Transcriber's Note: This material was given to me by my Uncle Samuel Sokolow, of blessed memory.  I transcribed it and added it to the Internet.  You can tell most of it was written before WW II.

I have included a few write ups on the cemetery nearby,  They are from the International Jewish Cemetery Project.

If there are any mistakes in it please contact me  Gary Sokolow  and I'll correct it.
Gary Sokolow
April 22, 1999

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TROCHINBROD - (Zofiowka)
by Eleazar Barco (Bork)
Translated from the Hebrew by Karen Engel

The  small  town  of  Trochinbrod,  about  30  kilometers northeast  of   Lutzk   and some  15-20 kilometers  from the main highway and rail road between Lutzk and Rowne, was also called Zofiowka,  after  a  Russian  Princess (Sofia) that   gave  land  for  a Jewish settlement in Russia.

The settlement started out in 1835 as a farming colony. Soon it expanded and became a town.

According  to what  the elders of  Trochinbrod say,  the Kieberca - Lutzk railroad was to pass by Trochinbrod,  but the citizens objected,  fearing that their cattle would get hurt by  trains.    Since  then,  Trochinbrod  and  the  neighboring town,  Ignatiowka, are separated from the main cities.

    In  1889,  235  families  (about  1,200  people)  lived  in Trochinbrod.   In 1897 the population numbered 1,580.   During the next forty years Trochinbrod expanded even more, and in 1938  3,000 Jews, and not a single non-Jew,  lived in the town. Lighting the oven on the Sabbath,  for instance, was done by a non-Jew from another town.  His pay was usually a piece of challah.

 The mail carrier in a Jewish village was usually a Jew, but  the  postmaster  was  not,  according  to  the  Russian  and Polish custom.

  The inhabitants  of  Trochinbrod  were  mainly  farmers, dairy  farmers,  and  tanners.  They  were  widely  known  as industrious, prosperous people.   The children studies at the  heder and  later in yeshivot.

 The area of Trochinbrod  was only 640 desyatin (1,728 acres). Because it was impossible to develop and enlarge Trochinbrod many were compelled to emigrate to lands across the sea, such as North and South America, including Argentina.  There, they continued to be farmers and were very prosperous.

During  the World War   (WW I - 1914-1918)  Trochinbrod suffered much.   The front was about seven kilometers  from  the  town. Its  inhabitants were forced to do  jobs that they were not familiar  with  for  the  Austrian  and  German  armies  for  a period  of  nine  months.    The army  would  distribute  small portions of bread, salt, and the hindquarters of beef, which was slaughtered by Jewish  butchers who worked for the army.

At  the  start  of  the  Russian  Revolution,  the  young people of Trochinbrod organized many Hebrew institutions and raised  funds,   but  their  work  was  disturbed  when  the Bolsheviks seized power.   For a few months Trochinbrod was a "no-mans land"  between two opposing camps--- the Poles on one side and  the Bolsheviks  on  the other.   From time to time they would come to Trochinbrod and create trouble.

 Merchandise  came  to  Trochinbrod  from  the  towns  of Kowel   Lutzk  and  Roziszca,  which  already  belonged  to  the Polish.    The  merchandise  was  sold  for  gold  coins  to  the inhabitants of the town or to merchants from Rowne.

 Many  robbers  used  to  hide  in  the woods,  waiting  for merchants.    They would  kill  the  merchants  and  take their merchandise.  So many merchants were killed in this way that a special place was made for them in the town's cemetery.

 When  Trochinbrod  was  captured  by  the  Polish,   the national Zionist organization resumed its former order, and the  people of  Trochinbrod worked with renewed zest.   They raised  more  money  and  taught  Hebrew  in  a  Hebrew  school, headed  by  Rabbi  Eliyahu  David  Yisroel  Schuster,  who  also gave private Hebrew lessons.   Teaching and learning Hebrew was one of the main functions of the Zionist organization.

