Hochfelds Related to Rabbi Naftula Gertz ha-Cohen of Belaya Tzerkov of Ukraine

 Nadene Goldfoot

I just realized that my 1st cousin, Nathan Goldfoot's mother, Helen Hochfeld, granddaughter of Rabbi Chaim David Hochfeld, had roots in a Ukranian Town of Belaya Tserkov.  This Hochfeld family members are direct paternal descendants of famous Rabbi Naftula Gertz ha-Cohen (1725-1797) of Belaya Tzerkov.

Shvartze Timme (Yiddish Transliteration), Біла Церква – Bila Tserkva (Ukrainian)

Belaya Tserkov is a historic city located in Kiev region of Central Ukraine, center of Belaya Tserkov district. Belaya Tserkov is located on the Ros’ River, a tributary of the Dnieper. The city’s estimated population is 212,090 (as of 2016).  Dnieper River shown on map above.  
Belaya Tserkov became a part of Russia Empire in 1793, in XIX – beginning of XX century it was a shtetl of Vasylkov Yezd of Kiev Gubernia.

Belaya Tserkov is approx. 85 km (about 53 miles ) from Kiev, 38 km from Fastov and 37 km from Skvira.

A community was formed there toward the end of the 16th century; 100 houses in Jewish ownership out of a total of 800 are recorded in 1646. The community was destroyed during the Chmielnicki rising in 1648, and again suffered at the beginning of the Haidamack rising in 1703. Subsequently, Jews again began to settle there, in 1765 numbering 1,876 poll-tax-payers in the town and its vicinity.

        Main street of Belaya Tserkov. Big Synagogue in the background

In 1904, Jews owned 250 workshops and 25 factories engaged in light industry employing 300 Jewish workers. The Jews there suffered from pogroms in 1905.  The population reached 21,542 by 1910.  The musical and movie, Fiddler on the Roof took place in Ukraine.  Ukraine's pogroms forced Golda Meir's family out and to the USA.  

The attack has been going on for 4 months already.  People watch as smoke rises after a Russian airstrike hits Lviv, Ukraine, on March 26, 2022. Pavlo Palamarchuk/Reuters

In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.  Russia launches a multi-pronged assault on Ukraine, including an invasion by Russian forces from neighboring Belarus. In a series of addresses to the nation, Putin reiterates his claim that Ukraine is part of Russia and calls the government in Kyiv a fascist “puppet regime” run by foreign powers. He frames his intervention as a mission to “demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” the country and protect its Russian-speaking population in the east from genocide. Putin warns outside countries not to intervene, threatening them with “consequences you have never faced in your history.” The invasion draws broad international condemnation, including from the United States, European Union, and the United Nations, and Washington and Brussels promise “severe” sanctions on Russia. However, Biden rules out any involvement of U.S. troops in Ukraine.

At least 3,998 civilians have been killed and 4,693 others have been injured in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).  Those areas include Mariupol in the Donetsk Oblast, Izium in the Kharkiv Oblast and Popasna in the Luhansk Oblast, where the OHCHR said "there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties." Casualty numbers from those locations "are being further corroborated" and thus are not included in the latest statistics, according to the agency.

Resource:

Drs. Jeffrey Briskman and Jeffrey Paull, 

http://jewua.org/belaya_tserkov/

https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/russia-ukraine/?id=83931446