rl^ I j.^4 ^-.^ \\ . t^.-i.^-^i^-t^ OLlH D 4 3? "f \i^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY '^ckW Copyright, 1921, By Thomas Seltzer, Inc. All Kishts Reserved / Printed in the United States of America PREFACE the basis of this book is material gathered by dele- gates of the All-Ukrainian Relief Committee for the Victims of Pogroms, under the auspices of the Red Cross, of which committee I was the chairman. Our aim was not only to supply money, food and clothing to the victims, render medical aid to the wounded and mutilated, and take care of the orphaned children; it was also to investigate — ^to determine the true character of the events and ascertain the circum- stances in which they occurred. Besides administer- ing relief, our representatives, in accordance with a plan worked out by the Central Information Depart- ment of the committee, made careful investigations, questioning witnesses of all descriptions, the sufferers themselves, onlookers, and men in official or public positions. In large centres like Kiev and Yekaterino- slav, to which refugees from numerous pogrom- stricken localities streamed, special bureaus were es- tablished for the purpose of taking down the testimony of the refugees. Sometimes, when the pogrom was large and complicated in its character, our committee delegates called conferences of all public and party organizations of the place, in order to determine the social and political causes of the pogrorn and the mo- tives animating the participants, as well as to gather all possible details. The conferees were able, through personal observation and material at their disposal, to clear up obscurities, throw light on all aspects of the i ii PREFACE situation, and make corrections and addenda to reports presented at the meetings. Examples of documents resulting from such conferences are the protocols with their appendices given in the Appendix to this book on the pogroms in Uman (/>/>. 316-336) and Dubovo {pp. 341-347)- The material gathered at each place — ^testimony of witnesses, documents, photographs — was sent to the Central Information Department in Kiev, where it was classified and sifted by experts. What seemed of dubious veracity or did not coincide with other evi- dence was rejected. Nothing but verified matter was included in our summary. In some cases of pogroms on a large scale special investigators, persons with a thorough legal training, were sent to the scene of the events, who supplemented evidence already to hand by securing documents and examining new witnesses. Material thus gathered was embodied in volumes sometimes numbering several hun- dred pages, to which the investigator later, in his sum- marized report, would refer, citing the page and num- ber of the volume in the case, as, for instance, the reports of the well-known lawyer, Mr. A. I. Hiller- son, on the pogroms in Ovruch (see Appendix, pp. 185 ff.) and in Proskurov (see Appendix, pp. 202 ff.), who substantiated his statements by exact references (as on pp. 208, 209, 210 and elsewhere). Owing to the various war fronts in the Ukraine and the internal state of civil war, we were prevented from gathering material for all the pogroms. Never- theless, the facts brought to light through the self- sacrificing efforts of our representatives are quite suffi- cient for a thoroughly grounded analysis, social and political, of the Jewish tragedy in the Ukraine in PREFACE iii 1919. And as our committee was a Red Cross organi- zation with non-political aims, the work of investiga- tion was carried on in an utterly impartial spirit. Most of the material at my disposal appears in the Appendix, some of it in the text. The book repre- sents my personal conclusions drawn from the material and from my observations of the stormy events in the Ukraine. It is more than a year now since the ghastly events described in this book took place. But the year 1919 did not see the end of them. The bloody tide over- flowed the boundaries of the Ukraine, and horrors were enacted elsewhere that not only equalled but even sur- passed the Ukrainian atrocities. And in the Ukraine itself reaction kept up its gory carnival. The events of 1920 only corroborate the findings in the present book, namely, that reaction uses the massacre of the/ Jews as a method for political warfare. In conclusion I wish to express my gratitude to all my fellow-workers on the Relief Committee. My in- debtedness to them is twofold — for the moral satis- faction of work done together in aid of the wretched victims of the pogroms and for the stupendous, tireless work of gathering the evidence that has made possible the writing of this summary. I must make special mention of those who stood closest to me in the work : Dr. P. I. Rosenthal (Anman), Dr. F. E. Lander, Mr. L. V. Fraenkel, Mr. S. Y. Heifetz, Dr. L. N. Heller. Mr. A. I. Hillerson, and Mr. Isaac Gtitermann. Elias Heifetz. New York, December zo, ipso. Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924086055146 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I Social and Political Causes .... i II The Directory 21 III The Batko 57 IV The Soviet Power 84 V The Denikin Regime 99 VI Self-Defense 123 VII Pogrom Pictures — A Few Episodes . . 141 VIII Results 175 APPENDIX Supplement to Chapter II - Report of A. I. Hillerson I. City of Ovruch 185 II. City of Proskurov 202 III. Felshtin (Government of Podolia) . 227 Supplement to Chapter III I Pogroms of Struk's Gangs .... 235 II Pogroms of Grigoriev's Gangs and Others 243 CHAPTER I SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES The terrible Jewish massacres in the Ukraine in the year 1919, which set the whole land aflame, can not be compared with the pogroms in the eighties and during the first decade of our century. The latter form, in essence and scope, a chapter in themselves. The tsar- ist regime endeavored to divert the attention of the' socially and politically discontented masses in another direction, the direction of least resistance. This they did by inciting the ignorant and intimidated lower classes against the defenseless Jews, who, they alleged, were responsible for the misery of the people. The Jews were represented as the exploiters of the people, as leeches, who sucked the blood of the peasant and robbed him of the fruits of his economic activity. Later, when the elemental forces of the revolution burst forth and whipped the waves of passion into high fury, the Jews were depicted by the agents of tsarism before the lowest classes of the people as the "leaders of unrest and rebellion, who were rising against the Fatherland and the 'Little Father' (the tsar)." The Jewish pogroms coincide with the criti- cal moments of the then regime and follow in scope and intensity a course parallel to that of the revolution. The pogroms of the eighties correspond to the revo- I 2 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE lutionary movement of the intelligentzia organized as "Narodniki" ("Zemlya i Volya," "Narodnaya Volya"). Those in the beginning of our century, to the time of the first revolution (1903- 1905), corres- pond to the great revolutionary strikes in the south of Russia. Finally, the third pogrom wave, which came right after the revolution (end of 1905 and 1906), corresponds to the outbreak of the first revolution it- self. The aim of the pogroms in the eighties was mainly the destruction of Jewish possessions. There was robbery and plunder, down and feathers were scattered to the wind, furniture was broken to pieces, valuables and money were taken away. In many cases women were violated, men beaten, but "with moderation," not to death. The pogroms, however, in Kishinev (1903), Gomel (1903) and Zhitomir (April, 1905), already began to assume a bloody course. Jews were murdered, the victims numbered many dozens. After the revolution (1905 and 1906) the pogroms expanded both in space and in time, with about a thousand victims. The organizing activity of the lower and middle administrative officers was clearly visible, as was shown in the judicial investiga- tions. The parliamentary commission of the first imperial Duma, the revelations of the former active minister of internal affairs. Prince Urussov, and of the former director of the police department, Lopuchin, confirmed what was generally known, that the threads of the entire pogrom propaganda were held together in the hands of the highest representatives of the state ^ force, the all powerful minister of internal affairs and the director of the police. They determined the places where pogrom dramas were to be enacted, and gave proper instructions to the local authorities. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES 3 The pogroms of the tsarist period took place almost exclusively in the south, in the Ukraine, and particu- larly in the Ukrainian cities. The large Ukrainian cities like Kiev, Odessa, and Yekaterinoslav formed favorable grounds for anti-Jewish agitation by reason of the great wealth and economic activity, the accentu- ated class differences and the numerous tramp class existing in those places. The officials and the profes- sional classes (teachers, clergy, partly also the profes- sors) in the southern cities were almost exclusively on the side of the Black Hundred. The central govern- ment took great care to see that all those who were in their service were thoroughly "reliable," i.e., that they were in complete accord with the reactionary politics of the central government and carried out their orders in their several localities. The pogroms of the tsarist period were almost exclusively confined to the cities. There were none in the Ukrainian villages. Insurrection, robbery and vio- lence were done by the city hoodlums in the larger centers. Not so the massacres in the year 1919. Here the Ukrainian village played the main role, the Ukrain- ian peasants, the bands of military insurgents as well as the more or less organized bands of insurrectionists. The wave rolled from the village to the city and in con- centric circles embraced the whole land. But the vil- lage occupied the center. The impulse and the radii proceeded from the village. The urban crowd played a subordinate role, and merely participated, actively to be sure, in the events. Large cities like Odessa and Kiev (before the invasion of Denikin) were over- whelmed by this wave, which spread over about 700 localities and almost annihilated the entire Jewish pop^ ulation in the Ukrainian villages and districts. 4 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE This is not the first time in the history of the Ukrainian Jews that they had to suffer from perse- cution. Twice before have they been the object of horrible attacks and cruel murder, in the times of the Ukrainian period of storm and stress when the peas- ants rose against their Polish oppressors. The Jews settled in Ukrainia at the end of the six- teenth century. The emigrants from Lithuania and Poland foimd here uncultivated land and sparsely populated villages. Gradually there grew up cities, castles and settlements. The Polish nobility attracted as colonists the petty nobility, the serfs and also the Jews as a class engaged in commerce and industry. Thanks to the Jewish spirit of enterprise there soon developed an extremely energetic commercial activity. The greatest variety of industries, the production of nitric acid and potash, fishing and hunting as well as the liquor business were in the hands of the Jews. Only a very small part of the Jews were rich. Accord- ing to the investigations of Berschadski (Die lita'W- schen Jvden), the commercial and credit operations of the great majority of the Jews must be measured in dozens of rubles, and consisted merely in the granting of small loans to the peasants, the poorer middle class and the Tartars. But this is not all. The operations were carried on with the moneys which they themselves borrowed from the Christian clergy, nobility and poorer middle class. Often they borrowed this capital by pledging household articles, even body linen. Is it true that the Jewish masses were guilty of abus- ing the Christian population ? The Ukrainian historian Ivan Franko, points out that the sources of the Khmelnitzky period say nothing about the accusations that were later brought against the Jews, such as SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES S putting mortgages on the churches. "The unfair prac- tices of the Jews, so far as there were such," says Franko, "are insignificant as compared with the abuses committed by the Polish government and the Polish military." To be sure, the Cossack population did not investigate with any degree of care as to who was really responsible for their enslavement. When the Ukrainian population rose in rebellion, with Khmeln- itzky at their head, and freed themselves from the chains of political and economic enslavement, they swept away not only the lords, but also their agents, the Jews, who were their leaseholders and tenant farmers. The events of the years 1648-1658 with their heroes, Krivonos, Ganai, Morosenko, Timofei (son of Bogdan Khmelnitzky) , Koloda and others, cost the Ukrainian Jews, according to the careful com- putations of Sabbatai Cohen, about 100,000 lives (the "Chronicler" speaks of a half million.) Several hundred Jewish settlements were completely des- troyed. One hundred years later, the Ukraine was again the scene of insurrections. The Gaidamaks (this was the name of the insurrectionary Cossack bands in the 1 8th century) were no whit inferior in savage cruelty to the Cossack rebels under Bogdan Khmelnitzky. All the hatred that had accumulated up to that time on ac- count of the political and economic enslavement ot the people (introduction of serfdom, persecution of their faith, cruel practices of the administration, by state authorities as well as landed proprietors) was let loose in this moment. As formerly under Khmelnitzky, so a hundred years later, when the Jewish tenant farmer, the "inevitable attendant of the Polish lord" and the executor of his will in relation to the village, had again 6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE settled down, the fury of the peasants once more was directed against him. The rebellion of 1734 under the leadership of Griva adopted the following motto, "It is permitted to plunder the Jews and kill the Po- laks." In the forties of the eighteenth century, the "leader and great Hetman of the Gaidamak troops," Wasski Washchilo, shows clearly in his proclamation that the purpose of the rebellion was to destroy the Jewish peo- ple for the protection of Christianity. "Guided by zeal for the holy Christian religion, and anxious that the anger of the Lord for all these crimes may not fall upon innocent persons, I have decided, so far as it lies in my power, together with other good people who love Christianity, to exterminate the accursed Jewish peo- ple. I have already with God's help killed the Jews in the commtmities of Krichev and Propoisk, and although the Jews succeeded in having government troops sent against me, the just God gave me his pro- tection in all cases. Trusting in the grace of God, I shall bring to end this holy war against the traitors." The year 1767 in which the . insurrection under Zhelezniak and Gonta took place was pregnant with fate for the Jews. A terrible massacre of the Jews took place at Uman. There were also excesses against the Jews in Fastov, Granov, Zhivotov, Tulchin and Dashev. According to the reports of eye witnesses, 50,000 to 60,000 Jews lost their lives at the time of the Gaida- maks.* A hundred and fifty years had passed since then. ♦The data of the pogroms under Khmelnitzky and the Gaida- maks are taken from the 1st volume of "History of the Jews in Russia," Moscow, 1914. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES 7 The Ukrainian village became quiet again and found its equilibrium. It cost the Jews in Ukrainia much toil and labor to re-establish their economic existence. Now as before the village population dealt principally with the Jewish merchant and middleman, coming very rarely in contact with the poor Jewish popula- tion, the manual laborers. In the mind of the village people the Jew still occupied an intermediate place, "between the working people on the one hand and the landlords and rich cities on the other," being essentially nearer to the latter than to the former. The historical antipathy to the Jew remained, but there was no hatred. The Jew was merely distrusted as a stranger and the Ukrainian villagers, blessed with the craftiness of the peasant, showed contempt for the Jewish middleman and inhabitant of the city. Nevertheless peaceful and neighborly relations developed between the Jew and the Ukrainian peasants, which suffered no change during the last four decades of Russian rule. Jews who lost their entire possessions and most of their relatives in the fearful storms of 19 19, testify unanimously that in a great number of cities and districts, peaceful and neighborly relations had existed between the Ukrainian peasants and the Jews, and in some cases they were very friendly to one another. . These neighborly relations were somewhat disturbed during the German occupation. The well-being of the population both Christian and Jewish had increased considerably. It was the time of unlimited specula- tion in goods and money, of smuggling in and out of Soviet Russia and the neutral zone. The peasants, however, could not increase their earnings in the same measure as the others. The products of the land were taken from them by force, at low prices, and carried 8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE to Germany. On the basis of exaggerated reports of "the wealth of the Jews," there developed among the peasants a feeling of enAry and a desire for city products (manufactured goods, shoes), of which there was nothing in the Ukraiiiian village, rumor hav- < irig it that the Jews in the larger centers enjoyed a superfluity of such things. The anti-Jewish sentiment came to the fore in the Ukrainian village at the time when the Soviet govern- ment took the helm. This government is in the eyes of the peasants a foreign importation from Moscow. The well-to-do peasant of the Ukrainian village is op- posed to communistic tendencies. Besides, being a landlord in possession of the soil which he regards as his consecrated and inviolable property, he sees in the Soviet government principally a fiscal power, which requisitions his grain and other agricultural products at maximum prices, paying for them in worthless little papers. A tenacious and obstinate fight arose between the Ukrainian village and the Soviet government. The Soviet