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Jews in Kherson, Ukraine

Kherson is the center of the region of the same name in Ukraine. Founded in the 1770s as a base for the construction of ships of the Black Sea Fleet. Jews appeared in Kherson from the moment of its foundation. According to some sources, the role in the founding of the city was played by the student of Rabbi Arie Leib - Joshua Zeitlin, who was the supplier of Prince Potemkin. Already in 1780 a synagogue functioned in Kherson.

On the first plans of the city, dated 1782, Jewish quarters are marked.

By the end of the 18th century, more than 200 Jews lived in Kherson, mostly merchants and burghers. From the beginning of the 19th century, the authorities of the empire began to implement the policy of settling the lands of southern Ukraine by representatives of various peoples. Jewish agricultural colonies were created in the Kherson province. In the period from the 1830s to the 1850s, Jews constituted the majority of settlers in the Kherson province. In Kherson itself, by 1847 the size of the Jewish community had grown to 3.8 thousand people.

By the middle of the 19th century, more than 30 synagogues, male and female Jewish schools operated in the city. Kherson became the center of the spread of Chabad in the southern lands of the Russian Empire.

In the 1880s - 1890s in the city council of Kherson, out of 49 members, 23 (46%) were Jews. By the end of the 19th century, there were three Talmud Torahs, four literacy schools and 30 cheders in the city. According to the 1897 census, Jews accounted for 30% of the townspeople. The community consisted of 17.5 thousand people.

In 1904 and 1905, Jews became victims of pogroms, for the suppression of which military units were involved.

In the 1920s, eight Jewish gymnasiums, a Jewish women's school, a Jewish metal and woodworking school, and a Jewish agricultural mechanization college operated in the city. Jewish theater groups worked at city theaters.

By 1926, 14.8 thousand Jews lived in Kherson, accounting for 10% of the townspeople. By 1939, the number of Jews in the city increased to 16.1 thousand (16%).

The city was occupied in August 1941. According to historians, about two-thirds of local Jews managed to evacuate. At the end of August 1941, the Nazis created a ghetto, whose prisoners were killed as a result of two extermination aktions on September 16 and 30, 1941.

After the war, Jews returned to the city until the end of the 1950s, a synagogue operated in Kherson. The city was home to 9.5 thousand Jews (6% of the townspeople).

In July 1988, the Jewish community was revived in the city. Two years later, the community of Jewish culture received from the local authorities a building at 27 Gorkogo Street. By the mid-1990s, a Jewish school and a kindergarten were operating in the city.