ALTERNATE NAMES: PESCHANKA [RUS], PISHCHANKA [UKR], PISTCHANKA [YID], PISZCZANKA [POL], PESCHANKI, PESTCHANKA, PESCHANAYA, PISCANKA, PISCHANKA. 48°12' N, 28°54' E, 53 miles ESE of Mohyliv-Podilskyy, 38 miles WNW of Balta, 28 miles W of Olgopol. Pishchanka Raion (Ukrainian: Піщанський район) is one of the 33 regions of Vinnytsia Oblast, located in southwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion is the city of Pishchanka.
- JewishGen Ukraine SIG
- Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), VIII, pp. 232-233: "Piszczanka" #2.
- Shtetl Finder (1980), p. 73: "Pistchanka".
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 981: "Peschanya (I)".
Source with photos: " Ukr. Pіschanka) settlement, the regional center of Vinnitsa region, until 1923 - the county town Olgopolskogo Podolia. first documentary mention of the Jewish population Gerbils refers to the end of the XVIII century. In 1852, among 400 Jews Gerbils were 17 Jewish craftsmen, turnover in the aggregate amounted to 800 rubles a year. In 1871, its population in 1200 (mostly Jews) were attributed to the trading estate and about 2000 - to agriculture, wooden houses in Peschanka was 389. In 1853, according to the official. According to Peschanka was one synagogue, 311 parishioners and its official Rabbi Gershon Pustyl'nik. In 1889, in the town there were five, and in the beginning of XX century.six Jewish houses of worship with "spiritual government." In 1900, he opened a private Peschanka Jewish male college. At the beginning of XX century. Jews kept all the shops in the town - the manufactory, clothing, hardware, leather, stationery goods, utensils in their hands was also virtually all food trade. Jews were in possession of a lumberyard, a factory for the production of lime, coaching inns. In a wave of pogroms that began in late 1917, Sanderling has suffered one of the first.During the Civil War the power in Peschanka changed several times. In August 1919 the brigade headquarters located here Kotovskogo. After Kotovskij retreated place was occupied Regiment "Blue Division" of the Directory, whose soldiers staged a bloody massacre that killed 168 (according to other sources - 250) Jews. In 1924 Peschanka was 750 Jews (about 3100 inhabitants). Individual Jewish families were engaged in farming and the cultivation of tobacco. March 23, 1923 there was established a Jewish agricultural koooperativ "Diligence" which united 21 families (72 people), mostly the poor and the workers. Authorities granted collective farming 52 acres of land, ORT helped in acquiring livestock, farming tools and seeds. Were subsequently organized and other Jewish collective "Zemtrud," which consisted of 32 families, "Guarantee" (31 families), "Brotherhood" (26 families), "Friendship" (45 families), all of whom received assistance from ORT. In the years of the NEP, the largest traders Gerbils have found a way to meet the competition of cooperatives: they united and acquired a patent for a common trade, thereby reducing their tax payments. Many small traders could not compete were forced to do farming. village was opened in a Jewish school in 1922, it learned to 190 children. School teacher, convinced Zionists, all the forces opposed to the introduction of the teaching of Yiddish. Besides school, considered one of the best in the area, in the town was organized by the Jewish children's home for 50 orphans. in 1923-1924. in Peschanka of 318 union members were 170 Jews, 30 of the Komsomol - 17 Jews in the village council was composed of eight Jews. Gerbils Nazi occupation lasted from 23 July 1941 to March 18, 1944 In August 1941, Jews were used as labor at harvest. About 150 people were shot by the Nazis on the outskirts of town. In the autumn of 1941 Gerbils Jews were deported to concentration camps in villages and Domanevka Bogdanivka (Mykolaiv region), only a few managed to escape destruction, hiding in the ghetto Chechelnik. During the first postwar decade Peschanka with a population of about six thousand people lived several hundred Jews . Gradually, the number of Jews in the village declined in 1998 in Peschanka had a few Jewish families - about 15 people. In 2012, Jews in Peschanka not live. Lukin, "100 Jewish towns in Ukraine". Detailed photos. [Mar 2014]
CEMETERY:
PESCHANKA I: US Commission No. UA01180101
Alternate name: Pestchanka (Yiddish), Pyeschanka (Polish), Pestschanka (Russian) and Pistchanka (Ukraine). Peschanka is located in Vinnitskaya. The town is location at 48°12 28°53, 260 km from Odessa, 160 km from Vinnitsa and 120 km from Uman. The cemetery is located in the field and woods on the road to Kamenky. Present town population is 5,001-25,000 with 11-100 Jews.
