on farms. In early September 1942 the Jewish residents of Drużkopol were shot to death by a German unit outside the town, near the former brick factory. Drużkopol was liberated by the Red Army in April 1944. After the war it was renamed Zhuravnyky.