Mohyliv-Podilskyi

Mohyliv-Podilskyi (Ukrainian: Могилів-Подільський, Polish: Mohylów Podolski, Romanian: Moghilǎu/Movilǎu, Yiddish: מאָהילעװ) is a city in the Mohyliv-Podilskyi Raion (district) of the Vinnytsia Oblast (province), Ukraine. It is located at 48°26′51″N 27°48′04″E / 48.4475°N 27.80111°E / 48.4475; 27.80111, on the border with Bessarabia, Moldova.

History

The first mention of the town dates from 1595. The owner of the town, Moldavian hospodar Ieremia Movilă bestowed it as a dowry gift to his daughter, who married into the Potocki family of Polish nobility. At that time, the groom named the town Mohyliv in honor of his father-in-law. In the first quarter of the 17th century, Mohyliv became one of the largest towns in Podolia.

WWII Town in the Transnistria region of Ukraine. Mogilev-Podolski was occupied by German and Romanian troops in July 1941. Soon thereafter, thousands of Jews in the town were murdered by the occupiers. Mogilev-Podolski soon became a transit camp for Jews expelled from Bessarabia and Bukovina to Transnistria. From September 1941 to February 1942 more than 55,000 deportees came through the town. Thousands of people were jammed into the transit camp and treated cruelly by the Romanian guards. Many Jews were not allowed to stay in Mogilev-Podolski; thousands were forced to travel by foot to nearby villages and towns. The 15,000 who were initially permitted to stay in the town organized themselves into groups. Some 2,000—3,000 were given residence permits, while the rest lived in constant fear of being deported into the Transnistrian interior for forced labor. In December 1943 over 3,000 Jews were allowed to return to Romania, and in March 1944, Jewish leaders in Bucharest got permission to bring back 1,400 orphans. Mogilev-Podolski was liberated that month; many Jewish men were immediately drafted by the Soviet army. Many who stayed in the city were killed by German bombs. Most of the deportees were allowed to return to Romania in the spring of 1945.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Ukraine

Twin towns — Sister cities

Mohyliv-Podilskyi is twinned with:

• Końskie, Poland