Khmil'nyk, Ukraine Хмільник, Yкраïна [ Not to be confused with the town with the same name, nearby Ostropol. ]
also known as: Komlós (HU), Komluš (CZ), Khmel'nik (RU), Kalmoyish (Yid)
48°17' N / 22°54' E
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Khmil'nyk
was part of the Kingdom of Hungary (11th century - 1920 and 1938-1944) with the name of Komlós
in Bereg megye (county), next part of Czechoslovakia (1920-1938) with the name of Komluš
in Podkarpatská Rus (Sub-Carpathia), then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1945-1991) with the name of Khmel'nik
and, since 1991, known as Khmil'nyk, in the Irshavsky rayon (district) of Zakarpats'ka oblast (county) of Ukraine.
In Yiddish, Khmil'nyk was known as Kalmoyish.
Other spellings/names for Khmil'nyk are Chmelník and Hmiljnik.
Khmil'nyk is located about 12 miles ENE of Berehove (Beregszász), 11 miles NNW of Vynohradiv (Nagyszőllős), seven miles WSW of Irshava (Ilosva).
The first mention of this village was in 1260. The name of the village is derived from the plant from which the beer is brewed. Brewers use hops, a small bitter flowering plant, to provide a counterbalancing aroma and taste to beer. Wild hops grow here in the woods, and because of the winds, near houses. Even the old, pre-Soviet name of the village, Komlos, translated from Hungarian, means "hops."
Jews probably settled in Khmil'nyk in the mid-18th century.
Three Jewish families were present in 1768.
In 1880, the Jewish population was 121 (of a total population of 612). Around this time, there were only 13 houses, most inhabited by Jews.
During the Czechoslovakian period, the Jewish population remained around 121 inhabitants and a number of Jews farmed.
With the Hungarian occupation of Khmil'nyk in March, 1939, Jews were persecuted and pushed out of their occupations. In 1940-41, dozens of Jews from Khmil'nyk were drafted into forced labor battalions and others were drafted for service on the Eastern front, where most died.
In 1941, a few Jewish families without Hungarian citizenship were expelled to Nazi occupied Ukrainian territory, to Kamenets-Podolski, and murdered there.
The remaining Jews of Khmil'nyk were deported to Auschwitz late May, 1944.
A great many of the Jews from Khmil'nyk were murdered in Auschwitz and any survivors settled elsewhere.
In 2001, Khmil'nyk had about 866 inhabitants and no Jews live there today.
Sources (portions): The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, (2001) p. 253 ZAKARPATTYA.NET.UA
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