That gentleman, Mr. Olexsander Denisenko, traveled to Lutsk by train and provided the following historical survey, report and photographs to Mr. Brooks. There was additional communication by email in which Mr. Denisenko clarified different sites and research problems.
We thank Marvin Brooks for his great generosity in sharing his research on the town, on including pictures, researcher reports, and emails in his donation, and for expanding his contribution each time he was asked for more details on people and places. In the end after providing all of the information published here, he then went on to name another town in the Ukraine for which he has done similar investigation and for which we will repeat the process. The Ukraine SIG is very grateful.
People contacted:
Gaidar, Aleksandr Anatolievich – the head of the Jewish secular society;
Nakonechny, Wladislaw Andreevich – historian, specialist in Holocaust events.
Kelmis, Anna Hryhorivan – Holocaust survivor (her last name sounds similar to those given by you).
Places visited:
1) Historical archive of Volyn oblast at Veteranov street. I have given assignment to the archive clerk to locate and make copies of all the documents referred to in document that they sent to you and make research in Olyka files. This work will take a month or so.
2) Jagelonska street, - now Lesi Ukrainki street.
3) Bazylianska – now Danyla Halytskoho street.
4) Jewish secular society.
5) Old fortress.
Locating the streets turned out to be easy. Jagielonska is now called Lesi Ukrainki; Bazylianska is called Danyla Halytskoho. The streets are marked with red lines on the modern map, synagogues - with Magan Duvids. Both street are located in the very center of the city. The planning of the city did not change much, the synagogue marked on your map remains one of the main landmarks of the city. During the WW 2 there were some battles in the city, but most of he buildings have survived. After the war the synagogue was turned into gymnasium (sport hall) and supplemented with !swimming pool. It still remains the property of the sport club – Dinamo. The interior lost all of the objects or decoration of religious relevance. During the Holocaust all the area to the East from the synagogue was turned into ghetto, all the Jews were moved there, by mid 1942 most of the Jewish residents were exterminated in several actions, there are several massive extermination places, BTW, one was in Sofijowka, the village was completely destroyed and all the residents killed. Mr. Gaidar is planning to build a monument there. Members of the Jewish society are working to commemorate the places of mass extermination of Jews, which are numerous in the area around Lutsk.
One more synagogue has survived the war and was turned into philharmonic hall by the Soviets, recently it was given to the Jewish secular society and is used now as the Jewish cultural center. Near this building used to be the old Jewish cemetery, now on this place stays school No 1, so all the pre-war graves are under the school and its area. Jagelionska is the most central street of Lutsk with nice promenade and plenty of bars, restaurants and shops. At the antique store on this street I found and bough the old Hanukah candlestick and the crown from Torah from the local synagogue. There is one little contradiction about this street, there is no number 64 there now, the numeration finishes with the number 52, though there are several new larger post war houses, that might have replaces the more numerous smaller houses, hence the numeration is different. Finding number 8 on Bazylianska street turned out to be easy. This whole area has survived the war fairly well. The houses are small but very solid; the ground floors were used and often still used for businesses, mostly stores.
Mr. Denisenko here began the illustrated portion of his report. We will intersperse them with some of his email notes on the people and places he described.
"Mr. Gaidar is the chairman of the Jewish Secular Cultural Society of Lutsk. I think he also works for "Hassed Arie." I have spoken with Mr. Gaidar, its chairman and the clerk holding the members list [and inquired about the family name GILDIN]. They never heard of the name Gildin. The only similarity is with the name Kelmis, Anna Grogorievna - the member of the community. In Lutsk now live more one thousand Jews, most of them came to the city from the eastern ukraine after WW 2.
Bazylianska Street (where the GILDIN family lived)
Marvin Brooks was pleased with the work of Olexander Denisenko and as in any research project had more questions to ask after receiving the report. I think they add to what the reader learns about the process of seeking such material so I have inserted them as appropriate.
Mr. Brooks - "I am attaching a picture from about 1925 showing the Gildin family at their home. I am sorry I did not send it before the trip! (I never expected you to find the place!) The windows look like those on many of the pictures and are very similar to those at the back of 8 Bazylianska. The extra wall does not seem to match. Do you have any comments?"