government brought for the first time into the village the Jewish official, as a representative of the state power. Under the tsar the law did not allow the Jews to hold any state or public office. At the time of the Provisional Government the whole power was actu- ally in the hands of the central Rada, under which all local posts were held by Ukrainians, usually represen- tatives of the local population. Under the Soviet regime, on the other hand, Jews also were govern- ment representatives, holding central as well as local offices. In districts where the Jews formed the majority of the population, a large number of Jews belonged to the executive committee. The mere fact that besides the Jewish middleman there was also a SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES 9 Jewish representative of the state force called forth a feeling of hostility on the part of the Ukrainian peas- ant. The Jew whom he was accustomed to look down upon and to treat with contempt, suddenly stood be- fore him as the possessor of power, demanding re- spect. In addition, this same Jew appeared as the rep- resentative of a government foreign to the village and the object of its hatred. As a result the peasant be- came suspicious of the entire Jewish population, re- garding all the Jews without exception as members of the Soviet regime, which enabled them to exercise power against the Christian population. The idea took firm root in his mind that the Jewish nation was en- deavoring to dominate over the Christian peasant. In the later pogroms this attitude found expression in the words, "What! You want to rule over us?" The Ukrainian peasant had a tendency to impute to the Jewish commissars and generally to the whole Jewish population in the neighboring towns and districts all the sins committed against him by the new regime (requisitioning, mobilization, barrage troops, execu- tons by order of the extraordinary commissions). The traditional feeling of distrust and suspicion of the Jew was excited and fostered by the above men- tioned social and political factors. There is still, however, a great gulf between the vague feelings of envy, contempt, even hatred, and those cruel acts perpetrated upon the Jews in the Ukrainian massacres. To bridge it an external force was necessary, which compelled the peaceful peasants to overcome their moral and other inhibitions, aroused the slumbering instincts of destruction and hate, gave to the whole complex of vague feelings and senti- ments a political form and instilled it into the minds of 10 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the peasants by anti-Jewish agitation. For this pur- pose it was necessary to accuse the Jews as such of exploitation of labor and speculation, to represent them as "bourgeois" and at the same time to brand them as advocates of the Soviet power and of communism, so as to organize the peasants and push them in a definite direction. Under the influence of this force came the peasant avalanche, continually increasing in scope, moving faster and faster and burying under it tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews. This force which played so momentous a role in the history of Ukrainian Jewry, a force which for the first time in our revolutionary epoch made use of Jew- ish massacres as a political weapon, against the Soviet enemy, is represented by the later leaders and political heads of the Ukrainian People's Republic. They took the same bloody course that was followed later by the Russian reaction of the Denikin regime and the vol- unteer army. Not all at once but gradually, step by step and at critical moments, did they begin to take up the method of pogroms. First they addressed threats to the Jewish leaders, warning them of the people's wrath in case they did not exert the proper influence on the Jewish masses. Then followed the actual applica- tion of the method in question, first in the form of organized excesses and demonstrations, and then at the most critical moment in the form of a systematic and uninterrupted series of organized blood baths and hor- rible devastations. Forced back by the Soviet govern- ment to the frontier of the Ukraine, the leaders of the Ukrainian Republic, as represented by the Directory and its responsible agents, never again let go of this bloody weapon by which they expected to secure vic- tory. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES ii The history of the Jewish pogroms in the Ukraine is closely connected with the poHtical history of the country, and cannot be separated from it. It seems necessary, therefore, to keep in mind the main factors of the revolutionary movement in the Ukraine, and to determine the dividing line between the popular move- ment of the Ukrainians and the Jewish socialistic parties. This division, accompanied by military de- feats, already carried in itself the germ of the ap- proaching massacres. The March revolution exposed in sharp outline all the problems of Russian life, including the problem of nationality. The autocratic tsar held all the nation- alities inhabiting the several parts of the empire in slavery. Their endeavors to develop their national culture were exposed to persecution. Every attempt to attain even the most modest share of autonomy was regarded as a revolt against the highest authority and was rigorously suppressed. With the outbreak of the revolution strong national- istic movements began in certain parts of the former empire. The opposing forces made themselves felt. The nationalistic element came to the fore every- where, especially in the large border states, Finland and the Ukraine. The Provisional Government tried to evade the problem as well as it could. In its de- pendence upon the Russian bourgeoisie, especially upon the party of the Constitutional Democrats (Cadets) which represented them in their efforts to create a "united, strong and great Russia," it saw in the nationalistic movement the danger of secession of the border states. The Provisional Government was re- solved not to weaken the economic power of the great Russian bourgeoisie by showing a pliable temper, nor 12 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE to weaken Russia while the imperialistic world war was raging. It, therefore, postponed the solution of the problem "until the calling of the Constitutional Assembly," which was again and again postponed to a later date. The nationalistic movement burst forth with the fury of a storm. Its waves rose higher and higher. The Provisional Government was compelled to recognize it and meet it step by step. In the Ukraine a representative body was formed, the Central Rada composed of all socialist parties, which controlled the political life of the country and created out of itself the national secretariat as an executive organ. To bring about peaceful relations between the Pro- visional Government and the Central Rada, the two ministers Zeretelli and Tereschenko came from Petro- grad to Kiev, and actually succeeded for a time in reconciling the nationalistic aspirations of the Ukraine with the wavering and restraining tendencies of the Provisional Government. They recognized the right of the Ukraine to a considerable degree of autonomy. But they would not accept a federative structure of the Russian State. The Central Rada based its hopes and claims upon the enormous majority of the Ukrainian village, upon the nationalistically minded intelligentzia of the cities as well as upon parts of the urban lower middle class. The Rada became, therefore, an important political power, maintaining its independence of the Russian Provisional Government, which had not the slightest influence in the Ukraine. The Ukrainian great-bourgeoisie is composed of rep- resentatives of foreign nationalities (Russians, Jews, Poles). They were opposed to the Central Rada be- cause they saw in it a power destructive to the integ- SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES 13 rity of the "Russian Empire." Without attacking them seriously in the sphere of social politics, the Cen- tral Rada paid very little attention to the great-bour- geoisie, and on the other hand showed itself mdre defi- nite and determined than the Russian Provisional Government in respect to such cardinal questions of the Revolution as the question of the land and the termination of the war. The Central Rada did not take its support from the working population of the cities. The urban work- men did not entirely trust the Central Rada because they saw in it mainly representatives of the inter- ests of the middle peasants of the Ukrainian vil- lage. Nationally, too, the working classes were not at one with the Rada, consisting as they did for the most part of Russians, Poles and Jews. The Ukrainian Soviet delegates were in their general standpoint nearer to the Russian Central Committee of the Soviet labor delegates than to the Central Rada. Neverthe- less the workmen as a class and the Jewish workmen in particular supported the Central Rada in their en- deavors after national autonomy, which would make possible an unrestricted cultural and social develop- ment of the Ukrainian forces, without, however, break- ing with the All-Russian revolution. ^ The Jewish Labor Bund often played the role of mediator between the Ukrainian national movement and the Russian revolutionary democracy. The Jew- ish workmen and laborers, the support of the Jewish socialistic parties, were afraid of the extravagances of the Bolshevistic rule and saw in the Central Rada a power greater than the Provisional Government. Be- sides the Central Rada was in its political structure a democratic force, which at the same time guaranteed 14 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the cultural needs of the national tninorities by the law of autonomy in the sphere of national culture. Repre- sentatives of the Jewish socialistic party belonged to the Secretariat (Council of Ministers) of the Central Rada. The tendency of the Central Rada to favor separa- tion from Russia forced the Jewish parties into oppo- sition. The Jewish Labor Bund abstained from vot- ing on the third manifesto ("Universal"), which opened wide the doors to the separatist tendencies of the Ukrainian movement. This resulted in the recall of the socialistic representatives in the Secretariat. A criti- cal moment in the relations between the Jewish social- istic parties and the Central Rada was on the occasion of carrying out the fourth manifesto, which proclaimed the "independence" of the Ukraine, denoting a com- plete break with Soviet Russia. The fourth manifesto was really called forth by the pressure of German imperialism upon Soviet Russia. It meant for the Ukraine a separate peace with Ger- many at the expense of Russia, and a protection against the danger of the Soviet. The manifesto was regarded with disfavor by the Ukrainian proletariat, because they could not reconcile themselves to an economic, political and moral separation from Russia. Moreover the proletariat sensed in the fourth manifesto a tend- ency to reaction externally (union with Germany) as •well as internally. The lower middle class circles in the cities were opposed t6 the manifesto for similar reasons. Fear of Bolshevism lamed their activity. Nevertheless their attitude to the new ways upon which the national movement had entered was negative. The fourth manifesto repelled the socialistic parties of the Ukrainian cities from the Central Rada. The latter SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES 15 continued to find support in the broad stratum of the great and middle peasants, who were only loosely con- nected with the Russian revolution and for the time being had no serious economic interests in the war- exhausted cities in general or in the Russian Soviet cities in particular. In the debate on the fourth manifesto in the Cen- tral Rada, the Jewish labor parties spoke against it. The mere appearance on the platform of the well- known leader of the Bund, Liber, who was to speak in the name of the Jewish Labor Bund, called forth a storm of indignation. He was regarded as an advocate of centralization and an opponent of the Ukrainian national movement. The Jewish Labor Bund voted against the manifesto. The united Jewish socialistic party and the labor party of the Poale Zion abstained from voting, but expressed themselves in strong criti- cism of the manifesto. After the proclamation of the fourth manifesto by the Central Rada, the question of political strikes was raised in the council of labor delegates. In spite of their negative attitude toward the fourth manifesto, the Jewish socialistic parties stood foursquare on the basis of the independence of the Ukraine, guided by the desire to remain in decided though not revolution- ary opposition. On the question of strikes great differences and friction developed among them. A considerable part were against the strike. The left wing was not definitely opposed to it but recommended strikes with a definite time limit. At this time began the first threats of the Ukrainians against the Jews. The purpose of these threats was to frighten the wavering elements among the Jews by calling attention to the coming retribution from the i6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE indignant masses, who felt that their most sacred na- tional feeling had been outraged. Martos (later the president of the council of min- isters), a representative, belonging to the left wing of the Ukrainian national movement, addressed the Jewish deputies from the platform to the following effect: "Yesterday one of your men in the council of labor delegates advocated the general strike. Do not play a double game. Say openly what you want. Restrain your people from such steps. We feel that we shall soon be unable to curb the anger and the hate of our people." The nationalistic agitation also was utilized to hold the troops in the Ukraine together by the anti- Jewish feeling which was common to them all. The general strike began. Small armed bands of workmen opposed the Central Rada, but were not sup- ported by the great masses. The strike failed. In the meantime Kiev was attacked by the troops of the Bolshevist Red Guard, who succeeded in getting pos- session of the city. The Central Rada removed their sessions from Kiev to Zhitomir. The Jewish deputies remained in Kiev. The Jewish socialistic parties and their representatives opposed the Bolsheviki most bit- terly. In the fight of the Jewish socialistic parties against the Bolsheviki, the tendency of the Jewish labor masses finds its expression. They emphasize not only their negative attitude toward the October revolution, but the socialistic parties advocate also the independ- ence of the Ukraine, and declare that the Soviet gov- ernment can not be regarded as the representative of the attitude of the Ukrainian masses, being on the con- trary a foreign power which came from the outside to conquer the Ukraine. The Central Rada in Zhitomir followed a nation- SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES 17 alistic and reactionary course. A new law was made depriving members of foreign elements, Russians and Jews, of the rights of Ukrainian citizenship. At the same time the legend was circulated in Zhitomir that Jews in Kiev had shot the retiring Ukrainian troops in the back. The withdrawal of the Ukrainian troops took place in the greatest haste. One military defeat followed upon anothei'. The armies began to crumble away. To keep them together they made use of agita- tion against the Moscovites and especially against the Jews. And it was for this purpose that agents of the Rada spread the legend. The anti-Semitic agitation increased after the Ukraine was reconquered by the Central Rada with the help of German bayonets. It was necessary to find a scapegoat to bear the national disgrace and carry away on his back the anger and hate of the army and the peasants. The Jews were made the scapegoat, on the ground that they had caused the occupation of the Ukraine by German troops and were in the service of the Bolshevist government. And when Petlura on a white horse entered Kiev at the head of a small band of Gaidamaks, followed on foot by well armed and well disciplined German troops, the hate and desire for revenge of the Ukrainian soldier against the Jew flared up in a hot flame. The Ukrainian bands were met by a delegation of members of the Central Rada, which contained also representatives of the Ukrainian social democracy. The military authorities declared to them calmly and definitely, "Tell the Jews that we will get even with thfem." And to Rafes, a member of the Central Rada, they said, "We know your speeches, we will dispose of you and your associates." Now the excesses began against the Jews, the first result of i8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE which was the death of a few persons, mainly Jewish workmen. When the Central Rada returned from Zhitomir, the Jewish representatives resumed their activity in the Rada. They were received with hate, animosity and threats and were accused of Bolshevism without any reason. The only Ukrainian representatives who de- fended them were those who remained in Kiev during the Bolshevist rule. The excesses against the Jews continued a long time. Professor Grushevski, the president of the Cen- tral Rada, took pains to suppress the attacks. For this purpose he addressed himself again and again to the military and some of their leaders. Repeatedly he invited the Rada to work in common, as he pointed to the difficulty of the situation. Under the pressure of the Central Rada and the whole poltical situation (pres- ence of German military, who had already spoken of order) there were no mass pogroms. Here we see the most characteristic feature of the Jewish pogroms — the moment the instigators cease to find them useful for their purpose, they suddenly come to a standstill. At the time in question a strong anti-Semitic propa- ganda was developed. The sentiment in favor of pogroms among the Ukrainian troops was genuine and strong. They were firmly convinced that the Jews were responsible for Bolshevism as well as for the disgrace of their country. Nevertheless the number of victims was very small. The military leaders who excited and fanned these sentiments stood under the influence of the causes above mentioned. They pre- vented an open pogrom and, what is the main thing, they gave no orders for a pogrom. The German military occupation made itself felt. