Shpola

Shpola (Ukrainian: Шпола, Yiddish: שפּאָלע) is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast (province) in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Shpola Raion (district), and is situated at 49°2′N 31°25′E. As of 2004 the estimated population is 18,400.

History

In 1847, Shpola’s Jewish population numbered 1,156. By 1897, that number had grown to 5,388 of a total population of 11,933, or about 45%. This level held steady until the Second World War.

In the 1800s Shpola was part of the Zvenigorod district in the Kiev region. With the overthrow of the Czarist regime Shpola became first a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and then of the USSR.

During World War II, Nazi Germany invaded Ukraine, and the Jewish population of Shpola was destroyed in 1942. Today Jews make up around 0.5% of Shpola’s population.

People

• Reb Aryeh Leib, "der Shpoler zeyde" (Yiddish: "the grandfather of Shpola") (1725-1812) - Hasidic tzaddik
• Ivan Kulik (1897-1937) - a pen name of Izrail (Srul) Idelevich Kulik, Ukrainian poet, short stories writer, and diplomat
• Oleksandr Tkachenko - chairman of Ukrainian parliament
• Itzik Fefer (1900-1952) - Yiddish poet

References

• (Ukrainian) (1972) Icтopiя мicт i ciл Укpaїнcькoї CCP - Черкаськa область (History of Towns and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR - Cherkasy Oblast), Kyiv.