Welcome to the KehilaLinks Page for
Borshchagovka (Russia) / Borshchahivka (Ukraine) / Burshivka (Yiddish)
"Borshivka, Boorshivka, Burshevke, Burshivka, Burshivker, Burshifka, Borshtshifke" (Yiddish Derivations)
"Borshchagovka means “hill of beets”
JewishGen Borshchahivka Community Database
| Timeline | Town | District | Province | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1795-1917 | Borshchagovka | Skvira uyezd | Kiev gubernia | Russian Empire |
| 1918-1922 | Borshchagovka | Skvira uyezd | Kiev gubernia | Ukrainian Republic |
| 1923-1937 | Borshchagovka | Pogrebishche uyezd | Kiev gubernia | Ukrainian SSR->USSR |
| 1938-1991 | Borshchagovka | Pogrebishche uyezd | Vinnytsia gubernia | Ukrainian SSR->USSR |
| 1992-2020 | Borshchahivka | Pogrebishche uyezd | Vinnytsia gubernia | Ukraine |
| 2020-Today | Borshchahivka | Vinnytsia uyezd | Ukraine |
Alternate Names:
Geographical Location:
A small town at the confluence of the rivers Orekhovatka and Ros, serving as the border between Skvira and Tarascha uezds.
78.8 miles SW of Kiev
Latitude and Longitude: 49°29´25"N, 29°32´50"E
Borshchagovka in Maps:
Nearby Jewish Communities:
Images of Borshchagovka:
View of Borshchagovka, Engraving mid-19th century. Boris Feldblyum Collection, BFC-02946.
Borshchahivka Aerial and Landscape Views, 2021, Google Maps.
Aerial View of Borshchagovka in 2020, Jewua.org Website.
Borshchagovka Market Square 2023 - Image 1, Jewua.org Website.
Borshchagovka Market Square 2023 - Image 2, Jewua.org Website.
Borshchagovka Jewish Population Statistics:
1763: Four Jewish families.1
1847: 465 Jews.2
1864: 1,625 Jews; 2,688 Total population.3
1875: 711 adult male Jews.4
1897: 1,853 Jews; 3,196 Total population.5
1918: Estimated population of 2,800, with 1,800 Jews and 400 Jewish families.6
1926: 230 Jews (after most left in the wake of a pogrom carried out on 3 July 1919.)7
Eve of WWII: 50 Jews (12 families.)8
Historical Background:
The first written mention of Borshchagovka dates back to 1643. During the 16th-18th centuries,
Borshchagovka was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.1 The village was within the
domain of Prince Janusz Antoniy Vyshnevetskyi (1678-1741), a statesman of that era. Following
Prince Janusz's death in 1741, Borshchagovka came under the ownership of his brother, Prince
Mykhailo Servatsy Vyshnevetskyi, who possessed additional estates in Skibyntsi, Kuriantsi, and
Marmuliyivka. At that time, the village of Borshchagovka consisted of only 65 households.2 In
1793, following the second partition of Poland, Borshchagovka became part of the Russian Empire.
After the enactment of the 1861 Edict of Emancipation, which abolished serfdom throughout the
Russian Empire, Count Adam Adamovich Rzhevusky leased most of the land around Borshchagovka
to a local Jew.3 Upon the death of Count Rzhevusky, control passed to his son, Count Leon
Adamovich Rzhevusky.
In 1913 Jews owned three out of four apothecary shops, all fifteen grocery stores, all three
haberdashery stores, the only iron and hardware store, all seven manufacturing stores, all six flour
stores, both tableware stores, both bread stores, both egg stores, a meat shop, a sack store, and a
lumber yard.4
At the outset of 1918, Borshchagovka had an estimated population of 2,800, including approximately
1,800 Jews comprising 400 families.5 It was part of the Skvira uyezd (district/county) in the Kiev
guberniya (province). The Jews referred to their shtetl as Burshivka in Yiddish. During the summer
of 1919 a wave of pogroms destroyed the entire Jewish community of Burshivka. Every Jewish-owned
home and store was burned to the ground: 350 houses, fifty-five shops, five factories, five religious and
public institutions.6 According to the Burshivker Relief Committee in New York City, 1,600 of the
2,000 villagers were estimated to have been murdered. 7 Many survivors later succumbed to wounds,
starvation, or diseases such as typhus. Others fell victim to subsequent pogroms in the towns to which
they had fled, notably Tetiev and Skvira.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, governance of Borshchagovka shifted to the newly
independent Ukraine, and it is now known as Borshchahivka.
The Rescue Of More Than Fifty Borshchagovka Pogrom Survivors:
Pogroms of 1919-1920:
Family Stories and Memories of Borshchagovka:
Photos of Families from Borshchagovka (click here)
Emigration:
Landsmanshaftn in New York City: First Burshivker Sick And Benevolent Association (Erste Burshivker Kranken Unt. Verein):
Borshchagovka Records:
Borshchagovka During the Holocaust:
Searchable Databases:
Notes:
Borshchagovka Jewish Population Statistics:
1. Shmuel Spector (Ed.), "Borshchagovka," in The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust (New York: New York University Press, 2021), 1:174.
2. "Borshchagovka," in Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron (St. Petersburg: F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron, 1906-1913), accessed February 27, 2024.
3. Lavrentiy Pokhilevich, History of the Settlements of Kiev Province (Kiev: Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Printing House, 1864), 204, translation courtesy of Kostya Strakovsky. (in Russian).
4. "About the Production of the Jewish census of 1875," Archive: DAKO/12/3/40, accessed February 27, 2024, translation courtesy of Nathen Gabriel. (in Russian).
5. "Borshchagovka," in Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron.
6. "Materials on the Pogroms in the Skvyra Region, including in Borshchahivka," in Series XIV: Pogrom Materials and Reports, 1919-1923, Center for Jewish History - YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research, accessed February 27, 2024, translation courtesy of Nathen Gabriel. (in Yiddish).
7. Spector, "Borshchagovka," 1:174.
8. Spector, "Borshchagovka," 1:174.
Historical Background:
1. Leonid Tsirulnik, "Borshchagovka," My shtetl: Jewish Towns in Ukraine, accessed February 27, 2024.
2. "Borshchahivka," Ukrainian Wikipedia, accessed February 27, 2024.
3. Chaim (Vitali) Buryak, "Borshagovka," JEWUA: History of Jewish Communities in Ukraine, accessed February 27, 2024.
4. Tsirulnik, "Borshchagovka."
5. "Materials on the Pogroms in the Skvyra Region, including in Borshchahivka," in Series XIV: Pogrom Materials and Reports, 1919-1923, Center for Jewish History - YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research, accessed February 27, 2024, translation courtesy of Nathen Gabriel. (in Yiddish).
6. "Questionnaire About Pogroms Committed by Bandits in Borshchagovka," translation courtesy of Amy Babcock. (in Russian).
7. The counts were cited in the reference letter from the Burshivker Relief Committee included with Fawel Zitomersky's passport application.
Bibliography and Sources:
Thank you to the many people who contributed to the creation of the Borshchagovka KehilaLinks site.
Special thanks to Nathen Gabriel, my cousin and genealogical mentor from the beginning; JoAnne Vanett; Konstantin Strakovsky; And… The Great Miriam Weiner.
Created by Benjamin D. Zitomer
Copyright © 2024 Benjamin D. Zitomer
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Last updated July 2024
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