Sharhorod (, ) is a small

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located within the

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast (, ), also referred to as Vinnychchyna (), is an oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in central Ukraine. Its capital city, administrative center is Vinnytsia. The oblast has a population of History Vinnytsia Oblast, first established on ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It served as the administrative center of the former Sharhorod Raion until its dissolution in 2020. Population: Sharhorod also has a number of foreign names, such as , , and .

History

Early history

Sharhorod was founded in 1585 by

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

chancellor and hetman,

Jan Zamoyski Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (; 19 March 1542 – 3 June 1605) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, statesman and the 1st '' ordynat'' of Zamość. He served as the Royal Secretary from 1565, Deputy Chancellor from 1576, Grand Chancellor of the Crown f ...

as a fortress. It was located very close to the border with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Jan Zamoyski was known for establishing the Zamoyski family entail. Sharhorod received city rights under

Magdeburg law Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

in 1588. Zamoyski later was heavily involved in neighboring " Moldavian Ventures" and Sharhorod is located relatively close to

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

. In the seventeenth century, because of its location along wine and cattle trading routes, Sharhorod emerged as one of the largest towns in

Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

. The Turks occupied Sharhorod between 1672 and 1699, when the town was called "Little Istanbul". During that time, the

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

was converted into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

. In the nineteenth century, the town became a center of Jewish

Hasidism Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...

. Rabbi

Jacob Joseph of Polonne Jacob Joseph of Polonne, (1710–1784, ), or Yaakov Yosef of Pollonye, was a rabbi who was one of the first disciples of the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the Baal Shem Tov. Biography Yaakov Yosef had been an adherent of the school of Lurianic Kabba ...

fled to Raşcov as a result of being exiled from Sharhorod. Having been the rabbi of Sharhorod for several years, Rabbi Jacob Joseph was expelled from his position on a Friday afternoon in 1748. In several of his ''responsa'', which he wrote in Raşcov, he reveals the suffering which he had undergone. He would later leave Raşcov after being appointed rabbi in Nemirov, a center of

, where he practiced daily fasting for five years, until the Besht came upon him. From 1776 to 1792, the 7th Polish National Cavalry Brigade was garrisoned in Szarogród. Sharhorod was briefly described in a book titled: "Geographic Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and other Slavic places," published in Warsaw in Poland.

World War II

In 1939, 1,660 Jews lived in Sharhorod, making up three quarters of the population. On July 22, 1941, German troops occupied Sharhorod. The soldiers harassed Jews and looted their property. Jews were forced to pay taxes and wear an armband with a Jewish star. In the fall of 1941, Sharhorod became part of the newly established Romanian "

Transnistria Governorate The Transnistria Governorate () was a Romanian-administered territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. A Romanian civilian administration governed the territo ...

" Five thousand Jews were deported from

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

and

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

to Sharhorod. Compared to other ghettos in

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

, living conditions were tolerable despite

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

: there was a bakery, a soup kitchen for the poor, and a functioning administration; even the large synagogue was reopened. Many of the Jews in this ghetto died of disease, around 1,450 from a typhus epidemic in early 1942, or were deported to

labor camps A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

, leaving only about 3,000 Jews alive in 1943.

Religious buildings

Orthodox

There is the St. Nicolas Orthodox Monastery, which was founded in Shargorod in 1719, initially constructed in 1782, and finally built in 1806–1818.

Catholic

There is the St. Florian Catholic Cathedral, which was opened in Shargorod on November 3, 1525.

Jewish

There is the

Synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, which was built in Shargorod in 1589.

Culture

The international modern arts festival "Art-City: Shargorod" is conducted in Shargorod. Professional painters, amateur painters, art collectors and tourists from various countries like to attend the international modern arts festival "Art-City: Shargorod".

Transportation

Railway transportation

The name of nearest railway station is the Yaroshenka railway station. The distance to the nearest railway station is 28 km.

Automobile transportation

There is a bus station downtown. The distance to Zmerynka is 37 km. The distance to

Bar, Ukraine Bar ( ; ; ) is a city located on the Riv River in Vinnytsia Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located in the historic region of Podolia. It served as the administrative center of the former Bar Raion until 2020. The city's estimated population is 1 ...

is around 60 km. The distance to

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; , ) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative centre, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also s ...

is 80.8 km. The distance to

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

is 330 km.

Notable people

, a Ukrainian rabbi and one of the first and most dedicated of the disciples of the founder of Chassidut, the Holy

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

Gallery

File:Костьол Святого Флоріана Шарого P1530501.jpg, St. Florian Catholic church File:Синагога в Шаргороді.jpg, Synagogue File:Schar1.jpg, Historic image of Sharhorod

References

External links

Sharhorod Fortress screened from a drone
{{Authority control Cities in Vinnytsia Oblast Cities of district significance in Ukraine Mogilyovsky Uyezd (Podolian Governorate) Historic Jewish communities in Ukraine Holocaust locations in Ukraine