At  the  of  the  fourth  aliyah some  Jews  from Trochinbrod came to Israel,  and later many others tried to do so as well.   There were many difficulties, and only seven of  them  actually  made  it  to  Israel .    No  one  knows  what became of the many that could not get there.
 

 There were seven synagogues in Trochinbrod.   There were three big ones and  four Hasidic study houses,  named after the Hasidic leaders from Trisk, Olika,  Berezna, and Styfem. But  when the  rebbe from  Trisk  visited  the  town,  even  the Hasidim from the other study houses came to hear him teach. The residents  respected every  "good Jew"  (as  they used to call the Hasidic leaders).

For about thirty yeas, until the present war the rebbe in  Trochinbrod  was  Rabbi  Boruch-Zeev  Beigel.    He  lived a simple  life  and  was  sharp- witted,  but  the  residents  of Trochinbrod did not like or respect him.   The town had another rebbe, Rabbi  Moshe  Bider  from  Berezna.     The  Zionists respected him and called him the Berezner Rebbe.

 At  the  time  of  World  War  I  Rabbi  Bider  won  some recognition from the Austrian commandant of the town.   With his  influence many of  the Jews were forced to work on tie Sabbath and holidays were released,  and their work was lessened on weekdays.   During the  time of Austrian rule he taught the children and young people and took care of them.

 During the typhus epidemic that began in 1917, many were killed.  Among them was Rabbi Bider, but his memory remained in the hearts of the people of Trochinbrod.

After his death, the two sides compromised and together placed Rabbi Gershon Weissmann in the rabbinical. office.  He was the son of: Rabbi Hayim Weissmann, who was once a judge in the town and also the father-in- law of Rabbi Zeev Beigel.

 Rabbi Gershon Weissmann was a unique personality.   He prayed according  to the custom of  the Karlin Hasidim.    In 1940,  when  the Russians  captured the  town,  the Communists did  not  want  this  fanatical  rabbi  in  their  town.    They accused him of underground salt trading and exiled  him to Siberia.

   Some famous people from Trochinbrod were:
 

•    Yehezkiel  Potsk,  the  mayor.    He  was  chosen  and recognized  by  the  Russians.    He  was  very  good  to  the inhabitants and  improved the conditions of  their  life and work.   In 1922 he left the village and went to his children in America
•    Rabbi  Abraham-Jonah Drezner,  a  loyal  and  patriotic businessman.  He was  usually chosen as a representative from Trochinbrod to regional council.
•    Hirsch  Kantor,  a  talented  comedian -     He  would perform in weddings and parties.   when he retired he became a merchant and leased the rights to operate windmills.   He was  also  chairman  of  the  local  Keren HaYessod.    He  died without heir in 1924
•    Mendel  Apteker  (also  known  as Mendel  Yelner),  the town  doctor.    He  was  a  Zionist  and  participated  in  many Zionist organizations,  even from the time of Hibat  Tsiyon, and  worked  assiduously  for  the  advancement  of:  Zionist financial  resources.   During the war  he gave medical  help and  advice  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  local  towns  and villages.   He caught typhus and died.   His sons followed in his footsteps and were all Zionists and businessmen
•      Moshe Hirsch,  the  Melamed  (teacher),  ran  a  heder, he was also a cantor in the synagogue and occasionally acted as a  jester at  weddings.   His jokes were published  in the local newspapers and also in the Haynt and Moment (two leading Yiddish Daily newspapers in Poland) This caused him much satisfaction.

   There  were  two  prominent  Communists  who  came  from Trochinbrod:

•      Motel Schwarz  a known commissar in Odessa, and Yaakov Burak, who was a sea captain on a Russian warship and had high academic degree.   During the time of the purges of the Russian government Schwarz disappeared.   Burak drowned with his ship and crew near Kronstadt during the war between the Bolsheviks  and  the Whites.    It  should  be  stated  that both of them studied many years at the Slobodka yeshiva, and Motel Schwarz even had rabbinical ordination.

