The discovery of rich oil and mineral wax deposits in the Drohobycz-Borysław area in the 1850s turned it into an industrial and economic powerhouse-'the California of Galicia.' Jewish-owned industries started up: refineries, mining, spinning, weaving, and factories producing candles and soap. Bythe early 1900s, Drohobycz alone had two synagogues, four study houses, two banks, a Jewish cultural center, a hospital, labor unions, Zionist, drama, and sports clubs, several schools, and several brilliant writers, artists, educators, and political activists. But after the First World War, Jews were caught in the struggle between Ukrainians and Poles for control of Galicia. Jewish trade rights were revoked, skilled jobs given to Gentiles, businessesnationalized, and commerce destroyed. In June 1941, the German army entered Drohobycz and Borysław. Under Nazi occupation, Jews were forced out of their homes, taken for slave labor, and murdered in a series of pogroms and aktions over the next three years. In April, 1944, the last Jewish survivors of the labor camps in Drohobycz were deported to the Plaszów camp, where they died.Written by former residents and survivors, the Memorial Book of Drohobycz, Boryslaw, and Surroundings tells what these communities were like, and the full story of their rise and destruction. Now available for the first time in an English translation.
