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://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.
