The document says the shtetl has been in existence since the 1600's. It was originally part of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1787 the Polish king gave Dzygivka the right to hold regular fairs or market days. The fairs were twice-weekly events and brought many farmers and others to town.

The Jews were merchants, small traders, innkeepers. There is mention of a "wine-tobacco factory."  [My great-grandfather Solomon dealt in tobacco.] In later years a small professional class emerged, including large landowners and managers of enterprises such as a hospital, banks and factories.

In 1905 there was an attempted pogrom which was halted by authorities. But in 1917 hooligans smashed, grabbed and stole from Jewish stores. There was no mention of casualties.

In 1919 the Jewish community was caught in the crossfire of civil war between Ukrainians and Russians. During the establishment of Communism the Jews were said to be unyielding to "Party and Soviet influence."

The document remarks on the the extensive Jewish life that took place in Dzygivka.  There were schools, synagogues, a large cemetery.  In the 1880's there was even a smattering of Zionism.

A former resident named Yakov Tsuzmer wrote that Dzygivka was an out-of-the way "forgotten town," but one with a bountiful source of fresh water from the Korytna River.

Dzygivka's remoteness would turn out to be a blessing after the German invasion of 1941. The town was turned into a ghetto, but seemed to have escaped the murderous attention of the Nazis and their Rumanian minions. The peak of Jewish population in Dzygivka was in 1897, with 2,187, a third of the total.  Emigration, Sovietization and other factors reduced numbers after that.

By the time Dzygivka was liberated in 1944 only "several hundred" were left. By 1998, according to the document, only 12 elderly Jews were left, cared for by the congregation of Yampol.  At the time of this writing, 2014, there may not be even a single Jew remaining in a once-bustling shtetl.