Felshtin Listing from One-Hundred Shtetls of Ukraine

FELSHTIN (since 1947 Gvardeskoye) is a settlement in the Khmelnitskiy area.  Until 1923, it was part of  the Proskurov district of the Podolsk province.  The town is first mentioned in historical documents in 1584. 

Jews lived in Felshtin since the first half of the eighteenth century.   A pogrom on February 16, 1919 resulted in the loss of about 600 Jews.

In 1765, there were 469 Jews in Felshtin; in 1897, there were 1885 Jews (95% of the population); in 1923, there were 1003 Jews.

In 1941-2, locals killed the majority of Felshtin Jews.  In February, 1942, about 300 Jews were sent to work on the construction of a road; many of them died of intolerable conditions or were executed.  Those who survived were murdered in the autumn of 1942.  No Jews now live in the town (1990s).

In Gvardeskoye, some of the houses in the former Jewish area remain.  In the center, a stone synagogue from the 19th century remains.  There is also a ruined 19^th century cemetery with several gravestones that have escaped destruction.

Excerpted from One Hundred Shtetls of Ukraine.  Issue One: Jewish Communities of Podoliya.  Jerusalem Center for the Documentation of the Diaspora Heritage and the Institute for the Investigation of the Jewish Diaspora (Petersburg Jewish University), 1997. Translation courtesy of Dr. Mel Werbach.

Home