Vladimirets is currently located in the Ukraine, Rovenskaya Oblast. The town is located at 50.51 longitude and 24.20 latitude. It is approximately 94km from Rovno, and approximately 250km from Kiev.  At various times, it has been located in Volhynia (or Volyn/Vohlyn/Wolyn), Poland / Polish Empire, Galicia, Russia / Russian Empire, the Soviet Union,  Belarussia (Belarus), and Ukraine.  JGFF Info page for Vladimirets

Various spellings of Vladimirets:

Włodzimierzec

ולאדימרץ

Vlodimiretz

Владимирец

Vladimirets

Vlodzhimyerzets

Wladimirez

Володимирець

Volodymyrec'

Volodymyrets'

And that assumes that the person is spelling it correctly.

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In 1924, Stalin became leader of the USSR.  He used the Red Army to ruthlessly enforce a previous order to "collectivize" small farm holders, who tended to operate their farms and dairies at a profit.  The peasant farmers of Ukraine - nearly 90% of the population - didn't care for the idea, and resisted it strongly. 

In 1928 these peasant farmers found their taxes raised, plus they were asked to provide greater quantities of grain. Their farms were forcibly confiscated for collectivization. In response, many rebelled violently; some slaughtered all their animals before handing over their farms; others destroyed their machinery.

Punishment was severe, and many were shot. By 1932-1933, a natural drought collided with the peasant resistance to create a man-made famine across Ukraine. An estimated 8 million Ukrainians starved to death. Millions more were killed in Stalin's response to the farmers of the Ukraine, and the entire episode is referred to as the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933.  It is one of the primary reasons that Ukrainians sided with the Germans against Russia. 

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US Cemetery Information

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Wlodzimierzec (Polish). It is also often confused with Vladmir Volynsk or Vladymir Volinskij (Russian) because it is the Vladimirets in the Volyn region. The towns also have similar names in Yiddish, which has added to the confusion. 

The earliest known Jewish community in this town was late 17th/early 18th century, which corresponds to the expulsion of Jews across Western Europe and the creation of the Pale of Settlement. Khmelnitskiy's progroms and World War I touched Vladimirets deeply -- many of our family emigrated because of the voracity of the progroms. 

It wasn't until 1809 that the Russian Tzarist Government required Jews to adopt fixed, inheritable family names so that they might be more easily identified for taxation and conscription. Any records previous to 1809, if we could find them, would simply be of the "Name, son/daughter of Name" type of record. We don't know exactly when our family first came to Vladimirets, but we know we have been there since at least the late 18th century. However, as late as the middle of the 19th century, Russian Government officials were still complaining about the frequent change of family names among Jews who lived in different communities under different surnames. Often these different surnames were simply variations due to the lack of vowels used in Hebrew Names -- בריל became Baril, Barill (USA), Brill, Barel, Bariel, Baryl, and probably countless other variations I haven't found yet. 

Due to travel restrictions, emigration and travel happened in waves.  Somewhere around 1910 - 1925, there must have been a lifting of travel bans in the Pale, because we start to see Jews traveling back and forth to Vladimirets from other towns and other countries. There was another wave of emigration after the progroms of the 1930's.  The post-WWII emigration appears to be largely to Palestine/Israel, although there was already a Zionist movement in Vladimirets long before. 

The Jewish community in Vladimirets was diverse. There were at least 3 shuls (synagogues): Chasidic, Orthodox, and Conservative. Most of our family was Conservative. Everyone kept kosher. (Kosher is a lot easier to keep when everyone around you is kosher.) All three of the shuls had schools (cheders or Talmud Torahs) associated with them, and most of our family (including the women) were literate in more than one language. The shul was the center of the Jewish social community as well as the religious center. Many of our family attended shul every Shabbos (Shabbat) for the chance to see friends and family they didn't get to see during the week. Unlike some shtetls, Vladimirets didn't have a "Jewish Ghetto" -- Jews and non-Jews lived as neighbors, at least until the 1940's.

One thing that the yiskor book makes clear is that many people went into hiding both before and during the massacre.  There was a clear division between Poles and Ukrainians -- the Ukrainians were on the side of the Germans and helped hunt down Jews, while the Poles hid them and aided in their escape.

