Dubno

Jews began to settle in Dubno in the early 16th century. During the uprising of Bogdan Chmielnicki (1648-1649) between 1,100 and 1,500 Jews of the town were murdered. Within a short time the community was once again among the most important in the region, with representation on the Council of the Four Lands. A Hebrew printing press was established in 1794 and operated for 30 years. Among the city's prominent figures was R. Yaakov ben Wolf Kranz, known as the Maggid of Dubno, one of the most famous Jewish preachers of the 18th century. After the Second and Third Partitions of Poland (1793 and 1795), the Volhyn District, including Dubno, became part of the Russian Empire. By 1897 the Jewish population had risen to 7,108, or roughly half of its total population. Dubno became one of the centers of the Haskala (the Jewish Enlightenment) movement and later, of Hovevei Zion proto-Zionist activity. During the Russian civil war (1918-1922) 18 Jews of the town were murdered in a pogrom staged by Cossack soldiers of the Russian Army in March 1918. After World War I Dubno was incorporated into the independent Polish State. Between the two World Wars, Jews were employed in light industry (such as construction and the food-producing industries) and also worked in agriculture. About 85 percent of petty trade was in Jewish hands. During the 1920s and the 1930s all Zionist parties and youth movements (such as, Hashomer Hatzair, HeHalutz, HeHalutz Hatzair, Gordonia, and Beitar) were active in Dubno. Tarbut, the Zionist Hebrew-language network of educational institutions, operated a school and a kindergarten, maintained a library, and sponsored other cultural activities. The town also had a private Jewish high school, a primary school with instruction in Hebrew and Yiddish, and a Talmud Torah. In September 1939, with the arrival of the Red Army in the city, following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Dubno became part of Soviet Ukraine. Later, with the influx of refugees fleeing from Nazi-occupied western Poland, the number of Jews rose considerably. Germans captured Dubno on June 25, 1941. The Jews were required to wear a Star of David armband (replaced with a yellow badge in October). Apparently at about the same time, several dozen Jews associated with the NKVD were shot to death on the Panienski Bridge in the town. In murder operations on July 22 and August 22, 1941 German units, assisted by Ukrainian auxiliary police, killed over 1,000 Jewish men (and several women) at the Jewish cemetery. In early August a twelve-member Judenrat (Jewish council) was appointed, headed by Dr. Konrad Taubenfeld. The Judenrat was ordered to collect money and household goods as "contributions" for the Germans. In mid-August the Jews also had to hand over all their gold, silver, and other valuables. In December 1941 the Judenrat had to collect and deliver to the Germans all fur and woolen items. A ghetto was officially established on April 2, 1942, the first day of Passover, in the old Jewish section of the town. On the same day a very high wooden fence topped with barbed wire was constructed between the buildings forming the outer border of the ghetto. Jews were sent to perform forced labor – on construction sites and rail-roads, and in factories and in workshops specializing in products needed by the Germans. In mid-May 1942 the ghetto was divided into two sections. One part was for the skilled workers and craftsmen and their families, and the other for people without such skills. Skilled workers were given special certificates. On May 26-27, 1942 the part of the ghetto inhabited by those without skills useful to the Germans was liquidated, with women, children, and elderly people being shot to death at the Surmicze airfield outside of town, while the men were shot to death at Szibiena Hura also outside of town. Approximately 4,000 Jews were murdered during these two days. Over the next four months, killings and the harassment of individuals increased. Many Jews prepared hiding places. In August 1942 Jews from nearby villages were taken to the skilled worker's ghetto, the population of which rose to 4,500. There was hunger, starvation, and epidemics there. This ghetto was liquidated on October 5, 1942, when most of its inmates were shot to death at the Surmicze airfield. After this murder operation the remaining 240 skilled workers were given "secure" certificates" and remained in the ghetto. Following the October 5 murder operation, in order to lure survivors into the open, the Germans posted notices all over the ghetto promising that no harm would come to those who would come out of hiding willingly, since they were needed for work. During the following two weeks about 150 Jews came out of hiding. On October 24, 1942 in a final murder operation, the several hundred remaining Jews in the ghetto (except for 10 specialists) were killed at Szibiena Hura. According to one testimony, approximately 100 Jews who had been caught in hiding by the Germans after the final liquidation of the ghetto were shot to death on Bozhenko Street. Thus, by the end of October 1942, Dubno was officially declared "cleansed of Jews" (Judenrein). The Gebietskommissar (regional commissar) of Dubno Verner Brocks was in charge of all those murder operations. Dubno was liberated by the Red Army on February 9, 1944.