Kremenets, Ukraine (OKS, SHKURNIK)

Kremenets, Ukraine

Surnames:

OKS, SHKURNIK

Jewish Population:

1897: 6,539 (37% of 17,673 population)

As far as we can tell, there are no Jewish residents in Kremenets today.

Family Members:

Rachel Oks, G-GMother (mother of Jeanne (née Gouline) Highstein)

B 1876 Kremenets ; M Jacob Gouline ~1899; Emigrated 1901; D 1947 Baltimore

Shabsa Oks, GG-GFather (father of Rachel Oks)

B ~1850 Lutzk; M Nekha Shkurnik; D 1919 Kremenets

Nekha (née Shkurnik) Oks (mother of Rachel Oks)

B ~1852; M Shabsa Oks; D b1902 Kremenets

Shabsa’s brothers and their families lived in Kremenets.

History:

Kremenets is one of the oldest cities of Ukraine. It was first mentioned in the Hypatian Chronicle for the year 1226. (Freenet.Kiev). The first mention of Jews in Kremenets is for the year 1438, when the Grand Duke of Lithuania gave them a charter. Such charters, or laws, were important because they decreed that the Jewish population “formed a class of free citizens under the immediate protection of the Grand Duke and his local administration.” (Dubnow, vol. 1, p. 59). The fact that a charter was issued in 1438 implies that Jews were present earlier, and indeed, The Center for Jewish Art says that Jews were present in Kremenets as early as the 14th century. (Center for Jewish Art, 1998).

https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Kremenets/web-pages/index.html

Isaac Stern is recognized as one of the world's foremost violinists. He was born in Kremenets on 21 July 1920. When he was a year old, his family immigrated to San Francisco. 

Sites:

Note that there is no mention of the Jewish Cemetery, the old Synagogue, or the local historical museum’s photographic collection showing Jewish life in Kremenets.

"I'm Kremenets go to Mayor's office. They can take us to the cemetary / Memorial in the woods."