History

History of the city

Kremenchuk was established in 1571, just a wooden fortress overlooking the granite ridges of the left bank of Dnieper River, surrounded by an earthen rampart and a moat. The goal in establishing the fortress seems to have been to defend the land on that side of river from Tatars and other enemies. Kremenchuk received an official charter in 1649 and by 1655, it was a thriving Cossack town. 

In the late 17th century and well into the next, the Russian Empire acquired huge swaths of land that constitute much of today's central and southern Ukraine, including the land that became Kremenchuk. In 1787, Catherine made a celebratory trip to view these lands, making a grand stop in Kremenchuk  - see below. 

Early on, much of the area was sparsely inhabited, although Kremenchuk was well-established. To populate and develop these these lands, she used several strategies, including allowing settlement by Jews in selected areas. The area that included Kremenchuk was opened to Jews by a 1794 decree. As a result, it is unlikely a coincidence that the first recorded presence of the Jews in Kremenchuk was the following year.

In the 19th century, especially the second half, Kremenchuk transformed into a significant trade and manufacturing center and its population swelled, driven by industrial growth, new factories, and improved transportation infrastructure such as the construction of a railway bridge over the Dnipro in the early 1870s to connect the city and the town of Kryukov (now Kriukiv), which was later officially merged with Kremenchuk. By 1899, a tramway network was introduced, further modernizing urban transport. There was rapid industrialization during this era. A factory that produced and maintained agricultural equipment and iron cast products was established in 1870, and the Kriukiv Railway Car Building Works opened in 1869. Kremenchuk's population swelled as a result of these and other developments. By 1913, the city would become home to nearly half of the industrial workers in Poltava gubernia. As the 19th century went on, the Jews of the Empire were suffering increased economic difficulty, essentially trapped in the Pale while facing shrinking job opportunities and escalating anti-Jewish policies. However, they were still allowed to move to the lands of Novorossiya, some parts of which—like Kremenchuk—were thriving. By 1897 Jews represented almost half of Kremenchuk's population.

The early 20th century brought political and social upheaval. During the Russian Revolution of 1917, workers' deputies took control, and Kremenchuk became a focal point in the Ukrainian–Soviet War. The city changed hands multiple times between Bolshevik, Ukrainian, German, and White Guard forces, suffering damage and instability. 

After the establishment of Soviet rule, Kremenchuk served as a gubernia capital (1920–22), then as an okruha (a type of administrative division) capital (1922–30), and later as a raion center within Kharkiv oblast until 1937, when it was incorporated into Poltava oblast. The city’s economy declined after the Revolution. The population dropped to 58,800 by 1926, but recovered during the Soviet industrialization drive of the 1930s.

During World War II, Kremenchuk was heavily damaged and much of its infrastructure destroyed. Most of its substantial Jewish population fled; the 8,000 or so that remained were murdered within seven months of the Germans' arrival.

In 1787, Empress Catherine the Great made a grandiose visit to Kremenchuk as part a six-month journey from St. Petersburg to Crimea to inspect the Empire's newly-acquired lands of Novorossiya (New Russia) and Crimea. Her diary contains a fascinating account of her visit to Kremenchuk.

Jewish population statistics

1795: 336
1801: 454
1840: 4,567 (2,336 men and 2,231 women)
1847: 3,475
1863: 8,193 (4,114 men and 4,079 women)
1897: 29,869 (47% of total population)
1914: 36,962 (60%)
1939: 19,880 (22%)
1959: about 5,200 (6%)
1970: about 1,000
1990s-present: Most Jews left in the 1990s, but there is an operating Chabad synagogue and school (see "Synagogues" below).

Sources: Shtet un Shtetlekh in Ukrayne (Osherowitch) and Kremenchuk Holocaust Museum

Jewish life in Kremenchuk

Economy

In accordance with a policy "of directing the Jews toward productive professions," the Russian government opened a weaving mill in the city in 1809, designed to teach the craft to Jews who lacked a profession. A year later, the number of Jews employed in the mill plus their families, amounted to 232. Subsequently, the Jews began to leave the mill because of the difficult conditions there, and it closed in 1817.

The Jews played an important role in the economic development of Kremenchuk, especially in the grain and timber trades and the manufacture of tobacco. There were ten sawmills and several tobacco factories. Early in the 19th century a Jewish hospital was established.

Schools

• In 1844, a Chabad yeshiva was established.

