THE ANCESTRAL SHTETLACH
RZHISHCHEV, UKRAINE
        While it may be assumed that Ternopol (Tarnopol), Ukraine was the ancestral shtetl of the Tarnopolsky family, no document has yet been found to confirm this.

        Chaim Tarnopolsky, the patriarch of the Tanopolsky family, came from this shtetl.
The town has had numerous names including: Ryzhishchev (Yiddish), Zhishchuv (German), Orzistchov (Hungarian), Rzyszczow (Polish), Rzhishcev (Russian) and its present name, Rzhishchev (Ukrainian). The shtetl is located at 49058’/31003  about 39 miles SE of Kiev.

        The earliest known Jewish community was in1847. The Jewish population in 1939 was 1,608
Cemetery - U.S. Commission No. UA09120101
The Jewish cemetery was established in the 19th century with the last known Hasidic burial occurring in the 1970s. No other towns or villages used this non-land marked cemetery. The isolated, rural site has no sign or marker. The cemetery is reached by turning-off a public road. Access is open to all. No wall or fence surrounds the site. There are 1-20 common tombstones, none in their original location and most are broken or toppled. The cemetery contains no mass graves. The property is now used for agricultural crops or animal grazing. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. There is no current maintenance and there have been no recent visitors. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access. There are no structures in the cemetery.
DEPROPETROVSK, UKRAINE
        Dnepropetrovsk (formerly Ekatersinoslav until 1926) is situated located at 48027’/34059’, about 206 miles ESE of Rzhishychev. The town is situated on the Dnieper River in the Ukraine.

        Jews first settled there shortly after its founding in 1778. In 1794, the town was included in the Jewish Pale of Settlement. The community numbered 376 in 1805 and 1,699 in 1847. With the growth of the city in the second half of the 19th century, Jews began to move there from other parts of Russia and played an important role in its commerce and industry. Several Jewish agricultural colonies were founded in the Yekatersinoslav province and in the neighborhood of the city, itself. Between 1846 and 1855, about 8,000 persons participated in these agricultural colonies, some of whom remained there until the advent of the German occupation in WWII.

        Pogroms occurred in Dnepropetrovsk and vicinity in July 1883 which resulted in the destruction and looting of Jewish property.  By 1897, the Jewish population had increased to 41,240 (36.3% of the total population. The community was one of the most highly organized in Russia and maintained a network of educational and charitable institutions, including a small yeshiva. Pogroms again broke out in 1905 and local self-defense was organized, which did much to protect the community. The pograms, which continued for about three days took a toll of 67 dead and 100 wounded. The pogroms and difficult life for many Jews in the shtetl gave rise to a strong revolutionary began to flourish among many of the younger Jews along side of the Hasidism and orthodoxy of the older generation.

        During WWI and the civil war in Russia, thousands of Jews took refuge in Dnepropetrovsk, which numbered 73,000 Jews in 1920. After the establishment of Soviet rule, Jewish community life ceased there as elsewhere in the Soviet Union. On the eve of WWII, it was estimated that there were 100,000 Jews in the town (20% of the total population). While most escaped the city during the Nazi occupation, the approximately 20,000 who remained were murdered toward the end of 1941. In 1970, there was only one synagogue still functioning in the town and the Jewish population was estimated at 25,000.