The Jewish Community of Lutsk
Lutsk
Polish: Luck
A city on the Styr' River, Volhynia, Ukraine
Timeline:
1320: Part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
1569-1795: District center of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1796-1920: Part of the Russian Empire
1921-1939: Provincial center of Volhynia in independent Poland
1939-1941: Occupied by the Soviets
1941-1945: Occupied by the Germans
Post-World War II: An industrial center in the Ukrainian SSR
A group of Karaites settled in the city during the 13th century, but the earliest references to Jews in Lutsk dates to 1409. In 1432 King Vladislav the Jagelonian granted the Jews rights equal to those of the Jews in Krakow and Lithuania. Though both the Jewish and Karaite communities were expelled from Lithuanian in 1495, they reestablished their respective communities in 1503. In 1552 there were 31 Jewish households, and 25 Karaite households, out of a total of 229 households in Lutsk.
Lutsk became an important political and economic center after the union of Poland and Lithuania in 1569, which benefited the city's Jews. Some were engaged in large-scale commerce, and some leased the revenue of the Lutsk customs house and the tolls from boats passing down the Styr' River. Some owned breweries and potash production plants, while others traded forest and agricultural products. Lutsk Jews participated in the fairs of Lithuania and Poland, and established their own craft guilds.
In 1576 the town became part of the Kingdom of Poland, and in 1580 the king ordered that the municipal taxes collected from the Jews should not exceed their proportionate share in the general population. The king also renewed the right of the Jews to live in Lutsk and allowed representatives of the Jewish community to attend town council meetings when the subject up for debate was taxes.
During the Chmielnicki Massacres of 1648-1649 both the Jews and the Karaites were targeted. Before the attacks there were more than 300 Jews and 100 Karaites living in Lutsk; 55 and 20 households, respectively. Afterwards there were only 29 Jewish households and 3 Karaite households remaining.
The community began to rebuild, and by 1662 the Jewish community was the second largest in the region. Jews engaged in commerce, as well as in tailoring, shoemaking, and fur dressing. A Jewish tailors' guild was founded in 1721. Nonetheless, there continued to be sporadic outbreaks of violence. There were blood libels levied against the Jews in 1696. In 1764 a Lutsk Jew chose execution over forced conversion to Christianity. Haidamack bands, paramilitary groups that carried out a number of attacks in Polish Ukraine during the 18th century, were a very real threat for the Jews in Lutsk throughout the 18th century.
The Jewish community in Lutsk participated in the regional (galil) council of Volhynia, as well as in the Councils of the Lands. Lutsk was a center for Torah study and was home to many yeshivas. Among the famous rabbis living there during the 17th and early 18th century were Moses b. Judah HaCohen (formerly of Cracow), Jacob Schor (the son of Ephraim Solomon Schor), and Joel b. Isaac Halpern, known as the Great Rabbi Joel. Part of the fortress originally built by Prince Witold was rebuilt as a stone synagogue after King Sigismund III granted permission for the Jews to construct a stone synagogue to replace the wood one that had burned down. This fortified synagogue also had watchtowers and consequently, the synagogue became part of the town's defenses and the Jews were responsible for its maintenance. From the gunmounts on the roof, Jews served as gunners during enemy attacks on the town, while underground tunnels led from the synagogue to other key buildings in the town. For centuries the synagogue building withstood both fires as well as enemy attacks.
After Lutsk became part of the Russian Empire, the Jewish population in the town grew. This was due in large part to the eviction of the Jews from villages in 1804; many of those who had been expelled came to settle in Lutsk. The community continued to grow during the 19th century, in spite of the fires that broke out relatively frequently. Additionally, beginning in 1844 Lutsk was included in the list of border town that Jews were prohibited from living in; consequently, the Jewish community in Lutsk lived under the constant threat of expulsion. Nonetheless, the community continued to grow; in 1802 there were 1,297 Jews living in Lutsk, and by the end of the century, in 1897, there were 9,468 (60% of the population).
During World War I Lutsk changed hands several times and was occupied by Russian and German troops. Under the threat of eviction, the Jews of Lutsk gave their relics to the ethnographer and Yiddish and Russian writer Sh. An-ski. Jews organized self-defense organizations to protect against pogroms; this became extremely necessary during the wave of pogroms that took place in 1919 and 1920 under the rule of Simon Petlyura.
