shepetivka, Ukraine (current name)

Lat: 50° 11', Long: 27° 04'

This web page

This website was assembled to provide information for people interested in Jewish heritage from the town of Shepetovka. It is also intended to honor the residents of Shepetovka, both emigrants and current residents, and also the memory of our Shepetovka ancestors who were murdered there during the Holocaust. I hope that descendants may recognize a name or a face and help add to the knowledge base for this town. In this effort, I was greatly assisted by Miriam Weiner, who has roots in the town and provided extensive material. Her willingness to share her tremendous base of knowledge has been invaluable to this project. Special thanks go out to an indefatigable early researcher of Shepetovka, Mr. Sanford Masovitz. Although I never met Mr. Masovitz, this website owes so much to him. I also thank other contributors, including Marla Raucher Osborn, Christian Herrmann, David Kalis, Esther Chanie Dushinsky, Polina Gluskin, Lesley Kisner Cafarelli, Yoni Kupchick, Norman Shacat, Aaron Glassman, Irene Soskin, Michal Troudart, Linda Strauss, Marilyn Lustig, Renee Hatt, Barry Porter, Ilya Zeldes, Kirill Gayvoronsky, Maureen Hershman Shaw, Richard Narva, Jean Kaplan Teichroew, Axel Reineke, Donna Gershman, Michael Bernstein, Ariana Klein, Lauren John, Mitchel Lidowsky, Shirley Ginzburg, Scott Berger, Christine Meadows, Jennifer Lichman and Alexander Khibnik.

The town of Sudilkov is located three miles east of Shepetovka, and the two towns are intricately related. Shepetovka is the larger of the two. For more information about Sudilkov, please see this website. 

Note About the Town Name

Researchers of Shepetovka are fortunate that the town name has been virtually unchanged within recent memory. The Ukrainian (current) version of the town name is Shepetivka.  This web page uses the names Shepetovka and Shepetivka, depending on context. Spelling variations include Szepetowka, Szepietowka, Schepetowka, Shepetivka, Shipitivke, Shpitovka, etc.

Shepetovka Synagogue

Описание Шепетовки в Географическо-статистическом словаре Российской империи. Сост. П. Семёнов. Том V, СПб., 1885.

Шепетовка, местечко (влад.), Волынская губерния, Заславский уезд, в 20 верстах от уездного города, при реках Красноселка и Вапниковая. Число жителей: 2,791 человек обоего пола, 395 дворов, православная церковь, синагога, 2 еврейских молитвенных дома. По воскресеньям проводятся базары, 4 ярмарки.

При местечке имеются 2 железных источника, расположенных друг от друга в 50 шагах, на чернозёме. Подпочва состоит из песчаных и глинистых слоев, богатых железной охрой и обломками известняка. Вода в обоих источниках светлая, чистая, с лёгким вяжущим железистым вкусом и болотистым запахом. В малом источнике вода слабо сернистая. Температура воды +8° по Реомюру. Вода полезна как для внутреннего, так и для наружного применения при общей слабости и истощении сил, особенно при женских заболеваниях.

Shepetovka, a shtetl (small owner’s town), in Volhynia Governorate, Zaslavsky Uyezd, 20 versts from the uyezd town, located by the rivers Krasnoselka and Vapnikova. Population: 2,791 people of both sexes, 395 households, an Orthodox church, a synagogue, 2 Jewish prayer houses. Markets are held on Sundays, 4 fairs.

Sudilkov, a shtetl in Volhynia Governorate, Zaslavsky Uyezd, located 31 versts from the uyezd town, by a pond. Population: 2,951 people of both sexes, 390 households. The shtetl has an Orthodox church, a synagogue, and holds markets and 12 fairs. 

Translation from Russian provided by Alexander Khibnik.

Databases

• JewishGen "All Country" Database (for Shepetivka)

• Search the JewishGen Ukraine Database 

• Search the JewishGen Family Finder page for Shepetivka

• List of holocaust victims in the Yad Vashem database for Shepetovka (you may have to search using other spelling variations) 

Other Shepetovka Links

• Photos and list of archived documents by The Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation

• Routes to Roots Foundation article by Sergey Kravtsov and Vladimir Levin about the architecture of the Shepetovka synagogue including plans and photos

• Photos of Shepetovka by author David Kalis

• Shepetovka page on jewua.org

• Photos of Shepetovka and discussion of the burial site of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz at asimplejew blog and the twotzaddiks website

• Information on cemeteries in Shepetovka in the JOWBR website

• Wikipedia entry for Shepetivka

• Yad Vashem Untold Stories entry for Shepetovka

• Yad Vashem Untold Stories for the Sudilkov-Slavuta Road

• Yad Vashem Untold Stories for the Tsvetukha Forest Murder Site

• Yad Vashem Untold Stories for the Synagogue Murder Site

• Yad Vashem Untold Stories Commemoration

• Yad Vashem Untold Stories Report from the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission

• Wikipedia article about Nikolai Ostrovsky, an influential writer of Soviet literature, best known for his novel How the Steel Was Tempered, who lived much of his short life in Shepetovka

• Information and photos of Shepetovka and neighboring Sudilkov

• Booklet in memory of residents of Shepetovka who were murdered by the Nazis, 1941-1944 (Yad Vashem Documents Collection, in Ukrainian); and List of Jews from Shepetovka who were Murdered by the Nazis, from this booklet (also in Ukrainian).

• Drone photography of Shepetovka

• Architecture of Shepetovka as described by a visitor

Compiled by Miriam Kirshner

Copyright © 2018 Miriam Kirshner