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Ottynia also known as Otyn'a or Otynia (Ukrainian) is in the Tlumach district of Ukraine, midway between Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomya, at 48.44 N and 24.51 E
History
Ottynia is first mentioned in documents from 1610 as a city where Polish aristocrats resided. Jews are known to have lived in Ottynia since 1635, and with about 2000 inhabitants, represented 40% of the population in 1900. It was in the province of Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I. From 1918 until the outbreak of World War II it was part of Poland. In 1942 the Jewish community of Ottynia was destroyed by the Nazis. At the end of World War II Ottynia became part of the Ukrainian SSR.
Jews in Ottynia are referred to first in documents from 1635. In the 18th century the Jewish population grew numerous and in 1765 their count reached 345 persons in the city. The rabbi in Ottynia also had authority over 51 Jews in neighboring villages. The rabbi in 1765, Aaron ben Avigdor, extended his patronage also over the Jews of Nadvorno.
The first Jews in Ottynia were engaged in renting property, inn keeping and commerce. In the 19th century, especially in later decades, the Jewish community grew rapidly. The great rabbi of the Wishnitz dynasty put his base there, which brought additional prosperity from boarding the Hassidim, supplying food and taking them to the train station. Also, the founding of a factory for pouring iron developed trade and increased work for Jewish craftsmen. Rightfully, the local journalist pointed out in "HaMagid" in 1902 that "rich people won't find their place in Ottynia but the poverty that exists in most of Galicia didn't come to us."
In 1899 a Gemillut Hassadim fund was established that gave a lot of help by lending money to merchants and craftsmen. At the beginning of the 20th century an elementary school from the Baron Hirsch Foundation was founded in Ottynia for Jewish children.
The relative comfort of Ottynia's Jews was terminated with the outbreak of World War I. The Russian conquest (1914-1917) brought with it the destruction of the economy and also harassment of the Jews. Among other things, 405 Jews were arrested, including the city's rabbi, on the pretext that they had sabotaged the telephone line. They were exiled from place to place until they arrived at Buczacz. There they were imprisoned for a few weeks under starvation conditions. When one of them was caught after he succeeded in escaping from the place of quarantine so that he could ask for bread from the local Jews he was punished with 25 to 75 lashes.
As a result of the war the Jewish population of Ottynia decreased and the economic conditions were run down. In 1920 about 1500 people out of 3500 Jewish inhabitants of the city and surrounding villages needed immediate help in food and clothing. About 228 families (786 people) were supported in that year with money from the Joint. Additional damage to the Jewish economy resulted from the removal of the rabbi's court to Stanislawow. As in other cities in the '20's it was difficult for Jews because of taxation. In 1925 the Jewish merchants protested in a strike (they closed their shops for a few hours). A report from Ottynia from 1927 describes the economy of Jews as very depressed.
The famous Ottynia rabbis (besides Rabbi Aaron ben Rabbi Avigdor referred to above) were: Rabbi Joel Katz who was accepted in 1770 as Rabbi in Stanislawow and on the way to his new office he died; Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi ben Rabbi Meshulam Issachar of the house of Horowitz who acted as rabbi in Ottynia for 50 years in the 19th century. From Ottynia he moved to Zavravno and from 1884 to Stanislawow (He died in 1904). His compositions include "Tol-dot Yitzhak" and "Meah Shearim". His chair in Ottynia was inherited by Rabbi Yitzhak Itsik Taubs and he sat on it 45 years until his death in 1903. In the first decade of the 20th century Rabbi Alter Chaim ben Rabbi Yeshayahu Bierbrauer was the head of the Beth Din in Ottynia. In 1909 he started publication of a literary collection, "Asufat Chochmim" (from sayings in the Bible, Mishnah, Halacha, legends and responsa). Until the First World War (probably from 1910) Rabbi Menachem Mendel Margulius also served in a place nearby or Domatz (?) In 1927 Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Klughaupt was selected rav of the city.
Towards the end of the 19th century Rabbi Chaim Hager, the son of Rabbi Baruch Wishnitz made his permanent place in Ottynia and henceforth he and his descendants were married with the name Admor Ottynia and their Chassidim -- Chassidai Ottynia. During the First World War Rabbi Chaim moved to live in Vienna and then settled in Stanislawow and ruled his court there and also ruled the Admor Ottynia. His Mishna was printed in a book "Tal Chaim". After his death in 1931 his son Rabbi Israel Shalom Joseph was crowned with the crown of the Admor in Stanislawow and he continued in his office until the Holocaust era, where he died. In Ottynia the one who continued the Admor Ottynia at the end of the First World War was the other son of Rabbi Chaim, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager (It is not known if his permanent place was in Ottynia).
The Zionist circles were organized in Ottynia in the last years of the 19th century. In 1899 the local association, "Zion", hosted a Chanukah party and about 300 people participated. At the same time a school was erected by the Baron Hirsch Foundation. After a while a Hebrew school was opened. In 1906 about sixty students, mostly girls, studied in it.
The Zionist activity in Ottynia was renewed at the end of World War I and branches of the Zionist organization (General Zionists, Mizrahi, Union and Revisionists) and nests of youth organizations (Young Zionists, Betar, HaShachar, Achuva, Akiva, and Gordonia) were thought to be active in the area. A "helping" branch was founded in 1923 and a branch of the Pioneers was established in 1924. A branch of WIZO that was founded in 1936 was active in addition to cultural and informational activity in the areas of education and social help. WIZO organized classes for knitting and care was provided to the sick and aid in the form of food and clothing went to the needy of the area. In the '30's a supplementary Hebrew school that was connected to the school network of "culture" existed in Ottynia.
There was a majority of Zionists in council of the congregation of that period. In 1927 five Zionists, one representative of Yad Harutsim and two unaffiliated members were chosen for the committee. In 1933 the Zionists again were the majority in the congregational council, and through the influence of the local rabbi a Zionist was chosen to be chairman of the council.
In 1933 four Jews, most of them Zionists, were chosen out of a total of 12 to the town council. A number of Jewish youth in Ottynia were active in the Communist party or illegal groups adjacent to it. In 1936 Isaac Schechter, the son of the ritual slaughterer in Ottynia, was brought to trial and accused of communist activity. In 1937 a Jew from Ottynia was tried because he collected money for the sake of the Spanish Republic. Because of communist activity a Jewish girl from Ottynia was brought to trial in 1938.
In the '30's expressions of anti-Semitism increased in Ottynia. Among others there were instances of firing Jews from their positions (In 1933 Jewish employees of the cinema were fired), of propaganda (distribution of proclamations and calls to boycott the Jewish businesses) and also of breaking windows in Jewish houses and hitting Jews. In 1934 many windows were broken in the houses of many Jews including the home of the rabbi who had a heart attack because of the excitement.
We are missing information on the fate of the Jews in Ottynia during the period of Soviet rule (September, 1939 to June, 1941). Also the information on the life of this Jewish population during the Nazi occupation is weak and contradictory. In August, 1941 bloody pogroms occurred in Ottynia - the handwork of the Germans and the local Ukrainian people. The pogroms lasted for a few days and large number of Jews were murdered. There is also no knowledge of the conditions of Jews in Ottynia during the period from August, 1941 to September, 1942.
But nevertheless, we know that on the eve of Succoth 5703 (September 25, 1942) the Jewish population was annihilated. Gestapo troops came into Ottynia. German and Ukrainian policemen surrounded the city and put machine guns at the street corners. They passed from house to house, concentrated all the Jews and put them on trucks. According to one version, they were transported to an unknown place and only a small group of escapees arrived the next day (September 26, 1942) in Stanislawow.
According to other information all the Jews of Ottynia were sent out - about 1800 in those days - in that "Aktion" (deportation) to Stanislawow. At the camp station they were shot on the spot or transported to the Belzec extermination camp.
source: KehilaLinks: Ottynia