Medzhybizh (Ukrainian: Меджибіж; Polish: Międzybóż; German: Medschybisch; Yiddish: מעזשביזש, romanized: Mezhbizh), formerly Mezhybozhe, is a rural settlement in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, western Ukraine.

The state-of-the-art fortifications made Medzhybizh one of the strongest military sites in the region and led to the rise of its prosperity in the next three centuries.

The Zaslavskys used Medzhybizh as their base from which to defend the southern borders from the incursions of the Ottoman Turks and Crimean Tatars.

[3] In 1648 the cossack uprising led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky captured the town 3 times and held the region for the period of 1 year.

Of this number there were 2500 Jews living in Medzhibozh in the year 1648 out of a total Jewish population of Podolia of 4000 souls (spread between 18 communities).

[7] Due to age and apparent lack of financial resources on the side of Kościuszko, the parents didn't consent to wedlock, despite the fact the love was reciprocated.

In the late 1880s through World War I, Medzhybizh became a center of military activity, housing an important garrison within its castle grounds.

A commemorative plaque marks the place where the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko stayed in October 1846 participating in an archeological expedition.

The town changed hands many times as different militia units from either the Bolsheviks, Ukrainian Nationalists, Poles, or Whites gained temporary control.

Recently a museum dedicated to the memory of the many local inhabitants who died during the Holodomor was opened in Medzhybizh containing original documents from the area relating to the shooting of all villagers who opposed entering the kolhoz collective farms.

[8] Medzhybizh fell to German troops during Operation Barbarossa on July 8, 1941, with relatively light resistance.

Medzhybizh was astride an important east–west supply road that the German occupant's administration wanted to expand into an autobahn-like highway.

The German Nazis set up Jewish ghettos in Medzhybizh and in Letychiv to assist Organisation Todt in providing slave labor for the road building project.

Roman Shukhevych, commander of the Nachtigall Battalion stopped in Medzhybizh and there refused to fight against the Soviets for the Nazis until Yaroslav Stetsko was released from custody.

Yisroel Meir Gabbai of Oholei Tzadikim, has built a mikvah connected and right by the spring of where the Baal Shem Tov use to immerse himself.

The Baal Shem Tov is considered one of the key Jewish personalities of the 18th century who has shaped Judaism into what it is today.

His work led to the founding the Hasidic movement, established by his disciples, some of whom also lived in Medzhybizh, but most of whom traveled from all over Eastern Europe, sometimes from great distances, to visit and learn from him.

In general, both groups got along, but the followers of the Hasidic leaders emphasized certain aspects of Judaism, such as emotions in observance of the commandments and ritual purity.

In an attempt to remedy Rabbi Boruch's melancholy, his followers brought in Hershel of Ostropol as a "court jester" of sorts.

[12][13] Rabbi Nachman of Breslav (1772–1810), the Baal Shem Tov's great-grandson, was born in Medzhybizh but left at an early age.

Another Hasidic leader, Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt (1748–1825) "The Apter Rov", made Medzhybizh his home from 1813 until his death in 1825.

The Apter Rov is also buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Medzhybizh, very close to the Baal Shem Tov's grave.

The Heshel family became one of the foremost Hasidic rabbinic dynasties and various descendants remained in Medzhybizh well into the 20th century.

The Rapoports themselves are a long distinguished rabbinic family who traces their roots back to Central Europe and Northern Italy in the 15th century.

However, in a dispute with Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim, the Baal Shem Tov's grandson around the year 1800, the non-Hasidic and the Hasidic communities separated into two leadership groups.

The Hasidic community at the time chose Rabbi Issachar Dov-Ber Landa to represent them in official matters.

Adjacent to the dam are two old mill buildings that are no longer used but used to be a valuable concession (arenda) during Tsarist and Polish times.

North of town is the old Jewish cemetery, which has turned into a tourist attraction primarily for Hasidic Jews making a pilgrimage to see the Baal Shem Tov's grave.

Other gravestones in this cemetery are worth visiting as the artwork on many stones shows a level of cultural achievement matching the rise of importance of the town.

Outside of town to the west, and adjacent to the Southern Bug river, is the Nazi mass killing site where approximately 3,000 Jews were buried.