Ludwipol

Jews are known to have settled in Ludwipol in the 19th Century, or possibly earlier. In 1897, the town was home to 1,210 Jews, who made up 84 percent of the total population. After World War I, Ludwipol was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic. In 1921, Jews comprised about 74 percent of the town's 1,239 inhabitants. In the interwar period, most of the Jews of Ludwipol made their living from petty trade and crafts; a few worked for edible oil manufacturers and at sawmills. Zionist political parties and their youth movements (e.g., Hashomer Hatzair, HeHalutz Hatzair, Gordonia, and Beitar) were active in the town. In the 1930s, Gordonia ran a training commune that prepared its members for life in Mandatory Palestine. The town also had a Hebrew-language Tarbut kindergarten and primary school. After September 17, 1939, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Red Army entered the town, and Ludwipol became part of Soviet Ukraine. Some Jews from the German-occupied western Poland found refuge in the town. Jewish public life was paralyzed; community institutions were closed down, and the Zionist parties were disbanded. The Tarbut school was transformed into a Yiddish elementary and high school. The economy was nationalized, and the Jews were integrated into the Soviet officialdom. Some wealthy Jews, who were deemed hostile to the regime by the Soviets, were deported to Siberia. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, a few Jewish families from Ludwipol managed to evacuate eastward, but the vast majority of local Jews either could not or would not leave, and they found themselves trapped under German occupation German troops entered Ludwipol on June 29, 1941. During the first 24 hours after the occupation, local Ukrainian nationalists carried out a pogrom in the town, robbing and assaulting a number of local Jews. Five days later, the Germans murdered eight Jews (7 men and 1 woman) who had been denounced as Communists by the Ukrainians. In summer 1941, the Jews of Ludwipol were ordered to wear armbands with the Star of David; they were forced to hand over all their money and valuables, and perform hard physical labor. A Jewish council (Judenrat) headed by Yanek Gerfenboim and a Jewish Order Service (Police) were set up in the town. A ghetto was established in Ludwipol on October 13, 1941. Jews from the surrounding villages were also concentrated there, and the total number of inmates was about 1,500. In the ghetto, male workers were separated from their families. The Judenrat members and their families, along with a small group of skilled workers, were allowed to live outside the ghetto. The inmates were sent to perform forced labor outside the ghetto. On April 14, 1942, the Jews were ordered to pay a ransom in gold, valuables, and goods. In late summer 1942, a number of ghetto inmates formed a resistance cell. After managing to procure a small amount of weapons, the group planned a mass escape of the inmates on the day of the ghetto's liquidation. The plan failed because of the opposition of the Judenrat and betrayal by informers. On August (or September) 25-26, 1942, German security forces liquidated the Ludwipol Ghetto, and its inmates were shot at the military barracks outside of town. A total of 300-350 Jews (primarily youths) managed to escape. However, most of them were ultimately caught and shot by the Gendarmerie and the Ukrainian police. Ludwipol was liberated by the Red Army on January 10, 1944. In 1946, the town was renamed Sosnovoye.