- Town: Town Executive Council of Zelepyanski Ivan Fedorovich [tel. (04349) 21335].
- Regional: Vinnitska Oblast Council-Melnick Nikola Evtykhovich [tel. (0432) 327540].
- Vinnitska Oblast Jewish Community, Gybenko Bella Aronova [tel. (0432) 351666].
- Vinnitska Oblast Cultural Society, Ilchyk Nikola Nikolayevich [tel. (0432) 335637].
The earliest known Jewish community was 18th century. 1939 Jewish population (census) was 2925. Effecting the Jewish Community were 1768-1772 pogrom of Barskoy Confederation, 1919 pogrom when 19 Jews died, and 1941 all the town's Jews (nearly 3000) were deported to Domakevski Region and Nikolayevska Oblast. The Jewish cemetery was established in in the 20th century with last known Jewish burial 1994. Hasidic used this unlandmarked cemetery. The isolated wooded flat land between fields and woods has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all with no wall, gate, or fence. 101-500 stones, all in original location with less than 25% toppled or broken, date from 20th century. Location of removed stones is unknown. Some tombstones have traces of painting on their surfaces, iron decorations or lettering, other metallic elements or portraits on stones. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. The municipality owns site used for Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent are agricultural and forest. The cemetery boundaries are larger now than 1939. Occasionally, Jewish or non-Jewish private visitors stop. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II and occasionally in the last ten years. Jewish individuals within country and abroad re-erected stones, patched broken stones, cleaned stones and cleared vegetation. Occasionally, individuals clean or clear. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access, vegetation and vandalism. Slight threat: weather erosion, pollution and existing nearby development.
Oks Vladimir Moiseevich of 270065,Oddesa, Varnenskaya St. 17D, apt. 52 [tel. (0482) 665950] visited site and completed survey on 6/20/94. Interviews were not listed. Documentation: Town Populations of the Russian Empire. Podol Region 1864; Historical Monuments in Podol-Kamanets Region. V.P.Gylman 1901. A.Krylov.1905; National Minorities in Ukraine. Register. Kharkiv 1925. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible.
PESCHANKA II: US Commission No. UA01180501
The mass grave is located at NW near the forest. Effecting the Jewish Community were 1918-1920 pogroms, end of 1920 Community organization liquidation, and 1941 when 10 local plus 70 Bessarabian Jews were shot. Remainder deported to and concentration camps. The Jewish mass grave was dug in 1941. Bessarabiya (70 km away) Jews were murdered in this unlandmarked mass grave. The isolated suburban flat land between fields and woods has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing public field, access is open to all with no wall, gate, or fence. The approximate size is now 0.01 hectares. The site contains unmarked mass graves. Municipality owns site used for mass burial site. Properties adjacent are agricultural and forest. Occasionally, local residents visit. The mass grave was vandalized during World War II but not in the last ten years with no maintenance. Within the limits of the site are no structures. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access. Very serious threat: uncontrolled access. Moderate threat: pollution, vegetation and vandalism. Slight threat: weather erosion and existing nearby development.
Oks Vladimir Moiseevich of 270065, Ukraine, Odessa, Varnenskaya 17d,a.52 [tel. (0482) 665950] visited site in 07/1994 and 09/1991 and completed survey on 03/06/1995. Interviewed were Tischenko V. of v. Peschanka in 07/1994. Documentation: Odessa Oblast State Archive fond P-2328, on.1, d-666, 110, 673. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible.