Chairman of the community: Vinyarski Vadim Aaronovitch
Tel:  (04866) 2-26-75
Address: ul. Kotsyubinskogo, 10

Balt Jews

Information about the first modern Jews are the first mention of Paliyeva Lake, and Turkish Yuzefgrode Balta. Even in those days there prevailed Ashkenazi Jews, although there were a small number of Sephardic, and Karaites.

Since the 18th century the Jewish community of the city was mostly Hasidic. There is reason to believe that the city he visited Israel of the Baal Shem Tov (Besht), the founder of Hasidism.

At the heart of the city's Jews was trade and craft business. Sometimes Jewish merchants had to compete with the Old Believer entrepreneurs also occupy a significant niche in the trade turnover Podolia.

For years, Balta remained one of the major grain trading centers. This is due to the activities of many of its inhabitants, ihchisle - Bendersky M. Huberman Ioselevich Iser, Komisarenko Aaron Savransky IM, Scarf Haim Ioselevich, Representatives names Nemirovsky, Rabinovich, Royzenbergi. etc.

Order bentwood furniture could have Yankelevich Haim Kleinman, and shoes - in the studio Shimon Hurwitz Herschkowitz. Are willing to pay traded Moszkowicz Aaron Goldin and David Rosenthal. Diamond necklace and other jewelry can make Royzengurt Wolf Ladyzhenskii Itsko, Medvedev Ioyna.

Balt Jewish Hospital

An excellent description of the life of pre-Revolutionary Balts are memories known anthroponimics AS Pribludy, whose father was involved in bookbinding, and later - and the book trade. The latter was particularly lucrative as the network of educational institutions of the city.

"For Jewish children, whose education in the public schools and the school was limited vysshenachalnom interest rate, there was a state-owned one-class Jewish school - the main breeding ground for Russian ratification. Were many headers, private schools and Talmud Torah, which at my age, along with the traditional Jewish teaching the Bible and the prayers of the children also received some knowledge of the field of Russian literacy and numeracy.

Before the revolution, the city had dozens of synagogues and prayer houses. Official rabbi in 1914, Moses was Gershovich Rosenblatt. Let me again quote the memoirs above mentioned website.

Synagogues in addition to its primary function - to serve in places of public worship for centuries served as a club, where flowed the whole social and cultural life of the Jewish population. Even in my childhood one synagogue congregation knew each other well, experiencing common joys and sorrows, visited each other's homes and family celebrations. On Saturdays and holidays attending synagogue meant meeting with the closest friends and family. Here, during breaks in the adult worship in groups stood in the yard and conducted their interviews, and children undertaken more your game.

Immigration got powerful stimulus from Balta pogrom (1882), the highly publicized (see links below).

At the end of 1941, 1,500 Jews were deported to the Vinnitsa region, where they were kept in concentration and labor camps and Obodkovskogo Trostyanetsky areas. Of those in the Baltic States returned about 500 people. In the spring of 1943-bodied Jews from Balta sent to the area of ​​Nikolaev at the disposal of "Todt." At the end of 1943, the survivors were allowed to return to the Baltics. In December, the ghetto was shot 83 people.

On the period of occupation Tsvang tells Simon in the fourth chapter of the book "wild fire" - Balta Ghetto Heroes

After his release in March 1944 in Balta, there were slightly more than 2,700 Jews.

The downward trend in the number of Jews in the city in the future remained.