Letychiv Летичів | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view ofLetychiv Castle and Dominican convent | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Letychiv  Letychiv | |
| Coordinates:49°23′N27°37′E / 49.38°N 27.62°E /49.38; 27.62 | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Khmelnytskyi Oblast |
| Raion | Khmelnytskyi Raion |
| Hromada | Letychiv settlement hromada |
| Area | |
• Total | 11.42 km2 (4.41 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 274 m (899 ft) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 10,074 |
| • Density | 882.1/km2 (2,285/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal Code | 31500 |
| Area code | +380 3857 |
| KOATUU | 6823055100 |
 | |
Letychiv (Ukrainian:Летичів;Yiddish:לעטיטשעוו,romanized: Letichev;Polish:Latyczów) is arural settlement inKhmelnytskyi Raion,Khmelnytskyi Oblast, westernUkraine. It is located 51 kilometres (32 mi) fromKhmelnytskyi and 33 kilometres (21 mi) from the railway station inDerazhnia. It hosts the administration ofLetychiv settlement hromada, one of thehromadas of Ukraine.[1] Its population according to the2001 census was 11,081 inhabitants. Current population:10,074 (2022 estimate).[2]
There are brickworks, dairy, plant of construction material in the town. The town is located betweenKhmelnitskyi andVinnytsia, at the confluence of theVovk and theSouthern Bug rivers.
In addition to theUkrainianЛетичів (Letychiv), in other languages the name of the city isPolish:Latyczów,Yiddish:לעטיטשעוו,romanized: Letichev, andRussian:Летичев.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Founded in 1362. First historical mention is in connection with theTatar invasions of 1411. It is mentioned first as a palisade fortress, then as a settlement underMagdeburg law in 1429. Even with natural moats on all sides, Letychiv did not have the topographic relief that blesses otherPodolia Province strongholds (such asMedzhibozh orKamenets Podilsky). Thus, Letychiv was more easily attacked and harder to defend. Because of this, until Russian times Letychiv played a subordinate role to nearbyMedzhibozh.
Dominican friars brought an icon of Mary, mother of Jesus to Letychiv in the late 15th century. Letychiv suffered the Tatar invasions of Poland in 1453, 1516, 1558, and 1567.
In 1546, the first Assumption church was built. In 1569, kingStefan Batory presented Letychiv with its first coat of arms. It shows a wolf, representing the river Volk.
In 1598 Jan Potocki replaced the town's weaker wooden fortifications with extensive stone fortifications, known as theLetychiv Fortress. Very little of these survive today, with the exception of one tower and the adjacent walls around the Assumption Church (rebuilt by Potocki in 1605).
Letychiv suffered deprivations fromBohdan Khmelnytsky's cossack uprising in 1648. During this time, Letychiv's icon was removed from the Assumption Church for safekeeping in Lviv. Weakened by the cossack uprising, Podolia was invaded and occupied by Turkey in 1672. Letychiv became part of the Turkish Ejalet of Kamieniecki. In 1682, Letychiv was recaptured by the Poles under kingJohn III Sobieski. However, Poland did not regain full control until 1699 because the town was frequently ravaged by ongoing struggles between the Poles and Turks. The icon was returned to Letychiv in 1723. In 1778, Pope Clement XIV ordered that a special crown from Rome be installed on the icon. Letychiv continued to be attacked bycossacks andHaidamaks in 1702, 1734, 1737, 1749, 1750, 1755, 1768, and 1777.
In the 18th century, Letychiv had grown to be the second largest town inPodolia,Medzhibozh being the largest. The first Jews in Letychiv are reported in stories withinShivhei haBesht (stories about theBaal Shem Tov) that probably date from about 1750. By the 1780s there were approximately 800 Jews living in the town. Letychiv passed into Russian hands during thesecond partition of Poland in 1793. At that time, the Russian administrative center of this region moved fromMedzhibozh to Letychiv. The population soon exploded and reached its peak in the late 19th century. Approximately 4,100 Jews lived here in 1897, about 60% of the population. In 1882 Letichiv was the scene of a notoriouspogrom against Jews that resulted in a sensational trial of the pogromists.[citation needed]
After the 1917Bolshevik Revolution, the territory was occupied by German and Hungarian troops until the end ofWorld War I. Letychev was the scene of numerouspogroms during theUkrainian Civil War of 1919-1922. The town changed hands many times as different militia units from either the Bolsheviks, Ukrainian Nationalists, Poles, or Whites gained temporary control. What little wealth was left was stripped in these pogroms turning the entire area into ruins.
Under Soviet rule starting 1922, the region's economy improved. Electricity, schools, roads and other infrastructure were built. Severalkolkhozes (collective farms) were established nearby. In the early 1930s, pressure from the government to collectivize resulted in severe food shortages that resulted infamines throughout Ukraine.
InWorld War II, Letichiv fell toGerman forces duringOperation Barbarossa on July 17, 1941 after heavy fighting. In that action, retreating Soviet troops blew up the dam over the river Volk over which carried the main east-west road. This temporarily stopped the German advance for nine days until the position could be outflanked from the south. It remained in German hands until it was liberated by Soviet troops on March 23, 1944.
Letychiv was astride an important east-west supply road that theGerman government wanted to expand into a highway. This road linked the city ofProskuriv and routes westward into Germany and the city ofVinnytsia with routes to the eastern front.Vinnytsia was the site ofHitler's headquarters bunker in Soviet territory where he personally directed the war between 1942 and 1943.
A Jewishghetto and a separate slave labor camp within Letychiv Castle was established in Letychiv to assistOrganisation Todt in providing human labor for the road building project. Because of this special road project, Letychiv retained its Jews longer than most of the surrounding communities, whereEinsatzgruppen units executed entire populations of Jews shortly afterGerman occupation. However, when the road project was completed in the summer of 1942, theEinsatzgruppen units were called in. Three separate mass shootings of Jews occurred in September 1942 where 3,000 Jews were killed (half the ghetto), in November 1942 where 4,000 Jews were killed (the remainder of the ghetto), and in November 1943 where the remaining 200 Jews in the slave labor camp were shot. That eliminated all Jews from the town. Soviet authorities reported that a total of 7,200 Jews were murdered in a ravine in Zaletichevka, just south of town.
Until 18 July 2020, Letychiv was the administrative center ofLetychiv Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Khmelnytskyi Oblast to three. The area of Letychiv Raion was merged into Khmelnytskyi Raion.[3][4]
Until 26 January 2024, Letychiv was designatedurban-type settlement. On this day, a new law entered into force which abolished this status, and Letychiv became a rural settlement.[5]
Distribution of the population by native language according to the2001 census:[6]
| Language | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Ukrainian | 97.4% |
| Russian | 2% |
| other/undecided | 0.6% |
.jpg)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
