Haisyn (, , ) or Haysyn is a

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 ...

in central

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 serves as the administrative center of

Haisyn Raion Haisyn Raion () is one of the six raions (districts) of Vinnytsia Oblast, located in southwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion is the town of Haisyn. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukrain ...

within

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 ...

. It is located on the in the eastern part of the historical region of

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 ...

. Its population is

Name

It is believed by many scholars that the origin of the name "Haisyn" is Turkic in origin, as the land was previously inhabited by the

Black Klobuks Chorni Klobuky or Chornye Klobuki, meaning "black hats" (from and ), was a generic nameUkrainian (''Haisyn''), in other languages the name of the city is and .

History

Polish rule

Hajsyn was first mentioned in 1545. In 1566, following the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin (; ) 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 personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...

, it became part of the

Bracław Voivodeship The Bracław Voivodeship (; ; , ''Braclavśke vojevodstvo'') was a unit of administrative division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Created in 1566 as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it was passed to the Crown of the Kingdom of Pola ...

of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under the rule of

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576). The son of Stephen VIII Báthory ...

, the land was given to Tromchinsky family of feudal lords. In 1600, the settlement was granted to nobleman Swirski. In 1605, it passed from nobleman Oriszewski to Jadwiga Różynska of the through right of her 4th husband, although her rights to the land would be disputed with neighboring families until 1616 when the land was finally transferred to the Odrzywolski family for "lifetime possession". On 16 November 1621, King of Poland

Sigismund III Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Relig ...

gave the land of Haisyn to the nobleman Jan Dzierzka for his military services. 8 years later, the census of 1629 showed the village to have a population of 822 people. Haisyn suffered many damages during the

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...

(1648–1654), which was accompanied by looting of property and mass murder of the Jewish population in the area. In 1659, King of Poland

John II Casimir Vasa John II Casimir Vasa (; ; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 to his abdication in 1668 as well as a claimant to the throne of Sweden from 1648 to 1660. He was the first son of Sigis ...

granted Gaisin to the Zaporizhian Maxim Bulyga. This was most likely done in an attempt to appease the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

population in order to maintain security in the region in the event that Turkish or Russian forces invaded the area. However, in 1660, the land was granted to Stanislaw Jakubowski. In 1699, according to the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Holy League at the Battle of Zenta, was signed in Karlowitz, in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy (present-day ...

, 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 ...

recognized Haisyn as part of Poland. Polish feudal lords began managing the land once more, between which there were constant internecine disputes. The Ogiński and

Sapieha The House of Sapieha (; ; ; ) is a Polish-Lithuanian noble and magnate family of Ruthenian origin,Энцыклапедыя ВКЛ. Т.2, арт. "Сапегі" descending from the medieval boyars of Smolensk and Polotsk. Vernadsky, George. ...

families fought over the city. Caught in the crossfires of the dispute, Haisyn was plundered in 1701 and nearly destroyed. Much of the 18th century was a turbulent time for Jews and

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

in the town. During 1734 and 1750,

Haydamak The haydamaks, also haidamakas or haidamaky or haidamaks ( ''haidamaka''; ''haidamaky'', from and ) were soldiers of Ukrainian Cossack paramilitary outfits composed of commoners (peasants, craftsmen), and impoverished noblemen in the easter ...

uprisings devastated the ethnically Polish and Jewish populations in the Bratslav Voivodeship, with both being massacred by Ukrainian rebels. The exact number of victims slaughtered is not known, but almost all sources record that there was a near-total destruction of the communities during the conflict. In 1744, King

Augustus III Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augustus II (). He w ...

granted Haisyn

Magdeburg rights 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 ...

, making it a

royal city Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

of the

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In 1768, another Haydamak uprising occurred, and the citizens of the town joined the revolt. A mass-murder of Jews and Poles once again ensued. After the suppression of the uprising, the lands of Haisyn were divided among the magnates of

Potocki family The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent szlachta, Polish noble family in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Po ...

, among others , Sobanski, and Holoniewski. Haisyn itself with the surrounding villages, was given to Anthony Leduchowski in 1775. In 1783, he received the royal privilege to own the city and surrounding villages for the next 50 years. However, in 1789, Haisyn was given by Leduchowski to Earl

Felix Potocki Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, S ...

