Trochenbrod facts for kids
Trochenbrod (also known as Sofievka or Zofiówka) was a small Jewish village, called a shtetl, in what is now western Ukraine. It was about 30 kilometers northeast of Lutsk. This village, covering about 1,728 acres, used to be part of Poland. Its name, Sofievka, came from Sofia, a Russian princess who gave land for Jewish people to settle there.
Contents
History
How Trochenbrod Started
Trochenbrod was founded in 1835. It began as a farming community and slowly grew into a small town. In 1889, about 1,200 people lived there, making up 235 families. By 1897, the population had grown to 1,580.
Life in the Village
During the Polish–Soviet War, Poland took control of the town. By 1938, the town's population was entirely Jewish and had grown to at least 3,000 people. Most of the villagers worked in farming, dairy farming, or tanning (making leather).
Trochenbrod had seven synagogues, which are Jewish places of worship. In 1940, the town, like the rest of Western Ukraine, became part of the Soviet Union. This happened because of an agreement called the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The village's religious leader, Rabbi Gershon Weissmann, was sent away to Siberia by the Communists. They accused him of being involved in illegal salt trading.
World War II and Its Impact
Later, during World War II, the Nazis took over Ukraine. They forced all Jewish people from Trochenbrod and nearby villages into a special area called a ghetto. In August and September 1942, the Nazis killed most of the Jewish people from the Trochenbrod ghetto and the nearby village of Lozisht. The local Ukrainian police helped the Nazis gather the Jewish people.
Fewer than 200 Jewish people from Trochenbrod and the surrounding areas survived this terrible event. The village itself was burned down. Today, only fields and a forest remain where Trochenbrod once stood. A small number of people, between 33 and 40, managed to escape and survive the war. Most of them were found near Lutsk.
Trochenbrod in fiction
A made-up version of the shtetl, called Trachimbrod, appears in the 2002 book Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. It was also featured in the 2005 movie based on the book.
Safran Foer's story tells about fictional events in the village. These events take place between 1791, when the shtetl was first named, and 1941, when it was destroyed during the war. The main character of the book, who shares the author's name, travels to Ukraine. He is looking for a woman named Augustine, who saved his grandfather during the war.
Images for kids
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Holocaust memorial for Trochenbrod and Lozisht Jewish people at the Holon Cemetery in Israel
See also
In Spanish: Trochinbrod para niños
