Ostrog Castle Virtual Tour

An amazing virtual tour of the Ostrog Castle Museum has been posted at:

http://cognition.oa.edu.ua/castle/map.html

The museum is housed in the Вежа мурована (Murovena Tower), the southeast tower of the castle.  

While this castle had nothing to do with my ancestors' daily lives, it does show a lot about Volhynian historical culture.  The castle stood largely in ruins in the 19th Century, but was still a prominent landmark in the Ostrog area.  The Leeleva Mennonite Church identified its home village as "Lilewa bei Ostrog" (Leeleva by Ostrog), so clearly in their minds they were tied to Ostrog.

It's important not to view our family history as having happened in a vacuum.  To fully understand our ancestors' lives, one has to have a handle on the local culture - politically, socially and historically.

The Location of Leeleva

What about the fact that the Jake Unruh Leeleva map doesn’t seem to correspond to today’s geography of the area south of Ostrog?  To my knowledge, there are no maps that mark a village as Leeleva directly south of Ostrog.  How then do we reach a conclusion regarding which village was the Leeleva of our ancestors?

In the early German Mennonite sources, the village later known as Leeleva was called Fürstendorf (Fuerstendorf).  Abe J Unruh in his book The Helpless Poles, as well as Mennonite Elder Tobias Unruh in his baptism records, refers to a German Mennonite village by the name of Fürstendorf.  Jake Unruh, the author of the Leeleva map used frequently in this blog says that Fürstendorf was the old name of the village, and that by about the time of the turn of the century, the village was called Leeleva (this can probably be attributed to the Empire’s “Russification” policy during the latter half of the 19^th Century.  The German name Fürstendorf undoubtedly had to be done away with) .  In the Green Ratzlaff Book, the village is referred to as Lilewa (in German, that “W” makes a “V” sound, so the pronunciation of Leeleva and Lilewa would be very similar).  Finally, in his 1905 survey of Mennonite villages, (Statistik der Mennonitengemeinden in Russland Ende 1905 [Anhang zum Mennonitischen Jahrbuche 1904/05], Gnadenfeld: Dirks, 1905: 39) Heinrich Dirks asserts that the name of the village is Lileva, and that the ministers were Johann Jantz, Johann Nachtigal, and Johann Dekkert.  In a document possibly dated 1893 and signed by Johann Böhse (Boese) attesting to the fact that the resident Benjamin Unruh Family were Mennonites, Böhse names the village Lilewa and accompanies it with “bei Ostrog” to note the village’s geographic proximity to the town of Ostrog. 

After the Mennonites left the area, Lutherans came to populate the village (in fact, some Lutherans lived there already by the late 1900s).  Metrical Books kept by the Lutheran bishop in Rovno list the name as Furstindorf and Furstendorf.  I am also in possession of a map of the village dated 1935-1936 when the village was populated by Lutheran Germans which names the village as Lesnoe.

I’ve consulted several experts with whom I am acquainted, asking them regarding the location of the village of Fürstendorf.  Luckily, we have many folks who are experts in this area; there were many German colonists in Volhynia in the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries.  Mennonites were among the first to come to the area, but Lutherans and Baptists followed shortly behind.  Therefore we can look at not only Mennonite records to determine the location of Fürstendorf/Leeleva, but also Lutheran and Baptist records as well.

Mennonite sources indicate that the village that was named Fürstendorf was just a couple miles southwest of Jadwinin and maybe a mile more southeast of Antonovka.  This would seem today to indicate the village of Lisna (Lesna).  This is a comparison of a modern satellite view versus the Ostog area from the Mennonite Atlas.  Note that Jadwinin is known today as Novosilka.

Don Miller is a descendant of German Baptists who lived in the area (Don’s ancestors actually lived in the village next door to the village in which my Ratzlaffs lived for a short period of time to the northeast of the Leeleva area named Zabara.  Many of our group of Mennonites lived in Zabara/Dosildorf in the 1850s and 1860s.  My great grandfather Jacob Ratzlaff was baptized there by Elder Tobias Unruh).  Don is distinguished scholar regarding the history of the Germans in Volhynia and annually leads tours to the area.  He’s been down the road through Lisna many times.  He assures me that Lisna is indeed our Fürstendorf/Leeleva.

Don Miller also referred me to a scholar named Jerry Frank, an archivist with the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE).  Mr. Frank, says Don Miller, is the true expert dealing with Volhynian geography.  I’ve emailed Mr. Frank and he also indicates that Fürstendorf/Leeleva can certainly be found on maps today marked as Lisna.

In other places, Fürstendorf/Leeleva can be found as Lesnaya or Lessnaja, a name somewhat similar to Leeleva.  Soviet maps from the 1940s indicate this name, and this Lesnaya is indeed the village that is today known as Lisna.  References to Lesnaya as Fürstendorf can be found at the website of the “Germans from Russia Heritage Society”, the “Black Sea German Research” website, as well as the German website Wolhynien.de.  Finally, many old German, Polish and Austrian maps of the area mark the German villages in the area as colonies.  For instance, Karolswalde, Antonovka and Jadwinine are all usually preceded by “COL” or “KOL” to denote the fact that the village was a German colony.  In these instances, whether the village is named Lesnaya, Fürstendorf or even Nikitska, the village which corresponds to today’s Lisna is usually marked as a colony.  For instance, this Polish map from the 1920s:

All the experts seem to agree, then, that today’s Lisna was indeed the Leeleva Village of my ancestors.  I still have questions as to why the Jake Unruh map of Leeleva doesn’t more closely approximate the geography of the village of Lisna.  On Jake Unruh’s map, the main road running through Leeleva runs mostly east-west whereas the road running through Lisna runs more northwest to southeast.  On Jake Unruh’s map, Kunov appears to be a bit south of Leeleva, whereas the village of Lisna is several miles south of Kunov.  Jake Unruh indicates the lake and the mill are east of Leeleva, whereas a lake and a well existed (pre-Soviet era) directly to the northwest of Lisna, at the village of Syvir.  This is a comparison of Jake Unruh’s map of Leeleva to a satellite view of Lisna today, as well as to the 1920s Polish map.  The Polish map corresponds to today's satellite map quite well, The Unruh map has been tilted several degrees.

Jake Unruh was a very credible authority to draw the map of Leeleva.  He left Volhynia in 1907 as a teenager but had been the unofficial village errand boy.  When an errand or message needed to be communicated to one of the other villages, Jake was the boy from Leeleva to physically do the job by running to the other village.  This would certainly give Jake intimate knowledge of the geography of the area.  Even though the map wasn’t drawn until the 1970s, Jake probably kept that information stored somewhere down through the years.  But Jake probably didn’t have the luxury we have today of looking at a map of the area when he actually lived there.  Even if he was very good with directions, a hilly, curvy road could have thrown his sense of direction or distance off somewhat.  Whatever the case, Jake’s map is a priceless resource to our family history and I’m sure no one could have drawn a better representation of the area.