, who owned 10 thousand

dessiatin A dessiatin or desyatina () is an archaic, rudimentary measure of area used in tsarist Russia for land measurement. A dessiatin is equal to 2,400 square sazhens and is approximately equivalent to 2.702 English acres, 10,925 square metres, or 1.0 ...

as of settled land and 1,200 dessiatinas of forest in the region. At the time of the

1790 census The 1790 United States census was the first United States census. It recorded the population of the whole United States as of Census Day, August 2, 1790, as mandated by Article 1, Section 2, of the Constitution and applicable laws. In the first ...

, there were only 50 Jews in Haisyn. Following Jewish immigration waves within Eastern Europe, the population rapidly grew. By the year 1800, there were 1,275 Jews in the Haisyn district, with a total population of 1,857. On 22 May 1792, Haisyn became a town of regional significance.

Under Russian sovereignty

The city was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793 during the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

, and became part of the

Bratslav Viceroyalty The Bratslav Viceroyalty (Russian language, Russian: Брацлавское наместничество) was within the Russian Empire that existed between 1793 and 1796. History The territory of the Bratslav Viceroyalty was previously part ...

. It became part of the

Podolia Governorate Podolia Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It bordered Volhynian Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate to the southeast, Bessar ...

in 1797, with its town status upheld in 1804. The county was divided into 3 districts, , Teplyk, and Ternovka. A stone church, the Church of St. Nicholas, was built in the town. The Haisyn City Council was created in 1793, but its oversight was limited to collection of taxes, and maintenance of city utilities (police, schools, hospitals, etc.). From 1793 to 1861, it also had a City Magistrate, which performed judicial and tax functions. At the end of the 18th century, the governor of Haisyn was Colonel Petro Chechel, who is famous for the palace that he erected as his residence after purchasing multiple villages in the Starokonstantinovsky district.

Economic issues and growth

In the first half of the 19th century, the town had a mixed population of Jews and Ukrainians. A resolution was issued on 1836, authorizing local police to allocate 2000 rubles from the treasury due to insufficient funds from the government. Lack of funding for the town's necessities had a negative impact on the organization and work of the local government, hindering the development of the rapidly growing town.

I commanded to leave the Magistrate in its former position in Gaisin, until the sources for multiplying municipal revenues are found, so (...) 2) that the local provincial administration, upon discovering new ways to sufficiently increase municipal revenues, submit its thoughts on the possibility of establishing a Duma to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (...)

The government took a number of practical steps to develop the province, including the provision of special benefits:

24 December 1841. To improve the welfare of the cities of Podolia province, privileges were granted to merchants, burghers, and people of free means, who moved to these cities from areas that did not belong to the Western provinces.

The local government organization developed many town offices, including: * The Magistrate (Composition: the mayor, two burgomasters, and four ratmans) * Orphans' Court * Legal Court * City Deputies' Assembly * Quarter Commission (dealt with the

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

of military units) In 1834, the Jewish community in Haisyn had reached 1,692 people. The town contained a synagogue, a beit-midrash, two houses of prayer, and six

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

s. There were three rabbis and three

mohel A ( , Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazi pronunciation , plural: , , "circumciser") is a Jewish man trained in the practice of , the "covenant of male circumcision". A woman who is trained in the practice is referred to as a ''mohelet'' (plural: ''mo ...

s. The population grew further to 2,175 by 1863, split across 262 "individual Jewish buildings". By 1896, that figure had risen to 5,152. In 1843, a wealthy merchant by the name of Israel Rozin settled in Haisyn and began a business producing and selling alcohol. His philanthropic activity towards the local population and soldiers made him favorable in eyes of the local government, which bestowed upon him honors equal to a military rank in civilian status. During a

cholera epidemic Seven cholera pandemics have occurred in the past 200 years, with the first pandemic originating in India in 1817. The seventh cholera pandemic is officially a current pandemic and has been ongoing since 1961, according to a World Health Organi ...

in 1855, Rozin undertook paycuts and provided free services and alcohol to citizens. By 1855, the ratio of Jews to Christians was 1,246 to 1,305, with 271 Jewish merchants and 45 Christian merchants. There were many artisans among the Jewish population. In 1858, there were 10,106 inhabitants (5,316 men and 4,790 women) in Haisyn, the town budget was a little over 5,000 rubles (the town's income was 5060 rubles 93.75, and their expenses were 5055 rubles 25 kopecks). In 1863 there were 9,630 inhabitants in Haisyn (4,952 men and 4,678 women). Over five years (see above) the city's population decreased by 476 people. In 1859, in the village of , the Mohylne sugar factory was founded. Refining sugar from