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES 19 They tried to utilize the "bread peace" to the fullest extent in their own interest. The Ukraine with its bread and its agricultural products must make it pos- sible for Germany to continue the war in the west. The whole grain was often carried off from the vil- lages by armed force. The villages soon realized the real meaning of the Force of Occupation. The Central Rada saw its political mistake. The representatives of the Ukrainian parties listened willingly to the speeches of the Jewish opposition against the Force of Occupation. The desire to liberate themselves from the Germans reconciled the Rada to the Jewish oppo- sition. But the Central Rada had played its role, it was scattered by German bayonets. The Occupation covered its domination over the Ukraine with the mantle of Hetman rule. The Ger- man military party introduced a congress of represen- tatives of the peasant land proprietors, the "Com Peasants." These proclaimed as head of the Ukrainian State, Paul Skoropadsky, a descendant of an old Het- man family, a hitherto little known captain of the tsarist regime, who had later gone over to the serv- ice of the Ukrainian government. Thp Hetman was an obedient figurehead in the hands of the Force of Occupation. He was a devoted executor of their will and their eflforts. The white terror prevailed in the cities and even more on the plains of the country. There was a continuous descent of punitive expedi- tions, requisitions, money penalties. The hate against the Force of Occupation and the external expression of the German rule grew from day to day, and not in the village only but also in the city. At the same time the great defeats of the Germans on the west front and the growing opposition among the German soldiers weak- 20 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE ened the power of the Force of Occupation and an- nounced its approaching end. The disturbances in the Ukrainian villages, which were kept down with the help of the Hetman's government troops and the German punitive expeditions, continued. In the cities secret meetings were held between the representatives of the Ukrainian parties of the Left and the Jewish socialistic parties. A complete rapproachment was not arrived at. The differences between them were of a radical nature. Mistrust was very great. The common enemy, how- ever, brought about an understanding and the convic- tion of the necessity of making common cause against him. The understanding, however, was not of long duration. The enemy was soon overcome. The politi- cal parties of the Ukraine who had created a new na- tional government, the Directory, experienced a vio- lent clash with the Soviet government. In this embit- tered fight they carried to its full development the old weapon of poison, anti-Semitic agitation and the sup- port of the organized Jewish pogroms. CHAPTER II THE DIRECTORY On the ninth of November, 1918, the revolution broke out in Germany. The consequence was a politi- cal crisis in German-occupied Ukraine and a revolt against German domination. On the thirteenth of November a political general strike was determined upon at a general meeting of the Central Bureau of the Ukrainian Labor Union. Everywhere in the basin of the Donetz where the Aus- trian troops retired there was a revolt. On the fifteenth of November the movement began in the Government of Kiev, district of Tarascha. Everywhere insurgent bands were formed under the leadership of Makhno, Grigoriev and others. At the head of the movement was a Directory and later Petlura. Yekaterino- slav, Kharkov and Odessa went over to the Directory. On the eleventh of December Kiev was occupied. The rebellion of Petlura was not so much under the banner of nationalism as under that of Socialism and partly also of Bolshevism. The radical watchwords of the city gave expression to the general sentiment, particularly the desire of the villagers to obtain com- plete rights of disposition of the soil. This demand had the support not only of the rich peasants under the leadership of the "independent" socialists, but also of the middle peasants under the leadership of the social- 21 22 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE ist parties of the left. The city proletariat inclined to the Bolsheviki. Petlura entered Kiev as a national hero, but he was followed by his shadow, the Bolshevist Soviet power. As early as the middle of November there was formed in Kursk the Ukrainian Soviet Gov- ernment, which began a campaign against the Direc- tory. Advancing from north to south, the Bolsheviki occupied Gomel, Glukhov, Sumy, Kharkov, Yekater- inoslav, and finally on the second of February, Kiev; Kharkov having been occupied by the Red Army even before Petlura's entrance into Kiev. The international position of the Directory was also altogether difficult. Their negotiations with the Entente and Rumania through General Grekov in Odessa led to no result. The Entente held fast to the principle of a "united and undivided Russia" and sup- ported Denikin. Fermentation began among the troops of the Direc- tory. These may be divided into two groups, insur- rectionist and regular troops. When Petlura entered Kiev in December, 19 18, at the head of the Directory, the peasant rebels formed the majority of his military force. Radically disposed as a result of the long guer- illa warfare against the rule of the Germans and the Hetman, they formed at that time a disciplined mass, who had been for a great part through the school of the imperialistic war. In general, however, this mass was politically unstable and always divided, pro- tecting the Ukrainian Republic whenever there was danger on the right, and becoming disloyal when there was a rebellion on the left. The regular troops were mainly enrolled in Odessa through the so-called mili- tary Rada, which stood under the military and political leadership of the most reactionary elements in the THE DIRECTORY 23 Ukrainian national movement (the independents, Ata- man Verbitski and Doctor Luzenko), from the circles of the wealthiest peasants as well as thfe nationalistic- ally minded mobs of Ukrainia. These formed the bands of Gaidamaks. They were joined by the Gali- cian sharpshooters who had been war prisoners in Germany and had received there a particular Ukrain- ian nationalistic training. At the head of the army was a group of reactionaries. The political leadership was in the hands of the "independent" Doctor Lu- zenko, the military leadership was in the hands of Konovaletz. Kavenko was emissary. The leaders were confronted by an enormously dif- ficult problem, that of welding into a unit a mass of troops in which the majority were radical while the minority were in favor of a national military dictator- ship. Such a fusion of the army was an absolute neces- sity. The anti-Semitic agitation began. The bands of Gaidamaks had long been hostile to the Jews. At a time when the relations were still friendly, a number of Jews were attacked by them with the cry, "Cut down the Jews!" Konovaletz, the military leader of the troops of the Directory, selected for this special pur- pose from the Gaidamaks two Ukrainian Cossacks and certain well disciplined bands, held together by their common hatred of the Bolsheviki and the Jews. These were the so-called "Kureni Smerti" (Clans of Death). Here also belonged special bands under the leadership of various "Batki." These bands were united by love of fighting in common, by reverence for and obedience to the Batko and by various peculiar privileges which they enjoyed. "They fight well, therefore they are permitted to plunder." This was the judgment of the military chiefs. 24 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The conduct of these troops in quiet and, if I may say so, pogromless times, and the attitude toward them of the military authorities, are exhibited in a glaring light in a sketch of a memorial prepared by Abrrius, the head of the police of Zhitomir, and handed to the Directory in the name of the administration of the city of Zhitomir. In this cautiously written memorial the authors request the Directory to remove from the city the troops which were quartered there during the first pogrom (the sketch in question was composed in the time between the first and the second pogroms). The soldiers are "very much demoralized, have abso- lutely no occupation and in connection with the mob strike fear and terror into every inhabitant. . . . This refers especially to the 'Sotnias' of the commandants. The city administration and the investigating com- mission had full opporttinity to convince themselves that persons in military cloaks caught with stolen goods were in the service of the Sotnias of the command- ants. When they were arrested and brought before the commandant, he at once set them free, whereupon they had the impudence to visit the administration and the investigating commission again and again and demand the return of the stolen property. This demand the investigating commission sometimes granted in view of the defiant attitude of the offenders and the circum- stance that they had been let go without any punish- ment. Later these same persons, armed, drove in droshkas through the city, where they no doubt kept up their nefarious doings." After the first pogrom the city administration organ- ized night patrols of the inhabitants to prevent robbery (a kind of self-defense). The commandant gave his consent to the organization. "Immediately thereafter THE DIRECTORY 25 the city administration in the first night of the patrol's duty found themselves face to face with serious mis- understandings. In the first place, the commandant had given an order that no Cossack was to be arrested, and there were no exceptions to this rule. By this order all possibility was removed of doing anything to stop the excesses committed by the persons in gray cloaks. On the other hand, despite the requests of the admin- istration, the commandant gave a special order in which he explained to the soldiers the purpose and the task of the night patrols. The night patrols were at- tacked by persons in soldiers' uniform and by Cossack officers. They began to disarm the city patrols, first in single cases, then more and more frequently, and finally the disarmament assumed a systematic and gen- eral character. Besides, the persons in military cloaks evidently were supported by the law, which prohibited any action against them, and became more defiant and shameless every day. A band of eight persons passed through the main streets at one o'clock in the afternoon and robbed the passersby of their purses and valuables under the pretext of looking for arms. Despite the complaints of the administration the excesses remained unpunished. Attacks on dwellings became more and more frequent, while at the same time the city patrols were disarmed and robbed. The bandits took away their caps, watches, shoes, abused and insulted them at every step and indulged in anti-Semitic incitations. "Later the city administration which had reported the matter to the commandant and commander of the corps was astounded to read in the papers an order by which it was made a duty of the military patrols to shoot down not only the plunderers but also those whom the patrols regarded as enemies of the Republic 26 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE and propagandists of Bolshevism. In this way the peaceful population was handed over to the arbitrary and unlimited whims of a degenerate and unruly mob in gray coats, and the city administration was deprived by this order of every possibility of organizing any resistance against the robbers and authors of violence." In this way the soldier bands were systematically trained for the pogroms. They were demoralized, the life, honor and property of the peaceful population were given over to them and they disposed of life and death. They carried out the order of their chiefs, because the orders were for and not against them. They still maintained discipline. Later, in consequence of im- punity, they lost all discipline and degenerated simply into robber bands. As long as discipline still prevailed among them, the pogroms instituted by them clearly bore the character of the execution of a military command. The Jewish persecutions began and ended at a signal, mostly open, sometimes secret. All the pogroms carried out by the regular troops of the Directory followed a certain common general plan. They were intensified in number and in degree of cruelty in times when the Directory felt itself especially threatened by the Bolsheviki, they were re- duced in intensity when the Bolsheviki were driven out of the Ukraine by the troops of Denikin. The resolution of the council of ministers of the Petlura Government to take radical measures against the pogroms dates from the eighteenth of August, the proclamation of Petlura to the army on the same sub- ject dates from the twenty-sixth of August, i.e., from the day when the Soviet power had already been driven THE DIRECTORY 27 out of the Ukraine by Denikin and the days of their stay in Kiev were numbered. The pogroms organized by the Directory assumed in the year 19 19 a definite form. The January Pogroms These were confined principally to the eastern part of the government of Volhynia, because the troops of Petlura were obliged at that time, under the press- ure of the Bolsheviki who were advancing toward Kiev from the north and northwest, to retire while fighting. Here belong the pogroms in Ovruch (De- cember 31 to January 16), as well as in the villages of Potapovichi and Geshovo (December 31). As these pogroms are very significant, I shall take them up in more detail.* Ovruch is a capital city in the government of Vol- hynia with a population of about 10,000. More than two-thirds of the inhabitants are Jews. The mass of the Jewish population are not iriterested in politics and have not produced any well-known revolutionists. During the Jewish persecutions under the tsar, Ovruch was spared. It was not until December, 19 17, at the time of the Rada and under the influence of the agitation of the Polish landed proprietors and the old tsarist officials, that the peasants of the surrounding villages began the destruction of Jewish shops. Dwellings were un- touched. Under the influence of White-(!Russian Bol- sheviki, Bolshevist sentiments made their appearance *We publish as an appendix to this chapter the complete re- port of these pogroms by the well-known attorney, A. I. Hillerson. See pp. 185 ff. 28 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE among the peasants of Ovruch. The Little-Russian Dmitriuk, who stood at the head of the "Ovruch Re- public" after the fall of the Ataman, and the Jew Friedman, made protestations against the Bolshevist tendency. The result was that Dmitriuk was put to death and Friedman made his ^scape by flight. Their place was taken by the Clans of Death and later by a special band of freebooters with the Ata- man Kozyr-Zyrka at the head. After the reception of a deputation of representatives of public organizations, mainly Poles and former tsarist officials, the Ataman gave an order to arrest the Jewish Rabbi and have him brought before him. On the 26th of December about two o'clock, the order was carried out and the Rabbi was broijght to the office of the commandant. He re- mained there until ten o'clock in the evening, exposed the whole time to the insults and abuses of the Cos- sacks. Finally at ten o'clock he was brought before the Ataman. The latter receive'l him with extreme rudeness, and after an examination conducted "not without prejudice," he said to him, "I know that you are a Bolshevik, that all your relatives and all Jews are Bolsheviks. Know that I am going to destroy all the Jews in the city. Get them together in the synagogue and inform them of what I have told you." Sporadic attacks with robbery and murder followed. Under the pressure of the Bolshevist peasants of Poka- lev, Kozyr-Zyrka found it necessary to retire. On the 31st of December, having received considerable reinforcements, he advanced on Ovruch. On the way thither, in the neighborhood of the village Potapo- vichi, the road had been made impassable. Being told that this had been done by the Jews, the Cossacks took their revenge by putting a number of Jews to death and THE DIRECTORY 29 violating some of their women. From there they pro- ceeded to the village of Geshovo, where they murdered two old men, a teacher and a butcher. On the 31st of December the Cossacks entered Ovruch and began to plunder and murder the Jews. The pogrom was intro- duced by the violation of ten Jewish girls in the market place and the murder of the Jews who opposed the bandits. Later the Cossacks came out in bands, searched the houses, took money and property, beat old men, dishonored women and put to death young peo- ple. If one had money he could purchase his life. Thus the family Rosenmann bought a kind of "protection certificate" for twelve thousand rubles. They were told that their name was registered in the office of the staff, and they were as a matter of fact left undis- turbed. The Jews were disgraced, having been com- pelled to dance before Kozyr-Zyrka, who amused him- self by urging one of them on by the stroke of a whip. They were ordered to sing Jewish songs, but it so hap- pened that none of them remembered the words by heart. Accordingly they were placed in chairs with fool's caps on their heads and lights in their hands, the words were read to them and they were made to sing. Kozyr-Zyrka and his friend lay in their beds shaking with laughter, so uproariously that the bed broke under the friend. The Jews were then compelled to fix up the bed and the officer remained in it. One of the Jews was so overcome by the humiliation that he began to weep. Thereupon he was told that his punishment would be one hundred and twenty lashes. Seventy thousand rubles was the price the Jews paid to be spared the pogrom which had been instituted by the order of the Ataman. The Jews were ordered to assemble in the public square and were told by Kozyr- 30 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Zyrka that he had the right to destroy all the Jews, and that he would do so if any one of them as much as touched the hair of a single Cossack. He had done this in Potapovichi, shooting down a Jewish spy with his own hand. He advised the Jews to strangle with their own hands any Bolshevist they might find among them. When Kozyr-Zyrka had finished the speech, the Jews saluted, and the rabbi proposed to take an oath of loyalty to Ukrainia from all the Jews and to put a special body of Jewish fighters at his disposition. The Ataman thereupon said that he did not need a Jewish oath nor a Jewish body of fighters. He would let the