Rosava

Россава (Russian), Росава (Ukrainian)

Rosava is a village in Mironovskiy district, Kiev region. In the 16th – 18th centuries, it was a part of Rechpospolita (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795). In 1793 Rosava became part of the Russian Empire.

In the XIX – early XX centuries, the shtetl Rosava was in Kanev district, Kiev region. 

There are seven documents concerning Jews of Rosava on Wikimedia.org, supplied by an unknown user. It was a main source of information for this article.

Beginning

We don’t know when Jews appear in Rosava…

A synagogue in Rosava was opened in 1815 and existed till its closing in 1864.

In 1864, there were about 59 Jewish houses in Rosava. 400 Jews lived in them.

In 1866, the synagogue where the followers of tsaddik Duvidl Tverskoy used to pray was closed.

There wasn’t any synagogue in the town so they had to attend the synagogue in Boguslav.  That’s why in the same year Jews asked for the permission to open a synagogue in Eli Kozlov’s house.

During my visit to Rosava in 2016 there was only one object left which reminded of the Jewish history of the shtetl. It was the old mill on the river which belonged to Gershko Tsap.

In 1879, a Rosava widow Reyzia Yoskova (married name Sendlerova) presented her house to the community. The second synagogue “Kloyz” was opened there.

In 1880, the Jews from Rosava applied for the reconstruction of the old synagogue at their own expense. The names of Leya Volkov Ruvinskiy and Khun Tsap are mentioned in the case. There are also the lists of 16, 18, 36, 12, 26 Jews. The Jewish school that was situated near the synagogue is also in this case.

In the late 19th century, there were about 90 Jewish houses in the shtetl.

In 1900, more than 1,000 Jews lived in Rosava, in 1910 there were about 1,300 of them. In 1890, Jews owned more than ten stalls.

In 1907, Rosava Jews asked the authorities for the permission to start a Talmud Torah paid for by the box taxe (2,000 roubles). The whole archive document is available here. In the correspondence there are the names of doctor Kiva Chaim-Leybov Margulis, Leyzor-Volf Berkov Levit, Iosef Abov Beliavskiy. Their application was rejected so the Jews applied again in 1909.  There is a document with the names and signatures of 36 community members in the case.  It is unknown whether the permission was received or not.

Rosava entrepreneurs list from Russian Empire Business Directories by 1913

In 1912, a Jewish savings and loan association was functioning.  In 1914, local Jews owned the pharmacy storeroom, the mill, 27 stalls including 12 groceries, all five factories, two small shops. Both cattle-dealers and a doctor in Rosava were Jewish.

There were two synagogues “Old Beys-Midrash” and “Kloyz” in Rosava.

The copy of the archive case concerning the elder of the synagogue “Old Beys-Midrash” 1912-1913 is available at Wikimedia.org. The name of the previous elder Idel-Leyb Gurtovyy (the second guild trader) and the list of 130 synagogue members was documented in this case.

Pogroms

On the 11th-12th of February 1919, there was a pogrom in Rosava. This pogrom was organized by the Directory detachments. As a result, a lot of people were killed and wounded. In February 1919, three pogroms took place in the shtetl. There were several attacks instigated by different gangs with isolated incidents of murders and mutilation. They took place between March 1919 and till the arrival of the Volunteer Army in Rosava.

In August 1919, a six weeks long pogrom took place in Rosava. It was organized by the detachments of the Volunteer Army and resulted in many casualties (more than 60 people). The village was completely destroyed. Those Jews who had survived (about 1,000 people) moved to Boguslav. More than 150 people died because of the epidemics and hunger during 1919 and 1920.

List of 71 pogrom victims in Rosava:

There is no information available about the Jewish population of the village after 1920.

After the WWII, head of local school was Faina Vladimirovna Braver but she moved to Rosava from some another place.

The Jewish cemetery was destroyed in the 1950s.

Site of destroyed Rosava Jewish cemetery