SKOLE

SKOLE, city in Lvov district, Ukraine; formerly within Poland, passed to Austria in 1772, and reverted to independent Poland between 1919 and 1939. A Jewish community existed in Skole from the 18th century. There were 1,063 Jews in the city and surrounding villages who paid the poll tax in 1765. In the second half of the 18th century Jews in Skole imported wine from Hungary. In the second half of the 19th century many Jews in Skole earned their livelihood in the timber trade, wood processing, manufacture of building materials, commerce in agricultural produce, and transportation. Jewish workers were employed in the local match factory. When Skole became a summer mountain resort toward the end of the 19th century, the Jews there also derived a livelihood in occupations connected with the holiday season. A summer camp for Jewish children of Lvov was situated there. The community numbered 1,338 (65% of the total population) in 1880; 2,095 (61%) in 1900; 3,099 (48%) in 1910; and 2,410 (40.2%) in 1921. In the period of independent Poland, after World War I, the Jews in Skole were impoverished, and received support from Jewish relief funds. There was an active communal and cultural life. The Zionist movement gained many adherents among the youth. In the 1930s antisemitism grew rampant in the area. In 1938 there were 2,670 Jews in Skole. Commercial and community life were brought to an end in September 1939 when Skole was annexed to the Soviet Union. The Hungarian army arrived in July 1941; in August, the Germans took over and set up a Judenrat. In September 1942 most of the Jews were sent to labor camps. The Jews of Skole were ultimately executed in June and August of 1943. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Halpern, Pinkas, index; David Mi-Boekhov, Zikhronot (1922), 50–51; B. Wasiutyński, Ludność źdowska w Polsce w wiekach XIX i XX1 (1930), 100, 108, 123, 148; I. Schiper, Dzieje handlu zydowskiego na ziemiach polskich (1937), index. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Spector, Jewish Life. (Shimshon Leib Kirshonboim / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)