Berdychiv ( uk, Берди́чів, ; pl, Berdyczów; yi, באַרדיטשעװ, Barditshev; russian: Берди́чев, Berdichev) is a historic city in the
Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obla ...
(
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
) of northern
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Serving as the
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...
of the
Berdychiv Raion
Berdychiv Raion ( uk, Бердичівський район) is a Raions of Ukraine, raion (district) of Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at Berdychiv. The raion is located in the southern part of the oblast; ...
(
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
), the city itself is of direct oblast subordinance, and does not belong to the district. It is south of the oblast capital,
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...
. Its population is approximately .
History
The territory on which the city is located was inhabited as early as the 2nd millennium BC.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
settlements and the remains of two settlements of the
Chernyakhov culture
The Chernyakhov culture, Cherniakhiv culture or Sântana de Mureș—Chernyakhov culture was an archaeological culture that flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what is now Ukraine, Rom ...
were discovered here.
In 1430, Grand Duke of Lithuania
Vytautas
Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...
(великий князь литовський Вітовт) granted the rights over the area to Kalinik, the procurator (намісник) of
Putyvl
Putyvl′Frank SysynBetween Poland and the Ukraine: The Dilemma of Adam Kysil, 1600-1653 - P. 25. (, ) or Putivl′ ( rus, Пути́вль, p=pʊˈtʲivlʲ) is a city in north-east Ukraine, in Sumy Oblast. The city served as the administrative c ...
and Zvenigorod, and it is believed that his servant named Berdich founded a ''
khutor
A khutor ( rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir ( uk, хутiр, pl. , ''khutory'') is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single-homestead settlement. '' (remote settlement) there. However the
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
of the name ''Berdychiv'' is not known.
In 1483,
Crimean Tatars destroyed the settlement. During the 1546 partition between Lithuania and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, the region was listed as a property of Lithuanian magnate (
Tyszkiewicz
Tyszkiewicz is the name of the Tyszkiewicz family, a Polish–Lithuanian magnate noble family of Ruthenian origin. The Lithuanian equivalent is Tiškevičius; it is frequently transliterated from Russian and Belarusian as Tyshkevich.
Other peopl ...
). According to the
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the pe ...
(1569),
Volhynia
Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...
formed a province of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
.
The fortified
Carmelite
, image =
, caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites
, abbreviation = OCarm
, formation = Late 12th century
, founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel
, founding_location = Mount Car ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
(built from 1627 to 1642 with funding from
Janusz Tyszkiewicz Łohojski
Janusz Tyszkiewicz Łohojski of Leliwa (lit. Janusz Tyszkiewicz of Łohojsk;A toponimic name coined to distinguish his branch of the Tyszkiewicz family from other branches. Hence he is also sometimes referred to as ''Janusz z Łohojska Tyszkiewic ...
), captured and plundered by
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...
in 1647, was dissolved in 1864.
In 1764,
Kazimierz Pulaski
Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski of the Ślepowron coat of arms (; ''Casimir Pulaski'' ; March 4 or March 6, 1745 Makarewicz, 1998 October 11, 1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called, tog ...
defended the city with his 700 men surrounded by royal army during
Bar Confederation
The Bar Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now part of Ukraine) in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish ...
.
The town underwent rapid development after king
Stanisław August Poniatowski
Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...
, under pressure from the powerful
Radziwiłł family
The House of Radziwiłł (; lt, Radvila; be, Радзівіл, Radzivił; german: link=no, Radziwill) is a powerful magnate family originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later also prominent in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.
...
, granted it the unusual right to organize ten
fair
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
s a year. This made Berdychiv one of the most important trading and banking centers in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and later, the Russian Empire. At the time, the saying "Pisz na Berdyczów!" ('Send letters to Berdychiv!') had an
idiomatic
Idiom, also called idiomaticness or idiomaticity, is the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language. Idiom is the realized structure of a language, as opposed to possible but unrealized structures that could have develope ...
meaning; because merchants from all over Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and the rest of eastern and central Europe were sure to visit the town within two or three months of each other, it became a central
poste restante
''Poste restante'' (, "remainder post"), also known as general delivery in North American English, is a service where the post office holds the mail until the recipient calls for it. It is a common destination for mail for people who are visiting ...
