also known as: Kövesliget (HU), Dragovo (CZ), Dragova (RU), Drahif (Yid)
48°14' N / 23°33' E
~ Introduction ~
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Drahovo was part of the Kingdom of Hungary (11th century - 1920 and 1938-1944) with the name of Kövesliget in Máramaros megye (county), next part of Czechoslovakia (1920-1938) with the name of Dragovo in Podkarpatská Rus (Sub-Carpathia), then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1945-1991) with the name of Dragova and, since 1991, known as Drahovo, in the Khustskiy rayon (district) of Zakarpats'ka oblast (county) of Ukraine.
In Yiddish, Drahovo was known as Drahif.
Other spellings/names for Drahovo are Drahove, Drahova and Drahiv.
Drahovo is located about 41 miles ESE of Mukacheve (Munkács), 12 miles ENE of Khust (Huszt).
Jews probably settled in Drahovo in the first half of the 18th century.
Two Jewish families lived here in 1735.
In 1830, the Jewish population was 130 and by 1880, the Jewish population grew to 328.
From the mid-19th century, the community operated a wide range of welfare and charity organizations. Most Jews were employed in trade (19), crafts (25) and farming. Jews also owned two flour mills and a sawmill.
By 1930, during the Czechoslovakian period, the Jewish population rose to 725.
In 1941, the Jewish population increased to 1,081.
Many young Jews were organized in Zionist groups such as Betar and Hehalutz.
With the Hungarian occupation of Drahovo in March, 1939, Jews were persecuted and pushed out of their occupations. In 1940-41, dozens of Jews from Drahovo were drafted into forced labor battalions and others were drafted for service on the Eastern front, where most died.
In 1941, a few Jewish families without Hungarian citizenship were expelled to Nazi occupied Ukrainian territory, to Kamenets-Podolski, and murdered there.
The remaining 450 Jews of Drahovo were deported to Auschwitz late May, 1944.
A great many of the Jews from Drahovo were murdered in Auschwitz and any survivors returning after the war settled elsewhere, most leaving for Israel with the beginning of aliya from the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
In 2001, Drahovo had about 4,450 inhabitants and no Jews live there today.
Sources (portions): The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, (2001) p. 328
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Created and Compiled by: Marshall J. KATZ, USA with assistance from
Moshe DAVIS, Israel
M. Y. EHRENREICH, USA jAlbum
Nikoli KATZ, USA Magic Toolbox
Amos Israel ZEZMER, France
and the following JewishGen members/descendants and contributors of Drahovo Jewish families:
Helen KASTENBAUM, USA
Keith LITE, USA
Helen MARKS, USA
Jo K. NASOFF-FINTON, USA
Betty ROSEN, USA