Story Summary:
The Mezerower Benevolent Society was founded in New York by immigrants hailing from Mezhirov (Mezhyriv), Ukraine. Initial Jewish presence dates to the 16th century. Despite the multiple setbacks as a result of the Cossack attacks, the 1920 pogrom, and World War I, the Jews of Mezhirov maintained their cultural, religious, and education standing, establishing various organizations and institutions. The town fell under German occupation on July 6th, 1941. A memorial has been erected, commemorating the lives of Mezhirov's ~3000 Jews. Their memories live on. ~Blog by Olivia Scanlon
1st Mezerower Benevolent Society
The Mezerower Benevolent Society was founded in New York by immigrants hailing from Mezhirov (Mezhyriv), Ukraine.
Initial Jewish presence dates to the 16th century. The 17th century brought mass suffering as a result of the Cossack attacks of 1648-1649. Tax poll records list about 28 Jews in 1662 and 35 Jews in 1674. This number grew to almost 300 Jews in the 1784 census and over 2100 in 1897. This number decreased to just over 1700 in 1921, likely as a result of migration following World War I.
Despite these hardships, the community maintained their cultural and religious standing, operating various Jewish organizations, opening the Tarbut school in 1926, the “Or Torah” school in 1930. The community at one point had five active synagogues. About 30 were killed in a Polish pogrom in 1920. During the early 1900s, Rabbi Osher Zilberman served as the community’s Rabbi.
The town fell under German occupation on July 6th, 1941. Refugees from surrounding areas arrived in Mezhirov, almost doubling the population. A Judenrat was formed shortly after. Two Aktions were carried out, one on Sukkot of 1941 and Shavu’ot of 1942, resulting in over 900 Jews killed. About 1000 remained. They were first placed into a ghetto but on September 26th, 1942 were also killed. Only about 80 returned following the town’s liberation by the Red Army on January 14th, 1944. A memorial has been erected, commemorating the lives of Mezhirov’s ~3000 Jews. The cemetery also still stands, with its earliest stone dating to the 18th century. Two mass graves (May 22nd, 1942/September 23rd, 1942) also exist within the cemetery.
~Blog by Ol;ivia Scanlon
https://archives.cjh.org/repositories/7/archival_objects/1320438
https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/mezhirichi/mez071.html
https://myshtetl.org/vinnitskaja/mezhirov_en.html
https://jewua.org/mezhyrichi/
https://myshtetl.org/volyn/mezhyrich.html