(post office box) of the region. Later, because of the phrase being used in a popular poem by
Juliusz Słowacki
Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of mode ...
, "Pisz na Berdyczów!" acquired a second meaning as a brush-off; "send me a letter to nowhere" or "leave me alone".
In 1793, after
the second division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the annexation of Right-Bank Ukraine to Russia, Berdychiv became part of the Volyn Province as a town of
Zhitomirsky Uyezd Zhitomirsky Uyezd (''Житомирский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Volhynian Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Zhytomyr.
Demographic ...
. In 1798, it had 864 houses and 4820 people. The town was the administrative centre of the
Berdichevsky Uyezd
Berdichevsky Uyezd (''Бердичевский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the western part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Berdichev (Berdychiv).
Dem ...
, a part of the
Kyiv Governorate
Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...
(1796–1925).
The banking industry was moved from Berdychiv to
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
(a major port city) after 1850, and the town became impoverished again in a short period of time.
In 1846, the town had 1893 buildings, 69 of which were brick-made, 11 streets, 80 alleys, and four squares.
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
visited it in 1850 and noted that its unplanned development made it resemble the dance of a
polka
Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.
History
Etymology
The term ...
as some buildings leaned left while others leaned right. In 1857, Polish-British writer
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...
, regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
, was born in Berdychiv.
Jewish history
![Berditchever tzion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Berditchever_tzion.JPG)
According to the census of 1789, Jews constituted 75% of Berdychiv's population (1,951 out of 2,640, of whom 246 were liquor dealers, 452 houseowners, 134 merchants, 188 artisans, 150 clerks and 56 idlers). In 1797, Prince
Radziwill granted seven Jewish families the monopoly
privilege of the cloth trade in the town. Jews were a major driving force of the town's commerce in the first half of the 19th century, founding a number of trading companies (some traded internationally) and banking establishments, and serving as agents of the neighboring estates of Polish nobility (
szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
).
By the end of the 18th century, Berdychiv became an important center of
Hasidism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
. As the town grew, a number of noted scholars served as rabbis there, including Lieber the Great, Joseph the Harif and the
Tzadik
Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (Levi Yitzchok Derbarmdiger (compassionate in Yiddish) or Rosakov) (1740–1809), also known as the holy Berdichever, and the Kedushas Levi, was a Hasidic master and Jewish leader. He was the rabbi of Ryczywół, Żel ...
(the author of ''Kedushat Levi''), who lived and taught there until his death in 1809. See also
Berditchev (Hasidic dynasty)
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (Levi Yitzchok Derbarmdiger (compassionate in Yiddish) or Rosakov) (1740–1809), also known as the holy Berdichever, and the Kedushas Levi, was a Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic master and Jewish leader. He was the rabbi of ...
.
Berdychiv was also one of the centers of the conflict between Hasidim and
Mitnagdim
''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged''/''mitnaged'') was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ''Misna ...
. As the ideas of
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
influenced parts of the Jewish communities, a large group of
Maskilim
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
formed in Berdychiv in the 1820s.
In 1847, 23,160 Jews resided in Berdychiv and by 1861 the number doubled to 46,683. Berdychiv became the city with the largest share of Jewish population in Ukraine and the Russian Empire. The
May Laws
Temporary regulations regarding the Jews (also known as May Laws) were proposed by the minister of internal affairs Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev and enacted on 15 May (3 May O.S.), 1882, by Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Originally, regulations of ...
of 1882 and other government persecutions affected Jewish population and in 1897, out of the town's population of 53,728, 41,617 (about 80%) were Jewish.
58% of Jewish males and 32% of Jewish females were literate.
Around the turn of the 20th century, Berdychiv counted some 80 synagogues and ''
batei midrash'',
[Lukin, Benyamin (15 July 2010). "Berdychiv." '']The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' is a two-volume, English-language reference work on the history and culture of Eastern Europe Jewry in this region, prepared by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and published by Yale Uni ...
''. "During the 1920s and 1930s, almost all of the synagogues and prayer houses (about 80) were closed." Retrieved 11 April 2020. and was famous for its cantors.
