Bilozirka (; ; ), also called Belozërka (), is a village in Kremenets Raion, Ternopil Oblast in western Ukraine. It belongs to Lanivtsi urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.
History Bilozirka has been documented as a settlement since 1545. It was in an area where rule changed over the centuries. Ashkenazi Jews settled here beginning in the early 18th century, when it was part of the Russian Empire.Yad Vashem, "Bialozorka", The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust: A-J, New York: NYU Press, 2001, p. 138
In 1900, the Jewish population was 1,070, and the total village population was about 2500."Belozërka" , JewishGen Many Jewish communities, known as shtetls, were within 8 to 26 miles of Bilozirka. Numerous Jews emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, up until about 1921. During the 1920s, more than 100 Jews migrated to Palestine. By the late 1920s, Jews numbered 874, among a total village population of 2,331.
In July 1941, during World War II, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, including this village and region. Its forces occupied the village. In the first week of occupation, Nazi forces murdered several Jewish girls of the village. Soon, the Germans created a Judenrat, who were ordered to collect and transfer ransom payments to them. On February 28, 1942, the Jews of the city were taken to the Lanowce ghetto, where they were used in forced labor."Bialozerka" , Moreshet Public Library On August 13–14, 1942, the Germans murdered nearly all of the Jews from the ghetto in mass executions. About 20 Jews of the city survived the Holocaust.
Until 18 July 2020, Bilozirka belonged to Lanivtsi Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Ternopil Oblast to three. The area of Lanivtsi Raion was merged into Kremenets Raion.
Administration
+TimeNameDistrictProvinceCountryBefore World War I (c. 1900)BelozirkaKremenetsVolhyniaRussian EmpireBetween the wars (c. 1930)BiałozórkaKrzemieniecWołyńPolandAfter World War II (c. 1950)BelozerkaKremenets RaionTernopil OblastUkrainian SSR, Soviet UnionAfter the USSR ended (since 1991) 2020BilozirkaLanivtsi RaionTernopil OblastUkraineAfter 2020BilozirkaKremenets RaionTernopil OblastUkraine
References
Bilozirka profile at Verkhovna Rada website
Further reading Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), I, p. 197: "Białozórka". Pinkas HaKehilot, Poland, Vol. 5 (1990), pp. 46–47: "Białozórka". Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 138: "Bialozorka".