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

s became an important industry for the town. In the 1864–1865 season, the Mohylne factory, as well as Krasnosilka factory, produced a total of 24,480

pood ''Pood'' ( rus, пуд, r=pud, p=put, plural: or ) is a unit of mass equal to 40 Funt (mass), ''funt'' (, Russian pound). Since 1899 it is set to approximately 16.38 kilograms (36.11 pound (mass), pounds). It was used in Russia, Belarus, and Ukr ...

s of sugar. Another refinery, the Sobolivka Sugar Refinery, was founded in 1868. Russian economic reforms from 1860 to 1880 significantly accelerated the industrial development in the region. Cloth manufacturing in Haisyn county accounted for more than half of the total manufacturing capacity in the entire Podolia govenrorate. A silk factory was opened in the city, and in 1870, a brick factory was founded. Two tobacco processing plants were founded in 1880 and 1897. A steam mill opened up on the outskirts of the city. Two printing houses were established in the city by Jews. One by Udla Leibovna Shvartsman in 1876, and one in 1893 by Nukhim Volkovich Weinstein. In May 1886, by the initiative of Archpriest Nikandr Gavrilovich Mikhnevich, the Holy Protection City Cathedral was founded. It was a five-domed brick building on a stone

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

with a bell tower. Inside, there was a three-tiered wooden

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

. There was a church cemetery near the cathedral. In the 1930s, the church, like many other religious buildings, was destroyed by Soviet authorities.

Late Russian Empire and WWI

In 1896, there were 9,367 inhabitants in Haisyn, including 5,152 Jews (55.5%), and 3,840 Orthodox Christians (41.0%). There was one church, one synagogue, five Jewish prayer houses, and one schismatic chapel. There were nine plants and factory-industrial establishments, including one distillery, one candle factory, one tobacco factory, one copper-iron factory. For education, there was one male college for higher education and one female college with preparatory and handicrafts classes. According to the 1897 census, there were 9,374 inhabitants in Haisyn, including: * Origin: 7,582 Haisyn natives, 641 natives from other Podolian districts, 1,135 citizens from other Governorates, and 16 foreigners * Class: 7733

petty bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, ; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a term that refers to a social class composed of small business owners, shopkeepers, small-scale merchants, semi-autonomous peasants, and artisans. They are named as such ...

, 1075 peasants, 356 noblemen, 109 merchant, 43 hereditary and personal noblemen (and their immediate family), 33 persons of clerical rank (and their immediate family), 17 foreign citizens, 8 belonging to other estates, and 1 non-specified estate * Native language:

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

4,322 (46.11%), Ukrainian 3,946 (42.1%),

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

884 (9.43%),

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

167 (1.78%) 9

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

24,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

13, and 17 who spoke another native language * Faith: 4,557 Russian Orthodox (out of 212,002 in the district), 4,321 Jews (out of 21,438 in the district), 264 Old-believers and those "deviating from Orthodoxy", 181 Roman Catholics, 30

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhamm ...

s, 15 Lutherans, 4 Armenian Gregorians, and 2 Armenian Catholics A significant event for the city's economy was the opening by the Southern Society of access roads in 1900 of a narrow-gauge railroad from

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

to Olviopil, which passed through Haisyn. By that time, the city had become one of the largest in Podolia. In 1900, the town budget of Haisyn amounted to more than 30,000 rubles (36,437 rubles in revenues, and 23,944 rubles in expenditures). By 1902, Haisyn had a total of 10,765 residents. There was a public school, 23 factories and plants employing 631 workers, with a total annual production value of 656,820 rubles. A library was opened the same year. Many Jews began to leave Haisyn in 1905 following

Pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

that hit the city particularly hard. Nevertheless, there were nearly 7,000 Jews in Gaisyn in 1917, constituting half the city's population. The population of Haisyn in 1910 was 13,222. It had 6,208 Russian Orthodox, 359 Catholics, 14 Mohammedans, and 6,629 Jews. The development of the city was fast on the eve of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. There were 36 registered enterprises in the town, including a newly opened meteorological station. Stone buildings became more commonplace, including a hospital, bank, grand hotel, law office, schoolhouse, and pharmacy. During World War I, the of the Southwestern Front was stationed in the city.

Russian Revolution

Following the beginning of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, pogroms broke out across the entire country, including Haisyn. The town had a local Bolshevik faction, which included many Jews, who fought back against the bandits. From 1918 to 1920 there were continued pogroms in the city. Troops of volunteers, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, and the Ukrainians took part in them.

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

troops (7th Army of the Southwestern Front) captured Haisyn and took control of the city on 2 February 1918. In June 1918, the Haisyn district committee of the Council of Peasant Deputies distributed leaflets condemning the election of the

Hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

and in favor of the

Central Rada The Central Rada of Ukraine, also called the Central Council (), was the All-Ukrainian council that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputies as well as few members of political, public, cultural and professional organizations o ...

