Ozdziutycze

Jews resided in Ozdiutycze from the second half of the 17th century. In 1897, under the Russian Empire, the Jewish population of the town was 701. After World War I the town was incorporated into the independent Polish state. In 1921 739 Jews, out of a total population of 1,015, were living in the town. Some Jews made their living from animal and grain trade, while others were artisans and craftsmen. From 1927 and until 1939 a Zionist Hebrew-language Tarbut school operated in the town. Some political organizations were active in Ozdiutycze, especially the Bund and its youth movement Tsukunft. After September 17, 1939, with the arrival of the Red Army in the town following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Ozdiutycze became part of Soviet Ukraine. The Soviet annexation put an end to all independent political and public life in the town. The Tarbut school became a Soviet Yiddish school. The Germans captured Ozdiutycze on June 25, 1941. Several days afterwards, in two murder operations, about 100 Jews were shot to death on the outskirts of the town, near the road leading to the village of Makowiszcze. Apparently in November 1941, the remaining Jews of the town were taken to the ghetto in the neighboring town of Kisielin and murdered in August 1942, along with Kisielin's Jews. Ozdiutycze was liberated by the Red Army on July 18, 1944.