[ Not to be confused with the larger town with the same name near Kiev. ]
also known as: Tiszafejéregyháza (HU), Bilá Cirkev (CZ), Bila Cerkva (RU), Vais Feld (Yid)
48°03' N / 23°29' E
~ Introduction ~
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Bila Tserkva
was part of the Kingdom of Hungary (11th century - 1920 and 1938-1944) with the name of Tiszafejéregyháza
in Máramaros megye (county), next part of Czechoslovakia (1920-1938) with the name of Bilá Cirkev
in Podkarpatská Rus (Sub-Carpathia), then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1945-1991) with the name of Bila Cerkva
and, since 1991, known as Bila Tserkva, in the Rakhivskyi rayon (district) of Zakarpats'ka oblast (county) of Ukraine.
In Yiddish, Bila Tserkva was known as Vais Feld.
Other spellings/names for Bila Tserkva are Biserica Alba, Sdeh Lavan, Tiszafeyeenyhaz and Feketetisza.
Bila Tserkva is located about 2 miles SSW of Solotvyno (Aklaszlatina), on the Romanian border.
Jews probably settled in Bila Tserkva in the first half of the 18th century.
In 1768, there were ten Jews living here.
In 1880, the Jewish population was 42 (of a total population of 284).
By 1930, during the Czechoslovakian period, the Jewish population rose to 230.
Then by 1941, the Jewish population dropped to 176 (of a total population of 1,714).
With the Hungarian occupation of Bila Tserkva in March, 1939, Jews were persecuted and pushed out of their occupations.
In 1940-41, dozens of Jews from Bila Tserkva were drafted into forced labor battalions and others were drafted for service on the Eastern front, where most died. Also, a few Jewish families without Hungarian citizenship were expelled to Nazi occupied Ukrainian territory, to Kamenets-Podolski, and murdered there.
The remaining Jews of Bila Tserkva were deported to Auschwitz late May, 1944.
A great many of the Jews from Bila Tserkva were murdered in Auschwitz and any survivors settled elsewhere.
In 2001, Bila Tserkva had about 3,024 inhabitants and no Jews live there today.
Sources (portions): The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, (2001) pp. 148-149
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