200 years of Jewish life in shtetl Kaushany in Bessarabia

12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Каушаны (Kaushany) on a Russian map of 1907, obtained from the Library of Congress. 
 
 
 
Nvo Kauchany (Kaushany) on a 
French map of 1916
14
. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
14
 Map of the Carpathians, Roumania and Part of Balkans. (1916). Albany, NY: Cartographer G. Peltier. 
 

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13 
 
 
 
 
From Political Map of 
Moldova, 1993, University 
of Texas at Austin 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Getting help from Moldovans and Ukrainians local residents  
 
Several years ago I was contacted by two local residents of Kaushany, Vova Cheban and 
Sergey Daniliuck, who found the Kaushany website at JewishGen.org.  They both were very 
interested and surprised to read about Jewish life in their own town, about which they were 
ignorant. 
 
Vova Cheban told me the story of how he found out that Jews used to live in Kaushany. 
He and several friends were working in Romania in the beginning of the1990s, buying and 
selling goods.  One winter, probably in 1994, they worked in the town of Kovasny, a resort with 
mineral waters in the Carpathian Mountains.  He writes that “One imposing man came to us to 
ask where we are from.  Romanians often asked us questions, and we reluctantly answered.  It 
appeared that he was from Kaushany before the war.  After that we started to ask him questions.  

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14 
 
He told us that just before the Soviets came in June of 1940, he studied in Bendery, and his 
family owned a windmill, a blacksmith shop and also a tavern in Kaushany.  The family was so 
afraid of the Soviets that he was sent immediately across the border to Romania, and from then 
on he has never been back to Kaushany.  At that time he lived in Bucharest with his family.  He 
also added that his family tavern was one of seven on the same block on the main street, and the 
other six were owned by Jews!  He asked us if there are still Jews living in Kaushany?  There 
were many Jews in town before…” 
 
Sergey Daniliuck wrote me that he is studying the history of Kaushany and the 
surrounding areas.  He was very interested in the material from the website.  He added that 
unfortunately the Jewish cemetery and most of the buildings from before the war have 
disappeared and he probably lives in a place where Jews used to live.  He was willing to help me 
obtain pieces of information from the local museum and from other organizations.  At the end of 
that letter he wrote – “History should not be forgotten”. 
 
For the past two years I have received many emails from Vova and Sergey.  They are full 
of new facts and photographs, excerpts from books, maps, and copies of documents about Jewish 
life in the town. Sergey photographed several remaining fragments of Jewish grave stones he 
was able to find.   
 
Acknowledgements 
 
I would like to thank all people who helped me and my family to come and settle in 
Boston, and be able to study Judaism.  I am extremely grateful to my good friend Barbara Palant 
of Lexington, who organized my first Jewish course, Songs of Shabbat with Cantor Charles 
Osborn, and many classes after that.  I express my sincere gratitude to professors and students of 

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15 
 
Me’ah and Hebrew College for providing me with support during all years of study.  I would like 
to specially thank Dr. Barry Mesch for being patient and very helpful, for devoting his expertise 
and time to mentor and challenge me at his courses and at final thesis. 
 
I am greatly thankful to my dear wife Dr. Galina Dobrynina-Kogan for her support, 
encouragement, and always believing in me. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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16 
 
II.  Kaushany before 1918        
 
 
This chapter reviews the general history of Kaushany before 1918, the powers who 
governed the region since known times, the history of the Jews in the region and in the town, and 
known genealogy about Jewish Kaushany. 
Up to the 16th century 
 
Based on what is known about the general history of Kaushany, it was a “selische” – a 
village or a small town which existed from the 9-10
th
 century at the current location at the 
intersection of the Upper Trojan Wall
15
 and river Botna.  During the 14
th
 century, the 
descendants of Daco-Romans, the Romanians, established two states, the principalities of 
Walachia and Moldavia
16
.  Moldavia was created by people who left the northern part of 
Transylvania (Maramures) during the 14
th
 century.  They unified the people living in Moldavia 
and organized the territory into a state. 
 
 
Flag of the Principality of Moldavia, 14-19 century 
 
 
Kaushany was governed by different ruling powers from the 14
th
 to 16
th
 centuries; in 
general it was under the Principality of Moldavia
17
.  
 
Because Bessarabia was conveniently located on a trade route from the Black Sea ports to 
Poland and the Baltic Sea, merchants, including Jews, frequently visited the land.   
                                                 
15
 The Upper Trajan’s Wall is a fortification located in the modern Republic of Moldova, stretches 75 miles from 
Dniester River at the Teleneshty district to the Prut River. It is most likely of the Roman origin or of third/forth 
century Germanic origin. 
16
 “Moldavia” is the spelling used in Russian and English to designate what the local people know as Moldova. 
17
 At some time it was under the Tatar rule of the Golden Horde. In the 15
th
 century southern Bessarabia was 
occupied by the Ottoman Empire, but the inner land was given to Nogai Horde Tatars. 

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