Could the 1906 Volhynian census give us a clue?  Could there have been a different village named Leeleva?  The 1906 census lists a village named Lesnaya (Лѣсня) as well as Leleva (Лелева).  Could this be a clue?  Could there have been 2 villages by these very similar names both within Kunev volost?  Or could this have simply been a clerical error by the census-takers (for instance, the village of Balyary was simply omitted from the census; perhaps one of these villages should represent Balyary?).  More research needs to be done regarding this issue.

Unruh Family Reunion, 2013

I would like to thank the Benjamin Unruh Family for graciously welcoming me to their family reunion which took place a couple weeks ago in Halstead, KS.  I found out the reunion was to take place, contacted a couple folks who were hosting, and they very warmly invited me to attend.

This Benjamin Unruh was the head of the family which accompanied my Ratzlaff and Wedel families to USA in 1907.  Benjamin was actually related to the Wedel family too, so all 3 of these families were inter-related.  I'm assuming that Benjamin was also a good friend of my great-grandfather Andreas' oldest brother Henry J. Ratzloff since they were both born in the same year.  This photo, on display at the Unruh reunion, and given to me by my 3rd cousin Gordon Ratzloff, shows Henry Ratzloff's son, Jonas, along with Benjamin Unruh's oldest son Jake, on their motorcycles in 1913 (that's Jonas on the left and Jake on the right):

A few of the folks at the Unruh reunion had recently been to the Ostrog area in Ukraine and could attest to the fact that the inhabitants nowdays are poor and the land seems to be rather unproductive.  I thoroughly enjoyed looking at their photos and hearing about their trip.  Some German houses remain here and there in the area and an old-timer or two seem to remember some German names in the villages.

One of the grand-daughters of Jake Unruh (son of Benjamin Unruh) also had a German document which, after translating, was revealed to be a certificate attesting to the fact that Benjamin Unruh and his family were indeed Mennonites.  The document is signed by the village minister, Johann Boese, who names the village as "Lilewa bei Ostrog' and the document was even stamped with the church's seal!

This Jake Unruh was also the man who penned the Leeleva map that is of such value today:

Although I wasn't directly related to the Unruhs at this reunion, I was probably related to everyone in the room in some way.  After a bit of research, I found that I shared 3 sets of great-great-great grandparents with a few of the folks - I believe that makes me 4th cousins with them, 3 different ways!  The Mennonites who lived in Leeleva in the early 20th Century were probably more like one big extended family and I'm sure my Ratzlaff ancestors would be happy to know that I attended the Unruh's reunion.  Thanks again for welcoming me!

Cousin Gordon's blog; Leeleva Village Facebook page

Please check out Gordon Ratzloff's blog (Gordon is my 3rd cousin) at http://ceilingunlimited.com/fammail/

In the upcoming months we will have an interactive map of the village of Leeleva posted at this site where anyone can go to learn more about the elements of Jake Unruh's map of the village.




I've also started a Leeleva Village page on Facebook.  It would be wonderful to create a virtual community where people could share family stories.  If your ancestors lived in Leeleva (also known as Lisna, Lesna, Lebwa, Lesnaya, Lesnaja, Fuerstendorf, Fürstendorf, or Nikitskaya, please friend us (search for Leeleva Village Facebook to find the page).

Ratsynskaya Forestry Camp

From about 1891 until the end of 1894, my Great-Grandfather, Andreas Ratzlaff, was obliged by the Russian government to complete forestry service in lieu of directly serving in the Russian military.  According to Andreas' forestry service discharge paperwork, he served at a camp named Ratsynskaya. 

I'm not altogether sure where Ratzynskaya was.  Mennonite sources do not indicate a camp by this name.  From the Mennonite Historical Atlas, we find that there was a camp named Racyn.  The name Racyn is close, but not quite what the paperwork indicates.

From a map of the area north of Mikolaiv (Nikolayev) from the early 1920s, we find a forest area labeled Rasinskaja Lessnaja-Deutsch;  literally translated, that means Rasinskaya Forest-German.  A forest area by the name of Rasinskaya that was associated with the Germans in some way.

Sources indicate that this forest was established in the 1870s; many different sorts of trees were planted at the location in an attempt to establish a wooded environment surrounding a natural ravine, just east of the Southern Bug River.

http://lib.chdu.edu.ua/pdf/posibnuku/2/35.pdf

Today, this area is a small forest in the middle of south Ukraine called Рацинская (Ratsinskaya).  It sits about 10 miles east of the town of Voznesens'k and serves as a nature reserve.  The area is home to many types of wildlife and plant-life.  Could this be the Ratsinskaya Forestry Camp where my Great-Grandfather Andreas Ratzlaff served in the 1890s?

Other Pluzhanskoy Villages

Other villages of interest in Pluzhanskoy included Boroisov, Bolotin, Balyary, Dertka, Miakoty, Pivneva Gora, Mala (small) Radohosch, Storoniche (and Fuerstental/Kustarna), Gnoynitsa, and Syvir.

Boroisov (Russian: Борисов; Ukrainian: Borysiv, Бори́сів; Polish: Borisow; German: Borisoff), was founded around the year 1520 and had close ties to the noble Ostrog Family through the 16^th and 17^th Centuries.  In 1618 the village was destroyed by Tatar raiders.  Boroisov was the center for the local Orthodox Parish and a small green, wooden church with a gold onion dome was built here.  In the 19^th Century, this village had a Polish majority; by 1906 the population of the village was 2899 people in 550 households.  After the Russian Revolution, Polish underground operations were headquartered in the village as Boroisov was a center of resistance to Soviet reforms.  Local farmers used largely passive means to oppose massive taxes.  Many chose to smuggle their goods across the border to sell in Poland where they could get higher prices.  Most of the Polish population was evicted in the purges of the 1930s. 

The village is about a mile or two due east of Pluzhnoe and in 2001 had a population of about 1491 people.  Today the village administratively is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Borisov Village Rada or Council (Борисівська сільська рада).

 http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%96%D0%B2_(%D0%86%D0%B7%D1%8F%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BE%D0%BD)

http://oblrada.km.ua/district/show/15

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

Bolotin (Russian: Белотин; Ukrainian: Bilotyn, Біло́тин; Polish: Bialotyn; German: Belotin, also known as Bielotyn), founded around the year 1506, is a village located along the ancient road from Ostrog to Zaslaw.  For a couple decades in the mid-1800s, Bolotin was a resort town with natural hydrogen sulfide baths.  Bolotin was also known in the 19^th Century for its porcelain production due to nearby deposits of white clay (kaolin).  The porcelain factory, which employed 89 people in 1867 and produced 23,000 pieces, was Jewish owned.  Red clay was found later near Pivneva Gora, 3 miles away to the northwest, which enabled production of flat red tiles.  A water-powered mill was located on the Rotten Horn River (Gnili Rig: Ukr: Гнили́й Ріг, Czarna; Pol: Gnily Row) which flows through the town.  In the late 1800s, a cholera epidemic swept through the village, resulting in many deaths which effectively ended porcelain production.  By this time, Jews were 30% of the population while the majority was Polish.  In 1906 the village had a population of 710 persons in 75 households. 