Here  is  a  1ist  of  some  people  from  the  town  who contributed to the spread of a revived Hebrew culture:

•   Elijah-David  Schuster,  who  worked  for  years  as  a teacher in Roziszca;
•  Tsvi  Drezner,  who  completed  a  teachers  degree  in Grodno with honors and  was  also a  teacher  in  Nowe Miasto (near Warsaw);
•    Yitshak Schuster,  who moved  to Wolodowa  in  Poland and founded a Hebrew school
• Yisrael  Bider,  the son of the aforementioned Rabbi Bider,  who  was  a  teacher  in  Olika  and  then  moved  to Miedzyrzecz (and was also an author);
• Yitshak Aaronsky, who worked as a young and talented columnist, wrote many feature stories for Jewish newspapers in  Poland,  and  was  a  participant  in  the  Voliner Shtima, which was published in Rowne.  He worked extensively for the advancement   of   education   and   of   reading   books   and newspapers.    He  also  tried  to  build  a  library  in  the village.
• Motel  Blitstein,  a  leader  in  the  Zionist  Pioneer Organization (Hellaluts)  in Poland.   Before going with some friends to  Israel,  he came from Warsaw to take leave from his mother and did not come back to Wilno on time.
• Tsvi  Klepko,  Yisrael  Spulman and others worked and put all  of their  energy  into activities on  behalf  of  the town, so that it would not be strangled spiritually by some aggressive individuals,  who,  under the guise of the Polish government party,  acted to the detriment of the simple and innocent Jews of Trochinbrod.

The Jews of Trochinbrod had strong characters and were used  to the situation  in  those days,  so they did not  let anyone deprive them of their privileges.   In 1925 a law was made that  the Jews of Trochinbrod were not allowed to let their  herds  of  cattle  graze  in  the  pastures of Prince Radziwill.   The law was written by the prince's foreman and by the watchmen of his forests, who belonged to the gang of: Belchowicz, a well known robber.  The Jews refused to accept this law,  and fierce quarrels and fights ensued between the watchmen  and  the  Jews.    When  the  watchmen  saw  that  they could  not  fight  the  Jews,  they  brought  the matter  before Prince Radziwill.   The prince, who had nothing  to do with the  law,  ordered  its  abolition  and  allowed  the  Jews  of Trochinbrod  to  let  their  cattle graze  in  his  pastures as be fore.

From the news that reached Israel we know that the Jews of Trochinbrod were killed (like the other Jews in the towns and villages of Volhynia)  by the Nazis.   They were led to the village of Trosliniec,  12 kilometers  from Trochinbrod, and were murdered there.   But a few managed to escape to the woods and to join the partisans who fought the Nazi beasts and caused them serious damage.   Trochinbrod caught fire and was  burned  down  completely,  and  there  is  not  one  Jewish person  living  there.    The  partisans  and  the  others  who managed to escape numbered 33 in 1944 and were found mainly in the area near Lutzk.
 

by Eleazar Barco (Bork)
Translated from the Hebrew by Karen Engel

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Cemetery Information

YAROMEL:               US Comm. No. UA02230501
      Yaromel is located in Volynskaya. The mass grave is located at In the woods behind the farm on the forest road. Yaromel was also called Sofiyevka (Yiddish), Zofyuvka (German), Sofiovka (Polish), Trochenbrod (English) and Trochinbrod
(Russian). The town is location at 50.57 longitude and 25.38 latitude. Yaromel is 35km from Lutsk and 50km from Rovno.

The present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.

      Town officials: Village Executive Council of Kropivnitskiy Nikolay Vladimirovich [ph: (071)26131]. Local officials:
Housing Department Village Executive COuncil of Tkachuk Polina Ivanovna [ph: (071)26131]. Regional: Oblast Cultural Department. Department for the Protection of Monuments of Lutsk, Chopen's str., 20 [ph: (03322)42253]. Town officials:
Volyn Jewish community, Volyn Society of Jewish culture of 263000, Lutsk, Vinnichenka str., 49, apt.6 [ph: (03322)40045].

