Klewań

Jews began to settle in Klewań in the 16th Century. From the late 18th Century, under the rule of the Russian Empire, they made their living from the lumber industry, the summer tourist business, the marketing of agricultural produce, and the crafts. In 1897, Klewań was home to 2,432 Jews, who made up 65 percent of the total population. After World War I, Klewań was incorporated into the independent Polish Republic. In 1921, there were 1,545 Jews in the town, out of a total of 3,287 residents. Local Jews were involved in trade and the crafts, and they rented rooms to summer vacationers. Zionist parties and the Bund were active in Klewań. The town had a Hebrew-language Tarbut kindergarten and school. The community also had access to a Jewish library. In September 1939, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Red Army entered Klewań, and the town became part of Soviet Ukraine. On the eve of the Soviet-German War, Klewań was home to an estimated 1,800 Jews. German troops occupied Klewań on July 3, 1941 and bombed the town. On the second day of the occupation, while the town was under German military administration, German troops, together with local anti-Semites, carried out a pogrom against the Jews. The killings were probably intended as a reprisal for the shooting of several German soldiers by a straggling group of Soviet troops in the nearby village of Bronniki just prior to this. During the pogrom, some 200 Jews were killed inside the town's synagogue and around it; another 200 or so were massacred in the town's market square, and as many as 100 were killed in the cellar of the Kurman residence. A total of about 500-700 Jews were murdered in Klewań during the first days of the occupation, and most of the others either fled or were driven out of town. During the summer and fall of 1941, the German authorities introduced a series of anti-Jewish measures in Klewań. The tiny remaining Jewish population had to wear special patches shaped like the Star of David (later replaced by a yellow circle) on their clothing. In addition, they were forced to perform physically demanding labor of various kinds. A Judenrat (Jewish council) was established to pass on the German orders. By spring 1942, a number of Jews had returned to Klewań; some 700 Jews lived there at the time, in 13 houses that formed an open ghetto. They huddled in overcrowded conditions, and many were starving. On April 11, 1942, German security forces shot 48 people (18 Poles and 30 Jews) in the forest near the Klewań railway station. The remaining Jews of Klewań were shot, probably in mid-May 1942, in the forest just outside of town. Klewań was liberated by the Red Army on February 5, 1944.