Until
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the natural growth was balanced by the emigration. After the bourgeois-democratic
February revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
, during the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
and
Ukrainian War of Independence
The Ukrainian War of Independence was a series of conflicts involving many adversaries that lasted from 1917 to 1921 and resulted in the establishment and development of a Ukrainian republic, most of which was later absorbed into the Soviet U ...
, in 1918–19, Berdychiv's mayor and chairman of its Jewish community was the
Bundist leader
David Petrovsky (Lipetz). As mayor he managed to prevent a planned multi-day pogrom in Berdychiv by
haidamaks
The haidamakas, also haidamaky or haidamaks (singular ''haidamaka'', ua, Гайдамаки, ''Haidamaky'') were Ukrainian paramilitary outfits composed of commoners (peasants, craftsmen), and impoverished noblemen in the eastern part of the ...
from the , thus saving thousands of lives.
In the 1920s, the
Yiddish language
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
was officially recognized and, beginning in 1924, the city had a Ukrainian court of law that conducted its affairs in Yiddish. In 1923, Berdychiv became the center of the district and district of the same name, and in 1937 it entered the Zhytomyr region.
The Soviet authorities closed most of the town's synagogues by the 1930s.
All remaining Jewish cultural and educational institutions were suspended in the second half of the 1930s, before the beginning of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
[Lukin, Benyamin (15 July 2010). "Berdychiv." '']The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' is a two-volume, English-language reference work on the history and culture of Eastern Europe Jewry in this region, prepared by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and published by Yale Uni ...
''. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
Nazi massacre
Most civilians from areas near the border did not have a chance to evacuate when the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s began their invasion on 22 June 1941. Berdychiv was occupied by the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
from
7 July 1941 to
5 January 1944. An "extermination" German SS unit was established in Berdychiv in early July 1941 and a Jewish
ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
was set up. It was stated in one of the
Einsatzgruppen reports
The ''Einsatzgruppen'' Operational Situation Reports (OSRs), or ERM for the german: Die Ereignismeldung UdSSR (plural: ''Ereignismeldungen''), were dispatches of the Nazi death squads ('' Einsatzgruppen''), which documented the progress of the H ...
that on "Sept. 1, and 2, 1941, leaflets and inflammatory pamphlets were distributed by Jews in Berdychiv. As the perpetrators could not be found, 1,303 Jews, among them 875 Jewesses over 12 years, were executed by a unit of the Higher SS and Police Leaders". The ghetto was liquidated on 5 October 1941, when all the inhabitants were murdered. Eyewitnesses stated that Ukrainian auxiliary police aided the 25-member shooting squad in corralling Jews into the ghetto, policing it, and killing those who attempted to escape. One witness to a mass killing of Jews in Berdychiv said, "They had to wear their festivity-dresses. Then their clothes and valuables were taken. The pits were dug and filled in by war prisoners who were executed shortly after."
The Nazis likely killed 20,000 to 30,000 Jews in Berdychiv, but a 1973 Ukrainian-language article about the history of Berdychiv says, "The
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
killed 38,536 people." ( uk, "Гестапівці стратили 38 536 чоловік.")
Berdychiv was the hometown of Soviet novelist
Vasily Grossman
Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (russian: Васи́лий Семёнович Гро́ссман; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist.
Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, then pa ...
, who worked as a war correspondent. Grossman's mother was murdered in the massacre. He wrote a detailed description of the events for publication in ''
The Black Book
Black Book, Black book or Blackbook may refer to:
Film
* ''Black Book'' (film), a 2006 Dutch thriller film by director Paul Verhoeven
** ''Black Book'' (soundtrack), soundtrack of the 2006 film
* ''The Black Book'' (serial), a 1929 American ...
'', edited by Grossman and
Ilya Ehrenburg
Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (russian: link=no, Илья́ Григо́рьевич Эренбу́рг, ; – August 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer, revolutionary, journalist and historian.
Ehrenburg was among the most prolific and notable autho ...
, which dealt with the German treatment of
Soviet Jews
The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "For ...
in the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Originally meant for publication in the Soviet Union, it was banned there; one volume was eventually published in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
in 1947. The original manuscript is in the archive of
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
, Jerusalem.