. Headman of the district reported the leaflets to the

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, resulting in the arrests of the Assistant District Commissioner and the Chairman of the People's Council. Nearly a year later, during the seizure of Haisyn by the gangs of

Ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; ; ) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukra ...

, 1,200 people were killed, most of whom were Jews. Later in the year, during the city's capture by

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

, business and homes were looted and women were raped. At least 152 people were killed in Haisyn in May 1919. Other estimates place the death toll as high as 390. More violence against Jews took place between 20 July and 25 July. One witness of pogroms in Ukraine during the Russian Revolution stated the following about how the pattern took place:

The most common type of pogrom is as follows. Armed men burst into a town or locality, scatter through the streets, rush in groups into Jewish apartments, murder with no care for age or sex, they brutally rape and often kill women, extort money under threat of death and then kill the victims, seize what they can carry, and break down ovens and walls in search of money and valuables. One group is followed by the second, the third, and so on, until there is nothing left to carry or take away. In Pereyaslav during the pogrom of 15–19 July by Zeleny, each Jewish apartment was visited by bandits 20-30 times a day. Later, the building was reduced to nothing but window panes, bricks and beams. Both those who would be murdered and the survivors are stripped down to their underwear, or sometimes even naked. Delegations of Jews or well-meaning Christians are sent to the newly-appointed authorities to ask for an end to the pogrom. The authorities agree on the condition that the surviving Jewish population pay a ransom to the government. The money is paid, new demands are made to deliver boots, meat, and so on. In the meantime, the groups
f bandits F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounce ...
continue to terrorize the remaining Jews, extort money, kill, and rape. Then, the enemy enters the town or locality, often completing the robbery of Jews and continuing the savage violence. The old thugs disappear, only to return again a few days later. ..It is extremely common for Jews to be transported for mass murder, torture and robbery to one house: to the synagogue like in Ivankov, Rotmistrovka, and Ladyzhenka, to the Office or Executive Committee in Funduklejevka, Ladyzhenka, and
Novomirgorod Novomyrhorod (, ) is a city in Novoukrainka Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast, central Ukraine, in the southern part of the Middle Dnieper area. It hosts the administration of Novomyrhorod urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population of ...
, or simply to some house as in Gaisin or Davydka.

In October 1919, the city was occupied by units of the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

. By January, Denikin's troops had fled the city. On 7 January 1920, Prime Minister

Isaak Mazepa Isaak Prokhorovych Mazepa (; 16 August 1884 – 18 March 1952) was a Ukrainian politician. He was a Head of the Government of Ukrainian People's Republic from August 1919 to May 1920, and one of the central figures of the 1917 Ukrainian rev ...

, Colonel N. Nikonov, and P. Fedenko arrived in Haisyn on their way from

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

. Mazepa described the condition of the city upon his arrival:

In Haisyn itself, there had been no law enforcement for more than two weeks. There was complete indifference and apathy owards the suffering No one even thought of organizing the authorities. Even the local rebel Ataman Volynets, with whom Fedchenko had a meeting at that time, was sitting in one of the neighboring villages near Haisyn and "resting" without work.

Until the establishment of the USSR, the city would change hands, with death and destruction following. In February 1920. Haisyn was captured by the Red Army, in May by Tyutyunnyk's forces, then by Volynets' gang. And every transition of the city from hand to hand was accompanied by pogroms and looting. After the Soviet offensive on 6 June 1920, Haisyn was reconquered under the command of Pyotr Solodukhin, after being defended by the

18th Polish Infantry Division The 18th Infantry Division () is a division of the Polish Armed Forces. The division was originally part of Polish Army during the interbellum period, which took part in the Polish September Campaign. Stationed in Łomża and commanded in 1939 b ...

Early Soviet Union

A local newspaper began publishing in Haisyn in 1920. In 1922, the was stationed in the city, followed by troops of the 2nd Kotovsky Cavalry Corps. From 1923 to 1925, Gaisyn was the center of the Gaisynsky district of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1922, a Yiddish department was opened at the local higher education institution. During the NEP period, there was a short-term revival of trade and entrepreneurial activity in the Jewish community, but with the winding down of the NEP and the cessation of private trade activity, some of the Jews of Gaisin were forced to join the Jewish collective farm organized in the city. In 1926, 5,190 Jews (33.9% of the total population) lived in Gaisin, and in 1939, the number fell to 4,109. In the late 1930s, the large synagogue was demolished, and the small synagogue and Jewish school were closed.