The purges of the 1930s saw many Poles who were labeled Kulaks sent to Siberia.  Just prior to WWII, the Soviets established a concrete plant here and a temporary narrow gauge railway was built in 1946 which linked the town to Krivin.  This was dismantled only a year later.  By the mid 1900s, bus routes were established to Slavuta and Izyaslaw (Zaslaw).  With the collapse of the USSR, schools, shops and factories deteriorated.  Today the village is still in undergoing difficult times; most areas are covered with weeds and the majority of the inhabitants are pensioners.  The village is surrounded by the Ostrog forest and most of the inhabitants (of whom there were 230 in 2001) make their living from timber related industry.  Berries, mushrooms and herbs grow here, but the soil has never been suitable for agriculture.  By road via Storoniche, the village lies about 7 miles northeast of Pluzhnoe.  Today, the village administratively is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Bilotinska Village Rada or Council (Білотинська сільська рада).

A firsthand account of a survivor of the Soviet purges of the 20^th century from the daughter of a villager of Bolotin can be found here: http://sybir.blogspot.com/2005_09_28_archive.html

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=759&Itemid=5

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%96%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

A mile straight east of Leeleva was the village of Khoten Druhyi or Second (II): (Russian: Хотень Второй or Другой; Ukrainian: Hoten II, Хоте́нь Другий; Polish: Khoten Druhyy; Germany Choten 2; also known as Balyary; Баляри).  This village, of unknown establishment date, was in the 19^th Century primarily inhabited by Poles.  The villagers worked in the woods, toiling at forest-related industry including felling trees, sawing boards, etc.  These villagers established a barrel-making industry producing staves and barrels in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries (balyar being a derivation of the Polish term for barrel) as the land surrounding Balyary was not fit for farming.  The special axes that were required to make staves were made by the well-known local blacksmith, Stephen Kosovo, or by the Germans in Karolswalde and Leeleva.  In the 20^th Century when demand for barrels began to diminish, the villagers began to make a living fishing from the nearby waterways.  A small brook (named Złuze) flowed between Khoten I and Balyary, narrow enough that a man could jump over it.  The water was pure and clean.  A mill was built at some point in the early 1900s on this stream.  An elementary school was established in the village in the early 20^th Century, while the local secondary school (high school) was in Kunev.  The Soviets established a professional agriculture school here in mid-1930s.  As with many of the nearby villages, many Poles were evicted to the east in the 1930s.  The village is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Pluzhnenska Village Rada or Council (Плужненська сільська рада) and in 2001 had a population of 102 people.  Khoten Pershyi or First (I): (Russian: Хотень Первый; Ukrainian: Hoten I, Хоте́нь Перший; Polish: Choten; German: Choten), is located ¼ mile east of Balyary and had a population of 760 in 220 households in 1906.  In 2001 this village had a population of 296.

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=25

http://polonia.pap.net.pl/2005/11/20051111094104.html

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C_%D0%94%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B9

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C_%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

Dertka (Russian: Дертка; Ukrainian: Dertka, Де́ртка; Polish, German: Dertka), was populated by a mix of Ukrainian and Polish inhabitants and was established in the 18^th Century.  A late 19^th Century Polish Gazetteer indicates that an extensive mill and sawmill, located on the pond, was located here, and that the inhabitants of the village busied themselves with sawing trees and producing tar.  In 1906 the village had a population of 464 people living in 31 households.  The Soviets established a concrete plant in the village in the 1930s and in the 1960s Dertka was in the same collective as the formerly German colonies of Novoselka (Jadwinin) and Mikhaylovka.  Residents today produce vegetables such as corn, potatoes, beets, as well as hay.  This village is just about a 1 ½ mile north of Leeleva.  In 2001 the village had a population of 154 and today is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Dertkivska Village Rada or Council (Дертківська сільська рада).

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://oblrada.km.ua/district/show/15

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/

Miakoty (Russian: Мякоты; Ukrainian: M’yakoti, М'яко́ти; Polish: Mjakoty; German: Miakoty) was the site of a large dairy by the late 19^th Century, and in 1906 the village had a population of 1767 people in 329 households, most of whom were Poles and Germans.  The village neighbors Leeleva immediately to the south, standing about a mile away.  The population in 2001 was 1247 and today Miakoty is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), M’yakotivska Village Rada or Council (М'якотівська сільська рада).

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%27%D1%8F%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

Pivneva Gora (Pivneva Mount) (Russian: Пивнева Гора; Ukrainian: Pivneva Hora; Пі́внева Го́ра; Polish: Pivneva Hora) is a village named for a Jewish innkeeper named Pinya, who established an inn at this location on hills in the Ostrog forest about 3 miles northeast of Mikhaylovka.  In the 19^th Century, clay was exported from this village to locations including Ostrog in order to make pottery.  In 1906, the population was only 10 people in 2 households.  Today, Pivneva Gora stands on the southern shores of the cooling reservoir for the nuclear plant in Netishyn.  Today the village is a near ghost-town as people have moved to more urbanized areas.  The population in 2001 was only 7 people.  The village administratively is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Bilotinska Village Rada or Council (Білотинська сільська рада).

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%96%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0_%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0

http://20minut.ua/%D0%9D%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8-%D0%96%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B0/news/67498

http://oblrada.km.ua/district/show/15

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=977&Itemid=5

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

Mala (small) Radogosch (Russian: Малая Радогощь; Ukrainian: Mala Radohosch, Мала́ Радогощ; Polish: Mała Radohoszcz; German: Klein Radogoschtsch) was first mentioned in the village’s charter of 1396, when the village was given to the reigning Ostrohski prince from the Grand Duke of Lithuania.  By the 19^th Century, the population of the village was mostly Polish and contained Roman Catholic as well as Russian Orthodox congregations.  Some Ukrainian Catholics also lived in this village.  A wooden church, the Orthodox Pokrovska Tservka (Intercession Church) was built in the village in the second half of the 19^th Century.  In 1906, the population of this village was 237 people in 43 households.

As with other Polish villages, many inhabitants were expelled by the Soviets in the 1930s.  Some of these Polish villages tried to retain their Polish culture during the ‘20s and early ‘30s, but all eventually succumbed to Stalin’s forces by the mid-1930s.  Small Radogosch is the neighboring village to Leeleva immediately to the west, sitting just 1 mile away.  Only ¼ mile to the west is the village named Velyka (great) Radogosch.  In 2001 the population was 124 people.  Today the village is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), M’yakotivska Village Rada or Council (М'якотівська сільська рада).

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%89

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://www.derev.org.ua/khm/mal_rad.htm

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

Storoniche (Russian: Сторониче; Ukrainian: Storonyche, Сторони́че; Polish: Storonicze; German: Storonitsche) is a village which was founded around 1803 on land owned by the Jablonovsky Family.  Storoniche remained under Jablonovsky possession until the Russian Civil War.  The village stands in the middle of the Ostrog Forest, on the northern edge of a large swamp.  In 1906, the population of the village was 323 people in 51 households.

