Urycz

In the 19th century, when Urycz was part of the Habsburg monarchy, there were oil wells in the vicinity of the town, and many local Jews worked there. After World War I, Urycz, as part of Eastern Galicia, was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic. In 1921, the town was home to 151 Jews, who made up about twelve percent of the total population. During the 1920s, there were eight oil wells in the area of Urycz, providing employment to forty-one Jews, who made up roughly thirty-one percent of the total workforce. In the 1930s, the "Hapoel" sports club was active in the town under the auspices of the Poale Zion party. In 1937, a branch of the Zionist "Hashomer Hatzair" youth movement was established in Urycz. In September 1939, in the aftermath of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Urycz became part of Soviet Ukraine. Following the outbreak of the Soviet-German War on June 22, 1941, Urycz was occupied by German troops. On August 27 that year, the Jewish population of Urycz and the nearby localities, approximately 200 people in total, were shot by members of the Security Police and the SD, under the command of Pieter Menten, near the residence of the Nordlicht family in the town. This murder operation resulted in the liquidation of the entire Jewish population of the area, except for several young men who had managed to hide. Urycz was liberated by the Red Army in August 1944.