Others: Bibliography Community memorial book, Sofiyevka-Ignatovka, Givataim, 1988Working Group for the book 'Remembering' of Nakonechniy Vladislav Andreevich.
      The earliest known Jewish community in this town was 18th century. The Jewish population as of the last census in 1939 was 1531. Some noteworthy historical events involving or affecting the Jewish Community were Civil War, 1st World War.
The Jewish mass grave was established in 1941. The last known Jewish burial was 1941. No other towns or villages used this mass grave. The mass grave is not listed and/or protected as a landmark or monument.
      The mass grave location is rural (woods/forest), located on flat land, isolated, marked by signs or plaques in local language.

The marker mentioned the Holocaust. It is reached by Road to Gorodische. The access is open to all. The mass grave is surrounded by a continuous fence. There is no gate.
The approximate size of mass grave is now 0.01 hectares. No stones were removed.
      The mass grave has no special sections. Stones are datable in the 20th century starting in 1980. The mass grave has only common tombstones. The mass grave contains marked mass graves.
      The present owner of the mass grave property is the municipality. The mass grave property is now used for mass burial site.
Properties adjacent it is forest. The mass grave is visited rarely by private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) and local residents.
      This mass grave has not been vandalized. Now there is occasional clearing or cleaning by authorities.
      Within the limits of the mass grave there are no structures.
      Vegetation overgrowth is not a problem. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access. Slight threat: pollution, vegetation,
vandalism and existing nearby development.
      The following documentation was used in complete this survey: Shmuel Spector. The Holocaust of Volhinian Jews.

1941-1945; Yad Vasheh.. The Federation of Volhinian Jews. Jerusalem. 1990, p.
14,22,66,71,118,209,210,229,260,306-310,338,358. The site was visited for this survey by Kirzhner Moisey of 263005, Lutsk, Grushevskogo str., 18, apt.38 [ph: (03322)34775] on 20/06/1995. Person(s) interviews for this survey were Aleksyuk
A. Maksimchuk A. on 20/06/1995.
      This survey was complete by Kirzhner Moisey of 263005, Lutsk, Grushevskogo str., 18, apt.38 [ph: (03322)34775] on 21/06/1995.

YAROMEL:               US Comm. No. UA02230502
      Yaromel is located in Volynskaya. The mass grave is located at South-East, 5 km on the road to Gorodishe. Yaromel was also called Ignatovka (Yiddish), Figentovka (German) and Ignatowka (Hungarian). The town is location at 50.37 longitude and
25.38 latitude. Yaromel is 43km from Lutsk and 50km from Rovno. The present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.

