Molochansk (, ; russian: Молочанск) is a city in

Tokmak Raion Tokmak Raion ( uk, Токмацький район) was one of raions (districts) of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine. The administrative center of the region was the town of Tokmak, which did not belong to the raion and was incorporated se ...

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast ( uk, Запорі́зька о́бласть, translit=Zaporizka oblast), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запорі́жжя, links=no), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The ...

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 at around . The river

Molochna The Molochna (, russian: Моло́чная ''Molochnaya''), is a river in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of south Ukraine. Literally the name of the river translates as Milky. The river is connected with the Russian Mennonite culture, once based in th ...

flows through the city. Population: .

History

Molochansk was founded in 1804 by Plautdietsch-speaking

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

settlers who were invited by Empress

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

to settle on the vast

steppes In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grassland ...

of the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

's Russian empire. They called the new village "Halbstadt". Mennonites had earlier, in 1789, founded the

Chortitza Colony Chortitza Colony was a volost Yekaterinoslav Governorate granted to Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonite for colonization northwest of Khortytsia Island and is now part of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by Mennonite set ...

at the invitation of Catherine the Great. It was the successful founding of Chortitza that encouraged expansion into the Molochna River region. By 1850, there were over 50 Mennonite villages south and east of Molochansk/Halbstadt. Because of hostile national policies toward Mennonites in the 20th century

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 ...

, almost no Mennonites are left in the region. During Soviet rule, a large number of people lost all their possessions, left the country, or were relocated to the remote parts of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. In 2004, the 200th anniversary of Molochansk/Halbstadt was celebrated with worldwide distinguished guests in attendance. Canada's ambassador to Ukraine was present at this gala event.

Gallery

File:Molochans'k Mlyn Vilyamsa 01 (YDS 8660).JPG, Heinrich H Willms Mill File:Molochans'k Palats Shredera 01 R.Luksemburg (YDS 8711).JPG, Heinrich H Willms Residence in Molochansk File:Molochans'k Zhinocha Gimnaziya 02 R.Luksemburg 17a (YDS 8698).JPG, Mädchenschule (Girls' School), presently the Mennonite Centre

References

External links

The murder of the Jews of Molochansk
during

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. 1800s establishments in Ukraine Cities in Zaporizhzhia Oblast Cities of district significance in Ukraine Former German settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast Holocaust locations in Ukraine Populated places established in 1803 Populated places established in the Russian Empire {{Zaporizhzhia-geo-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links