Skvyra
Skvyra
| Skvyra Сквира |
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 Skvyra
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Skvyra
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| Coordinates: 49°43′0″N 29°40′0″E / 49.716667°N 29.666667°ECoordinates: 49°43′0″N 29°40′0″E / 49.716667°N 29.666667°E | |||
| Country Oblast Raion |
Ukraine Kiev Oblast Skvyra Raion |
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| Founded | 1390 | ||
| Magdeburg Rights | 1791 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Skochko Valeriy Anatoliyovich | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 63.28 km2 (24.4 sq mi) | ||
| Population | |||
| - Total | 18,009 | ||
| Postal code | 09000 | ||
| Area code(s) | +380 4568 | ||
Skvyra (Ukrainian: Сквира; Russian: Сквира, translit.: Skvira, Yiddish: Skvere, סקווירא) is a town in the Kiev Oblast (province) of central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Skvyra Raion (district), and is currently a municipality of raion subordinance. Skvyra currently has a population of about 18,009 and an area of 6,328 km2 (2,443 sq mi).
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History
The ancient town of Skvyra was completely destroyed at the end of the 16th century. In 1736, Skvyra was mentioned as a village (selo) leased by a Jewish lessee. According to the census of 1765, there were 124 houses in Skvyra, 51 of which belonged to Jews. In 1775, 116 Jews lived in Skvyra, in 1784 there were 204, and in 1787, 144.
After Skvyra was included in the Pale of Settlement, the town’s Jewish community increased. In 1847, the Jewish population amounted to 2,184 people, and in 1897 there were 8,910 Jews in the town (49.5% of the general population). At the end of the 19th century, there were seven synagogues, a parochial school, a hospital, a chemist and a district doctor in Skvyra. Many Jews were involved in grain and timber export. By 1910 the town housed a Talmud Torah, a Jewish private boys’ school and two private girls’ schools.
Two pogroms were carried out in the town in 1917, and a wave of six pogroms in 1919, some of which lasted for several weeks. There were rapes, houses were burnt down, and Jewish property was seized and destroyed or sold to local peasants. 191 people were killed and hundreds injured. After the pogroms an epidemic in the town killed up to 30 people a day. The Jewish population fled to Kiev, Odessa and Belaya Tserkov.
Under the Soviet regime, the religious and communal life of the Jews of Skvyra was dissolved. In 1926, the Jewish population was 4,681, about 33.6% of the population. In 1939, 2,243 Jews lived in Skvyra, which ranked among the biggest Jewish communities of Ukraine at that time.
During World War II, German forces occupied the town in September 1941. For a time, the Sonderkommando headquarters was based in Skvyra. On September 20, 1941, 850 Jews were shot in Skvyra. A few days later, over 140 more were executed. According to the head of Skvyra’s Jewish community, mass shootings of Jews took place in the vicinity of the market, the 2nd school and in Bannaya Street. After the war, Skvyra’s Jewish population totalled approximately 1,000 people, in 1960 about 500 people.
The Twersky Skver Hasidic dynasty line emanating from Skvyra eventually settled in the United States where part of the community founded their own township called New Square (Skvyra being pronounced as "Skver" in Yiddish) in Rockland County, New York. In 2004 the Skvyra synagogue and the tzaddik’s court, now a hotel for Hasidic visitors, were restored. In 2009, the Jewish community of Skvyra numbered about 120 people.
People
Asher Ginzberg (Ahad Ha'am), writer and publicist, founder of Cultural Zionism was born in the city.
See also
- History of the Jews in Ukraine
- Skver (Hasidic dynasty)
- New Square, New York, from anglicized form of Skvyra.
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