  Town officials: Village Executive Council of Kropivskiy Nikolay Vladimirovich [ph: (071)26131]. Local officials: Housing Department. Village Executive Council of Tkachuk Polina Ivanovna [ph: (071)26131]. Regional: Oblast Cultural Department.
Department for the Protection of Monuments. of 263000, Lutsk, Chopena str., 20 [ph: (03322)42253]. Town officials: Volyn Jewish community, Volyn Society of Jewish culture of Vynnychenyk Str. 49 aprt. 6. Lytsk. Others: Bibliography Community
memorial books, Sofievka -Ignatovka of Givataim, 1988Work group 'Memorial book' of Nakonechniy Vladislav Andreevich.
      The earliest known Jewish community in this town was 18th century. The Jewish population as of the last census in 1939 was 683. Some noteworthy historical events involving or affecting the Jewish Community were 1st World war, Civil War. The
Jewish mass grave was established in 1941. The last known Jewish burial was 1941. No other towns or villages used this mass grave. The mass grave is not listed and/or protected as a landmark or monument.
      The mass grave location is rural (agricultural), located on flat land, isolated, marked by no sign or marker. The access is open to all. The mass grave is surrounded by a continuous fence. There is no gate.
      There are 1 to 20 stones all in there original location. There are no surviving stones toppled or broken. No stones were removed.
      The mass grave has no special sections. Stones are datable in the 20th century starting in 1980. The mass grave has only common tombstones. The mass grave contains marked mass graves.
      The present owner of the mass grave property is the municipality. The mass grave property is now used for agricultural use (crops or animal grazing). Properties adjacent it is agricultural. The mass grave is visited rarely by private visitors (Jewish or
non-Jewish) and local residents.
      The mass grave has been vandalized not in the last 10 years. Now there is occasional clearing or cleaning by authorities.
      Within the limits of the mass grave there are no structures.
      Slight threat: uncontrolled access and vandalism.
      The following documentation was used in complete this survey: Shmuel Spector. The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews.
1941-45; Yad Vasheh. The Federation of Volhynian Jews. p.310. Other documentation exists but was not used because it is
not accessible. The site was visited for this survey by Kirzhner Moisey of 263005, Lutsk, Grushevskogo str., 18, apt.38 [ph:
(03322)34775] on 21/06/1995. Person(s) interviews for this survey were Aleksyuk P. Maksimchuk A. on 20/06/1995.
      This survey was complete by Kirzhner Moisey of 263005, Lutsk, Grushevskogo str., 18, apt.38 [ph: (03322)34775] on
21/06/1995.

YAROMEL':                     US Comm. No. UA02230101
      It was called Sofievka (Yiddish) and Zofyvka (Polish). The town is located at 25.38 longitude and 50.57 latitude. Yaromel' is 43km from Lutsk and 50km from Rovno. The present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
      Town officials: Village Soviet of Chairman - Kropivsky Nikolay Vladimirovich [ph: (071)26142]. Local officials: Village
Soviet. Regional: Executive committee of Volynskaya obl., Department of culture of Chief - Chemeris E.V. [ph: 42253]. Town officials: Society of Jewish culture of apt. 6, 49, Vinnichenka str., Lutsk. Others: Bibliography Comunity memorial book Sofiyevka-Ignatovka of Givataiom 1988.
      The earliest known Jewish community in this town was in the 18th century. The Jewish population was in 1937 was 1674.

Some noteworthy historical events involving or affecting the Jewish community were Civil War. The Jewish cemetery was established in 19 century century. The type of Jewish community which used this cemetery was Hasidic (Karlin-Stolin).
Ignatovka (2km away) used this cemetery. The cemetery is not listed and/or protected as a landmark or monument.
      The cemetery location is rural (agricultural), located on flat land, isolated, marked by no sign or marker. It is reached by turning directly off a public road. The access is open to all. The cemetery is surrounded by no wall or fence, or gate.
      The approximate size of cemetery before WWII was 1.50 and is now 0.80 hectares. No stones visible.
      The cemetery contains no known mass graves.
      The present owner of the cemetery property is the municipality. The cemetery property is now used for agricultural use (crops or animal grazing). Properties adjacent it is agricultural. The cemetery boundaries is smaller now than 1939 because of
agriculture. The cemetery is visited rarely by local residents.
      The cemetery has been vandalized not in the last 10 years. There is no maintenance now.
      Within the limits of the cemetery there are no structures. Moderate threat: vandalism. Slight threat: uncontrolled access. No threat: weather erosion, pollution, vegetation, existing nearby development and proposed nearby development.
      The following documentation was used in complete this survey: Shmuel Spektor. The Holocaust of Volynian jews 1941-1945. Yad-Vashem, the Federation of Volynian jews. Jerusalem 1990. The site was visited and the survey completed by
Kirshner Moisey of apt. 38, 18, Grushevskogo pr., Lutsk on 21/06/95. Alexuk P. on 21/06/95 and Maximchuk A. on 21/06/95 were interviewed.
 

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