The Holocaust

During World War II, Haisyn was occupied by the 11th Field Army of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

on 25 July 1941. In accordance with the agreement signed on 30 August in Bender between the German and Romanian commanders, Haisyn, unlike Mogilev-Podilskyi, was not part of "

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 ...

", but of the

Reichskommissariat Ukraine The ''Reichskommissariat Ukraine'' (RKU; ) was an administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. It served as the German civilian occupation regime in the Ukrainian SSR, and ...

. The occupation of Haisyn lasted almost 32 months. During this period, the German concentration camps

Stalag In Germany, stalag (; ) was a term used for prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag is a contraction of "Stammlager", itself short for ''Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschaftsstammlager'', literally "main camp for enlisted prisoners of war" (officers were kept i ...

329/Z and Stalag 348 (March to August 1943) were located in the area. According to various estimates, during the occupation in the northeastern outskirts of the city (Belendijka tract) the Germans shot from 8,000 to 10,000 people, mostly local Jews and Jews specially brought there for extermination from other occupied areas. During the first mass shooting on 16 September 1941, about three thousand (according to other sources - 1,300) Jews were killed, and on 17 September another three thousand people were shot. In the following days, around four thousand Jews were shot, brought from the surrounding area. Shootings were also carried out in October 1941 and 7–10 May 1942. By the end of the occupation, about 20 Jews remained in Haisyn (less than 1% of the pre-war population). On 14 March 1944, Haisyn was taken back by units of the 232nd Rifle Division of the Red Army.

Late Soviet period and modern day

By 1970, despite the murder of Jews during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, the town's population had recovered and reached 23,700. The bulk of the city's economy was in the food industry: it had a meat processing plant, sugar factory, fruit canning factory, and oil, cheese, and alcohol factories. There were also a clothing and furniture factory and a medical school. In January 1989, the population was recorded to be 25,766. SInce then, the population of the city has stagnated due to brain drain and falling birth rates, and it was recorded at 25,855 in 2013.

Population

Language

Distribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census:

Religion

The city no longer has a large Jewish presence, if any at all. The majority of residents are Eastern Orthodox, and the city is home to two churches: Holy Pokrova Church and St. Nicholas Church.

In literature

* Haisyn is repeatedly mentioned in the works of

Sholom Aleichem Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich (; May 13, 1916), better known under his pen name Sholem Aleichem (Yiddish and , also spelled in Soviet Yiddish, ; Russian and ), was a Yiddish author and playwright who lived in the Russian Empire and in the Unit ...

(see, for example: The Idle Wanderer, The Miracle on the Seventh Day of Tabernacles, There would have been a wedding, but there was no music, etc.) * In "Duma about Opanas" by

Eduard Bagritsky Eduard Georgyevich Bagritsky ( rus, Эдуа́рд Гео́ргиевич Багри́цкий, p=ɨdʊˈard ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪjɪvʲɪdʑ bɐˈɡrʲitskʲɪj, a=Eduard Gyeorgiyevich Bagriczkiy.ru.vorb.oga; February 16, 1934) was a prominent Russia ...

we find the lines: "How we walked in the wheel thunder, / So hot that the sky is hot, / Remember Gaisin and Zhitomir, / Balta and Vapnyarka" * There are two memoirs about the city: "Children of the War" and "Gaisin's 'Crossroads'" by local native war journalist Sergei Borovikov * In

Yurii Andrukhovych Yurii Ihorovych Andrukhovych (, born March 13, 1960 in Stanislav, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian prose writer, poet, essayist, and translator. His English pen name is Yuri Andrukhovych. Andrukhovych is a representative of the Stanislav phenom ...

's ''Lexicon of Intimate Mysteries'', a chapter is devoted to Haisyn

Geography

Climate

Gallery

File:Buildings in Haisyn (Jul 2020) 4.jpg, Former hotel building in Haisyn File:Гайсин. Особняк (вул. 1 Травня, 69).jpg, Historic villa File:Гайсин. Вул. 1 Травня, 52.jpg, Haisyn gymnasium File:Гайсин. Пам'ятник борцям за волю України.jpg, Second World War memorial

Sources

* * *

References

External links

The murder of the Jews of Haisyn
during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

website * {{Authority control Cities in Vinnytsia Oblast Cities of district significance in Ukraine Gaysinsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Ukraine Historic Jewish communities in Ukraine 1545 establishments in Europe 16th-century establishments in Ukraine