This site is a collation of descendants of my great4th-grandfather, Chaim Jossef Neumann of Husiatyn, Ukraine.

The information comes from various Neumann/Newman descendants, both in my line and others.

The town of Husiatyn was originally part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the province of Podolia. In 1772, it was absorbed into Galicia, the northernmost provice of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where it remained until the dissolution of the empire in 1918 following World War I. At that point, it became part of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. In 1919, it was annexed by Poland. In 1939, it was annexed by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the U.S.S.R. With the latter's dissolution, it is now part of the Ternopil Oblast (province) of Ukraine. Regardless of the country it belonged to, it lay on the west bank of the Zbruch River, which is sometimes called the Podhorze or Pidhirtsi. It can be seen on the following map on the westernmost edge of Galicia.

In the late 19th century, there were a number of Jews in Husiatyn, although the majority of the population was Ukrainian. This included a Hasidic group of the Husiatyner dynasty, a scion of the Ruzhiner dynasty. There was also a famous synagogue where the Neumann family might have worshipped. It was rare example of a Renaissance "fortress style" synagogue, designed to withstand attack. It fell into ruin but was restored in the 1970s and turned into a museum. However, since that time it has been allowed to decay again and the roof has started to collapse.