A detailed account of the massacre as told by the narrator's mother appears in a fictionalized context in Grossman's novel ''
Life and Fate
''Life and Fate'' (russian: Жизнь и судьба) is a novel by Vasily Grossman, written in the Soviet Union in 1959 and published in 1980. Technically, it is the second half of the author's conceived two-part book under the same title. Alt ...
'', which is widely available in an English translation by
Robert Chandler.
Russia invasion of Ukraine
On March 16, 2022, Berdychiv was damaged by Russian air strikes. A few buildings were torn down.
Demographics
Notable residents
Alphabetically by surname. Pseudonyms treated as one word.
*
Jacob Pavlovitch Adler
Jacob Pavlovich Adler (Yiddish: יעקבֿ פּאַװלאָװיטש אַדלער; born Yankev P. Adler; February 12, 1855 – April 1, 1926)IMDB biography was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and ...
(birthplace of his mother, Hessye Halperin)
*
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
(married in Berdychiv)
*
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...
(1857–1924), Polish and British writer
*
John Demjanjuk
John Demjanjuk (born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk; uk, Іван Миколайович Дем'янюк; 3 April 1920 – 17 March 2012) was a Ukrainian-American who served as a Trawniki man and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp, M ...
(born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk; 1920–2012), Ukrainian-American accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out while serving as a guard at Nazi extermination camps during World War II
*
Der Nister
Der Nister ( yi, דער נסתּר ֹor דער ניסטער, "the Hidden One"; 1 November 1884 – 4 June 1950 in a Soviet Gulag) was the pseudonym of Pinchus Kahanovich ( yi, פּנחס קאַהאַנאָוויטש), a Yiddish author, philoso ...
, pen name of Pinchus Kahanovich (1884–1950), Yiddish author, philosopher, translator, and critic
* Charles Joachim Ephrussi, the patriarch of the
Ephrussi family
The Ephrussi family () is a Ukrainian Jewish banking and oil dynasty. The family's bank and properties were seized by the Nazi authorities after the 1938 "Anschluss", the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.
History
The progenitor, Charles J ...
grain dynasty
*
Lipa Feingold
Lipa Feingold ( yi, ליפּא פײנגאָלד, 1878–1945) was a Russian Empire, Russian-born American songwriter, pianist, composer, and jeweler. The peak of his popularity as a composer was in the 1920s and 1930s; his pieces were performed by ...
(1878–1945), American jeweler and composer
*
Abraham Firkovich
Abraham (Avraham) ben Samuel Firkovich (Hebrew אברהם בן שמואל - ''Avraham ben Shmuel''; Karayce: Аврагъам Фиркович - ''Avragham Firkovich'') (Sept. 27, 1786–June 7, 1874) was a famous Karaite writer and archaeologi ...
,
Karaite hakham
*
Abraham Goldfaden
Abraham Goldfaden (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם גאָלדפֿאַדען; born Avrum Goldnfoden; 24 July 1840 – 9 January 1908), also known as Avram Goldfaden, was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yid ...
(1840–1908), considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre
*
Israel Grodner
Israel (Yisrol) Grodner ( yi, ישראל גראָדנער; ca. 1848 – 1887) was one of the founding performers in Yiddish theater. A Lithuanian Jew who moved at the age of 16 to Berdychiv, Ukraine, Russian Empire, the Broder singer and actor ...
(1887), one of the founding performers in Yiddish theater
*
Vasily Grossman
Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (russian: Васи́лий Семёнович Гро́ссман; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist.
Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, then pa ...
(1905–1964), Soviet Russian writer and journalist
*
Felix Lembersky
Felix Samoilovich Lembersky (russian: link=no, Феликс Самойлович Лемберский) (November 11, 1913 – December 2, 1970) was a Ukrainian/Soviet painter, artist, teacher, theater stage designer and an organizer of artis ...
, fine arts, painter (1913–1970), born and raised in Berdychiv, worked as theater stage designer
*
Raquel Liberman
Raquel Liberman (10 July 1900 – 7 April 1935) was a Polish immigrant to Argentina, a victim of human trafficking. Her denouncement of her traffickers led to the breaking up of the Jewish human-trafficking network from Poland, Zwi Migdal, which ...
