Miedzyrzecz

Jews settled in Międzyrzecz Korecki in the 16th Century. The town was heavily damaged in the uprising of Bogdan Chmelnitsky. It was destroyed in the early 18th Century during the Great Northern War, but its recovery was rapid. Dov Ber, the Maggid of Międzyrzecz, was active in the town in 1761-1772, turning it into a Hasidic center. In 1897, under the rule of the Russian Empire, Jews made up 67 percent of the total population of the town, which stood at 3,131. After World War I, Międzyrzecz was incorporated into the independent Polish Republic. According to the 1921 census, the town was home to 1,743 Jews, who comprised about 73 percent of the total population. Local Jews processed agricultural produce at flour mills and an oil factory, and were petty merchants and artisans. Zionist parties and youth movements (e.g., Hashomer Hatzair, Gordonia, Beitar, and Dror) were active in the town, as were Zionist pioneer-training communes, such as HeHalutz HaMizrahi. Children were educated at a Hebrew-language Tarbut school and kindergarten. Following the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939, in the wake of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Red Army entered Międzyrzecz, and the town became part of Soviet Ukraine. By mid-1941, on the eve of the Soviet-German War, Międzyrzecz was home to an estimated 2,100 Jews. Only a few local Jews managed to flee into the Soviet interior after the German invasion. German troops occupied Międzyrzecz on July 6, 1941. In the aftermath of the occupation, antisemitic sentiments ran high in the town, and local Ukrainian nationalists carried out a pogrom. Many Jewish homes were looted, and a number of Jews were assaulted. In the summer and fall of 1941, a series of anti-Jewish measures were implemented in Międzyrzecz. Jews had to mark their homes with Stars of David and wear Star of David badges on their clothes. All their valuables were confiscated, and they began to be conscripted for forced labor. A Judenrat (Jewish council), headed by Abraham Schwartz, was formed. Jews were also forbidden to leave the borders of the town. In October 1941, a group of 160 young Jewish men from Międzyrzecz were sent to work in Kiev, where, within a short period of time, nearly all of them died because of the harsh working conditions. According to several testimonies, the chairman of the Judenrat, Abraham Schwartz, committed suicide after learning of their fate. On May 22, 1942, more than 1,000 Jews from Międzyrzecz were shot by several German units at the former brick factory outside of town. Shortly after this murder operation, the Germans set up an open ghetto in the town. All the Jewish survivors of the massacre of May 22, together with a number of Jews from the surrounding villages, were forcibly resettled in this new ghetto, which occupied only two streets. In all likelihood, the ghetto remained unfenced, but it was closely guarded by the Ukrainian police, so that it was impossible for the Jews to leave. During this period, some 20 Jews from the nearby village of Matievka were shot at the same murder site. On September 26, 1942, during the Sukkot holiday, the ghetto was liquidated, and its remaining inmates were shot at the former brick factory. Only a few Jews managed to evade the initial roundup and the ensuing searches. Międzyrzecz was liberated by the Red Army on January 14, 1944.