Tuczyn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tuczyn (Ukrainian: Tyчин, German: Tuchin) is a village in the Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the Rivnensky Raion (district) in the historic region of Volhynia, approximately 18 km east from the oblast capital, Rivne.
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[edit] Tuczyn Diversity
Tuczyn was a very diverse town before World War II, it had a large Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian population. A Roman Catholic Parish was founded in Tuczyn in 1590, it included the surrounding villages of Buhryński Majdan, Cecylówka, Drozdów, Horbów, Jadzin, Karczemka, Korościatyn, Krąglik, Kryniczka, Kudranka, Kuty Zalesie, Leonówka, Lucynów, Mikulin, Niespodzianka: I, II, III; Piotrowica, Podobanka, Pustomycki Majdan, Pustomyty Ryświanka, Rzeczyca, Sienne, Smolarnia, Sobówka dwór, Urszulin, Woronów, Woskodawy, and Zalanka. In 1938 the parish numbered 2,660 individuals almost entriely comprised of Poles.
[edit] History
The Polish noble family Siemaszków is rooted in Tuczyn, in 1650 the town was owned by the Daniłłowicz family, later by the Lubomirski's and finally by the Walewski's from the 18th century to the outbreak of WWII. Stanisław Lubomirski foundation erected two wooden churches, cerkwie, in the town in 1711 (Paraskewy) and 1730 (Przemienienia Pańskiego). The Walewski's built a classicist Church in 1796. Tuczyn was a major town in the district prior to WWII. It had major populations of Jews, Poles and Ukrainians.
[edit] WWII
Prior to WWII about 3,000 Jews lived in Tuczyn. After hearing of the annihilation the Jewish Ghetto in Rivne the Jewish leaders decided that they would resist the Nazis. On the evening of Tuesday, September 23, 1942, a blockade was mounted against the ghetto of Tuczyn. The leaders of the uprising declared a full alert; the fighting groups took up positions. On the dawn of September 24, German forces and Ukrainian auxiliaries advanced toward the ghetto fences. When the resistance forces gave the signal, the buildings of the ghetto and the German warehouses at its edge were set ablaze. The fighting groups opened fire, broke through the ghetto fence, and urged the population to escape. Under cover of smoke and gunfire, some 2,000 people-about two-thirds of the ghetto population, including women, children, and the elderly-fled into the forest. The flames continued to burn for the rest of that day and part of the next; the gunfire continued as well. Several Germans and Ukrainian auxiliary police were killed. One-third of the ghetto population fell, including almost all the fighters. The uprising ended on Saturday, September 26 when the lead resistors turned themselves into the Germans, unable to stand the conditions in the nearby forests. The escapees fared very badly. Half of them were captured and murdered within three days. About 300 women, clutching infants, unable to withstand the conditions of the forest, returned to Tuczyn and were shot. Many of the remainder died; others were turned in or murdered by peasants in the vicinity. Some young people joined the partisans and were killed in combat. Of the 3,000 Jews of Tuczyn, only 20 were still alive on January 16, 1944, when the town was liberated.