Mr. Denisenko - Yes this photo could have been of help. The whole area to the right from #8 looks like the basement of the ruined house, many broken bricks, so maybe the old #8 might have been to the right (not to the left from the present day #8); numeration actually starts from the right. Or there might have been two adjecent houses of the same type. In any case i am sure this is the right area
Samuel and Fruma Gilden and children 1925
seated in center Samuel (Shika) and Fruma (Fryme) GILDIN (later GILDEN). To the left of Samuel is his mother, Sussie Gitel GILDIN, and to the right of Fruma is her mother Gesa Leah KEJMACH (later KIMACH). Surrounding their parents are the seven children from left to right Dolores (Ita), Albert (Abram Ber), Jean (Genia), Celia Rose (Cipa Rajsia), Katie (Kaijla), Paul (Pinchos). Child in front is Evelyn (Chawa).
(The layout of the original report is now changed by the page creator)
The sign on the Temple says: "This Temple was built by the Jewish community of Lutsk in the beginning of the 17 century as the Jewish spiritual, educational and cultural center in Volyn. The prominent monument of medieval architecture. Also, this place remembers about the tens of thousands of Lutsk Jews who were killed by Nazis in 1942."Near the synagogue was the gate to Lutsk ghetto.
Marvin Brooks queried his researcher about these items and about donating them to the local cultural center or museum. Mr. Denisenko was of the opinion that there was little interest in displaying them locally and explained that the Jewish organization was secular rather than religious but that these items were not common in the area because
"Most of such things (espcially pre Holocaust) were deliberatly destroyed, even having them was dangerous, so these things are quite rare now and for most people they are of no meaning [because the Jewish population is not religious and not from the area before the War]." He also gave a fuller description of the items:
"Frankly speaking I have no plans what to do with these things, I was very excited to see these things in this place while doing the research which is spiritually connected with these items. I do not [know] where these things are coming from, but have strong reasons to believe that they are from Lutsk or the area. The crown looks like 18 century forged item that was badly damaged and restored recently, maybe it comes from a "buried" torah set? The upper details were recently welded. Neither of the items contain no inscriptions which is typical for the old judaica as far as I know. The candlestick looks like early 19 c piece, 4 of its upper cups are new made on a turning machine, 3 are original forged, the base is hand-made copper forging covered with the remains of gilding. The crown must be the upper part of the larger torah [crown-sic] [Mr. Denisenko included a photo of a Torah crown from Lviv museum] from a poor synagogue."
The report ends there though many additional pictures were made and additional emails were exchanged including details about the work in the archives named in the first paragraph.
| Below are two views of the Jewish "Gmina House". This building now houses the Jewish Secular Society, but previously was a synagogue. |
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| Inside the Jewish Secular Society, our Lutsk Jewish children learn about their heritage. |
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| Below - Houses, businesses, small shops, that had been owned by Jewish families before the War. |
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| Below - The Castle, a landmark entering its fifth century |
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| Below Castle Square and then three views of Jagelionska Street today |
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To finish again on a historical note, images of the old fortress synagogue in Lutsk, the defining view of Lutsk in old postcards: |
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The Lutsk Synagogue in the 1920s
from the collection of Marvin Brooks
from the collection of Marvin Brooks
Marvin Brooks is under no illusions that a family history is about buildings. He has sent to us a collection of materials that document the emigration of the GILDIN and KIMACH families from Lutsk. Lutsk, like other communities in this far western part of the province like Kowel, Rivne, Dubno, et al, was claimed by the new Polish nation of the 1920s. Marvin has methodically gathered together the documents that an emigrant needed for US immigration quota allowance, for proof of financial soundness, to exit the country, to travel through other countries, and work through the process of becoming an American citizen. Check back to this site soon to see those documents.
Now we need your help. If your family lived in this town, perhaps you have family pictures, research finds, and other materials that we can all benefit from. You may find one of your own family pictures submitted by a fellow researcher! You will certainly find branches of your tree that you had barely dreamed of learning.
Email material for this page or for questions about this page to
Ukraine SIG Interactive Database Projects
Click here to go back to the Collection Points for Ukrainian Towns
Click here to go back to the Projects of the Ukraine SIG
Click here to go back to the Ukraine SIG Homepage
Click on Volhynia Gubernia to learn more about the Gubernia of which Lutsk was a part from 1796 until it became part of independent Poland in 1921.
Page created by Deborah Glassman October 2005