(1900–35), Jewish-Polish victim of
human trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
who broke up the notorious
Zwi Migdal
Zwi Migdal ( yi, צבי מגדל, Polish: Cwi Migdał) was an organized-crime group by Polish Jewish individuals, founded in Poland and based mainly in Argentina, that trafficked in Jewish women from Central Europe for sexual slavery and forced ...
forced-prostitution ring in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
*
Osip Mikhailovich Lerner Osip Mikhailovich Lerner (13 January 1847 – 23 January 1907), also known as Y. Y. (Yosef Yehuda) Lerner, was a 19th-century Russian Jewish intellectual, writer, and critic. Originally a ''maskil''—a propagator of the ''Has ...
(Y. Y. Lerner), writer, critic, and folklorist
*
Mendele Mocher Sforim
Mendele Mocher Sforim ( yi, , he, מנדלי מוכר ספרים, also known as Moykher, Sfarim; lit. "Mendele the book peddler"; January 2, 1836, Kapyl – December 8, 1917 .S. Odessa), born Sholem Yankev Abramovich ( yi, , russian: Сол ...
, pen name of Sholem Yankev Abramovich, Jewish author and one of the founders of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature
*
Pedotser
Pedotser ( yi, פדהצור or , 1828–1902), also pronounced Pedutser in some Yiddish dialects, was the popular name of Aron-Moyshe Kholodenko, a nineteenth century Klezmer violin virtuoso, composer and bandeader from Berdychiv, Russian Empire. H ...
, whose real name was A.M. Kholodenko (1828-1902), a
Klezmer
Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...
violin virtuoso
*
Antoni Protazy Potocki
Antoni Protazy Potocki (11 September 1761 – 1801), aka Prot, was a Polish nobleman and an early entrepreneur. He was born to Paula née Szembek and her second husband, Count Jan Prosper Potocki, Starosta of Guzów. He was a younger half-brothe ...
, szlachta (owned and organized several factories in the village of Makhnivka, near Berdychiv)
*
Anatoliy Puzach
Anatoliy Kyrylovych (or Anatoli Kirillovich) Puzach ( uk, Анатолій Кирилович Пузач, russian: Анатолий Кириллович Пузач; 3 June 1941 – 19 March 2006) was a Ukrainian football player and coach.
Earl ...
(1941–2006), Soviet football player and Ukrainian coach
*
David Petrovsky (1886–1937) — the mayor of the city and the chairman of the Jewish community of Berdychiv in 1918–1919, a member of the Central Committee of the
, a member of the Central Committee of the
Jewish Socialist Federation
The Jewish Socialist Federation (JSF) was a secular Jewish Yiddish-oriented organization founded in 1912 which acted as a language federation in the Socialist Party of America (SPA). Many of the founding members of the JSF had previously been memb ...
and the
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
, the editor of the ''
Jewish Daily Forward
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a American Jews, Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialis ...
'' newspaper in New York, journalist, political and economic scientist, the statesman of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
*
Sholem Aleichem
)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = New York City, U.S.
, occupation = Writer
, nationality =
, period =
, genre = Novels, sh ...
, pen name of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich (1859–1916), leading Yiddish author and playwright, lived here doing research for his novels in the 1880s
*
Boris Sidis
Boris Sidis (; October 12, 1867 – October 24, 1923) was a Ukrainian-American psychologist, physician, psychiatrist, and philosopher of education. Sidis founded the New York State Psychopathic Institute and the ''Journal of Abnormal Psycholo ...
(1867–1923), Ukrainian American psychologist, physician, psychiatrist, and philosopher of education
*
Valeriy Skvortsov
Valeriy Sergeyevich Skvortsov (russian: Валерий Скворцов; (31 May 1945 – 24 September 2021) was a high jumper who represented the USSR in the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics.
Skvortsov was first noticed by Soviet high jump coa ...
(1945–) Soviet high jumper; European champion
*
Stempenyu
Stempenyu ( yi, סטעמפּעניו, 1822–79) was the popular name of Iosif Druker (), a klezmer violin virtuoso, bandleader and composer from Berdychiv, Russian Empire. He was one of a handful of celebrity nineteenth century Jewish folk violin ...