• In 1874, 64 boys studied in the 1st grade Jewish school, and 668 boys in the Jewish heder (religious elementary school). The heder also employed 86 melameds (Jewish teachers). In 1875, the caretaker of the state-owned Jewish school was H. Bromberg. The teachers were L. Gorenstein and I. Farber.

• By the end of the 19th century, there were Jewish private schools for boys and girls and two talmudei torah (schools for orphans and the poor). One of them operated in the Jewish community building on Poltava Street under the leadership of Yankel Aizekovych Gelman. It also offered a craft school (carpentry and metalworking classes). From a 1923 report of Boris Boger for the headquarters of the Joint Distribution Committee in New York: "Also in Kremenchuk there is a very good vocational school for 130 Jewish children. The mechanical part of the school is very good, but there is a need for food and clothing. Kremenchuk, like many other cities during the years of unrest, lost many of its social workers. Among the remaining social workers, there are only Jews."

• Before the civil war, Kremenchuk created a two-class primary Jewish school, a private primary Jewish school, a free vocational women's school, the Society for Aid to Poor Jewish Children, seven female and eight male Jewish schools, and a Jewish female and male gymnasium.

• During World War I, the yeshivot of Lubavich and Slobodka (from Kovno) were transferred to Kremenchuk.

• In the 1930s there were two Jewish schools and an electro-mechanical college.

Sources: Kremenchuk Holocaust Museum, Jewish Virtual Library, Shtet un Shtetlech, Encyclopaedia Judaica

Synagogues

In 1917, Kremenchuk had 60 synagogues. Only one remained open in 1959 and was closed in the early 1960s. The city now has an operating synagogue (see below).

Information about several of them:

Main Choral Synagogue

The Main Choral Synagogue, located on Kvartalnaya Street, was built in 1855 with funds from the box collection. In 1936, it housed the local history museum. It was destroyed during military operations in 1943. Several photos are here.

Sandomirsky Synagogue

The “Sandomirsky”  Synagogue, also called the "Timber House," was located on Kyivska street, was also the house of Froim Sandomirsky, a timber manufacturer. The Sandomirsky clan was prominent in the town's timber industry. Froim Sandomirsky also owned a tobacco factory in partnership with M. Rabinovich. Synagogue photo below.

Chabad Or Avner Synagogue

Current synagogue and school, including a kindergarten. The current Chabad Or Avner synagogue building was a reconstuction in 1999-2000 from the skeleton of the Hasidic "Small Synagogue" on the site that had closed in 1929 and was destroyed by fire in 1997. The The Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art has more information about the building, including photos (in English). More information and contact information is available for the Chabad Center and the school.

Pogroms 1905-1919

Between 1905 and 1919, Kremenchuk experienced multiple waves of anti‑Jewish violence, reflecting broader regional unrest. 

During the 1905 Revolution, following the October Manifesto and urban Jewish participation in demonstrations, over 660 pogroms took place in Ukraine and Bessarabia. The 1905 pogrom in Kremenchuk was fueled by widespread antisemitic scapegoating, with Jewish activists portrayed as revolutionaries.pogrom. At least 24 Jews were killed and 142 wounded. In 2006, Dmytro Vyrsky, wrote a very detailed and fascinating essay about the pogrom for Historical Journal, entitled "Jewish Pogrom of Autumn 1905 in Kremenchuk." (ЄВРЕЙСЬКИЙ ПОГРОМ ВОСЕНИ 1905 Р. У КРЕМЕНЧУЦІ Д. ВИРСЬКИЙ, in ІСТОРИЧНИЙ ЖУРНАЛ. - 2006. - № 2. - С. 110-117). Please contact the town leader (email below) for more information.

In 1918, another pogrom in Kremenchuk reportedly killed 17 Jews.

The most brutal assault came in 1919 from antisemitic bands affiliated with insurgents; 150 Jews were killed, there were extensive injuries and damages to property.

Statistics from Yad Vashem

Other resources

The Kremenchuk Holocaust Museum website has a page about Jews in Kremenchuk's history. Interesting information. Site is in Ukrainian - view in Chrome browser to translate.

History of Kremenchug, Kryukov-on-Dnipro and their outskirts (История Кременчуга, Крюкова-на-Днепре и их окраин) - view with Chrome browser to translate. The site has a page about the history of Kremenchuk's Jewish community here.