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This book was written and edited with overwhelmed emotions and great reverence - it serves as a monument to the vibrant Jewish life in our town of Stepan, which was cut short with diabolical cruelty by the German blood beast and its infamous Ukrainian accomplices.

We collected testimonies, fragments of memories and impressions. We have collected detail by detail from old scripts - and line by line, image after image, a picture of the Stepan community, a large and important city to its survivors and remnants, that no longer exists, is emerging before us.

Decades have passed since the community of Stepan was eliminated, and thousands of its sons and daughters, our parents and sisters, were sentenced to extermination amid torture and suffering, that the human mind cannot describe and bear. The pain is too great to be forgotten over time.

We considered our work both as a sacred work and as a duty. We spared no effort and trouble in order to restore what was and no longer exists and to erect a memorial monument for our town.

We were diligent and careful, to the best of our ability and in consultation with the people of the town, not to omit or distort any detail about the people of our town and especially with regards to those of whom there is no remnant left behind.

It is worth mentioning the esteemed contribution of the late Yitzchak Weissman, who, in the way of reconstructing and describing figures of the town's inhabitants, served as our guide for the completion of the entire project. To our great regret, the late Yitzchak Weissman was not privileged to see the completion of the commemorative project and passed away prematurely, in pain and sorrow for the loss of his son, Shai-Yeshayahu of blessed memory, who fell in defense of the homeland.

We would like to mention the great assistance of Israel Koifman with advice and guidance that contributed greatly to the content and form of the book.

We must also mention the extensive activity and perseverance in the enterprise of the book of Yeshayahu Peri (of the Prishkolnik family). Even while he was in the displaced persons camps in Germany, in 1946, and during his time in the Ma'apilim camps in Cyprus, he began recording memories of his father's house and the town in general as he remembered it since his childhood and until the German-Ukrainian infernal and madness period. Upon his immigration in Israel and the meeting of the town's survivors, during one of the first annual commemorations, - he began to initiate and act in the collection of material, recording memories from members, collecting photos of public importance, and also encouraged the townspeople to write their own articles.

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Yeshayahu Peri managed to convince and harness the committee's activists to this sacred mission. The financial means have been achieved, and the enterprise started.

Most of us, the townspeople of Stepan, are not professional writers, and we must thank the great responsiveness of members, who sent articles and also attached photos and certificates. The reconstruction of the families who lived in Stepan was also carried out by the members, who are: Leah Hashavia (from the Rudnik family), Batya Sheinboim (from the Beker family), Shlomo Sheinboim, Ze'ev Gorinstein, Mordechai Rassis and Yeshayahu Peri (Prishkolnik). A number of other members of the town assisted in this enterprise and we thank them for their work.

With all the great effort invested, we would like to point out that here and there, the reader will find linguistically and stylistically unpolished lists. We have brought similar facts from different sources and there are those who will see this as duplicity. But despite being aware of this, we have decided to allow anyone who wants and wishes to express what they know and remember from their personal point of view and from his past, and by doing so get a comprehensive and exhaustive picture, which will serve as an internal memorial candle and a monument of memory for generations and on which are engraved in letters of blood and fire the history of the life and the destruction of the town of Stepan.

The editorial staff: Leah Hashavia (from the Rudnik family) Batya Sheinboim (from the Beker family) Shlomo Sheinboim Yeshayahu Peri (Prishkolnik)

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The Generations of Stepan

Stepan is situated on a plain along the Horyn River. The name came from the King of Poland, Stefan Boturi, who fortified himself in the town and fought against the Russians and Taters. His ruins are still located on the river. The remains of a castle called “Volh” are now a city park. The remnants of a fortification gate of some fortress is found under the shul along with a tunnel that connected two fortresses. There is no town ledger or “pinkas” remaining.

In 1500's, a charter allowing Jews to live in the Volhynia area was renewed. The Jewish population grew. They worked in trading , tailoring, and running saloons.

History of the World, by Shimon Dubnor, Vol. 2, page 260, writes: “In 1386, communities existed in the area so one could infer that Jews lived in the Stepan area then. The Turks ruled Crimea. Crimean Jews traded with Jews of Volhynia and some Jews from Crimea moved into Stepan in the 1500's (maybe from Turkey originally?-comment by Shimshak).”

Geographical Dictionary for Kingdom of Poland and Other Slavic Kingdoms, Warsaw, 1890, pages 326-327, writes: “In 1890, there were 3,384 people in Stepan, 47% Jewish, 512 households, 3 churches, 1 Gothic style shul, 2 stieblich, 1 brewery, 2 flour mills, 6 markets and 1 candle factory.”

According to tax records, in 1577 there were 28 farms in Stepan. In 1648 Stefan Czarniecki defeated the Cossacks in town. In 1775, 521 people lived in town. According to census data, there were 1,717 Jews in Stepan in 1847. In the 1897, there were 5,137 people, of whom 1,854 were Jews.

Reb David ben Reb Shmuel died in 5571 (1811). He was a talmed of the Besht and of his successor, the Maggid of Mezerich. In the cemetery are graves of the tzaddikim. There was a structure with a tin roof in the cemetery where they were buried. In that structure, people would go and place kvittilim before Rosh Hashana. Reb David Shmuel HaLevy was from Stepan. From the dynasty of the Maggid of Trisk came Rabbi Baruch Twersky who was killed in the Shoah.

From 1795 to 1918, Poland was chopped up and Stepan became part of Russia. Then Stepan became part of the Ukraine in 1918. In 1921 it became part of Poland until 1939. From the 13^th–20^th centuries, Jews lived in Stepan. Jews suffered under many attacks. However, there were signs that local Ukrainians tried to defend the Jews. But that was not what happened when the Nazis and Ukrainians destroyed the Jews during the Holocaust.

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