Jews breathe the air of the Ukraine, but they must not forget his warning. Before his departure a group of thirty-four Jews were trapped by treachery and shot. From the above description it is clear that the main figure of the pogroms instituted and organized by Petlura's troops was the Ataman, who dictated his will to his bands or gangs, his watchword being, "Cut down the Jews, for they are communists." The course of the pogrom in Ovruch was compara- tively moderate. There were insults, plunder, and to some extent dishonor of women and a few cases of murder. It was still possible to redeem one's life with money, a favor which was later taken away. The posi- tion of the Directory was not yet finally undermined by the military defeat. There was already agitation in the army in favor of pogroms, but the military leaders had not yet given the word to destroy every- thing Jewish. In January the first pogrom took place in Zhitomir (7th to loth of January). It was organized by the retreating forces of Petlura. The Directory withdrew under the pressure of the THE DIRECTORY 31 Bolshevist troops. The commands of the Batki bear generally the character of anti-Jewish agitation and unequivocal provocation of the Jews. On the 1 6th of January, a declaration of Hetman Volynetz was posted in the houses of Medzhibozhy Government of Podolia, which read as follows: "By order of the high government authorities of the Ukrai- nian Repu|)lic, I enter the district of Medzhibozh at the head of my army to assist the local authorities in their fight against the Jewish and Bolshevist bands who are disturbing the peace and order of this dis- trict. Our ignorant peasant population, which forms the greater part of these bands, are deceived by the enemies of the Ukraine, who receive a great deal of money for this purpose. It is said that the little Jew Mushlin, bom in Medzhibozh, received seven million karbovantzy from the Russian Bolshevist Comrades for the organization of Bolshevist bands." On the 20th of January a proclamation of Captain Diachenko was circulated in Bielaia Tserkov, reading as follows : "I learned from a reliable source that the Jewish popu- lation of the city and district of Bielaia Tserkov is agitating against the power of the Directory. I give them warning hereby that if any demonstration should take place as a result of the Jewish activities, I will hold the Jewish population wholly responsible, as has already been done in Zhitomir and in other places in Ukrainia." In an advertisement in the official "Information Bureau of the Ukrainian People's Republic," which was circulated in the district of Kremenchug, are found the following inciting lines: "As regards the Jewish bourgeoisie who maintain a hostile attitude to the Ukrainian Republic, it will do them no good. The 32 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Ukrainian people have friends at present and are not afraid of their enemies — everyone will get what he deserves. It is desirable that the Jewish people should declare themselves as quickly and as unequivocally as possible whether they will go together with the Ukrai- nian people, as the Jews in Galician Ukrainia have already done." On the nth of January the following announcement was found posted in Felshtin : "The first warning to the Jewish population. "I have learned that the Jewish population is con- fusing the minds of the peasants. I warn the Jews that the Information Bureau is well instructed. They will all have to pay dear for this offence, and the peasants themselves will make them pay. You have no one from whom to expect help ! "Head of the Information Bureau. (Signature illegible) The Jewish community of Vinnitza received from the Chief of Staff of the Second Army Corps of Podo- lia the following reply to their request for a suppres- sion of the pogrom excesses in Proshna: "The corps commandant gives the following reply to your request. I. It will be best if you yourselves should see to it that the members of the Proshna community should not agitate for the Soviet deputies. 2. No other measures can be taken, otherwise the Cossacks will think that the military force intended for the protection of the place is supporting the Bolsheviki, and will put all the inhabitants to death." In an order of the Ataman Gavrishko, "To all the presidents of the great villages and village magistrates THE DIRECTORY 33 of the district of Priluki," special attention is called to the fact that a portion of the Cossacks, as a result partly of the influence of agitation and of the mean Bolshevist Jews, and partly of the moneys handed over to them, have succumbed to the movement of the agitator Koptuk and are supporting the Soviet power. The agitation and the military failures excited the army against the Jews. In Annapol, Government of Volhynia, Petlura's men instituted a pogrom under the watchword : "Kill the Jews, also the Jewish children !" Before this, officers of Petlura's armies appeared at the meetings which were held in that place and cried shame on each other because the Jews had driven them out of Berdichev. The attitude of the higher military authorities of the Directory toward these events appears from the following report of Mr. Giitermann, who was at that time a member of the Central Jewish Relief Committee for the pogrom victims and later authorized agent of the relief committee of the Red Cross for the popula- tion who suffered from the pogroms. From Mr. Guetermann's Report In the first days of February, 1919, a deputation of the Zhitomir city administration and other public organizations was sent to Vinnitza, where the Direc- tory and All-Ukrainian government were then situ- ated. As a representative of the Relief Committee for the people who suffered from the pogroms, I took part in the deputation. In Berdichev we were joined by a similar delegation of the Berdichev city administration 34 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE and the administration of* the province, as well as by a deputation of the Jewish community. The represen- tatives of the latter were Krasny, now minister for Jewish affairs in the Petlura government, and the well- known Fania Nurenberg, active in public affairs. The purpose of my journey, as well as Krasny's and Fania Nurenberg's, was to receive the money appropriated by the Ukrainian Government, at the request of Revutzky, the minister for Jewish affairs, for the re- lief of the population of Zhitomir and Berdichev who had suffered from the pogroms. On the second and third days after our arrival in Vinnitza, we, i.e., the representatives of Zhitomir and Berdichev, were asked by Revutzky to call on him at his hotel apartment with Kovenko, the commandant of the city of Vinnitza and the leader of the Clans of Death (who had instituted the pogroms in Zhitomir and Berdichev) , in order to establish the responsibility for the pogroms. The thought of a meeting with Kovenko, the former president of the Investigation Commission and the murderer of Gogol, the president of the Jewish Krie- gerbund (union of soldiers) — a fact which Chekhov- ski, the Minister of the Interior, had also alluded to in a conversation with the delegation of the Socialistic parties received by him — the thought of meeting with this Kovenko appeared to us, to say the least, frightful. On the following day, as we were having dinner at the restaurant of the Hotel Savoy, Revutzky summoned us to come at once to his room, where they were ex- pecting us. In spite of everything we all, for one rea- son or another, went, Madame Nurenberg, Krasny and myself. We found there Kovenko, three leaders of the Clans of Death and a Hetman, who, as we THE DIRECTORY 35 learned later, was the Ataman Pashchenko himself. Paschenko was the Ataman of the Clans of Death who himself instituted the pogroms in Berdichev and Zhitomir, had exacted large sums of money from rich Jews in Zhitomir, and whose staff, living at the rail- way station, had murdered seventeen Jews and among them old men. His guilt was so firmly established that the Ukrainian government had to arrest him, and Sumkevich, the Commissar of the Government of Volhynia, had to declare that Pashchenko, who was without question responsible for everything, would be severely punished. The fact that Pashchenko was free in the Savoy Hotel, where the ministers of the Ukrainian Govern- ment were staying ; that after the meeting he went for dinner to the restaurant where the members of the Directory were taking their meals, made the entire meeting useless. Among other things Novikov, a member of the Zhitomir city administration, recog- nized in the officer on duty at the building in which the Directory was located, the leader who was responsible for the most horrible episode during the whole Zhitomir pogrom, which took place on Theatre Street, when all the men of the Weinstein house were brought out, and some shot, while the. rest were un- dressed, and while being led to the railway station were beaten to death on the way with sabres and the butt ends of guns. The meeting was opened by Revutzky with a speech in which he said that the charge that the government had instituted the pogroms reflected on him also as a member of the Government, and that he therefore de- sired that the question should be settled at this meet- ing, which was participated in by representatives of the 36 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Clans of Death as well as of Zhitomir and Ber- dichev. One of the leaders from Galich, who was not in Zhitomir at the time of the pogrom, but had been sent there by Kovenko to establish the circumstances of the pogrom and the responsibility therefor, declared that the pogrom was instituted mainly by Jews, that it had begun iDefore the Clans of Death had arrived, and that Pashchenko had not enough forces at his disposal to check the pogrom. We all protested against this shameless declaration. I called attention to the fact that in Kiev there was a letter of a certain Hodmanwho had been beaten by soldiers of the Clans of Death in Fastov. He wrote in the letter that he had heard from soldiers that Clans of Death had gone to Zhito- mir to institute Jewish pogroms. The letter arrived in Kiev on the day before the pogrom broke out in Zhitomir. I also called their attention to the fact that the Investigating Commission in Zhitomir had in their possession a note signed by Pashchenko and ad- dressed to the well-known bandits Bek and Dimi- trienko, in which they were ordered to appropriate the money in the Azov bank which belonged to the rich Jew, Rabin. I also asked Pashchenko how, if it was true that the only reason the pogroms continued was that he had not enough forces at his disposal to stop them, he could explain the fact that at the station, where he himself had been with his staff, seven- teen Jews had been killed, among them some very old men. Madame Nurenberg reported on the pogrom in Berdichev, which had been directly instituted by the Clans of Death and Pashchenko. Krasny reported, on the basis of the deposition of Zolodar, the acting THE DIRECTORY 37 Mayor of Berdichev, that Pashchenko had declared pubHcly in the city magistrate's office that he was go- ing to Zhitomir "to get even with the Jews." Pashchenko made no denial. Kovenko, however, always defended him and the Clans of Death. Kov- enko did not justify them nor deny their participa- tion in the pogrom, but in cynical fashion he abused the whole of Jewry and accused them of lending sup- port to the Bolsheviki. Quivering with anger he struck his fists on the table, and his whole speech was nothing but an inco- herent hysterical cry, to the effect that the Clans of Death had acted according to instructions, that the Jews hated the Ukrainians and that the Jews them- selves had taken part in the pogrom. "The Clans of Death are the glory of the Ukrainian army, Pash- chenko is the best son of Ukrainia, and if he had not been arrested, we should not have lost Kiev. Now that he is free again we shall regain Kiev. They are my Clans of Death. When the Clans of Death marched to Kiev, they hurried so that they upset all the vehicles that were in their way, for they knew why they must hurry to Zhitomir. The Jews have plun- dered the city. We were not shy, we killed and killed and will kill again. Even this night I will have fifty men hanged in Vinnitza. I am a 'gendarme,' and do not feel a bit embarrassed about it." When Revutzky began to say something about a re- habilitation of the Ukrainian army, Kovenko cried out, "We do not need its rehabilitation." The most terrible thing at this meeting were the objections which one of the leaders of the Clans of Death, a typical criminal, raised. They made our blood run cold. 38 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE "As we were approaching Zhitomir," he said, "there came out of one of the trenches two Jews with two long beards Hke this (a gesture to indicate the length of the beard) and shot at us. When I asked them why they were shooting at us, they replied that they hated the Ukrainians, whereupon I pierced them through." He also said that he had himself killed three Jews in Zhitomir because they plundered the shops during the pogroms. "At the station I caught two Jews with proc- lamations against the Directory and ran them through with my sword." When I asked Revutzky the next day why he had arranged this depressing meeting, he said he wanted to know what truth there was in the statement that Kovenko had been the real organizer of the pogroms. I am fully convinced he was. (Signed) P. Guetermann. To this objective document it must be added that Krasny, who took part in the conference just men- tioned, later became minister for Jewish afifairs in the Petlura government. In February, 1919, the position of the Directory became worse. The Bolshevists occupied Kiev. Pet- lura's troops finally evacuated the Governments of Kherson, Poltava and Kiev. The pogroms gained in extent. They are reported in Yelisavetgrad (4th and 5th of February), Novo-Mirgorod (about the same time), Piriatin and a number of other places in the Government of Poltava. At the railway station of Ramodan, Bobrinsky and other towns, Jews were thrown out of the cars and shot down. In Lubny a pogrom was prevented only because some hundred men among Petlura's troops made ener- THE DIRECTORY 39 getic resistance to the pogrom. They even opposed it with arms, designating themselves as the "Local Sotnia." They lost fourteen men, but they saved the city from the pogrom. In Kremenchug the pogrom was prevented at the cost of one and a half million rubles, which the Jews gave to the troops. At the same time pogroms took place in the Government of Kiev, at Vasilkov (7th and 8th of February), Rossovo (14th and 15th of February), Stiepantsy (14th of February), Radomysl (i8th to 2foth of February), Skvira (beginning and end of February). The most terrible pogrom of this month, which denoted a turn- ing point from the primary "pillage" pogroms of the preceding period to the following "Jew-annihilating" pogroms, took place far behind the Petlura front, in Proskurov on the 15th of February and in Felshtin on the 1 6th of the same month. (These two pogroms are described in greater detail in A. I. Hillerson's re- port in the Appendix, pp. 185 ff.) Proskurov is the liveliest city in the Government of Podolia. It has about 50,000 inhabitants, half of whom are Jews. The democratic city administration consisted of 50 city commissaries of whom 26 were Christians and 24 were Jews. The mayor and the head of the assembly of city commissaries were Poles. Kiverchuk, formerly in the service of the tsar, was the commandant. The city was guarded by the militia. But the city administration did not trust them and organized a force of their own, the so-called "ward ■ guard." At the head of it were mostly Jews. The chief was a Christian by the name of Rudnitzky, his second was Schenkmann, a Jew. Kiverchuk distrusted the defending force "because they were Jewish," and put all sorts of difficulties in their way. 40 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE At a congress of the Bolsheviki of the Government of Podolia, held in Vinnitza, where Petlura resided, (some say that the congress itself was provocatory in character) it was resolved that on the fifteenth of Feb- ruary a Bolshevist uprising should break out in Pros- kurov. The third Gaidamak regiment which already had experience in the institution of pogroms appeared on the scene. When the rumor spread in the city that an uprising was being prepared, Joffe, a member of the Jewish Labor Bund and presiding officer of a con- ference of all the socialistic parties of Proskurov, called the representatives of the parties to a consulta- tion, at which members of all the factions including the Bolshevists were present. At this meeting they put in a protest and pointed out that the uprising would lead to a collapse. The communists pointed out that the question had already been settled, that the uprising had already been prepared, that it would break out simul- taneously in the whole Government of Podolia, that in Proskurov a part of the garrison would side with the insurgents and that sixteen villages were ready to send them help. On the evening before the uprising, two represenatives of the Bolshevists asked the ward guard what their attitude would be. The president, Rudnitzky, and his associate, Schenkmann, replied that the ward guard was not a party organization, that its exclusive purpose was the protection of the in- habitants and that they would be completely neutral in this case. At the same time Schenkmann pointed out that their attempt was inopportune and that it would inevitably lead to a Jewish pogrom. The answer was that these demonstrations would extend over the whole Government (province), and that a favorable result was assured. Schenkmann then tried to prove to the THE DIRECTORY 41 Bolshevist staff how senseless the uprising would be, but failed. The insurrectionists arrested Kiverchuk, whom they regarded, not without reason, as a danger- ous advocate of the Black Hundred. After he was freed, Kiverchuk said that he, a representative of the city, had been imprisoned by the Jewish members of the ward guard. The Ataman Semosenko took over the duties of Kiverchuk. The Gaidamak soldiers were again con- centrated at the station. Arrests followed in the city. At the station, tables were set for the entertainment of the Gaidamaks, they were treated lavishly and given brandy and cognac. When the entertainment was over Semosenko made a speech in which he described the difficult position of Ukrainia ; he spoke of the sacri- fices which the Ukrainians offered in the war