Obukhov

Obuchów (Polish), Обухів – Obukhiv (Ukrainian), Обухов – Obukhov (Russian)

Obukhov is a town in Kiev region. Its population is 33,322 people in 2016. Before the revolution, it was a shtetl in Kiev uyezd of Kiev Gubernia.

I couldn’t find any serious data concerning the history of Obukhov Jews. The materials from articles of local historian was used for this article.

It is not known when Jews first settled in Obukhov.

In the late XIX – early XX century there was a whole Jewish block in the old part of Obukhov. Today it is known as “Center”.

Here Jews owned 72  establishments.

The Jews traded in nearby shtetls such as Germanovka, Tripolie, and Cherniakhov. The Jewish merchants of the second and first guild lived in Obukhov. They owned stalls and shops.

Obukhov entrepreneurs list from Russian Empire Business Directories by 1913

In 1913, Obukhov was a center of Obukhov volost with the population of 8,272 people. More than one thousand Jews lived in the shtetl, so there were two synagogues, one Jewish merchant council, and a Jewish savings bank.

The Jews in Obukhov owned drugstores, distilleries, bakeries, hardware stalls, 23 groceries, and 14 manufacturiers.

One synagogue was situated on the spot of the modern cinema. The other one was near the lake to the right of the bus station.

The first wave of Jewish pogroms in Obukhov began on the 22 of October 1905. It is interesting that the initiators were some peasants of one part of Obukhov, and it was stopped by the peasants of the other part. They just beat the anti-Semites. Though, they had managed to destroy 12 stalls out of 54 and six Jewish houses.

The Jewish community of Obukhov disappeared during the civil war.

On 7 May 1918 the city was robbed by the Sixth Soviet regiment. I’ve found just a memory of ataman Zelenii’s pogrom of the 25th of June 1919. It is possible that the Jews were robbed by both Denikin’s people and local Ukrainian bandits.

Map of the shtetl Obukhov, 1900. 1, 2 – synagogues; 3 – market square

After the second pogrom in 1919, the majority of Obukhov’s Jews fled to Kiev.

I could’t find any information about the Jews of Obukhov after 1920.

When the Jews had left Obukhov, it became a common village and started to develop only in the second part of the 20th century after large industrial enterprises had been built there. People from all over the Soviet Union came here to work on the new enterprises. There were Jews among them. However, they knew very little about the history of pre-revolutionary Obukhov.

There was a synagogue

A Jewish community was formed in the 1990’s. Though, the majority of the Jews left for Israel, the rest of them assimilated and formed mixed marriages.

The community exists but the number of Halakhic Jews among then is unknown.

Center of “Old” Obukhov. Most of the population is living in the “New” part near plants.

Jewish cemetery

The cemetery was located on the north-western outskirts of the town, off ul. Lukavitsa. The cemetery site is has been built upon and there is no remaining visible trace of its existence.

The cemetery was destroyed during the period of collectivisation. The tombstones were removed by locals for construction purposes. The cemetery site was developed in 1992.

Ingormation was taken from Lo-Tishkah website.