The Jewish population grew during the 1920s. According to the official numbers, 14,800 Jews lived in Lutsk in 1921 (70% of the general population); in 1931 that number had grown to 17,366 (48.5%). In 1937, however, the population dipped to 15,880 (36.5%), possibly because during the interwar period the Jews faced a number of social and economic difficulties.
In spite of the hardships of the interwar period, the Jews took part in civic life both locally and regionally, and had their own elected representatives on the town council. A weekly newspaper, "Voliner Press," was published in the city. There were Tarbut at Kultur-lige schools, as well as a Bet Yosef yeshiva and a Bais Ya'akov for girls, which was maintained by the organization Agudat Israel. The city boasted around 50 synagogues and prayer houses, represented various different religious and professional groups. From 1929 until 1939 the community was led by Rabbi Zalman Sorotskin. There was a Jewish hospital, as well as several social and medical organizations, some of which were helped and sponsored by Lutsk landsmanshaften (hometown societies of Jewish immigrants from the same European town or region) in the US.
By 1939 the Jewish population of Lutsk had increased to an estimated 20,000 people. After the Soviets annexed western Volhynia (1939-1941), Jewish public life in Lutsk was repressed. Jewish organizations were disbanded, and private enterprises were nationalized. Some Jewish businessmen were ordered to leave the town and some business and political leaders were arrested. In June 1940 the Soviet authorities discovered the Zionist Gordonia movement, which had begun operating underground, and imprisoned its leaders. Many who had fled to Lutsk from Nazi-occupied western Poland were deported to the Soviet interior.
THE HOLOCAUST
When the German-Soviet War broke out on June 22, 1941 many young Jews left with the retreating Soviet forces. The city fell to the Germans on June 25. The next day the city's residents carried out a pogrom against the Jews of Lutsk. During the rest June and in July, at least 3,300 Jews were shot and killed by the Nazis; 3,000 of those were killed on July 4th by the Einsatzkommando 4a in the nearby fortress of Lubart. A labor camp was established, after which the Jews were forced to move to the ghetto on December 1941.
Jewish leaders attempted to provide relief from starvation and to control epidemics. Additionally, an orphanage, an old age home, and soup kitchens were established in the ghetto. Nonetheless, life in the ghetto was difficult, to say the least. In the spring of 1942 a group of young Jews attempted to escape from the ghetto to the forests; most of them were caught and killed by the Ukrainians. A few, however, managed to join the Soviet partisans and fought the Germans as part of the Kowpak partisan units. One of the escapees, Joel Szczerbato, became the commander of the 7th battalion of the partisans.
Meanwhile, the Germans carried out a large-scale aktion (August 19-23, 1942) in which the majority of people in the Lutsk ghetto were killed. About 17,000 Jews were led to Polanka Hill on the outskirts of the city and killed. About 500 Jews remained in the labor camp.
On December 12, 1942 the Nazis planned to destroy the labor camp and kill the remaining Jews working there. However, they were met with armed resistance from the Jews who had fortified their building and repeatedly resisted German attacks. German reinforcements and artillery were brought in, which eventually suppressed the resistance.
When the Soviets liberated Lutsk on February 2, 1944, only about 150 Jews returned to the city. In 1959 there were 600 Jews living in Lutsk. No organized Jewish life was renewed in Lutsk after the war; the synagogue was converted into a movie theater, and later into a sports hall. Housing was built where the Jewish cemetery once stood.
The US and Israel had societies of former residents of Lutsk. The Israel Lutsk Society published Sefer Lutsk in 1961, a memorial to the people and life that once existed in the city.
About 250 Jews lived in Lutsk in 1989. That year, the Volhynian Jewish Culture Society was established both for the Jews of Lutsk, as well as for the 1,000 Jews remaining in the region. In June 1990 a memorial was dedicated at the site where the mass shootings took place. A small memorial plaque was affixed to the outside wall of what was once the fortified Great Synagogue. In 1999 a building was returned to the Jewish community that had been repurposed.
After waves of immigration during the 1990s, there were 160 Jews left in Lutsk.
