Russian records for the two communities in 1850 and 1858, called "revision lists" by the Tsar's government, were located, translated and appear on this website with a running commentary (Mlynov and Mervits). They provide a wonderful window into the lives of those who lived in these small Jewish communities in the mid-19th century. In 1850, there were 48 households in Mlynov with 247 named individuals, 200 of whom were still living. Eight years later in 1858, there were 64 households including 9 that were listed separately as craftmen. There were 340 names on this revision, of whom 284 were still living.

Most of what we know about Mlynov and Mervits, from family histories and memories, refers to people who lived in the period between 1850–1940 and comes from a later date; the Mlynov Memorial book, for example, which contains many recollections of Mlynov or Mervits families, was published in 1970 and thus represents memories after WWII when the atrocities of the Nazis had come to light and been understood. Thus far no records before 1850 have been discovered for Jewish residents of these towns. A small number of residents survived the Nazi occupation, and their memories have been recorded. This site is a tribute to both the families and their descendants from this place.

Location

Mlynov is located today in what is now Western Ukraine and spelled "Mlyniv." In the second partition of Poland (1792–1795), Mlynov and Mervits became part of Russia where they remained until WWI. Mlynov and Mervits were close to the Eastern Front during WWI and switched hands multiple times in the civil war following WWI before becoming part of Poland. Mlynov remained part of Poland until WWII. You can view Mlyniv today via Google Maps or Mapquest.

We know from memoires and oral interviews that residents of Mlynov and Mervits would visit Dubno on a regular basis. Dubno is mentioned in the memoire of Clara Fram as the larger town her mother, Pesse, visited when shopping for nice things for the holiday and the place her father disembarked from the train on his trips to and from America in the 1890s. Solomon Mandelkern spent time studying in Dubno after leaving Mlynov when he was 14 in about 1860. Immigrants and survivors from Mlynov recall walking to Dubno as young teens.

According to the census of 1897, Dubno had a population of 13,785, including 5,608 Jews. The main sources of income for the Jewish community in Dubno were trading and industrial occupations. There were 902 artisans, 147 day-laborers, 27 factory and workshop employees, and 6 families cultivating land. The town had a Jewish hospital and several chederim (Jewish schools).[5]

Lutsk is also mentioned in the Demb family story as a place where Samuel Roskes, the husband of Mollie Demb, the youngest Demb daughter, was born and where their first son was born. We don't know how Mollie Demb and Samuel Roskes met each other but the marriage suggests the kind of local mobility that was possible at the time. Sylvia (Barditch) Goldberg also recalls (in an essay in the Memorial Book) going as a young girl from Lutsk where she was born to Mlynov where her grandparents lived, to attend a memorable wedding. In 1802, there were 1,297 Jews in the town; by 1847, there were 5,010 (60% of the population); and in 1897, there were 9,468 (60% of the population).[6]

To the west and south about 25 miles, you can see Berestechko, which is where Gulza, the oldest daughter of David and Pesse (Demb) Rivitz, settled with her husband, Leizor Mazuryk (later Louis Mazer in Baltimore). In her memoire, Clara Fram has childhood memories visiting her older sister in Berestechko as a young girl and recalls how she passed through Brestechko with her mother, grandmother and two sisters on their immigration to Baltimore in late 1908. The community numbered 1,927 in 1847, 2,251 in 1897 (45% of the total population), and 2,210 in 1931 (total population 6,514).[7]

Novohrad-Volynskyi (sometimes written "Novograd" in immigration records) is about 100 miles to the east. Records indicate Mlynov-born, Motel Demb (Max Deming), his brother Simha Gruber and Simha's two sons, Nathan and Samuel, were living here for a time and this might have been the city to which some of the Mlynov population was evacuated during WWI. Motel married a woman from Novograd and their daughter Sylvia was born here. At the start of the 20th century, 10,000 Jews or 50% of the population, lived in the town. In 1919, the Pogroms in Ukraine reached Novohrad-Volynskyi, and the troops of Symon Petliura murdered 1,000 Jews.[8]

Volodymyr Volynskyi, called "Ludmir" in Yiddish, is 70 miles west of Mlynov. Ludmir was the town where the well-to-do Moshe Gruber from Mlynov headed to find a suitable husband for his daughter Rivkah Gruber when she turned 11 and was of marrying age. He brought back a fifteen-year-old named Israel Jacob ("Yisrael Yaakov") Demb. They became the patriarch and matriarch of the large Demb family in Mlynov.

It is possible that Moshe Gruber was drawn to Ludmir because of its reputation as a Hasidic center. When the founder of the Karliner Hasidic dynasty, Rabbi Shelomoh ha-Levi (murdered in 1792), settled in Ludmir in 1786, the town became an important Hasidic center. The "Maiden of Ludmir," Khane-Rokhl Werbermacher (~1806–~1888), a local woman known for her righteousness and wisdom, also became a popular Hasidic leader; numerous Hasidim gathered in her bet midrash. After she moved to Jerusalem in 1861, her bet midrash was occupied by the Rakhmistrov Hasidim. The Jewish population of Ludmir grew thanks to its status as a trade and crafts center located close to the border. Some 1,849 Jews were registered in the city in 1799; rising to 3,930 in 1847; and reaching 5,869 (about 60% of the population) in 1897.^[9]

Notes