During the 1940's, Vladimirets was under Ukrainian Nationalist occupation, which was allied with the Nazis.  Jews from surrounding areas were forced to move to the larger towns and villages, including Vladimirets.  They lived together in a Jewish ghetto, and were forced to work the neighboring farms for the occupation forces. Progroms and terror campaigns were common during this time.  There was a Judenrat, a Jewish Council that helped to govern the Jewish ghetto and also served as an intermediary with the occupying police / military forces.  Some members of the Judenrat are noted at the bottom of the Vladimirets Surname page.

Like most Jewish shtetls, Vladimirets was not a wealthy community. Because of the laws, Jews weren't allowed to own land, or anything that hadn't been owned before, which meant that most Jews were merchants of some sort. One of our family, however, owned the grain mill in town. Others were carpenters and shokhets (ritual slaughterers), junk men and furniture makers. Overall, we were well educated and could read and write -- often in several languages.  Relatively speaking (no pun intended), our family was doing all right for themselves.

Most of our family emigrated between 1900 and 1930. While many came to the United States, others settled in Palestine (Israel) and South America. Of those who came to the United States, most settled in Detroit, Michigan, or at least started out there. Other major draws were New York City and Boston. As World War II drew closer, the former residents of Vladimirets formed a club, a "landsmanshaften". They worked throughout WWII to raise funds to help those in Vladimirets. Many were convinced to emigrate, but there were those who chose to stay behind. Their names were memorialized in the Vladimirets Yiskor Book, published in 1945 / 1963.

The Vladimirets Landsman Society was disbanded in the U.S. in the 1960s, but still continues in Israel. Someday, I hope to have the yiskor book available here in it's entirety. Currently, translations are in process -- please see the yiskor translation index for translated chapters.  (as of Dec 2007, we are over halfway finished with our translation of the Sefer Vladimirets.)

Aside from progroms and Nazis, some of our family emigrated for economic opportunity or other reasons. Some of them came to the United States with the intention of earning lots of money and returning as rich men. There is at least one story of a man who emigrated to avoid conscription into the Russian Army. One woman came to the United States because she wanted the freedom to be non-religious.

There is a central cemetery near Vladimirets, which was also used by neighboring towns. This cemetery is not listed and/or protected as a landmark or monument. It is poorly marked, and surrounded by a broken fence with no gate. The cemetery has no special sections. There are no remaining original stones. There is a mass grave, and some mass burial sites are marked with family names. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII, but in the last 10 years has been left alone.  [The previous information is from JewishGen's cemetery database, but it may have been misidentified as a Jewish cemetery.  Visitors to the area have not been able to locate this central Jewish cemetery. The mass burial site is still there. See 2006 Vladimirets photos]

There was another Jewish cemetery, which is now near the center of town. After the war, the Communists built a government building and factory on the site. All that remains is a grassy yard. There is no marker. (updated 1997) [See 2006 Vladimirets photos]  As of 2007, we have not found out what was done with the headstones on the site. 

A memorial site outside of town shows where Jews were murdered. There is a stone at the site in Russian and Hebrew. It states "Stand and pay attention to this place. Here on August 28, 1942 German fascists occupants martyred more than 3,000 Soviet citizens. History will not forget and forgive them and their barbaric actions. May the victims rest in peace." (note: The numbers do not match the Vladimirets Jewish population because a) not all the people murdered were Jews, and b) often Jews were brought from neighboring towns to a central area to be killed.) (Go to the writings of the final moments of the Jews of Vladimirets, from the Sefer Vladimirets)

The mass grave is rarely visited, and there is little to no ongoing maintenance, although local municipal authorities did re-erect stones and clear some vegetation some time back. A group of Vladimirets survivors visited the area in 2000, and have arranged with a local man for annual maintenance. (updated 2007)

When I was little, I used to ask about Vladimirets.  My bubbie (Rifka Chase Barill) would say "Why are you asking about that place?  There's nothing left.  Nothing to tell."  Eventually, I realized that the community was still there, even some of the buildings. I thought she was wrong, that she was just covering up the pain of losing so much.  It took me a long time to realize that she was right -- the Jewish community of Vladimirets is gone, there's nothing left.   However, it still has a lot to tell us about where we came from.