Ukraine contains the third-largest Jewish community in Europe (100,000) and the fifth-largest Jewish community in the world. The majority of Ukrainian Jews live in Kiev, (80,000) Despite the limitations imposed on them by various governments and regimes throughout modern history, Jews played a major role in developing Ukraine's commerce and industry as well as the major urban environments of Ukraine. More than half the Jews living in Ukraine were murdered-by the Nazis and by nationalist Ukrainian collaborators--during the Holocaust. The repression of Jewish life under Soviet rule was especially harsh. Today the Ukrainian Jews enjoy new-found freedoms allowing them to rebuild and revitalize their communities. Three major goals of the Jewish community continue to be the effort to educate the unaffiliated about their Jewish roots, reclaim nationalized Jewish property and to alleviate the widespread poverty among Jews.
The location of the Ukraine has influenced the historical and present development of the state. Jewish life can be traced back to the 6th century, when the Khazar’s ruled the region through today as the Ukraine stands as an independent state. In between these time periods, the Ukraine has been ruled by various powers and its boundaries have shifted depending on the ruler at the time.
Jewish settlements in the Ukraine can be traced back to the 8th century. During the period of the Khazar kingdom, Jews lived on the banks of the River Dnieper and in the east and south of the Ukraine and the Crimea. The Kingdom was considered the most influential of the medieval period because of its economic and diplomatic standing.
Over time, Jews integrated into the society and married Khazar inhabitants. At first, Khazars from royal families converted to Judaism. But other citizen from throughout the Kingdom soon followed suit, adopting Jewish religious practices. The Jews of Khazaria may have been among the founders of the Jewish community of Poland and of other communities in Eastern Europe.
In 965 A.D., however, the Khazar Empire suffered a blow when the Russians ransacked its capital. In the middle of the 13th century (1241), the Khazars were defeated by the Mongol invasion — an invasion that devastated all of Poland. To rebuild the country and defend its cities, Poland recruited immigrants from the west, mainly Germany, promising to help them settle in villages and towns. German Jews, many of whom were massacred by Christian crusaders in the 1200 and devastated by the Black Death in 1300, immigrated to Poland. Jews in Poland shared a heritage with the new immigrants, but not a language. To communicate with one another, Jews in Poland created a common language. Yiddish.
Later, Jews from the western provinces of Poland moved to the Ukraine because of the economic opportunities created by Poland’s expanding influence, which increased even more so in the 16th century with the consolidation of Poland-Lithuania over the region. By the end of the 15th century, between 20,000 and 30,000 Jews were living in 60 communities throughout Poland-Lithuania, most of them in cities. The Ukraine became the center of Jewish life in Poland-Lithuania.
But life in Poland-Lithuania was not easy for the Jews. The church continued to pressure the nobles to punish and limit Jewish influence — putting the nobles on the spot because they recognized the economic contribution made by the Jews in society. When Jews settled in the Ukraine, they became more prominent in the trade business, selling dye, cloth, horses, cattle and estates. Jews were also making connections with other Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire, serving as liaisons between the two worlds. But what Jews were mostly known for — and detested for — was their role in the Polish government as collectors of customs, duties and taxes on behalf of Polish landlords, bankers and physicians.
As Jews prospered, anti-Semitism flourished. The country’s lower classes, including the Ukrainian Cossacks, saw Jews as working for the nation’s wealthy landowners and accused Jews of robbing the wealth of poor people to better enrich them. By the end of 16th century, Poland sought more control over the Ukrainians Cossacks, who rose up against their Polish landowners and the Jews. Life for the Jews then took a turn for the worst.
The Cossacks, meanwhile, wanted to free the Ukraine from Polish domination — and sought to rule the Ukraine. In 1648, the Cossacks, led by Bohdan Chmielicki, began a series of campaigns by instigating the uprising of the Cossacks against the Jews. Chmielicki told people that the Poles had sold them as slaves “into the hands of the accursed Jews.” Angered by this notion, the Cossacks massacred tens of thousands of Jews during 1648-1649, in a war that would later be considered among the worst of that time period.
Many Polish Jews fled the country, but most were brutally murdered. The massacre was devastating — both in numbers and effect. According to Jewish chronicles, the death toll reached approximately 100,000 dead with nearly 300 Jewish communities destroyed.
The Ukraine did eventually become independent — but not for long. In 1651, Chmielnicki suffered defeat and was forced to accept a treaty that did not give him as much control over the Ukraine as he had hoped. In 1654, Chmielnicki persuaded the Cossacks to transfer their allegiance to the Russian czars. Anti-Semitism worsened after the Ukraine was annexed by Russia in 1653, as the Nationalist and Socialist Party of the Ukraine took control over the region. The pogroms of 1881 broke out and spread through the provinces of the Ukraine. But even the Chmielnicki massacres didn’t halt Jewish migration to the Ukraine. Jews continued to play a prominent role in the economic recovery of the country during the 17th and 18th centuries. The sufferings endured by the Jews in the Ukraine also gave rise to spiritual and social trends for both Jews and Christians. The Hasidism movement developed and spread throughout the country. After the pogroms of the 1880s, the Ukraine became the birthplace of the Hibbat Zion, the Bilu and the Am Olam movements as well as the “Spiritual Biblical Brotherhood,” which sought to “bring back” the Jews to the religious purity of the Bible and draw them closer to Christianity.
After the October 1917 Revolution, and the civil war, more than 300,000 Jews left the Ukraine for other parts of the Soviet Union. But some Jews stayed. The Ukrainians set up the National Council which sought to separate the Ukraine from Russia. Leaders of the Ukrainian nationalist movement tried to reach an agreement with the Jews — but these efforts never materialized. As it turns out, the Ukrainian nationalist movement tried to appease the Jews so they could get their vote and support to separate the Ukraine from Russia. The National Council had no intention to change the country’s attitude about the Jews.
After 1917, during the Civil War, about 100,000 Jews were murdered in the Ukraine. Two decades of Soviet rule did little to eradicate the hostility against the Jews. During World War II, parts of the Ukrainian population collaborated with the Nazis in exterminating the Jews in occupied Ukraine.
After World War II, under Nikita Khrushchev’s rule over the Ukraine, Ukrainian Jews who fled to Soviet Asia during the occupation slowly returned to reclaim their homes, possessions and jobs. The Ukrainians who remained in the communities were hostile to the returning Jews. The government, once again, refused to interfere in the conflicts between the Russians and the Jews. As a result, anti-Semitic sentiments surfaced everywhere — in the nation’s literature and art, and through political propaganda.
This anti Jewish atmosphere prevailed it the Ukraine during the postwar period. Only a few synagogues were allowed to remain opened, but even these were under close watch by the secret police.
Ukraine declared its independence on August 1991. Most of the Jews voted for independence. Several times, the leaders of the Ukrainian national movement expressed a positive attitude toward the Jews of the Ukraine and the desire to work with them. To further that goal, an international conference was held in Kiev in 1991 on Ukrainian-Jewish relations. Ukrainian president Kravchuk commemorated the 50th anniversary of the mass murder of Kiev’s Jews at Baby Yar, and acknowledged the Ukrainian people’s share of guilt for the destruction of the Jews.
Copyright American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, Reprinted with permission.
