Kobylnik
Since September 21, 1942 there were no more Jews in Kobylnik. On this day the last 120 Jews were massacred. In this manner the German fascists and their local collaborators put an end to the Jewish community of Kobylnik, which existed for hundreds of years.
It is not exactly certain when Jews first settled in this area. Based on excavations at the Jewish cemetery, it is possible to assume that Jews lived in Kobylnik in the 17th century. Based on data from previous generations, a permanent Jewish community, although a small one, existed in Kobylnik during the war of 1812. At the beginning of the 19th century a decree issued by Czar Alexander the First forbade Jews to become involved in agricultural business. Jews were forced to leave the villages and relocate to small towns. Jews relocated to Kobylnik from Verenki, Melniki, Molchani, Sluki, Posynki, Cherevki, Yanevichi, Balashi, Kupa and other villages. Families coming from the villages were identified not only by their family names but also by the names of the villages they were coming from.
The Jewish population of Kobylnik by the end of the 19th century grew to about 100 families (600 people), which amounted to half the town’s population. The Jews were craftsmen, such as tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, tinsmiths; they served local landowners; kept stores (shops), sold fish, furs, and agricultural products. With these products they served the local population, and were productive elements of the community.
Beginning at the end of the 18th century, Kobylnik, like the entire Western Byelorussia (which belonged to Poland), became part of Russia. Jews in Russia were circumscribed and oppressed. By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century pogroms were visited upon Jews with the support of the government. In those years hundreds of thousand of Jews left Russia, including some from Kobylnik; the majority immigrated to the USA.
From: Kehilalink
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