Slavuta


Slavuta is a city of oblast subordinance in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast of western Ukraine, located on the Horyn River., the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located approximately 80 km from the oblast capital, Khmelnytskyi, at around.

History

Located in Volhynia, Slavuta was founded by a member of Zaslawski family in 1633. As the family extinguished, all its possessions were transferred to Lubomirski family. Eventually the town was passed on to Marianna Lubomirska who married Pawel Sanguszko who turned the town into the family seat of the Sanguszko princes.
Between 1922 and 1939 it was on the Soviet border with Poland.
In 1791 the Szapira family set up a Hebrew printing press in Slavuta, which published an influential edition of the Talmud. Moshe Feldenkrais was born in Slavuta on May 6, 1904.

Jewish history

Slavuta has a rich Jewish history. The town had a prominent Jewish community since near its establishment in the 1600s. Town records show 246 Jewish families in 1765.
The peak of the Jewish population of Slavuta is over 5100 in 1939, about 1/3 of the town's population. In the late 1890s the Jewish population of Slavuta was near 60% at 4900 people.
The Jewish community consisted of farmers, traders, storekeepers, and rabbinical teachers. Slavuta at one point had nearly 200 Jewish owned shops, largely due to Slavuta being established as a prominent trading town and Jewish center. Slavuta also had three established synagogues.

Slavita Shas

A complete Talmud, known as The Slavita Shas was published in 1817 by Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, "Av Bais Din and printer of Slavita."

World War II and beyond

With WWII and the invasion of Nazis, the Jews of Slavuta had a fate similar as the Jews of hundreds of other villages near and far. Many hundreds were able to flee to Tashkent and Siberia. But over 2000 Jews were killed in the Slavuta ghetto and concentration camp. All but one synagogue remained, and the mass grave of Jews killed was left in a field.
After WWII, the town still had a sizable Jewish community. The survivors of the ghetto and concentration camp, the Jews who fled to Siberia and Tashkent, as well as surviving Jews from surrounding villages that had been completely destroyed, came back and resettled. Synagogue papers, furniture, and scripts from the surrounding ravaged communities had been brought to the Slavuta synagogue. Slavuta also had many monuments established, dedicated to the Jews killed during WWII. Today, the Jewish population is nearly 700.

Famous residents