In the 1920s a large percentage of the population of Storoniche was Polish, and the villagers fought to keep Polish culture intact.  Most of the Poles were evicted, however, in the 1930s.  Today there is a woodworking plant just to the east of the village and a national park is planned to be built southeast of the town (Small Polesie).  The population of the village in 2010 was just 80 people and it is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Borisov Village Rada or Council (Борисівська сільська рада).

Storoniche is located about 2 miles southeast of Mikhaylovka and directly south of the village in the 19^th Century stood the German colony of Kustarna (Russian: Кустарна; Ukrainian: Кустарне; also known as Kustarnaja; German: Fuerstenthal [Ru, Ukr: Фюрштенталь], also known as Fuerstental or Fürstenthal).  Extinct today, Fuerstenthal was established at some point before 1874.  Initially, the village was predominantly German Mennonite but later came to be populated largely by German Lutherans.  The Lutheran Church at Fuerstenthal fell into the Rivne Lutheran Parish.  The site of the village was approximately at 50°13’05.6”N, 26°36’30.8”E, where it practically adjoined Storoniche.  Soviet maps from the 1940s no longer show this village, but in 1906 the population was 236 people in 42 households.

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5

http://www.shepetivka.org.ua/2008/07/31/male_polssja__proekt_naconalnogo_prirodnogo_parku_ukrani.html

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://home.arcor.de/pulin/karlswalde/tips.htm

http://www.mennonitehistory.org/projects/geography/1_mennonite_villages.pdf

http://www.odessa3.org/collections/refs/link/villhelp.txt

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

The village of Syver: (Russian: Cивер; Ukrainian: Syvir, Си́вір; Polish: Syvir, Siewierz; German: Ssiwer, also known as Siwerka) was established in 1834 and practically adjoins Leeleva to the north.  The village sat on the edge of a small lake along the Riska River (Gutiska; Hutyska?).  In the 19^th Century a mill was located in this village on the pond which was drained sometime during the 1930s or 1940s.  Some accounts indicate that Syver and Leeleva were actually the same village during the 19^th Century but maps from that time show them to be two separate communities.  In 1906 the population of the village was 214 in 21 households.  In 2001, the population was 151.  The village today is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Dertkivska Village Rada or Council (Дертківська сільська рада).

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%B2%D1%96%D1%80

http://www.odessa3.org/collections/refs/link/villhelp.txt

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

Gnoynitsa (Ru: Гнойница or Гнийниця or [Velikya] Великая Гнийниця; Ukr: Gniynitsya, Гнойніца, Гнійниця, or Велика [Velika] Гнійниця; Polish: Wielki Hniynytsya; German: [Bol.] Gnojnica) is an ancient village founded as early as 1152.  In 1906 the population of this village was 1010 in 191 households.  The village’s name was changed by the Soviets in 1944 to Polesskiy (Полесский; Ukr: Poliske, Полі́ське).  This village is practically due south of Pluzhnoe almost 5 miles. In 2001 the population was 704 people and it is in Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі),

Poliska Village Rada or Council (Поліська сільська рада)

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B5_(%D0%86%D0%B7%D1%8F%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BE%D0%BD)

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

The Village of Leeleva

The village of Leeleva was located on the main road that ran from Kamenka to Pluzhnoe.  Travelling generally south-southeast, one would have passed out of Kamenka, through the forest, over a couple large hills and then downhill into Dertka.  From there, the road went again straight south, over a large hill, and down into Siver.  This stretch of road passed between two small lakes which were drained probably in the 1940s.  Leeleva lay just south of Siver, at an elevation of about 210 meters.  The main road through the village went generally uphill and continued on to Miakoty, less than a mile to the south, which is at an elevation of about 220 meters.  This road continued on to Pluzhnoe, another 3 miles farther east. Two hills rise just to the south of the houses of Leeleva, the taller of which rises over 240 meters.  The distance by road from Kamenka to Leeleva was almost 4 miles and in the 19^th Century would have been almost entirely through forest.  The main road through Leeleva ran northwest to southeast.  Another east-west road ran through the village; west to Mala (small) Radogosch and east to Balyary.  Some researchers seem to have combined Leeleva with Siver; this appears to be incorrect.  Based on current satellite views as well as old Polish, Russian and Austrian maps, Siver (today known as Syvir; Ukr: Сйвір) is a separate village immediately adjacent to Leeleva to the northwest.  

German: Fuerstendorf or Fürstendorf (Russian: Фюрштендорф; Ukrainian: Фюрштендорф),

Russian: Lesna: (Ru: Лесна or Лѣснa; Ukr: Lisna, Лісна; Polish: Lisna),

Also known as Lesnaja (Ru: Лѣсная or Лесная; Ukr: Лiсня), or Liesnaja or Lesnaya,

Leeleva (Ru: Лелева; Ukr: Лелевой) or Lileva or Lilewa,

Also known as Lebwa, Nikitskaya or Nikitska. 

There may be confusion about the name of this village as lesna/lisna is a term for “forest” in Russian and Ukrainian.  Further, the forest south of Ostrog may have been named Nikitskaya Forest at some point in time.  German-speaking cartographers of the late 19^th Century may have confused the village and the forest and mistakenly labeled the village Nikitskaya instead of the forest (Jewish sources name a forest near Ostrog Nikitsky or Nikitin).

Established as early as 1765 by Ukrainians or Poles, the earliest appearance of the village in Mennonite sources (under its German name: Fuerstendorf) is 1874.   My Ratzlaff Family tradition suggests that Ratzlaffs lived in this village, which they called Leeleva, by 1869. 

This village was the last home of the Mennonite colonists in the Ostrog area.  As the majority of Mennonites left the other nearby villages in the last quarter of the 18^th Century, those who stayed behind consolidated in Leeleva.  German Lutheran colonists began moving into the village as the Mennonites left for America.  The Lutheran Church fell under the authority of the Rivne Lutheran Parish.  Early 20^th century Mennonite sources state the Mennonite Church in Leeleva was affiliated with the (Neu) Alexanderwohl Mennonite congregation, which suggests a connection between this village and Polish (Royal Prussian) Przechowka.  A 1930s map of Lutheran Leeleva indicates that the area to the east of the village was used as communal meadow.  A road to the west of the village, Teppergasse, seems to indicate the presence of a tavern or a brewery/distillery of some sort while the road to the east, Entenquak, suggests a duckfarm or something similar.  The Lutheran map goes on to indicate the cemetery on the west side of the road, mid-way through the village, with the church directly across the street to the east.  My own Ratzlaff Family tradition indicates the houses in the village were offset one from another in order to prevent fires spreading from one yard to another.