and pointed out emphatically that the most dangerous ene- mies of the Ukrainian people and the Cossacks were the Jews, who must be cut down with the sword to save themselves and the Ukraine. He asked the Cossacks to swear that they would fulfill their duty and destroy the Jewish population, but must at the same time swear that they would not rob the Jews of their possessions and property. The Cossacks were led to the flags and took an oath to murder but not to rob. Having drawn themselves up — the regiment band in front and the sanitary corps in the rear — ^the Cossacks marched to the city along Alexandrovskaya street. Then they divided in groups of five to fifteen men and swarmed out into the adjoining streets, which were inhabited exclusively by Jews. With perfect sang-froid they entered two houses, drew their swords and began to cut down the Jewish inmates without regard to sex or age. They murdered old men, women and infants 42 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE at their mothers' breasts. They were not content with killing, but thrust their victims through with their bayonets. They made use of their guns only when some persons succeeded in running out into the streets. Then they sent a bullet after them. The Jews were dragged out of the cellars and lofts and murdered. Hand grenades were thrown into the cellars, and entire families were put to death in the most brutal manner. The massacre lasted from two o'clock in the afternoon to five-thirty. It might have lasted till late into the night but the commander Taranovich, who had not been initiated into all the plans of Semosenko and Kiverchuk, was frightened when he saw these bloody orgies. When he had succeeded in obtaining an order from the commander Konovalov to put an end to the blopd bath, he brought it to Semosenko, who said, "Good, it is enough for to-day." A trumpet signal was then given to the Gaidamaks to stop "work." Thereupon they assembled at a place determined be- forehand and marched singing to their quarters behind the railway station. The pogrom was to be continued the next day (the Gaidamaks related that the mas- sacre was to last three days). Thanks to the inter- ference of the city administration, especially the city commissar Verkhola, the mass slaughter was stopped. In a proclamation, in which Semosenko declares the city and the canton under martial law, he writes, "I warn the population to stop anarchistic revolts, since I have the power to suppress them. I call the atten- tion of the Jews in particular to this. You are a people hated by all nations. And yet you bring such confusion among the baptized. Do you really not want to live ? Are you not sorry for your own people ? As long as no one bothers you be quiet. Such a miser- THE DIRECTORY 43 able nation, and yet they cause so much disturbance among a poor people !" After the pogrom in Proskurov the bandits made it their purpose to annihilate this "miserable nation," which brings confusion among the baptized. The pogrom in Felshtin was really an episode of the Proskurov massacre. It lasted several hours and cost the lives of about six hundred persons, that is, almost a third of the Jewish population numbering 1,900 souls. Many more women were violated here than in Proskurov. Most of those killed were first dishonored, and survivors underwent the same horror. Here too the pogrom stopped at a given signal. When the trumpet sounded, the Gaidamaks poured petro- leum and benzine upon five of the best houses in the town and set them on fire. Thus these warriors crowned their work for the welfare of the Ukrainian Fatherland. The month of March is marked by the successes in arms of Petlura's troops. In the beginning of March Petlura succeeded, by Sarin's march to Iskorost, in threatening Kiev. He occupied Iskorost, Malin, the station Irsha and on the 21st of March, Zhitomir. He was only 150 versts from Kiev. At the end of March the fortunes of war turned against him. Owing to quick reinforcements of the Bolsheviki, the breach through their front was made ineffective on April ist. Zhitomir, Malin, Iskorost and other places were re- conquered by the Bolsheviki. The greatest pogroms, as for example the second in Zhitomir, took place at the end of March. In this month Petlura's army in- stituted the following pogroms : in Belashits (between the 7th and 12th of March), in Samgorodok (13th of March), in Iskorost and Ushomir (31st of March), 44 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE and in Zhitomir (second pogrom, 22nd of March). Especially characteristic and significant for the con- ception of the entire political situation are the circum- stances under which the second pogrom in Zhitomir took place. For this reason we quote a report of this pogrom made by the authorized agent, Lifschutz. Report of Mr. Lifschuetz of the Second Pogrom IN Zhitomir. On the 2 1 St of March the Soviet troops left Zhito- mir. Early on the 22nd the troops of Petlura entered. After the withdrawal of the Soviet troops, the promi- nent persons in the public life of Zhitomir decided to send a delegation to the troops of the Directory in order to prevent a pogrom. In view of the intense agitation against the Jews, the rumor spread that the Petlura troops would institute a pogrom in the city, and the delegation was to endeavor to keep them from carrying out their intention. In order to make the anti- Jewish agitation more effective in the circles of the ignorant population, especially the peasants, the rumor was circulated that during the presence of the Soviet troops the Bolsheviki, or, as was stated by all sorts of inciting police spies, the Jews, had put to death 1,700 Christians. As a matter of fact the Bolsheviki, accord- ing to the complete and exact data of the Extraordi- nary Commission, had, up to the time of their retire- ment from Zhitomir, put to death six persons in the city and sixteen in the surrounding district, twenty-two persons in all, of whom several were Jews, The rumor of the 1,700 men shot was circulated among others by officials, who apparently regarded this fable as actually true or at least pretended to think so. On Friday it was already clear that the pogrom was unavoidable. THE DIRECTORY 45 The Jewish masses left the city. The entire Jewish youth fled from the city for fear of a pogrom. On their return they were designated as fugitive Bolshe- viki. It was only thanks to the energetic efforts of the city administration and a few prominent and influ- ential Christian citizens that they succeeded in saving the young people who returned, and who had nothing to do with Bolshevism, from being shot. Early on Saturday, the delegation, consisting of three prominent Christians and the president of the Jewish community, went out to meet the troops. The Jew was obliged to go back while still on his way, be- cause he was in danger of losing his life, as he was told by an officer whom the deputation met on the way. On his way back, the president of the community saw the first bodies of Jews who had been put to death by the arriving soldiers. The first man killed was an old man of seventy on the road leading from Vrangel- evka to the city. The old man was on his way to the synagogue carrying the "talis" (prayer shawl) in his hand. According to the testimony of eye witnesses, he was placed against a tree and shot at without being killed immediately. The wounded old man had strength enough left to drag himself several yards farther on the road. As a result of the great loss of blood he began to reel, fell down and died by the wayside. The delegation led the conversation with the staff to the subject of the 1,700 Christians alleged to have been put to death by the Jews, and when they gave their word of honor that the story was absolutely untrue, they were told by the staff that intelligent people natu- rally could be convinced, but that the soldiers were very much aroused against the Jews, and the staff could do nothing. 46 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The pogrom began on the 22nd of March and lasted five days. The first three were the bloodiest. The number of victims in Zhitomir alone, not count- ing those buried in the surrounding villages, was 317. The greater part of those murdered were old men, wo- men and children. The losses among the younger men were comparatively slight, for these had either left the city at the same time as the Bolsheviki or had con- cealed themselves. When dwelling houses were at- tacked, the inmates succeeded in some cases in redeem- ing their lives by payment of money, but there were a number of cases in which the bandits took the money and then slaughtered those who expected to save themselves in that way. In general, Petlura's men, unlike the loafers of the first pogrom who confined thetnselves principally to robbery and plunder, endeav- ored to kill as many Jews as they could. That this second pogrom of Zhitomir exacted only 317 victims is due to two reasons, first, that many Christians took Jews into their houses, thus saving a great many from death; but principally that on the evening of the 24th of March the Bolsheviki renewed their advance against Zhitomir, and thus prevented a further extension of the pogrom, since all the soldiers had to go to the front. On the 23rd of March, when the pogrom was in full swing, Petlura came to Zhito- mir. He was accurately informed of all that had taken and was taking place. He said that he had done every- thing necessary to check the pogrom. In reality, how- ever, no measures of any kind were taken until the 25th of March. In addition to the killed, the number of wounded and injured was also very great. It can not be determined even approxirnately because the greater part of the in- THE DIRECTORY 47 jured remained at home and could not get any medical help. The victims of the pogrom belonged in the great majority to the poor classes and those just above them. The pogrom of Zhitomir completely discloses the cards of the pogrom politics of the Directory. A delegation of the Jewish socialistic parties once came before Vinnichenko, the former head of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and complained of the terrible Jew- ish persecutions which the regular Ukrainian troops in- stituted according to a definite plan and by order of the responsible military leaders. His reply was: "Tell your Jews and your young men that they should not support the Bolshevists. The Jewish workmen organ- ized uprisings in the towns of Ukrainia to hand over the power to the Bolshevists. We shall soon be pow- erless against the anger of our troops against the Jews." Hereiipon a member of the delegation justly remarked that a similar reply was made to a Jewish delegation after the Kishinev pogrom by the all-power- ful satrap of the tsar, Plehve. During the Zhitomir pogrom, just as the deeds of horror had reached their highest point, Petlura, the head of the Directory, came to Zhitomir. The high- est Ataman of the Ukrainian troops did not prevent the pogrom which a few days later the chief of the Gali- cians easily suppressed. The attitude of Petlura is clear from the frank conversation which Colonel Petrov, chief of the gar- rison, had with a deputation of the Extraordinary Investigation Commission. Petrov, a former officer of the general staff, said of himself to some persons in public life that he had been a faithful servant of the tsar until the first of March. After the ist of March 48 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE he found that he had been mistaken and became a socialist. The conversation was so significant that the Extraordinary Investigation Commission resolved to send the Directory an extract from the Protocol which had reference to the conversation with Petrov. The extract is as follows : _ April lo, 1919. Report of the Delegation Chosen at the Session OF the 3RD OF April. The delegation consisted of the following members of the Commission : M. A. Kitz, Second Attorney Gen- eral, Judge G. W. Rublevski, and P. T. Redko, Repre- sentative of the Government District. The delegation reported that they first called on the Government commissar Sumkevich, who was very favorable to the work of the Commission. He said it was necessary to hand over the matter of the second pogrom to the Extraordinary Investigation Commis- sion that was already in existence, and promised per- sonally to appeal to the Directory for this purpose. He requested us to let him present a memoir of his own on this matter, advised us to approach the military au- thorities, promised to secure the necessary means and allowed the Commission an advance of 15,000 rubles. The Chief of the Field Police, Bogatzky, was also favorable to the work done by the Commission and promised them his full support in their house search- ings and arrests. Quite different was the attitude of Colonel Petrov, chief of the garrison. When the delegation greeted him on the steps of the Hotel Frankreich, he said, "Ah, this is the Jewish Commission, I have nothing to THE DIRECTORY 49 say to you." When it was explained to him that the delegation consisted of members of the Commis- sion confirmed by the Directory, Colonel Petrov in- vited the members of the delegation to his room. Dui;- ing the conversation Colonel Petrov said among other things, "We march under the banner, 'Cut down the Jews, and cut down the Bolsheviki!' Can you hold two thousand minor children responsible if, meeting the Jews who were advancing against them together with the Bolsheviki, they killed a few of the former?" He said further that the pogrom broke out with such elemental force that even the students in the military schools were unable to resist it, so much so that in the few days of the pogrom he had to send the members of the Yunatsk School to the front. If some soldier took a shirt away from a Jew, he must not, according to Petrov, be held responsible for it. If the soldiers are to be held responsible, he can justify their acts fourfold. When a member of the Commission again pointed out that the Commission was confirmed by the Directory, Colonel Petrov said that the Directory was a puppet in the hands of the diplomats, most ofj whom were Jews. If the Directory appointed a com- mission to investigate the matter of pogroms, it was merely to make a show before public opinion that such things as pogroms do not remain unpunished. The delegation received the impression that Colonel Pet- rov was favorable to the existence of the Commission but not to their activity. The sense of his reply was that the soldiers should remain undisturbed, but pri- vate plunderers should be made responsible, for these would be shot by the Government. At the end of the conversation, when the delegates again pointed out em- phatically that they were acting according to instruc- 50 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE tions confirmed by the Directory, the chief of the garrison promised to see to it that the Commandant Vosny and the lletman Bogatzky should lend their support to the Commission. On a second visit to Sumkevich, the delegation in- formed him of their conversation vi^ith Colonel Petrov, which displeased the commissar very much. He asked them not to do anj^thing until his return from Rovno, where he wanted to talk the matter over with the mem- bers of the Directory. At his request the delegation handed over to him a memoir concerning the delivery of the documents of the second pogrom to the Com- mission, which memoir he took along with him. The Commission resolved as follows : "That part of the Protocol of the meeting which concerns the con- versations with Colonel Petrov shall be laid before the Directory after the return of the Government com- missar from Rovno," and they requested at the same time that the delegation chosen on the 3rd of April be sent to hold a conversation with him. The original of the protocol is signed by all of the members of the Commission. The reply of the Directory to the communication sent to them about Petrov' s talents as a pogrom maker was his appointment as minister of war of the Direc- tory. After the month of March the pogroms instituted by the military associations of the Directory cross the path of those organized by the insurrectionary bands of the inner anti-Bolshevist front, of which more is said below in the chapter entitled, "The Batko." On the loth of April a group of Petlura's followers, who retired from Olevsk to Novograd-Volynsk, des- troyed the town of Emilchino. THE DIRECTORY 51 In May Petlura's troops instituted the following pogroms on their front in the governments of Vol- hynia and Podolia; in Voronovitsy, on the 9th of May; in Rovno, on the 14th and 29th of May; in Kremenetz, on the 22nd of May; in Litin, on the 14th and the 28th; in Kodyma and other places (precise dates not yet established). In June, as a result of the varying fortunes on the outer front, there were pogroms and murders in Der- ashna, during the time between the 7th and 17th of June, in Khmelnik, Strishanya, Starye Siniavka, and other places. In the enormous number of pogroms instituted in July, which broke the record in the annals of terror and death, portions of Petlura's troops were active in the governments of Volhynia and Podolia in addition to the insurrectionary troops of freebooters. At this time it is extremely difficult to distinguish between the former and the insurgent bands. The extreme meas- ures, namely the Jewish pogroms, which the military leaders took for the purpose of welding together the different portions of their troops, brought about their final dissolution and changed them into robber bands. In August the number of pogroms perpetrated by the freebooters and the armies of the Directory was very small. Instead of this wave there arose a new one, the all-Russian reaction of General Denikin. In Aug- ust the political situation changed completely. As a result of the happenings on the "internal front," the freebooters, the uprising of Grigoriev and the pressure of the volunteer army, the Soviet power was expelled from the Ukraine. Ukrainian cities passed one after another into the possession of the volunteer army, which in the beginning of August occupied Kharkov, 52 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Yekaterinoslav, Poltava. In the middle of August the Soviet Government had only Kiev in its possession, and this was occupied by Denikin on the 2nd of September. The Directory saw itself faced by another enemy, who also used the method of the pogrom against the Soviet power. Henceforth this method had no further pur- pose in the hands of the Directory. Besides, this; weapon, which signified the last anchor for the Direc- tory, to