Nemyriv ( ; ) is a historic city in

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 ...

(

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

) in

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 ...

, located in 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 ...

. It was the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of former

Nemyriv Raion Nemyriv Raion () (transliteration from Ukrainian Nemyrivskyi Raion) was a raion (district) in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. The administrative center of Nemyriv Raion was the town of Nemyriv. The area of the raion was 1293 square km. There were 94 ...

(

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

). Population: Nemyriv is one of the oldest cities in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. It was founded by Prince Nemyr in 1390. It is a minor industrial center. The distiller company that produces Ukrainian

Nemiroff Nemiroff is a Ukraine, Ukrainian vodka brand. It is one of the world's largest producers of alcohol, with its products sold in more than 81 countries. The company is one of the top three world leaders in supplying vodka to Duty-free shop, duty-f ...

(Russian spelling) vodka is located in Nemyriv. The town's tourist attractions include a late 19th-century

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

(which belonged to the House of Potocki) and a park complex.

History

Nemyriv was built on the site of ancient

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

settlement Myriv, destroyed during the

Mongol invasion of Rus' The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities such as Principality of Ryazan, Ryazan, Principality of Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl, Principality of Pereyaslavl, Pereyaslavl and Vladimi ...

. The settlement was re-established at the end of the 14th century and the first written mention of the city under its modern name in 1506. Nemyriv ultimately derives from the Slavic

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

Niemir Niemir, Niemirz, Niemierz – is a male Slavic given name of Old Slavic origin, present in other Slavic nations (in different forms and spellings). The name is composed of ''nie-'' (a negation) as well as ''-mir'' ("peace", "good", "great", " ...

. It was a

private town Private towns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were privately owned towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights and princes, among others. Amongst the most well-known former private magnate towns are Białystok, Zamość, R ...

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 ...

, owned by the families of Zbaraski and Potocki. Polish King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

visited the Potocki Palace. Notable events of

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 ...

wars took place in the town through 17th century and the city was captured by Andrii Abazyn between 1702 and 1704. In 1737, an abortive congress was held in Nemyriv, aimed at the conclusion of peace between the emperors of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, and

Ottoman Turkey The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an 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 Central Euro ...

, and bringing an end to the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–39.

Jewish history of the city

Before

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 ...

, Nemyriv had a large

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 ...

community. 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 ...

a massacre of Jews took place in Nemyriv. The town fell to the Cossacks on 10 June 1648, and the non-Jewish townspeople betrayed the Jews to the Cossacks. The massacre was significant enough to Polish-Lithuanian Jewry that the

Council of Four Lands The Council of Four Lands (, ''Va'ad Arba' Aratzot'', ) was the central body of Jewish authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the second half of the 16th century to 1764, located in Lublin. The Council's first law is recorded as h ...

marked the Jewish date of the massacre, 20 Sivan, as a day of remembrance for all the dead from the Khmelnytsky Uprising. The Hasidic 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 ...

was appointed as rabbi in Nemyriv after he left Rashkov, during the 3rd quarter of the 18th century. By the 19th century it had become one of the centers of Breslov Hasidism, being the birthplace and home of Nathan of Breslov ("Reb Noson"), the foremost disciple and scribe of

rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

Nachman of Breslov Nachman of Breslov ( ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Rabbi Nachman of Breslev, Rabbi Nachman miBreslev, Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover''), and Nachman from Uman (April 4, 1772 – O ...

. After Nachman's death in 1810, Reb Noson moved to

Bratslav Bratslav (, ; ) is a rural settlement in Ukraine, located in Tulchyn Raion of Vinnytsia Oblast, by the Southern Bug river. It is a medieval European city and a regional center of the Eastern Podolia region (see Bracław Voivodeship) founded ...

to disseminate and publish his teachings from there. The city acted as a center of Jewish studies and linked with several Rabbi, such as

Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom-Tov Lipmann ben Nathan ha-Levi Heller (c. 157919 August 1654), was a Bohemian rabbi and Talmudist, best known for writing a commentary on the Mishnah called the ''Tosefet Yom-Tov'' (1614–1617). Heller was one of the majo ...

and Jehiel Michel ben Eliezer.

once chief Rabbi of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

was the Chief Rabbi of Nemyriv from 1631 to 1634. By September 1941, the German kept the Jews of the city prisoners in a

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

, where they were put to work, constructing the road from Nemyriv to

Haisyn Haisyn (, , ) or Haysyn is a city in central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Haisyn Raion within Vinnytsia Oblast. It is located on the in the eastern part of the historical region of Podolia. Its population is Name It i ...

. On November 24, 1941, an

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

massacred 2,680 Jews in pits in the Polish cemetery. On June 26, 1942, the ghetto was liquidated. The Jews were driven into 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 ...

, where 200 to 300 young and strong men and women were selected and sent to a labor camp. The rest, perhaps as many as 500, were shot behind the Polish cemetery in pits that had been dug in advance.

Gallery

File:Немирів костел 2012.jpg, St. Joseph Catholic Church File:Парковий фасад Палацу княгині М.Щербатової в Немирові P1080902-1.jpg, Scherbatova Palace in Nemyriv File:Комплекс Немирівської гімназії. Чоловічий корпус, Немирів вул. Луначарського,27.JPG, Nemyriv gymnasium File:Електростанція та млин DSCF3277.JPG, Old mill File:Миколаївський монастир P1090056.jpg, Nicholas monastery

Notable people

* Nathan of Breslov, rabbi * Nikolay Nekrasov, poet * Marko Vovchok, writer *

Theodosius Dobzhansky Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (; ; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was a Russian-born American geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He was a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern ...

, geneticist * Mordechai Namir, Israeli politician * Ida Rhodes (birth name Hadassah Itzkowitz) was born in a Jewish village between Nemyriv and

Tulchyn Tulchyn (, ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in Vinnytsia Oblast (Oblast, province) of western Ukraine, in the historical region of Podolia. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Tulchyn Raion (Raion, district). Its population is 13,896 (2023 estim ...

. * Yosyf Semashko, Uniate and Orthodox hierarch * Liubov Hakkebush, stage actress, teacher and translator.

References

External links

The murder of the Jews of Nemyriv
during

, 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 of district significance in Ukraine Cities in Vinnytsia Oblast Historic Jewish communities in Ukraine Holocaust locations in Ukraine