Skip to website content >

The Jewish Community of Bar

Bar

Бар

Town in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine

Bar became part of the Russian Empire after the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Since 1796 until the 1917 Russian Revolution it was a district capital in the region of Podolia.
 

HISTORY

The Jewish community of Bar was one of the oldest Jewish communities in Ukraine, with the first mention of a Jewish presence dating to 1542. A 1556 agreement with the citizens of Bar permitted Jews to own buildings, and granted them most of the same rights and responsibilities as the other residents; the agreement was formally ratified by the Polish king, Sigismund II. Bar’s Jews were permitted to visit other towns in the district for business purposes but were forbidden to provide lodging for Jewish visitors in the city.

The community grew during the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century; in 1648 there were 600 Jewish families living in Bar. Most of the town’s families were wealthy, and during this period, the town’s Jews traded in places as far away as Moldavia.

During the Chmielnicki massacres (1648-1649), many of Bar’s Jews were murdered. Additionally, many were killed by the Cossacks and Tatars in 1651.

In 1717, the bishop granted the Jewish community permission to build a synagogue.

After Bar became part of the Russian Empire, the community grew substantially. The Jewish population numbered 4,442 in 1847. By 1897 it had grown to 5,773 (58% of the total population). In 1910 the Jewish population was 10,450 (46% of the total).

The Jews of Bar were once again subject to anti-Jewish violence in the summer of 1919. A pogrom broke out in Bar, during which 20 Jews were killed.

Religious and communal life came to an end in 1922, when Ukraine came under Soviet rule. Nonetheless, a Yiddish school operated in Bar.

During the interwar period most Jews worked as office workers, artisans, or in one of the three local factories.

In 1926 the Jewish population totaled 5,270 (55% of the total population). In 1939 the Jewish population was 3,869 (41% of the total population).


THE HOLOCAUST

Bar was occupied by the Germans, Italians, and Romanians on July 16, 1941. While Bar itself was administered by the Germans, the train station was part of the Romanian-controlled district of Transnistria. Many Jews from Romania were deported to Bar.

Three ghettos were established in Bar on December 20, 1941; two eventually merged. Most of the ghetto’s inhabitants were shot during mass executions that took place in August and October of 1942. Several dozen families, after first hearing rumors that the Jews would be taken out of the ghettos and killed, fled to Romanian-controlled Kopaigorod, where they were able to survive.

Bar was liberated by the Red Army on March 24, 1944.

POSTWAR

Jewish community was not renewed after the war.

In 1964, former Jews from Bar established two memorials at the murder sites. They also planted trees and fenced off the mass graves.

ANU Databases
Jewish Genealogy
Family Names
Jewish Communities
Visual Documentation
Jewish Music Center
Place
אA
אA
אA
The Jewish Community of Bar

Bar

Бар

Town in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine

Bar became part of the Russian Empire after the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Since 1796 until the 1917 Russian Revolution it was a district capital in the region of Podolia.
 

HISTORY

The Jewish community of Bar was one of the oldest Jewish communities in Ukraine, with the first mention of a Jewish presence dating to 1542. A 1556 agreement with the citizens of Bar permitted Jews to own buildings, and granted them most of the same rights and responsibilities as the other residents; the agreement was formally ratified by the Polish king, Sigismund II. Bar’s Jews were permitted to visit other towns in the district for business purposes but were forbidden to provide lodging for Jewish visitors in the city.

The community grew during the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century; in 1648 there were 600 Jewish families living in Bar. Most of the town’s families were wealthy, and during this period, the town’s Jews traded in places as far away as Moldavia.

During the Chmielnicki massacres (1648-1649), many of Bar’s Jews were murdered. Additionally, many were killed by the Cossacks and Tatars in 1651.

In 1717, the bishop granted the Jewish community permission to build a synagogue.

After Bar became part of the Russian Empire, the community grew substantially. The Jewish population numbered 4,442 in 1847. By 1897 it had grown to 5,773 (58% of the total population). In 1910 the Jewish population was 10,450 (46% of the total).

The Jews of Bar were once again subject to anti-Jewish violence in the summer of 1919. A pogrom broke out in Bar, during which 20 Jews were killed.

Religious and communal life came to an end in 1922, when Ukraine came under Soviet rule. Nonetheless, a Yiddish school operated in Bar.

During the interwar period most Jews worked as office workers, artisans, or in one of the three local factories.

In 1926 the Jewish population totaled 5,270 (55% of the total population). In 1939 the Jewish population was 3,869 (41% of the total population).


THE HOLOCAUST

Bar was occupied by the Germans, Italians, and Romanians on July 16, 1941. While Bar itself was administered by the Germans, the train station was part of the Romanian-controlled district of Transnistria. Many Jews from Romania were deported to Bar.

Three ghettos were established in Bar on December 20, 1941; two eventually merged. Most of the ghetto’s inhabitants were shot during mass executions that took place in August and October of 1942. Several dozen families, after first hearing rumors that the Jews would be taken out of the ghettos and killed, fled to Romanian-controlled Kopaigorod, where they were able to survive.

Bar was liberated by the Red Army on March 24, 1944.

POSTWAR

Jewish community was not renewed after the war.

In 1964, former Jews from Bar established two memorials at the murder sites. They also planted trees and fenced off the mass graves.

Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People