A 1906 census of the region included a village by the name of Lesnaya (Лѣсня) as well as one by the name of Leleva (Лелева).  The population of Lesnaya was listed as 267 in 52 households and Leleva as 244 in 26 households.  Both were listed as falling under the jurisdiction of the 3^rd police precinct of Ostrog County.  At this point I have no idea why 2 villages were listed in this census.

The German inhabitants of the village were known as skilled farmers and blacksmiths.  From at least 1889, as indicated by an Austrian map of that date, these farmers may have taken their grain to be milled at a watermill located at nearby Siver.  If, that is, the landlords of the tenant farmers allowed it.  After the Russian Revolution, the council of the village continued to use the German language until the 1930s, but most Germans were evicted by the year 1936 (30 German and Polish families were evicted at this time, perhaps to Kazakhstan).  Leeleva was placed by the Soviets in the collective which included Dertka, Siver, Jadvanin, and Mikhaylovka. 

In 2001, the population of the village was 97 people.  The village today is in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Dertkivska Village Rada or Council (Дертківська сільська рада).

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%96%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B0_(%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE)

http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/lileva_mennonite_church_rivnens2019ka_oblast2019/?searchterm=lileva

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://www.odessa3.org/collections/refs/link/villhelp.txt

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol5_00034.html

http://cja.huji.ac.il/Architecture/Ostrog/0/place.html

http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/200e/44-50.jpg

http://www.wolyn.freehost.pl/mapy/wig_wolyn.html

http://home.arcor.de/pulin/karlswalde/tips.htm#Fuerstendorf

Green Ratzlaff Book

Abe Unruh, The Helpless Poles

Lutheran Lesnaya map

Mennonite Leeleva map

The Villages of Mikhaylovka and Stanislavka

The village of Mikhaylovka sat less than a mile southeast of Jadwinin (almost 2 miles by road via Klinowiec).  In the 19th Century, one would have left Jadwinin to the east and gone about ½ mile to Klinowiec (also known as Borisovskoye-Klinovets) which sat at the base of a small hill.  The road went around the hill and turned south through the forest and entered Mikhaylovka in about a mile.  The village was situated in an east-west orientation at an elevation of about 210 meters; rising slightly in the middle and downhill on both ends.

Known as Mikhaylovka in Russian (Михайловка or Михайлівка; Ukrainian: Mykhailivka, Миха́йлівка; Polish: Mykhajlivka; German: Michajlowka, Michailowka), the village was founded at an unknown date after 1874 by Germans, either Mennonites or Lutherans, on a small stream called the Dreloh (now called Synytseva).  The German inhabitants specialized in agriculture and grew rye, potatoes, barley, millet and buckwheat.  During the 19th Century, grain was transported to the mill at Ostrog for harvesting.  After the Polish War in 1921, grain was taken to mill in Slavuta as Ostrog became a Polish town.  Villagers during this time also raised some cows and pigs as well.

By the late 1800s, Mikhaylovka consisted of 35 houses with some 241 inhabitants.  Houses were built with pine boards which were joined at the corners with “fishtail” joints.  Wealthy inhabitants bought cut foundation stones from Kamenka to create a foundation and floor for their homes.  Less wealthy folks had to make due with foundation stones only at the corners or under door jambs of their houses.  Most houses had large stoves, built with raw bricks covered with plaster.  Bricks were made from clay from nearby clay deposits.  A house dating from the late 1880s reportedly still stands in the village today.  Grain was usually threshed with flails, while a few more wealthy farmers could afford a horsedrawn threshing wheel.  Later in the 19th Century, grain was also taken to mills that had been erected nearby in the villages of Nitishin, Bolotin, Kamenka, Dertka, or Balyary.  The villagers in Mikhaylovka attempted to build a mill, but unfortunately were not successful.

In 1906 the population of the village was 264 people living in 48 households.  As with the other nearby villages, Mikhaylovka underwent forced collectivization during the 1920s and in 1936 was placed into a collective with the other remaining German villages of Leeleva (Lesna) and Karolswalde.  Later the collective removed Karolswalde and added Jadwanin and Dertka.  Some Poles and Czechs moved into the village during this time.  During collectivization, the Mikhaylovka wooden church was closed down by the Soviets and many Germans were evicted to Siberia.  In 1939 German villagers from nearby Stanislovka were relocated to Mikhaylovka.  Then in 1942, any remaining Germans were relocated to a village near Yuvkivtsi (about 8.5 miles to the south) forming the village of Zonental (Sun Valley).  The primary school in the village was also closed by the Soviets at some point by the 1960s.

Since Mikhaylovka was originally a German village, the cemetery held only Germans.  Later, as Poles or Czechs moved into the village, they had to be buried elsewhere, such as Jadwinin or Kunev.  After WWII, with the eviction of the Germans, the village was populated predominantly by descendents of Poles.  However, a woman named Tatiana Nightengale, perhaps a descendent of the German Mennonites, was still listed as a school teacher in the village in the mid 1940s.

Today, the results of the collapse of the USSR and the rise of a capitalist economy have almost destroyed the village, leaving it populated mostly by pensioners; the population in 2001 was only 58 people.  The village is presently in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Dertkivska Village Rada or Council (Дертківська сільська рада).

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%B0_(%D0%86%D0%B7%D1%8F%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BE%D0%BD)

http://german-attention.blogspot.com/

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://oblrada.km.ua/district/show/15

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=926&Itemid=5

The German village of Stanislavka (Russian: Станіславка; Ukrainian: Станіславка; Stanislavka; also known as Stanisovka) sat just to the southwest of Mikhaylovka.  The village was situated in a north-south orientation along the road running from Mikhaylovka to Balyary and Khoten.  Leaving Mikhaylovka to the west, one would have turned south after about ¼ mile.  The road gently curved uphill to the east and in slightly less than a mile, one would have reached Stanislavka.

Today the village of Stanislavka no longer exists.  Along with Mikhaylovka, it was established after 1874 by German Mennonites or Lutherans.  Austrian maps from the late 1880s show neither Mikhaylovka nor Stanislavka, but Polish maps from several years later do indeed show both villages.  In 1906 the village had a population of 461 people in 46 households.  However, the village disappeared soon after 1939 when the Soviets moved the German population to nearby Mikhaylovka.  The site of the village was at approximately 50°13’55.4”N, 26°30’22.7”E.

http://home.arcor.de/pulin/karlswalde/tips.htm

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

FM Goossen Family

One of the most interesting things about posting a family history blog is meeting distant family members who are also interested in the family history.  I've been contacted by numerous Ratzlaffs, to whom many I can easily trace my relationship.

Recently I was contacted by a grand-daughter of Florentine (Ratzlaff) Goossen.  Florentine was born in Leeleva, Volhynia, in 1904, to Andreas and Susanna (Wedel) Ratzlaff and was an older sister to my grandfather, Albert Ratzlaff.  Florentine married John D Goossen, son of Franz Goossen (FM for short) of Marion County, KS, in 1924 at the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church and the family made their home a mile south and about 5 miles east of Hillsboro, in Wilson Township.  Florentine and John had 7 children who were cousins to my father, Norman Ratzlaff, and I think my Dad palled around with these Goossen boys quite a bit when they were young.  Dad has told me numerous stories about this family's adventures; most of the sons were involved with motorcycles, airplanes, etc, and as I understand it, one of them even busied himself by prospecting for gold in the mountains of the western United States!  Several of the boys moved to Farmington, New Mexico, when they grew up.

