Donetsk is a city that emerged after the unification of a number of villages. The date of its foundation is considered to be 1779, when the Cossacks laid the foundation of sloboda Aleksandrovka. In 1859, the first mines appeared on the territory of modern Donetsk, and 10 years later the construction of the Yuzovka village began, which grew into a city, uniting the nearest slobodas.

The Jewish population in Donetsk appears simultaneously with the development of mines. Historians write about several waves of Jewish settlement in Donbass. It is believed that a significant part of the Jewish population of the region appeared in the 1880s, when, after the assassination of Alexander II, a series of decrees were issued aimed at restoring the Pale of Settlement. For several years, 700 thousand Jews left the Central regions of Russia. In 1804, the authorities allowed Jews from Belarus to move to the Azov region. Subsequently, the inflows and outflows of the Jewish population were associated with the Civil War, the development of industry and military operations.

Already in 1875, the first Jewish pogrom took place in Yuzovka. The striking workers went to smash the shops of the traders in the bazaar. In 1892, another pogrom took place during the cholera riot. According to sources, Christian merchants exhibited icons in the shop windows and the pogromists bypassed them. During the 1905 revolution, a Jewish pogrom also took place in the city.

In addition to traditional trade and handicraft activities, Jews have appeared in the region since the 1880s as administrators, accountants, storekeepers and managers. The entrepreneurs hired them because the Jews knew manners and language, but at the same time, they were strangers to the workers, which excluded the possibility of collusion against the owner.

The Jewish population of Yuzovka was growing. In 1887, the first Zionist organization appeared here. By 1905, it had over 400 members.

In 1910, there were three synagogues in the city, three men's and two women's private schools, there was a Jewish cemetery. Since 1916, there was a society for helping poor Jews. According to the 1926 census, 11.3 thousand Jews lived in the city, which made up 10% of the townspeople. By 1939, the number of Jews had grown to 24.9 thousand people, although the share in the urban population had dropped to 5.4%.

In the late 1930s, the city rabbi was repressed and the synagogue was closed. In the postwar years, an informal Jewish funeral society and an illegal minyan operated in the city.

The revival of Jewish life in Donetsk began in 1989. Since the 1990s, a synagogue has appeared in the city. Since the outbreak of the war in 2014, the city's Jewish population has shrunk by five times. According to the data of 2019, about 3 thousand Jews lived in the city.