History

Jewish colonies

Much of what I know about the Jewish colonies comes from Chaim Freedman's contributions to the Jewish Gen project on these colonies. The paragraph below is from Introduction to the Study of the Jewish Agricultural Colonies in the Ukraine by Chaim Freedman, written in 2005. Since then, under the lead of Sylvia Walowitz, Jewish Gen has added a large digital database Courland-Kherson Jewish Relocation 1837-1840 (lists searchable in Latvia and Ukraine databases on Jewish Gen www.jewishgen.org).

"In the late 18th century large areas of territories in south-east Ukraine came under the control of the Russian Tsarist regime. At that time this area was known as Novorussia (New Russia) and was divided roughly into three Guberniyas (provinces): Kherson, Yekaterinoslav and Tavritch (the latter included the Crimean peninsula and part of the adjacent mainland). The Russian government was anxious to develop this region by settlement from the rest of the Russian Empire. At the same time the government sought a way to relieve itself of the so-called "Jewish Question", particularly in what are now Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus. With the accession of Tsar Alexander the First, legislation was passed to define and partially relieve the situation of the Jews. One objective of this legislation was to encourage Jews to leave the crowded and economically poor centers in the north and establish new settlements in Novorussia. Those Jews who qualified to be included in this enterprise were promised financial support to set up agricultural colonies, with the added incentive of exemption from military service (the period of exemption changed at various times throughout the 19th century)."

"Initially a number of agricultural colonies were established in Kherson Guberniya commencing in the first decade of the 19th century. The Yekaterinoslav colonies were established later..."

List of Jewish Agricultural Colonies

Ekaterinoslav (Dnyepopetrovsk) Gubernia

• Alexandrovsk (Zaporozhe)
• Andreyevka
• Bakkers (Zatishe)
• Bogodarovka (Novodarovka, Kovilevsk)
• Donetsk (Yuzovka, Stalino)
• Gaichul (Hichur, Novoukrainka)
• Gorykaya (Nazarevitch)
• Gottland
• Grafskoy (Prolotarsky)
• Grunau
• Gulaipole
• Karla Leibnekta
• Khlebodarovka (Suntsove)
• Krasnoselka (Driternumer)
• Ludvigstahl
• Marienfeld (Marinopol)
• Marionovka
• Mariupol
• Mezheritch (Ferternumer)
• Nadeshnaya (Der Vilner)
• Nechayevka ( Gorki, Peness)
• Melitopol
• Mikhailovka
• NovoZlatopol (Pervernumer)
• Orekhov
• Priyutnaya (Takni)
• Reichenfeld (Shirokoye)
• Roskoshnoye (Galushkes)
• Rovnopol (Lates)
• Rozovka
• Sladkovodnaya (Kobilnye)
• Tokmak
• Trudoliubovka (Engels)
• Tsarakonstantinovka (Kubishevo, Kamenka)
• Vasilkovka
• Velikomikhaylovka
• Veselaya (Hoopolova)
• Zaparozhe (Aleksandrovsk)
• Zatishye (Bakhers)
• Zelenopole (Myadler)
• Dribovka

Kherson Gubernia

• Berislaw
• Bolshoi Nagartav
• Bolshoi Sedeimenukha
• Bobovri Kut
• Dibrovka
• Dobraya
• Efingar
• Inguletz
• Israelovka
• Izluchistoye
• Lvovo
• Malaya Nagaratav
• Malaya Sedeimenukha
• Novo Berislav
• Novo Poldol'skiy
• Novopoltavka
• Novo Vitebsk
• Lvovo
• Romanovka
• Volnaya

Tavrida Gubernia

• Berdyansk

List of German Agricultural Colonies

Sources:

German Colonies

• A Success Story: The German Colonists in New Russia and Bessarabia: 1787-1914 online article by Professor Dr. Detlef Brandes on the site Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, run by NDSU. Originally published in Acta Slavica Iaponica Tomus, IX, 1991
• Berasan, Cherson, South Russia Map, lists the German colonies
• Chortitza Colony Wikipedia Article Chortitza Colony was a settlement of German-speaking Mennonites northwest of Khortytsia Island and is now part of Zaporizhia, Ukraine.

Jewish Colonies

• Jewish Gen Kehilalinks webpage for Novopoltavka run by Sylvia Walowitz with contributions from other descendants, many from Argentinian families
• Wikipedia article on the Jewish Agricutural Colonies in the Russian Empire
• Information on Kherson Colonies drawn from The Jewish Encyclopedia Funk and Wagnals 1951
• Colonies of Ukraine on Jewish Gen the best source of information on the Jewish agricultural colonies
• Courland-Kherson Jewish Relocation 1837-1840 lists searchable in Latvia and Ukraine databases on Jewish Gen (www.jewishgen.org)
• Trotsky: A Biography, by Robert Service. Chapter 1, pages 13 - 29