Chernovtsy, Ukraine

 

General

    The Chernovtsy (Czernowitz) was under Austrian rule from 1775-1918, an Rumanian rule from 1918-1940 and 1941-1944.  At the time the Soviet army evacuated the city on June 30, 1941, the Jewish population was 50,000 (about 60% of the total population).  On July 5, units of the German and Rumanian armies entered the city, and the murder of Jews began immediately.  In October, 1941, deportations began by the Rumanians to Transnistria.  By November 15, 1941, about 30,000 Jews had been deported.  In 1970, the Jewish population was estimated at 70,000.  Today, the Jewish population is about 12,000.

    Depicted in the postcard below is the Temple of Chernovotsy.  This synagogue was strongly influenced by the style of the Berlin Oranienburgerstrasse synagogue, which when completed in 1866, was the largest synagogue in the world.  The synagogue was closed in 1940 when the region became part of the Soviet Union as a result of the pact between Germany and the Soviet Union.  In 1941, the synagogue was blown up by the Nazis.  In 1959, the remains were destroyed to make way for a theater. 

 

References

Encyclopedia Judaica, CD Rom Edition, Keter Publishing

Gutman, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, P. 287-88

Copyright © 1998-99 Edward Victor