Polish: Luck
A city on the Styr' River, Volhynia, Ukraine
Timeline:
1320: Part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
1569-1795: District center of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1796-1920: Part of the Russian Empire
1921-1939: Provincial center of Volhynia in independent Poland
1939-1941: Occupied by the Soviets
1941-1945: Occupied by the Germans
Post-World War II: An industrial center in the Ukrainian SSR
A group of Karaites settled in the city during the 13th century, but the earliest references to Jews in Lutsk dates to 1409. In 1432 King Vladislav the Jagelonian granted the Jews rights equal to those of the Jews in Krakow and Lithuania. Though both the Jewish and Karaite communities were expelled from Lithuanian in 1495, they reestablished their respective communities in 1503. In 1552 there were 31 Jewish households, and 25 Karaite households, out of a total of 229 households in Lutsk.
Lutsk became an important political and economic center after the union of Poland and Lithuania in 1569, which benefited the city's Jews. Some were engaged in large-scale commerce, and some leased the revenue of the Lutsk customs house and the tolls from boats passing down the Styr' River. Some owned breweries and potash production plants, while others traded forest and agricultural products. Lutsk Jews participated in the fairs of Lithuania and Poland, and established their own craft guilds.
In 1576 the town became part of the Kingdom of Poland, and in 1580 the king ordered that the municipal taxes collected from the Jews should not exceed their proportionate share in the general population. The king also renewed the right of the Jews to live in Lutsk and allowed representatives of the Jewish community to attend town council meetings when the subject up for debate was taxes.
During the Chmielnicki Massacres of 1648-1649 both the Jews and the Karaites were targeted. Before the attacks there were more than 300 Jews and 100 Karaites living in Lutsk; 55 and 20 households, respectively. Afterwards there were only 29 Jewish households and 3 Karaite households remaining.
The community began to rebuild, and by 1662 the Jewish community was the second largest in the region. Jews engaged in commerce, as well as in tailoring, shoemaking, and fur dressing. A Jewish tailors' guild was founded in 1721. Nonetheless, there continued to be sporadic outbreaks of violence. There were blood libels levied against the Jews in 1696. In 1764 a Lutsk Jew chose execution over forced conversion to Christianity. Haidamack bands, paramilitary groups that carried out a number of attacks in Polish Ukraine during the 18th century, were a very real threat for the Jews in Lutsk throughout the 18th century.
The Jewish community in Lutsk participated in the regional (galil) council of Volhynia, as well as in the Councils of the Lands. Lutsk was a center for Torah study and was home to many yeshivas. Among the famous rabbis living there during the 17th and early 18th century were Moses b. Judah HaCohen (formerly of Cracow), Jacob Schor (the son of Ephraim Solomon Schor), and Joel b. Isaac Halpern, known as the Great Rabbi Joel. Part of the fortress originally built by Prince Witold was rebuilt as a stone synagogue after King Sigismund III granted permission for the Jews to construct a stone synagogue to replace the wood one that had burned down. This fortified synagogue also had watchtowers and consequently, the synagogue became part of the town's defenses and the Jews were responsible for its maintenance. From the gunmounts on the roof, Jews served as gunners during enemy attacks on the town, while underground tunnels led from the synagogue to other key buildings in the town. For centuries the synagogue building withstood both fires as well as enemy attacks.
After Lutsk became part of the Russian Empire, the Jewish population in the town grew. This was due in large part to the eviction of the Jews from villages in 1804; many of those who had been expelled came to settle in Lutsk. The community continued to grow during the 19th century, in spite of the fires that broke out relatively frequently. Additionally, beginning in 1844 Lutsk was included in the list of border town that Jews were prohibited from living in; consequently, the Jewish community in Lutsk lived under the constant threat of expulsion. Nonetheless, the community continued to grow; in 1802 there were 1,297 Jews living in Lutsk, and by the end of the century, in 1897, there were 9,468 (60% of the population).
During World War I Lutsk changed hands several times and was occupied by Russian and German troops. Under the threat of eviction, the Jews of Lutsk gave their relics to the ethnographer and Yiddish and Russian writer Sh. An-ski. Jews organized self-defense organizations to protect against pogroms; this became extremely necessary during the wave of pogroms that took place in 1919 and 1920 under the rule of Simon Petlyura.
