Tlumach

Other Names

• Tlumacz (Polish); Tlomats (Yiddish),

Location

• In Ivano-Frankovsk (formerly Polish Stanislawow) Oblast, Ukraine. Lat: 48'52" Long: 25'00" 269.2 miles WSW of Kiev

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History

Tlumach: General Information

Tlumach Notables

Names from the Tlumach Yizkor Book

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History

The town passed to Austria in 1772, and reverted to Poland between the two world wars. An organized community existed there from the 18th century. In 1765, there were 102 houses, of which 59 belonged to Jews. 372 Jews then lived in Tlumach and 148 in the surrounding area. The Jews in Tlumach were mainly occupied in small scale commerce and crafts, the wealthier ones engaging in trade in timber and the production of alcoholic beverages. Chasidism gained adherents there during the 19th century. The Jewish population numbered 1,756 (43% of the total) in 1888, 2,097 (39%) in 1900; and 2,082 (36%) in 1910. The Baron de Hirsch fund established a school and a bank in the town.

During World War I the Jews suffered from the invasion of the Russian armies, and in 1918 from the Ukrainian nationalists. There were 2,012 Jews living in Tlumach (35% of the total) in 1921. In the interwar period Zionism gained influence within the community.

On July 5, 1941, after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war, Tlumach was taken by the Hungarian allies of Germany. At the beginning of August 1941 Jewish refugees from Hungary were brought to the city. During the same period the Ukrainian population expelled the Jews from the city and robbed them of their property. They returned only after the intervention of the Hungarian army.

In September 1941 Tlumach was handed over to direct German administration. The leaders of the Jewish intelligentsia were killed, including the chairman of the Judenrat, Eliasz Redner. In the winter of 1941-42 many Jews were seized and sent to work camps in the area.

On April 3, 1942, 1,200 Jews, including those from the surrounding area, were concentrated and deported to Stanislawow where they were murdered. Subsequently, a ghetto was established in which 3000 Jews, including those from the surrounding area, were concentrated. On May 18 another Aktion took place, in which about 180 Jews were killed on the spot and about 350 were deported to work camps in the area . The murder of individuals in the ghetto continued, and many there suffered from disease and hunger. At the end of November 1942 the ghetto was destroyed. On November 27, 1942, 2,000 Jews were deported to Belzec. A few escaped to the forests, but fell victims to Ukrainian nationalists.

The community in Tlumach was not reconstituted after the war.

Tlumacz was the county seat of Tlumacz Province, a territory which, prior to the Second World War, covered 919 square kilometers (about 300 square miles) with a population of 118,874. The Province took in 127 village councils and 133 settlements, among them several towns. As the county seat, Tlumacz was the location of the district administration, high school, teachers' college and the district court.

Before Poland's division (the first one, in 1772) into Russian, Prussian and Austrian territories, Tlumacz belonged to the Province of Halicz. Austria annexed it to Galicia (Stanislawow district). It remained in this district from 1919 to 1939, from Poland's independence to its fall to the Germans.

According to some historians, the Tlumacz community was in existence as far back as the 14th Century, in the days of King Wladislaw Jagelo. It often fell prey to the Tatars. In the 17th Century the town was attacked by the Cossacks and destroyed; in 1661 its entire population was reduced to three souls. The town was rebuilt slowly. In 1765 it already had 102 houses, of which 59 belonged to Jews, with a synagogue of their own. The others were Catholics and Eastern Church people.

The king appointed the governor of the province, to administer the area, collect taxes, and to protect the Jews against attack according to royal edict. At the end of the 17^th century, the town and the entire province passed into the hands of the influential Pototzki family and remained there until the middle of the 19^th Century, when it was taken over by the Jahn family. The head of this family built a palace in the center of a large park, and later founded a sugar refining plant, one of the largest in Galicia, which employed more than 1000 workers. His descendants weren't able to hold on to these properties. The palace and the park went to the Village Council, and the sugar plant went bankrupt. The assets were sold, some of them to the Jews of Tlumacz.

Tlumacz also had a river of sorts, a large stream called Tlumaczyk, about 12 feet across, widening to abut 40 feet at the point of its confluence with the Dniester River, one of Europe's largest (1,300 feet across at that point), which separated Tlumacz province from its neighbors, Buczacz and Horodenko. Important as was the Dniester for transportation and commerce, it also wrought some discomfort: twice a year it overflowed its banks - early in March, as the snow and ice in the area melted, and again later in May when the snow melted in the Carpathian mountains, the source of the Dniester.

Situated off the main highway, Tlumacz had little industry and commerce, although it was in the heart of a fertile valley, and its soil was rich and fruitful. Fruit was plentiful. The fruit orchards in the province provided cherries, peaches, currants, berries, pears and apples. The orchards, leased by their owners mostly to Jews, furnished the area with fresh and dried fruit and jellies.

Most of the habitations were on one side of the Tlumaczyk stream. On the other was the city abattoir and wide open spaces which served, among other purposes, for the Wednesday market and the wagons of the farmers, for gypsy encampments, and for soccer games (the Jewish team, "Hashmonai", was high up in the inter-town league). Farther out were the pasture and grazing lands. In the spring, when the waters of the Tlumaczyk swelled from the melting snow, these lands were completely inundated; at other times the stream was polluted with sewage.

