Szumsk - Memorial book of the Martyrs of Szumsk (Poland)

Shumsk (also known as Shums'k, Szumsk, Shimsk, or Shumskoye) was a small town in what is now western Ukraine that had a Jewish population of 1,962 in 1897, a number that dipped in the years between the two world wars. Although the community was never large, its Yizkor book is rich in detail about its people, the rhythms of their lives, and events that stood out in the history of the town. The book also gives graphic testimony to the end that befell it. Shumsk was governed by Poland from the 16th century until the late 18th century, when it passed to Russia. The first Jews settled there in the first half of the 18th century.After World War I the territory was returned by treaty to Poland. It was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939 as a consequence of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, captured by Germany in 1941, and after Germany's defeat became part of the Soviet Union until Ukrainian independence in 1991. The book's section "Shumsk Through Experiences and Memories" evokes varied and vivid memories of the town: a joyous wedding, the warm glow of a summer Shabbat day, muddy lanes where a person could sink to their knees, the anarchy in the years after the Russian Revolution and World War I, and the rise of Zionist activity. Another section, "Special Persons in Shumsk," builds on the portrait of the town with profiles of notable townspeople and how they made a difference in the community. The Nazi occupation of Shumsk began in the summer of 1941. As the Germans tightened the vise, town Jews endured forced labor, little food and the congestion of the ghetto. This ended the next summer with a mass shooting of Jews who had been lined up near huge pits. The few Shumsk Jews who survived were those who had fled to the Soviet Union ahead of the Germans' arrival or had been hidden by righteous gentiles. The book has a list of names that was compiled by people from Shumsk who recalled their relatives, neighbors and friends who perished in the Holocaust. The English edition is annotated with chapter introductions and footnotes that provide background, context, and clarification about the authors and their families, and the people, places and events they wrote about. The English translation also contains a Guide to Names that serves as a finding aid, that is, an index to names in the book. Additionally, the Guide to Names includes cross-references and notes that tell the reader whether similar names or variants refer to the same person