Yuzhynets

Yuzhynets (Южинець), Kitsman Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast

Village of "Juzynetz", circa 1900 from Gemeindelexikon Gazette

The village of Yuzhynets, also known as Uzinetz, Juzenic or Juzynetz, lies about 40km northwest of Chernivtsi on the right bank of the river Sovytsi near “Black Pond”. The first mention of the village is from 1560. The most likely origin of the name Yuzhynets is that at the present location of the village was a forest which belonged to the landlord who lived in the nearby village of Verenchanka. As forest owners often hunted, especially for rabbits and the forest was south of his village he would hunt “southern hares” (южний заєць = yuzhniy zayets). The first settlers would have been the guards who watched over the forest followed by workers once a mill was built on the river.

By 1768 the village was part of the Moldavian principality but as a result of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 it transferred to Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1880 the first church of the village burned, but it was replaced by the new Church of St. John the Evangelist built of wood and covered with sheet iron which was consecrated on October 9, 1895. This church still stands today as part of the Kiev Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. [insert photo]. In 1892 the villagers funded construction of a three room school building. By the early twentieth century there were only two school teachers who taught from first to sixth grade. In the early twentieth century there were nearly 100 students enrolled and another room was attached in 1913. The students were taught in Ukrainian and learned science, drama, theology and German. Not all children were able to attend school, especially after primary school as tuition was required and it was unaffordable for many.

On November 12, 1918 the village was occupied by Romania which forcibly introduced the Romanian language and punished the use of Ukrainian and the celebration of Ukrainian holidays. World War Two saw the region become part of the Soviet Union. Under the Soviets in 1962 the church was closed and locked. In spite of this the people of the village would continue to gather to worship outside of the building. In 1983 the Soviets had the iconostatis in the church painted over and all the possessions of value were taken but the church survived and re-opened in 1988.

References

Local History (in Ukrainian) - this site compiles village histories for many of the villages in Bukovina. For each there are sections covering history, education, spirituality, sports, culture, traditions, etc. Much of the information here comes from the Google translation of those pages.

Kitsman Raion website (in Ukrainian) - covers most of the villages in the Kitsman raion.

Microfilms of Church Records (Births, Marriages, Deaths) - these are the films available through the Family History Library for the village covering the years 1841 to 1937.

1911 Map (1:75000 scale) - part of the "Spezialkarte der Osterreichisch" set of maps digitized and available online through the New York Public Library. "Juzenic" is located near the bottom of this page, just right of the center.

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