Trip to Annopol and Slavuta, Ukraine – June 17, 2008
Last year, I visited for the first time the towns of Annopol and Slavuta in Ukraine. My father’s father, Nathan Izeman, was born in Annopol in 1890 and emigrated to the US in 1911. He eventually settled in Rhode Island -- where my parents, and my sister, brother, and I grew up.
I rented a car and drove out by myself from Kiev -- where I was staying with my family for several days. I am currently living in Moscow, Russia with my family.
It took longer than I anticipated to reach Annopol-- about 3.5 hours each way, driving briskly. (So briskly, in fact, that the police stopped me -- fortunately or unfortunately, I was able to pay the "fine" on the spot.)
I have posted photos from this trip at:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/59334435@N00/iS8k82
Because I only had one day, and it was such a long trip, I was not able to visit any regional archives or visit any other nearby town/villages. And I was only able to spend a short amount of time in Annopol and Slavuta.
I first met with Stanislav Frantsovich Kovalchuk, the Director of the Historical Museum in Slavuta. (He is pictured in the photos.) Although Slavuta is ten miles past Annopol coming from Kiev, I stopped there first to get as much information as I could about the region. Among other things, Mr. Kovalchuk co-authored a 120-page book in Ukrainian about the history of Jewish settlements in the Slavuta region and the tragic events during WWII. The book is entitled "Shalom Slavutchani,” and I am happy to send an electronic copy of this book to anyone that is interested.
Mr. Kovalchuk -- who was extremely gracious -- also gave me a 300+ page book that lists everyone killed during WWII in this region of Ukraine -- now called Khmelnitska Oblast. This book, published in 2004, is one volume of a larger series that apparently covers all of Ukraine. The volume he gave me lists those killed alphabetically -- and also, in many cases, where and when the person was born, when the Nazis killed them, and where they are buried. One page of this book lists four people with the same last name as mine from Annopol -- the name is spelled in the book as "Айзман." I am happy to look up other names for anyone that is researching specific descendants.
Additionally, I will be trying to find census-type data about those individuals who lived in Annopol from the late 1800s until WWII. I, for example, do not know if these four individuals listed in the book are related to my family -- although I suspect they are given how small Annopol was then (and now).
After visiting Slavuta, I drove "back" to Annopol. I should point out that in Ukraine, it is pronounced -- Han-no-pil.
The village is tiny. I did not drive on every street, but I can't imagine there are more than 50 houses total. The "downtown" consists of one small grocery store, one café and one bus stop. Also as you will see from the photos, many of the residents were using horse and buggy. (This fact is a little less remarkable when you realize it cost me more than $80 to fill up my very small car with gas for this one trip.)
With the help of Mr. Kovalchuk's directions, I found the old Jewish cemetery near the river that runs through the village. As the photos show, the cemetery has largely been abandoned and is in disrepair. There are only about 10-12 tombstones remaining (most knocked down or falling over) in an area that looks like there were once well over 100 or more. I tried to take a picture of all the tombstones. Most of the letters were very hard to read -- and I would welcome anyone who can translate any of them.
On one end of the cemetery, there is a monument to 200 Annopol Jews killed between 1941-1943 -- and buried at this spot. Since coming back from the trip, I now realize that many/most of the Jews from Annopol -- and other nearby villages -- were rounded-up and killed at a different site in Slavuta. As can be seen in one of my photos (inside the historical museum) there is a similar Jewish monument at the cemetery in Slavuta.
In the middle of the Annopol cemetery, there is a small mausoleum with several tombs. According to one source, buried in this cemetery is "the great Rabbi Dov Ber - The Maggid of Mezritch, Rabbi Meshulam Zusha of Anipoli (1718-1800), R' yida Lieb ha'koyenl."
After too short a visit, and no time to talk to locals (other than getting the key to the mausoleum from someone living adjacent to the cemetery, and picking up two women hitchhiking from Annopol to Slavuta to go to the market), I headed back to Kiev. Just before getting back on the main highway, I took a few pictures of a beautiful old church/village called "Stary Korets."
I also want to note that 14 descendants – including my family -- traveled to Dokshitsy, Belarus in May 2008 to attend the rededication of the restored Jewish cemetery in that town – where my mother's father, Joseph Adelson, was born. My cousin Aaron Ginsburg helped to organize this trip and raise money for the dedication of new monument in the old Jewish cemetery — as well as building a new fence around the cemetery and doing extensive landscaping. You can learn more about this project at:
http://jewishdokshitsy.org or http://friendsofjd.googlepages.com/home
My photos from this Belarus trip can be found at:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/59334435@N00/6H3zSS
And my video of this trip is at:
One obvious question is whether there is interest in trying to do a similar project for the Annapol (and perhaps Slavuta) cemetery? If yes, one key will be to find supportive local/regional officials to work with -- as was critical to the success in Dokshitsy.
I am also happy to help provide information to others who are interested in making such a trip to this part of the world.
Mark Izeman
web@izeman.com