The Goossen family was among the Russian Mennonites emigrating to the US from the Molotschna Colony.  The Goossens traveled to the United States aboard the SS Vaderland in 1877 (the same steamship that brought my great great great grandmother Anna (Koehn) Ratzlaff to America in 1874 as well as my great great grandfather Heinrich Wiens in 1876).  Much more can be learned about the Franz Goossen Family at http://www.fmgoossenfamily.com/WP/.

The Village of Jadwinin

The Mennonite villages of Stanislavka, Leeleva, Fuerstenthal, Mikailovka and Jadwinin were all included in (Pluzhanskoy) in 1906.  Of these, Jadwinin was the closest to the primary Mennonite village, Karolswalde.  Passing south out of Karolswalde, the road to Jadwinin went downhill just a touch and then uphill through the forest for about 1.5 miles and entered Jadwinin from the west.  Jadwinin was situated on an east-west orientation at an elevation of around 200 meters.  A large hill rising almost 20 meters sits directly behind the village, and more hills rise to the east.  Houses in Jadwinin were built on the north side of the road and the long, thin plots stretched out to the north, the Ritschke River (which was really just a small stream) providing water to each plot (this was the same stream which flowed by Karolswalde).

In Russian, the village was known as Yadvonino (Ядвоніно) or Yadvigin (Ядвигинъ); Yadvonine (Ядвоніне) or Yadvigin (Ядвігін') in Ukrainian; Jadwinina or Jadwinin in German and the spellings Yadvonine and Jadweninne can be found elsewhere.  According to Russian/Ukrainian sources, Jadwinin was established by 1868 by Czech settlers.  However, according to the Tobias Unruh baptism record, German Mennonites were living in the village and being baptized there by 1854, so obviously some discrepancy exists regarding the origin of the village.  Nevertheless, the Russian government did invite Czechs into Volhynia, enticing them with cheap land, just as they did for German Mennonites and Lutherans.  The Slavic Czech people were discriminated against in their native Austria-Hungary by the ruling Germans, so many were very willing to move into Volhynia, which had always been controlled by either Slavic Poles or Russians.  The Russian government gave many Czechs military exemption for 5 years, but prohibited them from being Roman Catholic, which most of them were in their native Austria-Hungary.  Thus, most Czechs in Volhynia became Russian Orthodox.  A wooden Russian Orthodox Church was built in 1913 near the crossroads of Jadwanin, Karolswalde, Kamenka and Mikailovka (possibly located at 50°14’47.6”N, 26°29’49.7”E or 50°14’51.5”N, 26°28’27.6”E).  The cemetery in Jadwinin was divided and had sections for Czechs, Ukrainians, Poles, and Germans.  Cemetaries in this area of Volhynia typically had separate sections for the various ethnic or religious groups.  The Czechs also built a primary school in Jadwinin in the early 1900s.  In late 19^th Century there were 42 houses in the village with some 270 inhabitants.  By 1906 there were 44 households with 233 inhabitants.  The village was in the third Ostrog County Police precinct. 

Most houses in the village were combination type houses, connected to barns, and had thatched roofs, probably after the tradition of specific ethnicity of the home.  The Czech settlers generally did not raise crops, but kept animals instead, although some Czechs did keep an occasional rye field.  Czechs were generally more skilled at agriculture than were the Ukrainians, but not as skillful as the Germans.  Both Czechs and Germans kept horses and cows.  Milk from the cows was separated and taken to market in Ostrog until 1921.  After the Polish-Soviet War of 1921, diary goods were taken to the butter factory in Slavuta.  Other residents of Jawinin worked in forestry-related industries. 

By the late 19-teens, a temporary narrow-gauge railway was built and ran from Jadwinin to Krivin (via Bolotin), some 10-12 miles away, but this was dismantled by the mid-1920s.  Before collectivization, villagers had occupied themselves with agriculture in addition to weaving, shoe-making, carpentry and blacksmithing, but Stalin’s collectivization effort arrived in Jadwinin in 1933, consolidating the area’s agriculture as well as many other vocations.  The famine of 1932-33 which hit much of Ukraine hard, did not affect village directly. 

By 1935-36 most of the Germans and Poles had been evicted by the Soviets.  In 1938-39 work began on a nearby concrete wall as a line of defense against the Nazis (called the Line of Stalin).  The concrete was taken from the concrete factory in nearby Dertka.  Until the mid-1930s, the Czechs who remained in the area were able to retain some facets of their own culture, but the Soviets pressed hard to homogenize the culture.  In 1942, most of the remaining Germans in the area were relocated to a village near Yuvkivtsi, about 11 miles to the south.  The resulting empty houses were given over to Ukrainians. 

In 1944 there were 107 families living in the village and the collective which included Jadwinin kept a couple pigs, several lambs, and a cow or two.  The residents grew millet and barley and potatoes as well as apples, plums and cherries.  During the1940s the Soviet government charged exorbitant taxes on all products, making it difficult for the residents to retain any revenue.  Most remaining Czechs were evicted by 1947 and it was at this time that the village was renamed Novoselka (Russian: Новосёлка; Ukrainian: Novosilky, Новосі́лка).  The church was closed and dismantled soon afterward.  The school was also closed and children had to go to nearby Balyary, Kunev or Mikailovka for education.  In the early 1960s, the collective combined Jadwinin with Dertka and Mikailovka.  By mid the 1980s, only 12 houses remained and by in 2001 the population of the village had decreased to only 12 people.  Novosilky today is administratively part of the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Province, Izyaslav District, Dertkivska Village Council.

Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Dertkivska Village Rada or Council (Дертківська сільська рада)

http://myslenedrevo.com.ua/studies/izjaslav/12romanchuk.html

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%96%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B0_(%D0%86%D0%B7%D1%8F%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BE%D0%BD)

http://german-attention.blogspot.com/

http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/contents/volhynia_ukraine

Tobias Unruh Baptism Record

Pluzhnoe Township (Pluzhanskoy)

Pluzhnoe Township (Pluzhanskoy) in 1906 covered the central area of Ostrog County directly east of Kunevskoy.  This township included the Mennonite villages of Stanislavka, Leeleva, Fuerstenthal, Mikailovka and Jadwinin.

In total, Pluzhanskoy included 33 settlements or villages in 1906.  Boroisov (Borysow) was the largest village in the township with 550 households and a population of 2,899 people.  Pluzhnoe itself was the second largest village in the township.  Other important villages included Miakoty, Gnoynitsa (New Gnojnica) and Bolotin (Bialotyn).  Miakoty and Boroisov lie directly on either side of Pluzhnoe, forming a row of 3 large villages along the road to Zaslaw.  Bolotin, a few miles north of Pluznoe, sits on the ancient road which ran through the forest from Ostrog to Zaslaw.  Bolotin was an important center for ceramic and porcelain production.

