Pochep

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POCHEP

POCHEP , city in Oriol district, Russian Federation. Jews are mentioned in the 17th century, and were massacred in the *Chmielnicki uprising. In 1882 in a big fire destroyed 100 houses and 120 shops. There were 3,172 Jews (about 33% of the total population) living in Pochep in 1897. The *Chabad yeshivah in the town was headed by the local rabbi Joshua Nathan Gnessin. Among the yeshivah students were his son Uri Nissan *Gnessin and J.H. *Brenner. Jews numbered 3,616 (27.1% of the population) in 1926, with the number dropping by 1939 to 2,314 (15% of the total population). The Germans arrived in Pochep on August 22, 1941. Some of the Jews managed to escape. There were hundreds of Jews among the 2,200 people killed there. After the liberation a monument with an inscription in Hebrew was erected on the mass grave of the murdered Jews.

[Yehuda Slutsky /

Shmuel Spector (2nd ed.)]