, stage name of Iosef Druker (1822–79), a klezmer violin virtuoso and bandleader
*
Dmytro Tymchuk
Dmytro Borysovych Tymchuk ( uk, Дмитро́ Бори́сович Тимчу́к; 27 June 1972 – 19 June 2019) was a member of parliament of Ukraine, a Ukrainian military expert and blogger, an officer of the Ukrainian military reserve (''Lie ...
(1972–2019) Ukrainian Army Reserve colonel, ''"informatsiinyi sprotyv"'' group coordinator
*
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (Levi Yitzchok Derbarmdiger (compassionate in Yiddish) or Rosakov) (1740–1809), also known as the holy Berdichever, and the Kedushas Levi, was a Hasidic master and Jewish leader. He was the rabbi of Ryczywół, Żel ...
(''Levi Yosef Yitzhak of Berdichev''; 1740–1809), Torah commentator, chassidic rabbi, leader, religious songwriter, and leader of the
Berditchev
Berdychiv ( uk, Берди́чів, ; pl, Berdyczów; yi, באַרדיטשעװ, Barditshev; russian: Берди́чев, Berdichev) is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center ...
Hasidic dynasty
A Hasidic dynasty is a dynasty led by Hasidic Jewish spiritual leaders known as rebbes, and usually has some or all of the following characteristics:
* Each leader of the dynasty is often known as an ''ADMOR'' (abbreviation for '' ADoneinu MOreinu ...
.
Some sources erroneously claim that the pianist
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz; yi, וולאַדימיר סאַמוילאָוויטש האָראָוויץ, group=n (November 5, 1989)Schonberg, 1992 was a Russian-born American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all ...
was born in Berdychiv. Horowitz's birth certificate unequivocally gives Kyiv as his birthplace.
Gallery
File:18-104-0005 Evropeyska 25.jpg, Church of St. Barbara
File:Berdychiw Karmelity Fronton dp.jpg, Carmelite monastery
File:18-104-0036 Berdychiv Monastery RB.jpg, Carmelite monastery
File:Житловий будинок. м. Бердичів.JPG, A dwelling house in Berdychiv
File:Комерційне училище (у минулому), нині педагогічний кледж.jpg, Former commercial college
File:Berdyczow Szewczenka 14 SAM 3966.JPG, Former hospital building
File:Особняк В. С. Гроссмана (photo by Karpenko Y).JPG, Grossman's Mansion, Berdychiv
File:Бердичів. Загребельна синагога (13).jpg, Synagogue
File:Berdyczow Nikolska church SAM 3958.JPG, Nikolska Church
Berdychiv on stage
:''See:
Abraham Ellstein
Abraham "Abe" Ellstein ( yi, אַבֿרהם עלשטײן, , July 7, 1907 – March 22, 1963) was an American composer for Yiddish entertainments. Along with Shalom Secunda, Joseph Rumshinsky, and Alexander Olshanetsky, Ellstein was one of the "b ...
''
See also
*
History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union
The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "For ...
*
Berdichev machine-building plant
Berdychiv Machine-Building Plant (also known as the Progress Plant) is a machine building enterprise in the town of Berdychiv, in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine (not to be confused with "Berdychiv machine-building plant "Progress" Ltd. located in K ...
References
Further reading
* ''From Berdichev to Jerusalem'' by
Miriam Sperber
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The Tora ...
, 1980
* ''The Bones of Berdichev: The Life and Fate of
Vasily Grossman
Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (russian: Васи́лий Семёнович Гро́ссман; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist.
Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, then pa ...
'' by John Garrand, 1996
External links
"My Berdychiv" – history, present, people(in
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...
)
Jewish History of Berdichev, Part 1an
at Jewishgen.org
at
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...
Berdychiv lands from the earliest times to the beginning of the 20th century(1999, in
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...
: ''Бердичівська земля з найдавнішших часів до початку ХХ ст.'')
PBS ''Independent Lens'': "Berdichev"
The murder of the Jews of Berdychivduring
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, at
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
website
*
{{Authority control
Cities in Zhytomyr Oblast
Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
Berdychiv Raion
Berdichevsky Uyezd
Kiev Voivodeship
Populated places established in the 1430s
Jewish Ukrainian history
Shtetls
Holocaust locations in Ukraine
Mass murder in 1941