which it clung as a drowning man to a straw, appeared infamous in the eyes of West European public opinion. Simultaneously with the gradual occupation of the Ukraine by Denikin, the Directory, almost entirely driven out of the Ukraine, removed its activity abroad, where it developed a lively diplomatic and agitational propaganda. But rumors and reports of the pogroms had already been circulated in Western Europe. The Directory attempted to deny everything, and the best method of defense was to impute the guilt to others. The representative of the Petlura" government at the Peace Conference, Dr. Margoline, gave to the cor- respondent of the "Jewish Chronicle" the following explanation of the Ukrainian pogroms : "There is this difference between the pogroms which have unhappily taken place in the Ukraine and those which occurred under the tsarist regime. Whereas the latter were instigated and connived at by the au- thorities, the Ukraine government has steadily set its face against the pogroms, and it has had no part in, or responsibility for, them. At the time of Petlura's coup d'etat at the end of November, 1918, I myself read, in numerous towns and villages in the Ukraine, proclamations issued by the government strongly con- demning pogroms, explaining to the people that the THE DIRECTORY 53 Jews were fellow-citizens and brothers who were help- ing in the evolution of the Ukrainian state, and to whom the fullest rights were due. The proclamations declared that pogroms must tend to discredit the Ukraine in the eyes of the civilized world, and those who took part in them were no friends of the country. Unfortunately, after the Bolshevists took Kiev, and disintegration set in among the ranks of the Ukrainian forces, the worst elements of the army started po- groms. Once more the government disavowed them, sentenced the perpetrators to death, expressed their deepest sympathy with the Jews, and promised the fullest compensation to the sufferers. I must unhappily admit that the last pogroms as to which I have infor- mation — those of February and March last — were very bad, thousands of Jews being killed. They were instigated by criminals. Black Hundreds, and Bolshe- vists, who wished to discredit the Ukrainian govern- ment." {Jewish Chronicle, May 16, 1919.) The explanations of Dr. Margoline do not tally with the facts. At the time of his interview (May, 1919), the pogromists raged through the land with elemental fury. A bitter fight ensued between the Directory and the Soviet power, and thousands of Jews were done to death at the hands of the insurrectionary bands and the armies of Petlura. The Directory had no thought of expressing its sympathy with the Jews. It did not fight against the excesses and issued no proclama- tions against pogroms. We have quoted above the dec- larations of different heads of the army. They all bear unequivocally the character of incitements to pogroms. That the excesses were organized, we have already shown. During the second terrible pogrom in Zhitomir, which began and ended by order of the high- 54 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE XJKRAINE est military authorities, Petlura, the head of the Direc- tory, came to Zhitomir, and the unfortunate Jewish population turned to him. Nevertheless the pogroms kept on. It is true that the pogrom tactics had so de- moralized the army that it contained many criminal elements and followers of the Black Hundred. But the responsible parties were the leaders of the Direc- tory. "The Directory fights against the pogroms . . ." Read the little book published in Berlin by the Ukrain- ian mission under the title, "Die Lage der Juden in der Ukraina" (The position of the Jews in the Ukraine), and you will come across a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian People's Republic, in which special attention is called to the fact that "the government of the Ukrainian People's Re- public has made it its task to remove the possibilities of incitements, pogroms and other excesses." This resolution was passed on the i8th of August, i.e., at the time, as explained before, when the pogroms had lost their value as methods of political warfare. The entire statement of the question in this resolution is also characteristic : "The Council of Ministers hav- ing heard the report of P. Krasny, Minister for Jew- ish affairs, concerning the situation that has developed in connection with the Jewish pogroms in the Ukraine, and especially in Kiev, and also abroad, makes the fol- lowing order. . . . Advices full of lies, falsehoods and incitements deliberately confuse the places where the pogroms were perpetrated by the Bolshevists with those instituted by a reactionary clique in the Ukraine, who are in union with the underhanded reaction of Denikin and the Poles. ... In lying publications and in open letters addressed to the most important repre- THE DIRECTORY 55 sentatives in Europe all of this is imputed to the Ukrainian People's Republic, which has made it its aim energetically to suppress all pogrom excesses. ..." The passages italicized by me show clearly the mo- tives which led to the publication of this document. . . . They follow from the situation created in Kiev (i.e., the public central place where there were no pog- roms, but where public opinion at this terrible time cursed the Directory), as well as the situation abroad, which pressed so hard upon the Directory in its fight against Denikin's principle of a "united and undivided Russia." This i-esolution is not concerned with the colossal evils, political and economic; it is not concerned with the destruction and extirpation of a nation, which was "helping in the evolution of the Ukrainian state" ; it is not concerned with the horrors, which put in the shade those of the middle ages ; it is not concerned with na- tional relief to those who were injured through the guilt of the Directory and their agents (the offer to con- tribute 11,466,000 griven, i.e., 5,730,000 rubles, seems ridiculous enough, besides the offer was not made until the 15th of August, 1919) — it is concerned only with the political uselessness of the Jewish pogroms, which brought the Ukrainian Government into an unfavor- able position. The resolution is only a confirmation of what I have already said. To sum up, the Directory used pogrom politics as long as they promised, in a given instant under the mili- tary and political circumstances, success in their strug- gle against the Soviet power. This method was a double-edged sword for the Directory. On the one hand the anti-Jewish parts of the army were welded S6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE together, but on the other hand military discipline was undermined. The anti-Bolshevist agitation under the motto, "Cut down the Jews, for they are bourgeois," produced in the masses a Bolshevistic radicalism ; while the motto, "Cut down the Jews, for they are commun- ists," strengthened the reaction, which did not bow to the political course of the Directory, but inclined to the All-Russian reaction of General Denikin, whom the Directory so much feared. The bitter fight against the Soviet power transformed this method into a con- tinuous system. It was only after the Denikin reaction had triumphed, when the Directory rehabilitated itself in the eyes of West European public opinion and had to seek support from the Jewish socialistic parties of the right — it was only then that the Rada of the People's Ministers spoke a decisive word, and the chief Ataman, Petlura, issued his order of the day to the troops, on the 26th of August, 1919. CHAPTER III THE BATKO With the occupation of Kiev by the Soviet power,, the so-called internal front was first formed, the rising of the Ukrainian peasants against the Soviet govern- ment. The latter extended its power over the large cities (Kiev, Yekaterinoslav, Kharkov, Odessa, Cherni- gov and others) and the territory covered by the rail- roads. The localities a few versts away from the railroads were already in revolt. The suppression of these uprisings, which always assumed more intense forms, was the essential characteristic of the Soviet period in the Ukraine, while the history of the peasant uprisings represented at the same time the history of the Jewish massacres in the Ukraine. The peasants in the Ukraine were armed to the teeth. Even during the German occupation the villages were always provided with arms, not only revolvers and guns, but also machine guns and small cannon. The Soviet power, which always fought against the troops of the Directory, was not able to penetrate into the villages and disarm them. Besides, the army of the Soviet power was unable to exercise sufficient influ- and not sufficiently disciplined. Politically, too, the Soviet power was unable to exercise sufficient influ- ence upon the middle peasants. The difference between city and country in the Ukraine was too great. The 57 S8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Ukrainian village is very rich; and the peasants re- fused to give up their products and their grain to the indigent city for "Kerensky money" or the Ukrainian "karbovantzy," which they possessed in plenty (there was scarcely a house which did not own bales of worth- less paper money) ; for the peasant could not obtain what he needed for this money; he could get neither agricultural machines nor manufactured goods nor salt. The blockade made it impossible for the city to play the role of the middleman or to obtain its necessities. The Soviet power was therefore compelled to take the grain from the peasants by force of arms. To be sure, the Soviet government had made a decree regulating the exchange of agricultural products for salt and manufactured goods, a standard of exchange had in fact been established, one pound of salt to equal one pound of flour. This was changed later, and one pound of salt was made equal to 2 poods (i pood equals 40. lbs. ) of flour. In reality, however, there was no possi- bility of transporting manufactures or salt and bringing them to their destinations, after the internal front made railroad communication in the Ukraine almost impos- sible by reason of the continual blowing up and dam- aging of rolling stock and tracks. But the peasants were not willing to give anything away for products "prospective in principle." For they mistrusted the "commune." Not only the rich peasants but the mid- dle peasants, too, regarded the "commune" as a hydra which strove to take everything out of the village with- out giving them anything in return. The rich Ukrain- ian village was anarchistic in temper. It recognized every government so long as it left the village undis- turbed, and demanded no taxes, agricultural products, recruits, and so on. But the moment any government THE BATKO 59 attempted to make demands for the flat land or to press claims, the village revolted, took out the buried weapons and used them, and finally brought about the fall of the government in question. The Ukrainian village was the sphinx whose riddle could not be solved and which destroyed every power that rose before it. This is the explanation of the cinematographic rapidity with which the various governments followed each other in the Ukraine. A special peasant phraseology was formed : "We are Bolshevists," said the peasants in the Ukraine, "but no communists. The Bolsheviki gave us land, while the communists take away our grain without giving us anything for it. We will not allow the Red Army to hang the commune about our necks. Down with the commune ! Long live the Bolsheviki !" The attitude of the Ukrainian peasants toward the commune is shown in the following incident, which would be humorous if it were not that it really took place under the tragic circumstances of the pogrom temper. The authorized agent of the Relief Committee of the Red Cross had been commissioned to establish a kitchen in Iskorost for those who had suf- fered from the pogrom. Rumors of the creation of a common kettle, that terrible common kettle with which the agitators frightened the peasants, were cir- culated also in the neighboring district of Ushomir. The inhabitants of Ushomir said then that "the Jews had already established the commune," and affirmed that they had seen the Kettle with their own eyes. The peasants of Ushomir threatened the Jewish population with the words, "Why don't you go to Iskorost? There the Kettle is already made." Fearing an accu- sation of having established the "commune," the Jews 6o SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE of Ushomir asked the agent of the Red Cross not to estabHsh a kitchen after the model of the one in Iskor- ost, so that they might not be exposed to the danger of being regarded as communists. The attitude of opposition toward the "city power" led to a rejection of "State power" "in general. The anarchistic village needs no government. Of what good is it ? The village has its leaders, vis. its "Elders" (Batki). The government is never constant, it always changes. Since the March Revolution the Ukraine has had too many governments to be able to believe in the durability of any kind of State order (the Provisional Government, the Central Rada and its Sec- retariat, the first period of the Soviet power, the Ger- man Occupa,tion, the rule of the Germans, the Direc- tory, the Soviet power again and the armies pressing it from two sides, the army of Petlura and that of the volunteers). Their Ataman (leader), however, their Batko, they always have. He is one of them and they believe in the firmness and unshakenness of the armed regime of the peasants with the Batko at their head. The village rejects every thought of the possi- bility of an attack on the peasants and their "eternal rights to the land and its products" by the landed pro- prietors of the White Guard. But in so far as the vil- lage sees a danger on the right, in so far as danger threatens the interests of the village and the right of the peasants to the land, they will support the left in- cluding the Soviet power, which favors them in this matter. A characteristic episode will make clear the attitude of the village to the Soviet power when there is a danger threatening from the right.' In the last months of the Soviet government in the Ukraine (July, 1919), THE BATKO 6i there were frequent uprisings among those Soviet troops which consisted of peasant freebooters. Such a regiment stationed near Kiev resolved to march to Kiev, "to sht the bellies of the Jewish commissars, to set aside the commune and re-establish the 'true Bolshe- vist order !' " They allowed a representative of the Soviet power to have his say, and after hearing him they deliberated and persisted in their former resolu- tion. In full fighting form the regiment marched to Kiev. The political commissar, who was in this case the principal agitator, resolved to hold another meet- ing in order to heighten the temper of the regiment, for there were a few who hesitated under the impres- sion of the speech of the Soviet representative. The political commissar made a long speech, pointed to the harm that would come from the "commune" and said that the war must be ended altogether. "Let us re- move the commune, make peace with Denikin and go home." These words acted like an electric spark, "He invites us to make peace with the landed proprietors, he is a traitor!" The unfortunate speaker was put in chains, handed over to the representatives of the Soviet government, and the regiment was ordered to the Deni- kin front. The Batko — flesh of the flesh and blood of the blood of the village — stands close to the village in his tem- per, thought, life and character. The Batko is not always an ordinary peasant. As we shall see later, the most important Batki are highly developed persons with European education. But they can put them- selves in the position of the village, think its thoughts and ideals, make its desires and moods their own and embody the will of the Ukrainian peasant. They are able to lead the peasant masses, who yield them respect 62 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE and obedience so long. as they give expression to the will of the village. The Batko understands how to take the peasant, and knows how to win him over by social or national motives. The Batko is perfectly familiar with the revolutionary phraseology and adapts it successfully to the level of the peasant. He is pri- marily a demagogue. In his speeches and proclama- tions, the Batko expresses himself in favor of the Soviet power without the communists. He demands besides that the Rada be controlled by the village. He is against the bourgeoisie and against the communists, but for the Bolsheviki. Often he expresses himself to the effect that the communists treat the bourgeoisie too gently. The Batko is opposed to a centralized govern- ment and its apparatus. He demands a free associa- tion of anarchistic peasant communities with the Batki at the head. Socially the program of the Batki is primitively anarchistic : "Rob, requisition, take posses- sion of the cities, take Yekaterinoslav, take Kiev, take Kharkov, — the cities belong to you, take away the property of the wealthy classes." Hand in hand with the anarchistic phrase and the attacks against the Kiev Soviet government, the anti- Semitic pogrom agitation moved through the land. The Soviet power was, according to their idea, a for- eign government of Moscovitish- Jewish origin, which the village did not understand. The peasant knew only that they wanted to take everything out of the village and give him in return colored little papers, which were found in the village in plenty. He knew it was a government which proceeded against the village with armed force. In very many cases Jews were the agents of the Soviet government in the villages and districts. They often neglected the interests of the THE BATKO 63 local population and had no regard for them. The mistakes, abuses and offences of the local agents of the Soviet power were noted and utilized in a definite way by the anti-Soviet powers, who represented them as characteristic qualities of the "Jewish nation," which ruled over the "orthodox" peasant. The poison of the anti-Semitic agitation flowed in a wide stream over the whole of the Ukraine. The Batki understood clearly the value of the Jewish pogrom as a political weapon, established by the Directory. They saw the real results of Jew baiting in the unruliness of the mob which was so necessary for them. Giving up the Jewish population, to the village as booty seemed to the Batki advantageous in many respects. In the first place those Jews in the cities and dis- tricts who had become rich during the German rule possessed objects which the Ukrainian peasant needed urgently, as for example household articles and, what was most important, clothing, linen and shoes, of which nothing could any longer be found in the village. Even a pair of old shoes of a poor Jew excited the atten- tion of the village population, rich in grain and Keren- sky money and poor in everything else. During the pogroms the Jewish population, those who were mur- dered as well as those who survived, were stripped of everything to the last shirt. The Batki in the neighbor- ing villages successfully vied with each other in popu- larity by declaring the Jewish possessions as the prop- erty of the peasants and by distributing the plundered Jewish goods free of cost to the "most needy" or by instituting "cheap sales." This method of satisfying the needs of the village received wide imitation. In the second place national baiting was a means of unit- ing to a certain extent the heterogeneous peasantry. 