Story Summary:
The Zwanitzer Podolier Sick and Benevolent Society was founded by immigrants from what is now Zhavanets, Ukraine to subsidize burials and run charitable events. Members were likely either immigrants from the province of Podolier in the Russian Empire themselves or had parents from Podolier. The region experienced significant emigration in the late 1800's and early 1900's, which greatly decreased the Jewish population of Ukraine. Before this large-scale emigration and the devastation of the holocaust in the 1930's and 40's, more than a quarter of the world's Jewish population lived in Ukraine, with most of these people speaking Yiddish.
~Blog Written by Emily Hazy
The Zwanitzer Podolier Sick and Benevolent Society was founded by immigrants from what is now Zhavanets, Ukraine to subsidize burials and run charitable events. Members were likely either immigrants from the province of Podolier in the Russian Empire themselves or had parents from Podolier. The region experienced significant emigration in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, which greatly decreased the Jewish population of Ukraine. Before this large-scale emigration and the devastation of the holocaust in the 1930’s and 40’s, more than a quarter of the world's Jewish population lived in Ukraine, with most of these people speaking Yiddish.
In addition to Mount Hebron, the society had burial plots in Mount Zion and Wellwood cemeteries.
WORKS CITED:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ukraine summary". Encyclopedia
Britannica, 24 Feb. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Ukraine.
Accessed 11 May 2023.
“Independent Podolier Society of Brownsville.” Guide to the YIVO Archives, YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research, 2013, http://yivoarchives.org/index.php?p=collections%2Fcontrolcard&id=33986.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Podolia.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 24
Aug. 2011, https://www.britannica.com/place/Podolia.
“Zwanitzer Podolier Sick and Benevolent Society.” Guide to the Yivo Archives, YIVO Institute for Research,
2013, http://www.yivoarchives.org/index.php?p=collections%2Fcontrolcard&id=34181.
