Iza ( uk, Іза; rue, Иза; he, איזה; german: Isa; russian: Иза) is a village in the
Khust Raion
Khust Raion ( uk, Хустський район, hu, Huszti járás) is a raion in Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Khust, which does not belong to the district and is incorporated separately as a city of oblas ...
of
Zakarpattia Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
in western
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 ...
. It is located between two mountain ranges, on the left bank of the river, 5 km from the
Khust
Khust ( uk, Хуст; hu, Huszt) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. It is near the сonfluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. Serving as the administrative center of Khust Raion (district), ...
city center and railway station. The population is 5,800 (2018).
History
Two burial mounds located on the outskirts of Iza indicate the settelement of the region since 1st millennium BC. The first group of mounds is located to the right of the road to
Lypcha, the second is to the northeast, closer to the village. The burial grounds were investigated by the Zatlukal brothers in 1939-1940, M. Y. Smishko in 1948-1949 and V. H. Kotyhoroshko in 1975-1976. The burial culture of Carpathian mounds of the 1st - 4th centuries AD has been investigated.
The first written references to Iza date back to 1387. The legend relates the name of the village to the name of the first settler called Isaiah - a name that became later common in the area.
In the 1600's the inhabitants of Iza were serfs of the Khust dominion, and then the feudal lords of the Sigmunds. The population was mainly engaged in agriculture - they sowed rye, barley, wheat, and oats. Livestock also developed. In addition, fishing and hunting were common here. There was a abundance of fish in the rivers
Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza be ...
and
Rika, and game in the adjacent forests. The serfs paid monetary and natural repayments, and also practiced serfdom. They gave the dominion one-ninth of the crop, one-tenth of the cattle, a certain number of chickens, eggs, geese, and a set sum of money. They also kept the dominion's cattle during the winter. The inhabitants of Iza took part in the peasant war of 1514 under the direction of
György Dózsa
György Dózsa (or ''György Székely'',appears as "Georgius Zekel" in old texts ro, Gheorghe Doja; 1470 – 20 July 1514) was a Székely man-at-arms (and by some accounts, a nobleman) from Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary who led a peasa ...
. In 1646, a union was introduced here.
Ukrainian writer-polemicist
Mykhailo Andrella lived in Iza. He died and was buried in the village. In 1768 there were 79 peasant farms in Iza. The size of the serfdom was not limited in any way: the peasants worked at home one week, and in the serfdom in favor of the landowner the next. Particularly difficult was the work for the landlords during the harvest. In 1786, more than a third of Iza's population died during the famine.
In 1830, 1198 people lived in the village. As a result of the revolution of 1848-1849, serfdom was abolished.
In the early twentieth century, Iza was a large village of Maramureș County. Whereas in 1873 there were 365 dwellings and 1,707 inhabitants, in 1900 there were 519 dwellings and 2,505 inhabitants. Of the total population of 2,248 people, (90 percent) were Ukrainians, 219 were Germans, 36 were Hungarians, and 42 were Romanians. 7,706 cadastral holdings of land were attributed to the village.
Since 1899 an elementary school has been operating in Iza. It was taught in Hungarian. In the 1908-1909 school year, two teachers taught 120 students at the school. In 1900, only 433 residents were able to read and write. Ivan Rakovsky, who lived in the village from 1859 to 1885, opposed the policy of national oppression of the Ukrainian population. He came here from
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, where he was the editor of several Russian periodicals. He died in Iza, where he was buried.
After the collapse of the Austrian Empire in 1918, the village was occupied by Hungary, Romania (late April 1919), and in September Czechoslovakia was established in the region.
In the 1920s-1930s, the village began to engage in carpentry and weaving. Izan carpenters were known far beyond the village. A small part of the inhabitants worked with carriages. The rural population was paid to the rich with a meager payment.
Ukrainian elementary schools have been operating in Iza since 1919, while the Czech ones have been operating since the beginning of the 1930s. In 1938, 300 pupils were enrolled in both primary schools, and 14 teachers were employed. There was a library and a reading room. In 1939, there were 3,631 people living in the village, and there were 761 dwellings. Jews probably settled in Iza in the first half of the 18th century.
It has been historically an ethnically
Rusyn
Rusyn may refer to:
* Rusyns, Rusyn people, an East Slavic people
** Pannonian Rusyns, Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people
** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
* Rusyn l ...
village. During the time that the area was part of the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
, the village was located in the district of Dolha of
Máramaros County
Máramaros County (german: Komitat Maramuresch; hu, Máramaros vármegye; la, Comitatus Maramarosiensis; ro, Comitatul Maramureș; rue, Комітат Марамарош; uk, Kомітат Мармарош; ) was an administrative county (c ...
.
World War Two
From March 15, 1939, the village was part of the
Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine or Carpathian Ukraine ( uk, Карпа́тська Украї́на, Karpats’ka Ukrayina, ) was an autonomous region within the Second Czechoslovak Republic, created in December 1938 by renaming Subcarpathian Rus' whose full ...
, but already on March 18, Hungarian troops occupied Iza. A ghetto was built near the village.
With the Hungarian occupation of Iza in March, 1939, Jews were persecuted and pushed out of their occupations. In 1940-41, dozens of Jews from Iza were drafted into forced labor battalions and others were drafted for service on the Eastern front, where most died.
In 1941, a few Jewish families without Hungarian citizenship were expelled to Nazi-occupied Ukrainian territory to
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...
, and were murdered there.
The remaining Jews of Iza were deported to Auschwitz in late May, 1944.
Wickerwork and baskets
At the end of the 19th century, residents began weaving baskets from vines. One of the early weavers was named Ivan Kashko.
He taught this craft to his two sons, and then a few more residents of the village began to engage in it. They sold their wares at the market in Khust and other cities. In the years 1909-1910 many of the landless residents of Iza were engaged in basket weaving. Over time, this became the main craft of many of the residents of Iza. After the vine is harvested, it is cut, boiled, cleaned, dried, and dyed. The residents of Iza weave baskets of different shapes and sizes, and they also weave chairs, cabinets, chairs, tables, plates, and coasters. This tradition continues today, as Iza is known for high-quality wickerwork and baskets. On July 6, 2022, the tradition of vine weaving in Iza village was inscribed in the National Inventory of Elements of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine Intangible cultural heritage (Ukrainian: Нематеріальна культурна спадщина) are elements of the cultural heritage of Ukraine which are abstract and must be learned, encompassing traditional knowledge including festival ...
.
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...
, son of
Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that " ...
, mentioned in his book that on veranda of his father were wicker pieces of furniture from Iza, Austria-Hungary.
Economy
Iza is known for the handmade baskets sold in the village. There is also a farm where spotted
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
are raised.
References
*
{{Authority control
Villages in Khust Raion
Carpatho-Ukraine
Holocaust locations in Ukraine