Skala-Podilska

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Skala-Podilska or Skala on the River Zbrucz is an urban-type settlement in Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It was, at one time, named simply "Skala." ("Skala" means "cliff" in Russian and Polish.) To distinguish itself from another town with that same name, the town compounded its name, variously, to "Skala on the River Zbrucz" (Ukrainian: Скала-над-Збручем, "Skała Podolska" (in Polish), "Skala Podilska" (in Ukrainian), and "Skala Podolskaya" (in Russian).^[1]

History

Geographically, Skala on the River Zbrucz straddles traditionally Ukrainian regions and traditionally Polish regions. Because of this precarious location, it has a history of ethnic diversity and has been, during periods of war or political unrest, particularly susceptible to turmoil.^[2][3][4]

Prior to World War I, Skala on the River Zbrucz was part of the province of Galicia, on the eastern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.^[5]

In 1919—after World War I, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Polish-Ukrainian War—Skala on the River Zbrucz became part of eastern Poland. It was populated mostly by Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews.^[6][7] The town bordered the Soviet Union, from which it was separated only by the Zbrucz River.^[8][9]

Prior to the World War II, Skala on the River Zbrucz was home to a significant Jewish population.^[10] Cossacks from the east frequently crossed over the river to raid the town, focusing their violence and destruction on Skala's Jewish population.^[11][12][13]

In 1939—toward the beginning of World War II—the Soviet Union invaded Skala on the River Zbrucz (see, Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)) and forcibly "resettled" many of the Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews to remote areas of the Soviet Union (see, Involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union#Deportations from border territories in 1939–1941). Due both to the forceble nature of these "resettlements" and to the severe conditions of the resettlement regions, these "resettlements" have sometimes been characterized as "being arrested and sent to the gulag"^[14] (see Gulag#During World War II").

In the summer-autumn of 1941, the territories annexed by the Soviet Union were overrun by Nazi Germany in the course of the initially successful German attack on the USSR. Most of the Jews from Skala on the River Zbrucz perished during the Holocaust in Borshchiv Ghetto .^[15] (See generally, World War II and the Destruction of Polish Jewry History of the Jews in Poland#World War II and the destruction of Polish Jewry (1939–45)).

After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Skala on the River Zbrucz officially became part of the Soviet Union as a result of the territorial changes of Poland after World War II. It became part of Ukraine on July 16, 1990, when Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union (see, Ukraine - Independence Ukraine#Independence)

References

Coordinates: 48°51′00″N 26°12′00″E / 48.850000001°N 26.200000001°E / 48.850000001; 26.200000001

Additional External Resources

• Paintings of Jewish Skala before the war by Shoshana Eden

http://shoshana-eden.co.il/Eng

• Bibliography for Skala Researchers
• Tracy Abraham, To Speak for the Silenced (Dvorah Publishing Company, 2007)
• Skala Monument in Holon, Israel
• Skala on the River Zbrucz, edited by Skala Research Group and Skala Benevolent Society, 2010, translation of original Skala Yizkor Book, see http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/SkalaPodol/SkalaYizkorBook.html

Administrative divisions of Ternopil Oblast
Administrative center: Ternopil
Raions	Berezhany Borshchiv Buchach Chortkiv Husiatyn Kozova Kremenets Lanivtsi Monastyryska Pidhaitsi Pidvolochysk Shumsk Terebovlia Ternopil Zalishchyky Zbarazh Zboriv
Cities	Regional Berezhany Chortkiv Kremenets Ternopil District Borshchiv Buchach Khorostkiv Kopychyntsi Lanivtsi Monastyryska Pidhaitsi Pochaiv Shumsk Skalat Terebovlia Zalishchyky Zbarazh Zboriv
Urban-type settlements Category:Ternopil Oblast