64 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE This was especially important at those moments when the middle peasants vacillated between the right and the left under the pressure of the danger threatening from the right. When the political program of the Batki at this or that moment did not correspond to the temper of the peasants, national baiting had to fill the lacuna in its reciprocal relations. In the third place the identification of Jews and com- munists (which, however, did not hinder them from at the same time declaring the Jews to be bourgeois and thus summoning the population to murder and pillage) made it possible for them to carry on the fight against their dangerous enemies, the Soviet power. "Down with the communists, down with the Jewish commis- sars !" This was the motto of Shtogrin, a member of the left wing of the Ukrainian Social Revolutionists, who carried on simultaneously an anti-Soviet and a pogromophile agitation in Uman. At the hearing before the Extraordinary Commission he was charged with anti-Semitic propaganda. Asked if he did not know that he might have caused a Jewish pogrom, he replied that he had in fact incited the peasants to make pogroms, "for otherwise it was impossible to get the peasants to rise." Order No. i for the city of Uman which was issued after the pogrom and signed by Klimenko, the chief commander of the rebellious troops, says among other things, "The rule of the Jews has fallen, and the insurgents are instructed to pay no heed to Jewish agents and police spies." Kiimmelman reports from the district of Matusovo (Government of Kiev) as follows: The peasants dis- trusted the Soviet power, they did not take them seri- ously and regarded them as a foreign power, almost as much as the rule of the Germans. This distrust of THE BATKO 65 the new government was artificially kept awake by the local intelligentzia. From the first day they took an attitude of opposition to the new government. The local Ukrainian intelligentzia, like the postmaster, the seminary students and the teachers, openly agi- tated against the Soviet power. They 'p^layed the national question as the main trump. "The govern- ment of Petlura," the postmaster Kulik impresses upon the peasants, "is our real native Ukrainian gov- ernment, but the government of the Bolsheviki is a Jew government." "I was in Cherkassy," the teacher Palega assures the peasants, "in the Commissariat for the Enlightenment of the People, and what have I seen there? Nothing but Jews, the whole Commis- sariat filled with Jews." The social position of the Batko is various. There are various grades, from the Batko who controls a vil- lage, a district and sometimes several districts up to the Batko who rules over entire Governments (prov- inces) and plays a great political role, like Grigoriev and Makhno. The last named are leaders of the Ukrainian peasants, able men with clear political pur- pose. Batki like Zeleny, Struk, Angel, Yatzenko, Tiutiunik, Klimenko, Popov are peasants who have no independent policy, but are instruments of the leaders who know how to comprehend and formulate the dissatisfaction of the middle peasants. Every Batko has his sphere of activity. Struk worked north of Kiev, in the district of Chernobyl. Sokolovsky car- ried on his activity west of Kiev, in the district of Radomysl and in the neighboring part of the circuit of Zhitomir. South of Kiev, in the district of Tripolie on the Dnieper, Zeleny had his field of activity. In the precincts of Tarascha were Yatzenko, Golub and 66 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE others. In the district of Brussilov we find the group of Mordylev; in Lipovetz the association of Soko- lovsky; in the district of Uman the bands' of Klimenko, Tiutiunik and Popov; in the district of Gaisin, Voly- netz, and in the region of Bakhmach, Angel. Almost all these "small" Batki are former followers of Petlura (whom the Directory gave object lessons in political fighting, which they have put to good use) and work always within the limits of their homes. Struk is a twenty-three year old peasant from the village of Grini near Gornostaipol ; Sokolovsky comes from the village Gorbulevo, nineteen versts from Rado- mysl, and is the son of a deacon of the village. Zeleny lives in Tripolie, is a son of a local cabinet maker and attained the rank of corporal in the war. Mordylev comes from the village Zabylachy, not far from Brus- silov. Sokolovsky was formerly a lower official of the agrarian administration of Lipovetz. Volynetz was born in the village Karlovka near Gaisin. He is a peasant of 23, former clerk of the Forestry adminis- tration. Yatzenko was born in the village Kershan, three versts from Tarascha. He is about 24 years old, attended a school of two classes in Tarascha, be- came a follower of Petlura in March and initiated his activity with Jew baiting. "The Jews are all com- munists, they defile our churches and change them into stables." The leading Batki often go over from one govern- ment to the other. This is true of Grigoriev, for ex- ample, who watered a great part of the Ukraine with Jewish blood. Under the Hetman he held a respon- sible position in the economic department of the ad- ministration and came in close contact with the village (he is a native Ukrainian from the city of Alexan- THE BATKO 67 dria in the Government of Kherson). Going from village to village, he organized groups of insurrec- tionists, at the head of which he raised the banner of Petlura. The ambition to make a career, the desire to be more conspicuous, the comprehension of the tenden- cies of the peasants at that time who were attempting a reaction against German rule and wishing for a radi- cal power of the extreme left, induced him to put himself on the side of the Soviet government. Grigo- riev placed himself at the head of strong associations of freebooters and in a whirlwind campaign conquered the whole south, including Odessa. But he was not satisfied with being a leader of a Soviet army. He was casting eyes on the position of an independent ruler of South Russia and dreamed of a dictatorship of his own. He systematically encouraged unbridled con- duct among his troops, did everything to please their instincts and desires and gave them to understand that they could do anything they liked as long as they were masters of Odessa. It is significant that as long as he had not broken with the Soviet government and had not refused to obey the military commands given to him to go to the Rumanian front, Grigoriev abstained from all national baiting. In Odessa his bands robbed the population under the pretext of fighting the bour- geoisie, but there were no serious excesses or pogroms. After the Soviet government declared Grigoriev an outlaw, he adopted a means that had been long proved in Ukraine to weld together his united bands. He identified the Soviet government with Judaism and preached its destruction. Grigoriev issued his manifesto of sad memory, "Universal" (addressed to all the people), which has had a very unfortunate significance for the Ukrainian 68 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Jews. This manifesto written in revolutionary phrase- ology demands at the end the removal of the Soviet government, formed of "foreign elements from the ever hungry land of Moscow and the land where Christ was nailed to the cross," and the murder of the Jews. The watchword of Grigoriev found an echo in the Ukrainian village. It was taken up in the several localities by the local Batki as well as by the bands of the Black Hundred in the Ukrainian cities and vil- lages, and especially by the ultra-reactionary anti- Semitic intellectuals who are found in plenty in the cities and small towns, and was carried farther. This is extremely characteristic of the period of Grigoriev, which may be regarded in this respect as the fore- runner of Denikin. Thus in the country town of Goro- dische, in the Government of Kiev, a former officer Gritsai stood at the head of Grigoriev's men. The pogrom was led by a small group of residents, teachers and students of the local gymnasium and agricultural school. They were not only the instigators and leaders of the pogrom, but also soon took active part in pillage and murder. In the town of Zlatopol (Government of Kiev), the participants in the Jewish massacres were not only the poorer classes, but also a part of the intelligentzia, as far as they belonged to the Black Hundred or sympathized with them. In the town of Stavische, in the same Government, a town of more than one thousand peasant families, there were among the participants in the pogrom many landed proprie- tors, students, clergy, who openly designated them- selves as members of the "White Guard." The ter- rible massacre in Yelisavetgrad took place under the watchword, "Cut down the Jews, cut down the com- munists!" The Rabbi of Mirgorod testified at his THE BATKO 69 examination that the soldiers seized him, pointed at him and cried, "You are a communist, you Jewish snout!" In Boguslav it was the peasants who robbed and murdered the Jews on the ground that they were all Bolsheviki and communists. The same thing hap- pened in Tarascha and in dozens and hundreds of places in which Grigoriev's bands instituted pogroms. In Cherkassy the pogromists literally cut down all Jews, saying to them, "You want to rule over us, to use violence against us!" Especially characteristic of the movement instigated by Grigoriev is the fact that the intellectuals in their agitation in the villages used a new motive in addition to the old, namely that the Jews had done violence to the Christian religion (a motive suggested by the phrase in the manifesto, "from the land where Christ was nailed to the cross" ) . This grouping about Grigoriev not only of the civic elements, but also of the Black Hundred, who dream of the return of the tsarist order, lent to their deeds of horror the particularly gruesome character of an at- tempt to annihilate and exterminate the Jewish people. The pogroms everywhere followed a prearranged plan. The triumphal procession of the victorious Grigoriev took place under the sign of pogroms instituted by the Ataman himself and his assistants, Uvarov, Tiuti- unik and Nechayev. The Jewish persecutions in May must be attributed to the activity of Grigoriev. Three-fourths of them took place in the southeastern projection of the Gov- ernment of Kiev (the district between Cherkassy and Chigirin). The rest were enacted in the neighboring parts of the Governments of Kherson and Poltava. In a small number of cases the pogroms were instituted not by the bands of Grigoriev but by locally resident 70 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE elements and under the influence of the above men- tioned "Universal" manifesto. The Jewish massacres followed each other in the following order: Zlatopol, May 2-5; Znamenka, May 3; Lebedin, May 5; Gorodische, May 11-12; Orlovetz, May 12; Zolotonosha, May 12; Rotmistrovka, May 13-14; Matusovo, May 13-14; Belozeria, May 14-15; Smela, May 14-15; Yelisavetgrad, 15-17; Novo-Mir- gorod, 17; Cherkassy, 16-21; Raigorod, 20; in the Sablino-Znamenk sugar factory, 20; Alexandria, 22; Chigirin, 25; AlexandroVka, 15-18; Stepanovka, 18; Semyonovka, 18-19; Grossulov, 20. There w^re pogroms at the same time in Fundu- keievka, Medvedovka, Kamenka, Teleschino, Station Bobrinsky, Tzvetkovo, Moshny, Glovbin, Kassel, Tomashov, Ivanovka, Vessyolaya Kuta, Vessyolaya Podol, and others. The following Jewish persecutions during the same month are also closely connected with Grigoriev's manifesto. They all belong to the district of Uman, situated at a greater distance from the places in which Grigoriev's bands resided. Of these massacres the most bloody were in Uman, May 13; Dubovo, 13 and 14; Talnoie, 13; Kristinovka, Ladyzhenka, and the villages, Vyasovok, Mankovka, Ivanka, Buki and others. The remainder of Grigoriev's bands developed their activity also in the month of June. They destroyed in the Government of Kiev, Stavische, June 15; Taras- cha, 16; Volodarka, 20; Ryshanovka, 20; Skvira, 23; on the 27th they instituted a second pogrom in Alex- andria (Government of Kherson). The followers of Grigoriev destroyed a whole line of cities and towns root and branch, put to death or THE BATKO 71 mutilated tens of thousands of Jews and violated thousands of Jewish women and girls, but the political aim of Grigoriev to become the ruler of the Ukraine was not realized. Grigoriev was able to gather the masses about him by the negative side of his program only, the hate against the "Jewish Soviet power," but he had nothing positive to offer. He could undermine the power of the Soviet government and open the gates to Denikin, with whom, as is reliably stated, he tried to get in touch, proposing to proceed in common with him against the Soviet government as well as the Direc- tory. But he was beaten. His bands divided, one part going over to the side of the Soviet government and the other devoting itself to "positive pillage" under the leadership of several insignificant Batki. Grigoriev himself fell by the hand of another Batko, superior to him, by the name of Makhno. Extremely interesting is the "resolution" passed by the followers of the "ideal Batko" in reference to the murder of Grigoriev. Copy of a Copy of the Resolution from the Protocol Number 4 of the General Assem- bly of the Council of the Revolutionary Freebooters of the Governments of Kher- son, Taurida and Yekaterinoslav in the Report of the Military Corps on the 28th of July, 1919. "The assassination of the Ataman Grigoriev on the 27th of July in the village of Septovo, circuit of Alex- andria, Government of Kherson, by the ideal leader of the insurrectionists, the Batko Makhno, must be regarded as a necessary and required historical fact. 72 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE for Grigoriev's policy, acts and aims were counter- revolutionary and had the main purpose of supporting Denikin and other counter-revolutionists, as is proved by the Jewish pogroms and the arming of the thugs. The union of his army with that of Batko Makhno is explained as being necessary in order to take away from him all the honest freebooters, who are fighting for revolutionary ideas and follow him only because of their ignorance. "We cherish the hope that now no one will be found who will sanction Jewish pogroms, and that the work- ing people will in their honesty rise against the counter-revolutionists like Denikin and others, as well as against the Bolsheviki and communists who are es- tablishing a dictatorship by force with the help of mer- cenary Magyars, Chinese and Letts. The followers of Makhno regard it as their revolutionary duty to take upon themselves the historical consequences of this assassination. Down with Jewish pogroms ! Long live the revolutionary uprising of the Ukraine ! Long live the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic ! Long live so- cialism !" The original is signed by the President, Vitko Makhno, Secretary, Shevchenko, Attested by Acting Chief of Staff, Mikhailov, Attested by (signature illegible). Reading this resolution one might think that the Batko Makhno himself, who had assassinated Grig- oriev because he had instituted Jewish pogroms, had not a drop of Jewish blood clinging to his fingers. Far from it! The bands of Makhno were guilty of the maddest excesses, they devastated Jewish cities and THE BATKO 73 towns. Makhno has thousands of murdered and tortured Jews on his conscience, and the complete des- truction of almost all the Jewish colonies in the south ' of the Ukraine is his work. The "ideal Batko" him- self was now for, now against pogroms, depending upon the political situation of the moment. Makhno is an intellectual, a former village school- master once imprisoned for a political offence, a clever and energetic man. During the first phase of the Rus- sian Revolution he was a member of the Yelisavetgrad Executive Committee of the labor deputies. At the time of the German occupation he became a popular personality in the Government of Yekaterinoslav, where he prepared the uprising against the German rule. Makhno was regarded by the village population as one of those "holy fighters" for the cause of the vil- lage who put an end to a regime which atempted to carry everything away from the Ukraine and to estab- lish a terroristic rule upon the flat country. Like the bands of Grigoriev, the insurrectionist bands of Makhno also occupied a whole line of points in the south (on the i8th of March they occupied Berdi- ansk; on the 31st, Melitopol, Ochakov, Sivash) which went over to the side of the Soviet government. Makhno had not definitely inscribed himself with the Soviet power, therefore they were not so painfully affected by his treason as by that of Grigoriev. Makhno, covered with glory as he was, constantly tried to utilize his popularity among the peasants of the Yekaterinoslav and neighboring governments for an independent policy. He called himself an anarchist, but denied all connection with the party — ^he wanted to be more anarchistic than the anarchists. In general his 74 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE politics in relation to his own followers as well as the peasants in the neighborhood was characterized by the attempt to distribute among them, especially among the poorest, the property, mainly Jewish, which had been plundered and collected in the small towns. Thus he took possession of salt in the south (a very rare and therefore a very expensive product) and had it distributed free to the peasants. As regards the Soviet power he was the typical representative of the temper