Wertheimer family database

Gallery

Kolomyia seal

Kolomyja map 1942

Kolomyia map in Yiddish

Kolomyia Raion map

Kolomyia City square

Kołomyia 1915

Kołomyia scene 1915

Narrative

Kolomiya Коломия Kołomyja Коломыя Kolomea Colomeea) is located in the center of the Pokuttya region, meaning "in the corner", in the Ivano-Frankivska Oblast, (Ivano Frankivsk was formerly Stanislav Stanislawow Stanislau), on the Prut River,on an elevated plain next to the Carpathian foothills between Lviv and Chernivtsi.

In the Xth century the lands of modern Ivano-Frankivska belonged to the Kyivska Rus.
In 1199, it became part of the Galytsko-Volynske principality, and later, part of the Russian province of Pospolyta.
By 1433, Kolomiya was inhabited by German, Polish, and Jewish, who came to help the "revival of field-crop cultivation".
In 1795, postal communication was established between Chernivtsi and Moldava and the Balkans via Yassy.
Between 1790 and 1815, hard surface roads were constructed from Striy to Stanislav, Kolomyia, Kuty, Snyatyn and Chernivtsi, and in 1866, a railway line connected Lviv and Chernivtsi, stimulating trade.
At the beginning with the first half of the nineteenth century, Kolomiya became an important center of export: flour was exported to Chernivtsi, Suchava, Yassa; glass and sulfur to Chernivtsi and Suchava; wheat to Yezupil; rye to Krakow and Prague; beans and peas to Krakow, Vienna, Hamburg and Berlin.
At the start of the twentieth century, Kolomiya had cells of Polish, Austrian, Jewish, and Ukrainian political parties and societies: the Jewish Socialist Party of Galiychyna (Galicia), society "Gwiazda", the radical society "Narodna Volya" ("The People's Liberty"), the Russian Radical Party, the labour society "Postup" ("Step"), the fire and gymnastic society "Sich", society "Prosvita" ("Education"), the "M. Kachkovskiy Society" and others.

After the three partitions of Poland at the end of the XVIIIth century, the territory became the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
On March 3, 1918, 32,000 townsmen and peasants from the mountain outskirts of Pokuttya and Hutsulshchyna took part in the "festival of peace and statehood" in Kolomiya. This people's assembly demanded integration of the Ukrainian territories into Ukrainian State with its own parliament, governor, and the Ukrainian Administration, and ratification by the Dual Monarchy of the Brest peace treaty.
In 1918-1919, Kolomiya became part of the West-Ukrainian National Republic.
In 1939, Kolomiya became part of the Ukraine.

Narrative

In the second half of the sixteenth century, the Royal Parlament's Resolutho ion in Lublin encouraged the settlement of Jews from Lviv on the outskirts of the town, in the Market-Place.
In 1629, the Municipal Council passed a document confirming "the duties and rights of the Jews are to be kept"; This required the Jewish community to pay 3000 gold coins into the Royal treasury.
Documents show that in 1616, the Jewish community paid annually, 20 thalers to the senior's court thalers and 40 stones of lard.
By 1765, 1072 Jews resided in Kolomiya.
During the period 1939-1943, thousands of Jews fled to Kolomyja, swelling the population to over 60,000. Kolomyja, which had become the central transit for transportations to the Belzec death camp, and extermination point for the Jewish population of that district.
There were 17 Actions in Kolomyja province, by the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police), Schutzpolizei (Occupational City Police), Ukrainian, Polish and Rail auxiliaries, Sipo – SD (Gestapo, Kripo), the SS and the Collaboration by Jewish Police Kommando, instigated by an agreement between the Judenrat and the Jewish Department of the SD.
At the end of the war, only 200 Jews had survived.

Weblinks

1. Коломия, on Wikipedia (Українська)
2. Коломыя, on Wikipedia (Русский)
3. Kołomyja, on Wikipedia (Polski)
4. Kolomyia, on Wikipedia
5. A brief review of Kolomyia history, on ОАЗИС
6. Kolomyja, on Kresy Wschodnie II Rzeczpospolitej
7. Extermination of the Jews of Kolomyja and District, on JewishGen Yizkor
8. Kolomyja Ghetto, on Aktion Reinhard Camps
9. Kolomyia City (Kolomyya - Kolomyja - Kolomea) in Western Ukraine, on Webshots.com

References

1. Lackstein, Rose (Rachel Cywia)