The township was characterized by hilly land with increasing forest cover, and decreasing elevation, towards the north.  In most cases, villages were built in low clearings between hills, with roads running through the valleys.  The point of greatest elevation in the township was a hill standing between Pluzhnoe and Boroisov which stands at just over 290 meters.  Lowest points were in the northeast of the township near Dertka and Siver at points barely higher than 200 meters.

Here’s a full listing of the Pluzhanskoy villages in 1906.  Note that this listing includes a village named Lesnaya as well as one named Leleva.  I’ve always thought that Lesnaya and Leleva (Leeleva) were one and the same, but perhaps they weren’t.  Maps, however, do not indicate the presence of two villages.  Furthermore, the village of Balyary is missing from this listing.  On some maps, Balyary is listed as Khoten II, so perhaps the compilers of this list included the inhabitants of Balyary with those of Khoten.

Плужанской Pluzhanskoy (Ukr: Плужанской) Russian Ukrainian English (from Russian) Households Police Precinct Population nearest post office 1 Бороисовъ Бороісов' Boroisov 550 #3 2899 G. Ostrog 2 Плужное Плужне Pluzhnoe 434 #3 2302 G. Ostrog 3 Мякоты М'якоти Miakoty 329 #3 1767 G. Ostrog 4 Гнойница Гнойніца Gnoynitsa 191 #3 1010 G. Ostrog 5 Хотень Хотінь Khoten 220 #3 760 G. Ostrog 6 Болотинъ Болотін' Bolotin 75 #3 710 G. Ostrog 7 Бильчинъ Більчін' Bilchin 151 #3 643 G. Ostrog 8 Майданъ Майдан' Maydan 40 #3 565 G. Ostrog 9 Войтовцы Війтівці Voytovtsy 58 #3 502 G. Ostrog 10 Дертка Дертка Dertka 31 #3 464 G. Ostrog 11 Станиславовка Станіславівка Stanislavovka 46 #3 461 G. Ostrog 12 Сторониче Стороніче Storoniche 51 #3 323 G. Ostrog 13 Лѣсня Лiсня Lesnaya 52 #3 267 G. Ostrog 14 Михайлівка Міхайлівка Mykailivka 48 #3 264 G. Ostrog 15 Радогощъ-Малая Радогощ'-Мала Radogosch-Small 43 #3 237 G. Ostrog 16 Кустарная кустарна Kustarnya 42 #3 236 G. Ostrog 17 Ядвигинъ Ядвігін' Yadvigin 44 #3 233 G. Ostrog 18 Сиверъ Сівер' Siver 21 #3 214 G. Ostrog 19 Калетинцы Калетінци Kaletintsy 41 #3 184 G. Ostrog 20 Спивачекъ Співачек' Spivachek 10 #3 151 G. Ostrog 21 Лелева Лелевой Leleva 26 #3 144 G. Ostrog 22 Борисовскй-Клиновецъ Борисовський-Кліновец' Borisovskoye-Klinovets 6 #3 72 G. Ostrog 23 Спивакъ Співак' Spivak 18 #3 71 G. Ostrog 24 Мякотский-Клиновецъ Мякотскій-Кліновец' Myakotsky-Klinovets 12 #3 60 G. Ostrog 25 Бродокъ Бродок' Brodok 9 #3 54 G. Ostrog 26 Лысая-Гора Лиса-Гора Lysa Hora 2 #3 15 G. Ostrog 27 Пивнева-Гора Півнева-Гора Pivneva Hora 2 #3 10 G. Ostrog 28 Даньковка Даньківка Dankovka 1 #3 10 G. Ostrog 29 Кпани Кпані Kpani 2 #3 7 G. Ostrog 30 Лемеши Лемеші Lemeshi 2 #3 7 G. Ostrog 31 Забавка Забавка Zabavka 1 #3 7 G. Ostrog 32 Лиски Ліски Liski 1 #3 3 G. Ostrog 33 Нево Нево Nevo 1 #3 3 G. Ostrog 2,560 14,655

http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/324107/

The Poles mapped Western Ukraine in the 1930s.  Taken from Polish maps from the late 20s to the early 30s, these were notable locations or services in Pluzhanskoy:

Post Office: Boroisov

Water mills: Dertka, Bolotin, Spivak, Khoten, Siver, Mala Radogosch (small), Gnoynitsa and Majdan

Windmill: Boroisov

Factory: Bolotin

Natural water spring: Pluzhnoe, Boroisov, Lysa Gora

Cemetery: Jadwinin (Yadvigin), Storoniche, Miakoty, Kaletintsy, Dertka, Lesnaya, Bilchin, Gnoynitsa

Gamekeeper’s lodges: Storoniche, Bolotin, Spivak, Kozaki, Boroisov, Lysa Gora

Colonies: Stanislavka, Mikailovka, Lesnaya, Kustarnya (Fuerstenthal)

Folwork: Khoten, Miakoty, Pluzhnoe, Voytovtsy, Bilchin, Lysa Gora

Futor: Spivak, Boroisov, Bilchin

Estates: Pluzhnoe, Gnoynitsa

Notable churches: Miakoty, Pluzhnoe, Boroisov, Gnoynitsa

Apaiary: Liski, Bilchin, Lysa Gora

http://igrek.amzp.pl/mapindex.php?cat=WIG100

The presence of apiaries in the southern areas of Pluzhanskoy is interesting.  An apiary is a place where beehives are kept, otherwise known as a bee-yard.   Known as a pasika (пасіка) in Ukrainian, an apiary would have been a fenced yard in which multiple beehives were kept and tended in order to harvest honey.  Ukraine has long cultivated a bee-keeping culture and even today ranks among the world’s leaders in honey production.  Here’s an old etching of a 19^th Century Ukrainian apiary, perhaps similar to those located in Pluzhanskoy.

The Village of Pluzhnoe, seat of Pluzhnoe Township

In 1906, the Mennonite villages of Stanislavka, Leeleva, Fuerstenthal, Mikailovka and Jadwinin were all part of Pluzhnoe Township (Pluzhanskoy) (note that spellings of these villages vary from source to source).  The seat of the township was the village of Pluzhnoe.

Pluzhnoe (Russian: Плужное; Ukrainian: Pluzne, Плу́жне; Polish: Płużne; German: Plushnoje) is a village located just over 15 miles (by road) south of Ostrog.  The Mennonite village of Leeleva (Lisna) is located less than 5 miles to the northwest of this village.  Pluzhnoe was established in either 1590 or 1614 and suffered destruction in its early days at the hands of Mongol (Tatar) raiders.  The village was named after a village blacksmith who produced plows (Ukrainian for plow: плужити; pluzhiti).  The village was the site of the Church of St. Michailivska, built around 1703, as well as a palace belonging to the Jablonovsky Family (the same family who leased land to the Mennonites of Karolswalde).  During the 19^th Century, the village was a township center in Ostrog County and during the last quarter of the century was the second largest industrial center in the county, after the town of Ostrog itself.  In 1906, the village was home to 434 households including 2,302 people, a large percentage of whom were Jewish.  The village was part of the 3^rd police precinct of the county.  A Polish Geography Dictionary compiled in the last quarter of the 19th Century describe Pluzhnoe as a cheerful, beautiful little village surrounded by gardens and orchards.  

