border into exile during the 1939 Polish Defensive War against the Germans and the Soviets attacking on two fronts. The town was defended by the Polish Army until September 20, 1939. Among the last soldiers to be killed by the Red Army in heavy fighting for the bridge was the notable Polish writer, Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz. Except for the term of German occupation between 1941 and 1944, Kuty was annexed by the USSR in 1939 and was administered by Soviet Ukraine. In the spring of 1944 Ukrainian nationalists killed about 200 Poles and Armenians. Since 1991 Kuty has been part of independent Ukraine. Jewish community In the spring of 1942 during the German occupation, the entire Jewish population of Kuty was killed by the Nazis. Many died in the town while the rest were rounded up and deported to the ghetto in Chernivtsi. Only a handful survived. Demography In 1849 the town had roughly 3,700 inhabitants, in 1880, 6,300 and in the late 1920s – 8,000. Of these 3,300 were Jews, 1,900 Hutsuls, 1,300 Poles and over 500 Armenians. In 2001, the population was 4,272, and in 2016 ca. . Notable residents Edmund Charaszkiewicz (1895-1975), Polish intelligence officer Eliasz Kuziemski (1922–2000), Polish actor Vira Vovk (1926-2022), Ukrainian writer Abraham Gershon of Kitov (1701-1761), rabbi Haim Drukman (1932-2022), rabbi and educator, Israeli politician Levko Dutkovskiy (born 1943), musician and composer, founder and leader of the vocal-instrumental ensemble "Smerichka" which included legendary artists Volodymyr Ivasyuk, Nazariy Yaremchuk and Vasyl Zinkevych. People's Artist of Ukraine, director, teacher, one of the founders of Ukrainian pop music. References Further reading PolishRoots Geography&Maps (the fifth entry) A historical outline of the Jewish Community of Kuty Kuty Jewish Cemetery fully documented at Jewish Galicia and Bukovina ORG External links Urban-type settlements in Kosiv Raion Ruthenian Voivodeship Stanisławów Voivodeship Holocaust locations in Poland