The Jewish population grew during the 1920s. According to the official numbers, 14,800 Jews lived in Lutsk in 1921 (70% of the general population); in 1931 that number had grown to 17,366 (48.5%). In 1937, however, the population dipped to 15,880 (36.5%), possibly because during the interwar period the Jews faced a number of social and economic difficulties.
In spite of the hardships of the interwar period, the Jews took part in civic life both locally and regionally, and had their own elected representatives on the town council. A weekly newspaper, "Voliner Press," was published in the city. There were Tarbut at Kultur-lige schools, as well as a Bet Yosef yeshiva and a Bais Ya'akov for girls, which was maintained by the organization Agudat Israel. The city boasted around 50 synagogues and prayer houses, represented various different religious and professional groups. From 1929 until 1939 the community was led by Rabbi Zalman Sorotskin. There was a Jewish hospital, as well as several social and medical organizations, some of which were helped and sponsored by Lutsk landsmanshaften (hometown societies of Jewish immigrants from the same European town or region) in the US.
By 1939 the Jewish population of Lutsk had increased to an estimated 20,000 people. After the Soviets annexed western Volhynia (1939-1941), Jewish public life in Lutsk was repressed. Jewish organizations were disbanded, and private enterprises were nationalized. Some Jewish businessmen were ordered to leave the town and some business and political leaders were arrested. In June 1940 the Soviet authorities discovered the Zionist Gordonia movement, which had begun operating underground, and imprisoned its leaders. Many who had fled to Lutsk from Nazi-occupied western Poland were deported to the Soviet interior.
THE HOLOCAUST
When the German-Soviet War broke out on June 22, 1941 many young Jews left with the retreating Soviet forces. The city fell to the Germans on June 25. The next day the city's residents carried out a pogrom against the Jews of Lutsk. During the rest June and in July, at least 3,300 Jews were shot and killed by the Nazis; 3,000 of those were killed on July 4th by the Einsatzkommando 4a in the nearby fortress of Lubart. A labor camp was established, after which the Jews were forced to move to the ghetto on December 1941.
Jewish leaders attempted to provide relief from starvation and to control epidemics. Additionally, an orphanage, an old age home, and soup kitchens were established in the ghetto. Nonetheless, life in the ghetto was difficult, to say the least. In the spring of 1942 a group of young Jews attempted to escape from the ghetto to the forests; most of them were caught and killed by the Ukrainians. A few, however, managed to join the Soviet partisans and fought the Germans as part of the Kowpak partisan units. One of the escapees, Joel Szczerbato, became the commander of the 7th battalion of the partisans.
Meanwhile, the Germans carried out a large-scale aktion (August 19-23, 1942) in which the majority of people in the Lutsk ghetto were killed. About 17,000 Jews were led to Polanka Hill on the outskirts of the city and killed. About 500 Jews remained in the labor camp.
On December 12, 1942 the Nazis planned to destroy the labor camp and kill the remaining Jews working there. However, they were met with armed resistance from the Jews who had fortified their building and repeatedly resisted German attacks. German reinforcements and artillery were brought in, which eventually suppressed the resistance.
When the Soviets liberated Lutsk on February 2, 1944, only about 150 Jews returned to the city. In 1959 there were 600 Jews living in Lutsk. No organized Jewish life was renewed in Lutsk after the war; the synagogue was converted into a movie theater, and later into a sports hall. Housing was built where the Jewish cemetery once stood.
The US and Israel had societies of former residents of Lutsk. The Israel Lutsk Society published Sefer Lutsk in 1961, a memorial to the people and life that once existed in the city.
About 250 Jews lived in Lutsk in 1989. That year, the Volhynian Jewish Culture Society was established both for the Jews of Lutsk, as well as for the 1,000 Jews remaining in the region. In June 1990 a memorial was dedicated at the site where the mass shootings took place. A small memorial plaque was affixed to the outside wall of what was once the fortified Great Synagogue. In 1999 a building was returned to the Jewish community that had been repurposed.
After waves of immigration during the 1990s, there were 160 Jews left in Lutsk.