Early History

A Jewish agricultural settlement in Bessarabia, Ukrainian SSR; in Romania 1918 - 40 and 1941 - 44. Briceva was founded in 1838 on an area of 308 hectares (approx. 760 acres) acquired by colonists originating from Podolia. In 1899 there were 301 families (averaging approx. 9 1/2 acres per family), possessing 1,244 sheep and goats. Because of the scarcity of farm equipment plowing was hired out. As a result of the Romanian agrarian reform of 1922, 72 Briceva farmers received 216 hectares (approx. 533 acres) from the state. In 1924, 176 Jewish families were occupied in agriculture on an area of 1,134 hectares (approx. 2,800 acres of which 1,605 acres were leasehold); in 1930 the total Jewish population numbered 2,431 (88.90f the total).

The Holocaust Period

The settlement's proximity to the Dniester River enabled many Jews of Briceva to escape to the USSR before the arrival of the Romanian and German troops and July 1941. Those who stayed, as well as those caught in flight, were deported to Transnistria, where most of them met their death.

The Post - war Period

After the war, a few dozen families, the surviving remnant of the community, returned to Briceva. None remained there, however, and the land became government property.

Courtesy of:
"Encyclopedia Judaica"
©1972, Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd
Jerusalem, Israel