After the Polish-Soviet War when the border between Poland and the Soviet Union was dran near Karolswalde, several villages that had previously belonged to Kunevskoy were moved into Pluzhanskoy, into Pluzhnoe’s jurisdiction.  By 1978 the population of the village peaked in the neighborhood of 5,600 people. 

After the fall of the USSR, the bakery, the brick factory and a plant producing antibiotics for farm animals all were forced to close their doors.  Today the village is part of the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky Oblast or Province (Хмельницька область), Izyaslav Raion or District (Ізяславському районі), Pluzhnenska Village Rada or Council (Плужненська сільська рада) and has a population of almost 3,000 people.  Two banks, a saw-mill, a post office, a barber, a library and several schools today call Pluzhnoe home.  A large natural park, Tract Kruglik (Ukr: Krýhlyk; Крýглик), sits immediately south of the village, near the site of an old natural spring.

  

http://oblrada.km.ua/district/show/15

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%BD%D0%B5

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=698&Itemid=5

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA_(%D1%83%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%89%D0%B5)

http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gpro&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-3724&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=&geo=504668658

http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XV_cz.2/462

http://igrek.amzp.pl/mapindex.php?cat=WIG100

Other Villages of Kunevskoy

In addition to the Mennonite villages, Kunevskoy included several villages with interesting stories.  For instance, the village of Mezhirich (Russian: Межирич; Ukrainian: Mezhyrich, Межирі́ч; Polish: Międzyrzecz; German: Mredzyrzec.  Also known as Miedzyrzecz) is located just about a mile north of Karolswalde.  Mezhirich was established around the year 1396 as a village owned by the Ostrohski (Ostrog) Family (the same family who owned Ostrog).  Trinity Church was established here by the 15^th Century and by the late 16^th Century the monastery had been built.  In 1612, the monastery was rebuilt as a Franciscan (Catholic) abbey.  In 1866 it was again reorganized, this time as a Russian Orthodox monastery.  The icon held in the church is called the Lady of Mezhirich and many miracles have been attributed to it.  Through the 19^th Century the monastery owned land around the village and employed local peasants to cultivate crops.  During the 1950s, the Soviets built three hydro-electric plants along the Vilia River just outside the village of Mezhirich, bringing some of the first electricity to the area.  Many of the residents at that time were scared of electricity and did not want the plants in their village.  By 1965, however, the area was connected to the larger Soviet power grid and the three hydro-electric plants were taken off line.  The village stands 1 mile southwest of Ostrog; the church and monastery occupying the eastern portion of the old village.  Remnants of the wall which surrounded the old village and fortress can still be seen today southeast of the main road running to Ostrog.  The population of the village in 2001 was 1,490. 

The monastery’s website: http://mezhyrich-mon.com.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=11

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B8%D1%80%D1%96%D1%87_(%D0%9E%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B7%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BE%D0%BD)

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%87_(%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C)

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_datsogallery&func=detail&Itemid=30&catid=9&id=883

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=889&Itemid=5

The village of Novomalin (Russian: Новомалин; Ukrainian: Novomalyn, Новома́лин; Polish, German: Nowomalin; also known as Novomalyn), about 3 miles north of Antonovka, was established around the year 1396, and was the site of the Novomalinsky Castle which was built in 14^th Century and was home to the Malinski Family by the 15^th Century.  By the late 1800s, the castle was still a splendid private residence but fell to ruins after World War II, ruins which still stand today.  Located along the northern banks of the Zhybenko River, Novomalin is located at the eastern foot of the Pasmo Pelczansko-Mizockie, a geographic portion of the Volyn/Podolian Upland area in western Ukraine/eastern Poland.  In 2001, the village had a population of 677 people. 

http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_datsogallery&Itemid=30&func=detail&catid=1&id=847

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wy%C5%BCyna_Wo%C5%82y%C5%84ska

http://www.castles.com.ua/malyn.html

The village of Kamenka (Russian: Каменка; Ukrainian: Kamenka, Ка́м'янка; Polish: Kamjanka; German: Kamenka.  Also known as Kaminka or Kamionka) was an important local village because of stonework produced there.  The village was established in 1462 and the residents soon took advantage of nearby sandstone deposits.  Stone masons in the village began producing carvings in the 16^th Century, primarily as headstones and sculture work for the churches in Ostrog as well as the Mezhirich Monastery.  The stone carving factory which was established in the 19^th Century continued the production of headstones and church carvings as well as making millstones for grain mills.  Peak production was reached in the late 19^th Century.  Stone masons produced chimney tops, stairs, benches, troughs, obelisks and other monuments.  Raw stone was sold to the Jews of Ostrog for their own monument production as well as to other locals producing roads, foundations and wells.  For instance, many local peasants endeavored to purchase stone foundation blocks from Kamenka masons to use in building the foundations for their houses.  People from as far away as Rivne bought headstones from the skilled masons in Kamenka.  Specialized chisels and crowbars were made for stonework by the village blacksmiths.  In the 1960s, the art of masonry began dying out as concrete factories came online and since working in concrete was so much less labor intensive.  The word kamionka translates roughly to “stoneware” in Polish, which was the predominant nationality in the village.  By the late 19^th Century, the village was populated by 206 people, living in 27 houses.  An alcohol distillery was also located in this village and there may have been a saw-mill either here or in nearby Stoylo (Ru: Стойло; Ukr: Cтійло) which stood immediately across the Vilia River.  Many of the Poles were evicted in the 1930s and the name of the village was changed to Viytovyna (Ru: Війтовина; Ukr: Війтовіна) by the Soviets in order to distance the village from its Polish heritage.  In 1946 the name Kamenka was restored.  Kamenka lies about 2 miles southwest of Karolswalde and neighbors Antonovka immediately to the east.  The population in 2001 was 241 people.

http://www.myslenedrevo.com.ua/uk/Sci/Local/Zaslav/Empires/AdminDivision.html

http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=898&Itemid=5

Finally, The Church of the Intercession, a beautiful blue wooden church built in 1877, stood in Lyuchin (Ru: Лючинъ; Ukr: Лючін'), immediately across the Vilia River, to the north of Mezhirich.  The Catholic church was home to the 17th Century icon, Christ Emmanuel, until perhaps as late as the 1980s.  (Note that many Volhynian wooden churches are painted a beautiful shade of blue, a color traditionally associated with the Virgin Mary).

http://ukraine.kingdom.kiev.ua/region/17/lyuchin.php

http://www.castles.com.ua/liuchyn.html