Uhniv

Uhniv ( _uk. Угнів, _pl. Uhnów, _yi. הובנוב) is a city in Lviv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. Population is 1,021 (2001).

Uhniv (or Uhnowor Uchnów or Hivniv) is the Rava Ruska district in Eastern Galicia, 22 kilometers from Belz, 21 km from Rava Ruska. The capital of the district is Lemberg (Lvov).At the end of 2nd century A.D. the Goths invaded Galicia. They conquered the Hivniv area and settled there. At the end of the 4th Century A.D. the Huns conquered and replaced the Goths. In the middle of the 5th century the Slovenes took control of the area. In 1019 the area was conquered by the Polish King; until 1462 the area was under ducal control. In that year Belz was established as a district (wiebudstabo) under Polish rule - this district included the town that was later called Hivniv. The settlements in the Belz area belonged to various owners; some to the kingdom (these were called crown cities) and some individuals calles squires.In that year (1462) King Kazimirz gave his permission to a man called Zigmond to give the name Uhnow (Hivniv) (his crest) to the placs as a reward for his giving protection to the Belz area.And so the village became an independent town, free of wider supervision. The inhabitants were not under the squires control but under the kins rule.

In 1477 several villages were included in the general area of Hivniv, This area was extended 1n 1595.In 1914 there were more than 20 villages surrounding the town of Hivniv.

In 1497 the crusaders came to the district to help the Polish king against Tutkish invaders. In 1548-9 the Tatars invaded; from 1648-1655 the area suffered from Chamilinitsky, a pole who joined forces with the Tarters.

In the following years many wars took place there, until the division of Poland and the transfer of Galicia to Austrian rule. After the 2nd World War Soviet Union took control of the Area.

Jews of Hivniv

The Jewish community of Uhnow (Hivniv) goes back very far. There is little historical evidence of this since. The place is to small to be mentioned in Jewish or other records. But thanks to famous rabbis who are mentioned in various sources because of their importance, it is clear that a Jewish community existed there for at least 350 years and even had a rabbinical court and Judge.

In 1629 30 families.In 1648-9 100 families.

In the "Tiet Hion" scrolls of Rabbi Shmuel Feivish, son of Rabbi Nathan Pytel:

"From there the enemy went to Megirov where there were about 100 families who escaped to Nerol (mentioned before). From there the enemy went to Pat Lish - also about 100 families - who escaped to Nerol. The enemy went to Rava which had 100 families and they also ran away to Nerol... In Nerol there were 600 householders, not counting refugees; altogether more than 5000 families. As a result of our many sins, a terrible decree was issued and more than 10,000 people were killed, including woman and children.

from there, the enemy advanced to Belz which had about 200 families. In addition, Belz had more than 10,000 families who escaped from other towns because Belz was a very strong city. But some died of hunger. From there the enemy went to Uhnow (Hivniv) which had 100 families - they all were killed each by the other so as not to fall victim to their enemies. From there the enemy went to Tishvits which had 100 families and killed most of them. The enemy went to Skool which had 100 families who had behind a very thick wall which was built like a fortress and so were saved".

The Jewish community was rebuilt by Jews from the surrounding area. After calm restored, they came out of hiding and built new homes.