The Jewish neighborhood centered about Legionov Street, on which was located the two-story government primary school, built in 1902. The smaller streets, branching off from Legionov, led to the Jewish public baths, to several small synagogues, the headquarters of Jewish youth movement, converging on Herzl Square, named for the founder of the Zionist movement. On the Square was the Main Synagogue and the meat markets. Beyond it was the town's only pharmacy, owned by one Shankowski, for many years the Mayor of Tlumacz. He and another man named Kurczaw were the only non-Jews living in that area.

To the left of the market place the neighborhood changed. Here was the Greek Catholic Church, the entrance to the town park, and the distillery. While not many Jews lived in the quarter, several of its building were used by Jewish organizations of all kind - "Hashomer Hatzair", "Betar", the "Kadima" and "Emunah" clubs of the intellectuals and the sports headquarters of "Hasmonai".

On Wednesdays, the market place was alive with buyers and sellers coming from all over the province. As the wagons laden with produce drew close, some Jews bought from them sacks of grain or other commodities, weighing them on their mobile scales. Then they set themselves up in the market and retailed their purchases to the customers.

Fruit, fresh and dried, was a popular item. The stands were run mainly by women whose husbands worked as watchmen in the orchards or as fruit-dryers, all according to season. In the cold of winter, these "market sitters", as they were called, had to keep their hands warm by holding them over braziers of live coals.

The civic center of the town was at and around the park. Here was the Town Hall, the high school, the water pump station, the town's one hotel, the post office, and various buildings belonging to the non-Jewish population.

Tlumacz had a railway of sorts, which was started in 1910. It was a narrow gauge road and two passenger cars which traveled to Palahicze twice daily, and thence by other conveyance to Stanislawow and Chrtkow. In the late 20's Joel Radner brought in an autobus. The Soviets opened Tlumacz-Stanislawow bus lines.

A pious Jew of the old school, none too affluent, stout, adorned with a long beard. Family later move to Rumania.

First chairman of the Council appointed by the Polish authorities. For many years head of the birth certificates registry. Assimilated as far as Judaism was concerned, he taught Judaism to Jewish children in the Polish public school. A typical Austrian civil servant; upright, esthetic, courteous, always tastefully and fastidiously dressed. Died before his prime of life.

The first elected head of the Council. An intellectual, Zionist, rather taciturn, public spirited but not an initiator of public service. After he left his post, it came "up for grabs" among the internal political parties.

Served several terms as Council chairman. Came from Stanislawow, was principal of the "Baron Hirsch School" and a partner with Shaya Radner in a book shop. Later taught religious subjects in the state high school. His son, Dr. H. Urman is living in Israel (1976).

A surveyor before the war, he opened a small hotel and restaurant in the town. He served as its deputy mayor, as well as chairman of the Council, secretary of the Disabled War Veterans Association, and member of the merchants guild. Known for his charitable deeds, he was accepted in Polish circles and was a member of the Sokol club. Imaginative to the point of fantasy and illusions.

Last community official before the holocaust, a Zionist, progressive, a solid merchant of ironware. Not public minded, he nevertheless fulfilled his duties faithfully.

Member of a distinguished Lemberg family. Scholarly and erudite, he enjoyed the respect of the Jews and non-Jews alike. Spoke a Germanized Yiddish. Tall, with an olive skin, and short curly hair beard. Wore a long fur coat and broad brimmed velvet hat. Each word of the prayers had to be uttered precisely. He also loved to sing. Later returned to Lemberg to fill a rabbinical post.

Born in Tlumacz, and ordained at the age of 18. At the outbreak of the war, he was one of the deportees to Zloczow, later found refuge in Hungary. Returned with he family to Tlumacz in 1917 and served there as a religious magistrate (dayyan) up to the age of 84. Known for his erudition.

Last of Tlumach's religious leaders. A member of the Vizhnitz dynasty. Came from Stanislawow as a young man.

Little is known about him. Prior to World War I he lived in Tlumacz. He was much beloved by the populace. After his death, a synagogue - the Kloiz of R. Zisialy - was founded in his memory. Buried in the old cemetery in a 'tent" (mausoleum).

One of the town's spiritual leaders. Handsome, with a long red beard. In the 1920's he went to Rumania and thence to Jerusalem.

Family came to Tlumacz in the 1930's, after living in Eretz-Israel, and gathered his Hassidim about him, most of them from the poorer segment of the population. His son Haim, a prominent Mizrahi leader, perished in the holocaust.

Names from the Tlumach Yizkor Book

 Arranged alphabetically (across columns)

* Indicates family name added by Harold Sandler

Suggestions or comments? Contact Harold Sandler

This web page was prepared by Harold Sandler in memory of all the members of his family, and all the other residents of the town of Tlumach who perished in the Holocaust. May their memory live forever

Holocaust Research-Yizkor Books

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• Eastern European Yizkor Books Held at UC
• Holocaust Memorial Center: America's First. Illuminating the Past Enlightening Memorial Book Collection

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