prevailing among the middle peasants. He never stood on the side of the Soviet government. During the first period, after the fall of the German rule, he supported the Soviet power because he regarded it as stronger and more consistent than the Directory, but he opposed it as being a city power. At the same time he was an opponent of the volunteer army of Denikin, an op- pressor of the peasants and fighter for the reestablish- ment of the pre-revolutionary order. He defended the Soviet power and at the same time opposed the "Bol- sheviki and the communists, who established a dicta- torship by force with the help of hired Magyars, Chinese and Letts." When danger threatened from the right, he was ready to fight against Denikin. He fought against Grigoriev and assassinated him. He justified this act by Grigoriev's anti-revolutionary atti- tude, which expressed itself in Jewish pogroms, and was even ready to negotiate with the Kiev government. But when Makhno fought against the Soviet gov- ernment, he summoned his people to murder and exter- minate the Jews, using the watchwords which are already familiar to us. As a personality, Makhno is not a typical Batko. He is too individualistic in his make-up. As a politician, however, he is the most typical of them all, for he embodies completely at THE BATKO 75 every moment the interests and desires of the middle peasants of the Ukrainian village. Interesting but not typical is the third prominent personality on the dark horizon of the Batko insti- tution, Mazurenko, who calls himself in his pronunci- amentos and proclamations the chief of the insurrec- tionists, the oldest among the numeroys and small vil- lage and circuit Batki. Mazurenko comes from a well- known Ukrainian family, whose members have been active in public and political life. He is an intellectual in the European sense of the word. At the beginning he held responsible positions in the service of the Soviet government. He was the head of the Art Department of the whole Ukraine and member of the Ukrainian Council of Labor Deputies. He belongs to the left wing of the Ukrainian Social Democracy (the Inde- pendent Social Democracy) , who are trying to democ-, ratize the Soviet system in the Ukraine by giving the controlling influence in the Soviet organs to the repre- sentatives of the peasants. One can scarcely imagine that the humane Mazurenko later became the author of a whole series of terrible Jew baiting pamphlets, in which he incited the people to pogroms. We designated above in detail the names and spheres of activity of the most important among the lower Batki. They overran the whole Ukraine and caused terrible devastation in "their" districts. The Jewish population depends entirely upon the temper of the Batki and their bands. There is no escape. The whole Ukraine is divided into a number of such districts, in which cities and railway junctions are, like desert isl- ands, to be met with only rarely, and which the Soviet power is able to hold for a while. But the moment a city gets into the hands of such a band, the Jewish popula- 76 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE tion is plundered and murdered, until the Soviet govern- ment succeeds in getting possession of the place again. From the end of March the bands began a system- atic activity. In the precinct of Radomysl the Soko- lovsky bands did their work. In April it was mainly Struk who developed a feverish activity covering the precinct of Chernobyl. In the days from the seventh to the twelfth of April, the bands raged in Chernobyl (sic) itself. At the beginning of the following month (May 3) Gornostaipol was destroyed, and the next day (May 4) Ivankov met a similar fate. In the time intervening they did murder and death in a whole line of neighboring villages and settlements, especially on the banks of the Dnieper, where they stopped ships and drowned the Jewish passengers. By the end of August there were thirty-two such places. During the whole month of April Sokolovsky raged in his district. Zel- eny's bands too made their appearance hard by Kiev. In the days from the 7th to the 15th of April they devastated Vasilkov, the village Olshanka, and others. In the circuit Tarascha freebooters also appeard on the scene, who did their criminal work in Boguslav between the 4th and 25th of April. In the following months the bands continued their horrible activity. Radomysl had to suffer again on the 13th of July. On the isth of June the bands were in Brussilov; on the 20th in Khodorkov; on the 24th in Cherniakhov, then in Komip. On the 17th of June a pogrom was again made in Dubovo; Obykhov was plundered at the same time, and on the 25th of June, Kagarlyk. The pogrom activity of the bands assumed a speci- ally dangerous scope in the month of July in the gov- ernments of Podolia, Kiev and Volhynia, Kiev suf- THE BATKO ^^ fering most as in the preceding month. It has been exactly established that the number of pogroms in the government of Kiev during the month in question was 26, in Volhynia 8, in Podolia 13. In the Government of Kiev the accursed work was done by the bands, in the two other governments the regular troops of Pet- lura also participated. Of new districts which had hitherto been spared, the first to be affected was the circuit Pogrebische, in which pogroms were instituted in Borshchagovka on the 3rd of July; in Dzunkov on the 5th; in Novo- Fastov on the nth; in Volodarka and a number of neighboring villages on the 2nd, 9th, and nth. To the west of these places near the boundary of Vol- hynia, the pogromists were in Priluki on the 4th of July ; in Vakhnovka on the 8th ; in Turbov on the 9th and in Kalinovka on the 14th. In the district of Soko- lov-Roshevo a Jewish massacre took place on the 3rd of July; in Makarov on the 6th; in Brussilov on the 5th; in Kornip on the 9th; in Yassnogorodka on the 15th. In the sphere of activity of the Batko Zel- eny, pogroms took place in Rzhischev on the ist and 13th of July, in Kosin on the 17th; in Tereyaslev (Government of Poltava) on the 15th to the 19th of July. In the circuit Tarascha the pogrom heroes distinguished themselves on the 2nd of July in Boyarki, on the nth to the 24th in Koshevatoie. Finally at the end of the month, on the 29th of July, a new blood bath took place in Uman. In the government of Volhynia the pogroms in July are distributed as follows: Kodry (6 and 15), Khamovka (9 and 11), Kamenny-Brod, Kotelnya and Sarubintzy (10), Dombrovitzy (10), Slovechno (10), Ksavrov (10). 78 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE In the government of Podolia, pogroms took place in the following localities : Zhmerinka (July 3) ; Brai- lov, Pikov, Shenderov, Voronovitzy, Obodin ( 10) ; Yanov (10-15); Tulchin (14); Litin (18); Novo- Konstantinov, Teplik, Gaisin, Pecheri (20-25). Many of the places mentioned were visited by the pogromists more than once (Radomysl, Cherniakhov, Kornip, Volodarka, Yelisavetgrad, and others). In some places there were as many as four, five and even ten pogroms until the Jewish population disappeared entirely and no trace of Jewish possessions was left. In August the number and extent of pogroms was comparatively small. Pereyaslev, in the government of Poltava, was again visited by the bands of Lopatkin. On the 3rd of August Jewish persecutions took place in Vinnitza ; on the 4th in Golovanevsk ; on the 25th in Bielaia Tserkov. The watchwords of the bands of the Batki are the same as those of Petlura's men, with variations now and then. In Matusovo the Jews were attacked by the bandits under the motto, "Will you, Jewish rabble, still keep ruling over us?" In Slovechno the mas- sacre was accompanied by the words, "Here is your commune for you, here is your Jewish Empire!" In Chernobyl, Struk's bands rushed into the Jewish houses, shouting and shrieking, "Open, you commu- nist Jews, or we will beat you to death, we will slit your bellies and drown you!" Struk's chieftains explained to their bandits the purpose of their coming, as being to plunder and drown the low communists who rob the workmen and peasants. "Low commun- ists" means the Jews. In his proclamations Struk al- ways spoke of the communists and the capitalistic defenders of the Jews. Now and then the motto was THE BATKO 79 enlarged by adding the motive of the independence of the Ukraine. In a popular assembly in Chernobyl, Struk called out to the crowd, "Kill the Jews and save the Ukraine!" In Radomysl Sokolovsky's band forced the Jews, before they were shot, to sing, "The Ukraine is not yet lost." As stated before, the activity of the bands and of their Batki had terrible consequences for the Jewish population of the Ukraine. The question arises what were the relations between the Batko institution and the Directory. As said before, a whole line of Batki were followers of Petlura. In the school of Petlura and of the Directory they learned the custom and the practice, the inclination and the political wisdom of carrying on the fight against Bolshevism by means of Jewish persecutions. The institution of the Batko supplements the pogrom activity of the Directory. As long as the Batki carried on it was not neccessary, except occasionally, to have recourse to military pog- roms. The latter demoralize the army, undermine dis- cipline and change the troops into a band of robbers and murderers, which naturally is highly undesirable for the state force. The institution of the Batko is a local phenomenon, which affects mainly the local peas- ant population and appears irresponsible in respect to public opinion in western Europe. The Batki need not put any restraint upon their activities in persecuting the Jews, in the interest of high politics. Before the En- tente the Batki could be designated as "local robbers." At the same time they carry out in splendid fashion the dirty work of intimidating the Jewish population, dis- organizing the cities and towns and in this way fight- ing the Soviet power. The Directory enjoyed the fruit of the Batko institution. The former tried there- 8o SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE fore to organize the uprisings, to centralize the efforts of the insurrectionists and to guide their activity in a definite direction. In the army reports are found not only communications concerning the movements on Petlura's front, but also data concerning the aims on the front of the insurrectionists. In August, 19 19, Petlura and Denikin approached Kiev simultaneously under cover of the bands of Zeleny and other Batki who had forced their way into the city. The Batko of all Batki, Mazurenko, stood very near to the Directory, and it is very probable that he was the connecting link between it and the insurrec- tionists. There is evidence that the Directory sent special emissaries to the points of insurrection for the purpose of maintaining proper connection between itself and the Batki. But even apart from this, the Directory showed the bloody example and by the political utilization of the terrible weapon, created the conviction throughout the Ukraine that Jewish pogroms were not punished, that the posses- sions of the Jews might be plundered, that Jewish women might be violated and that there was no pro- hibition against the annihilation of the Jews. This conviction created the atmosphere in which the elemental force of the masses, aroused and excited in the process of the revolutionary ferment, could be guided in the direction of annihilating this defenseless nation for the sole purpose of thereby injuring the political enemies of the Directory. The Directory fanned the national hate, drew forth from the depths of the Ukrainian national soul the slumbering dis- trust and antipathy, planted in the course of histori- cal development, against the Jews as strangers, the Jews as commercial middlemen, the Jews as the former THE BATKO 8i farmers of the lord's estates, who were hanged by the ancestors of the peasant of to-day together with the priest and the Polish "pan" (proprietor of great landed estates). The Directory knew how to awaken this hate and to give it a definite form and di- rection and a definite political content. No wonder, therefore, that this Machiavellian method bore such fruit. The agitation of the Directory was not merely an incitement of the masses in an indefinite way, it was in actual content an unequivocal instigation to murder the Jews. The lamentations and pharisaic attempts at justification, to the effect that the Directory could not control the bands or the crowds, that the latter had gone further than the -Directory had intended, can not exculpate it in any way, not even legally, not to say morally and politically. It is not merely that it could have foreseen the consequences of its doings, it did foresee them, it desired them, counted on them and took advantage of them. What is known in criminal law as "excess of the executor" does not ap- ply here. Here the executors played the motif whis- pered to them, with the precision of a virtuoso, and did it to the greatest satisfaction and joy of the in- stigators. In August the pogrom crowds became smaller. The political situation changed. The Bolsheviki were driven from the Ukraine. Petlura and his people attained what they wanted — the enemy was beaten. The beneficiary of the success, however, was another. Denikin occupied Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav, Poltava, and was approaching Kiev. The changed situation demanded other methods of fighting. The method of Jewish massacres was no longer needed, and so was given up. As already mentioned, the Directory 82 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE even passed a resolution to fight against pogroms. To be sure there was another element here that must be mentioned. According to communications sent to us from many sides and according to the existing reports of the Ukrainian papers, the standpoint of international politics was also taken into consideration in the pogrom agitation. Not only the heads of the political bodies, but the village intellectuals and to a certain extent even the masses were aware of the significance of the inter- national position of the Ukraine. The Ukrainian flat country had had a thorough object lesson in this mat- ter, such as the German occupation with its stringent regime, the occupation of Odessa and the southern coast by the Allies, the negotiations of the Directory with the Allies through General Grekov, and so on. Suffering from want of the most absolute necessities, manufactured ware, shoes, salt, machines, etc., the Ukrainian village was eager for commercial relations with western Europe. The village intellectuals repre- sented by the priests and teachers (we have seen that they took an active part in the excesses of the bands) carried on their agitation by saying that the Entente desired the destruction of the Bolsheviki. As Jews and communists were the same, Jewish pogroms would represent the gift which the Ukrainian people must present to the Entente, and the latter would not be long in signifying their recognition of the Ukrainian people in return. Now in August the Jewish pogroms as a method of fighting proved themselves not only useless, but, as was said before, harmful for the reason that the vague rumors of the massacres which had pene- trated to the West had produced great public indigna- tion. The withdrawal which was now whispered to the !regulg,r Ji'oops by the Directory was understood THE BATKO 83 by their devoted Batki. . . . The pogroms diminished in violence, they were no longer all-destructive, but like the distant thunder of a past storm, they as- sumed the innocent form, according to Ukrainian concepts, of pillage of Jewish possessions and occa- sional acts of violence and murder. We learned later from a reliable source that Batko Makhno had issued a proclamation to his insurrec- tionists, in which he ordered them to discontinue Jew- ish pogroms, for "according to a communication of Batko Petlura, the Entente is very much dissatisfied on that account" — a step which seems very likely on the part of the wise and far sighted Makhno. CHAPTER IV THE SOVIET POWER The political fight against the Soviet power was car- ried on not only in the Ukraine, but also in Great Rus- sia, in many cases under the cover of anti-Semitism. The press of the Black Hundred of all shades is never weary of enumerating the Jewish commissars, Jewish Popular commissars, Jewish members of the Central Executive Committee, etc. The Soviet power, they say, is a Jewish power. The Russians who belong to the Soviet Government do so as a result of a misunder- standing, and there are very few Russians in it. As for the Russian masses, the good natured Ivan allows himself to be taken in by the shrewd Jew, who is aim- ing for world rule. The dull, obtuse and ignorant masses for the moment follow the Jewish leaders, who turn their heads, unchain their passions and show themselves complacent to their lower instincts. Mamontov in Great Russia, Petlura and Denikin in the Ukraine, together with their followers, drew from this theoretical postulate the practical conclusion that the armed fight against the Soviet power must be sup- ported and strengthened by Jewish pogroms. The Soviet Government was obliged to strike at the root of all anti-Semitic agitation, for such agitation was the unmistakable sign of opposition to the Soviet. The agitations of the anti-Semites were in the great major- 84 THE SOVIET POWER 85 ity of cases the precursors of hostilities against the Soviet power. Anti-Semitic agitation was therefore regarded in Great Russia as a counter-revolutionary act. The guilty were brought to account before the revolutionary tribunal and condemned to severe penal- ties in the form of hard labor. To the nightmare of Jewish pogroms in the Ukraine belong also the anti- Jewish excesses and pogroms by bands calling themselves "Reds" and belonging at the moment in question to the Ukrainian Red Soviet army. In proportion to the entire number of Jewish per- secutions the excesses of these people play an insignifi- cant role. They concern themselves mainly with rob- bery and theft, although, as for example in Theophipol, some deaths must also be laid at their door. Of all the violence done the Jews the following instances only are attributable to them. I. Pogrom in Rossovo (March 3). After the shameful deeds committed by Petlura's men, the city was occupied by a Bolshevist "mounted advance guard" who freed the city from the bands of Petlura's men. Later Makhno's bands entered the city and rob- bed and killed the Jews. Makhno's men were followed by the first Ducat cavalry regiment of Zolotonosha. After the cruelties perpetrated by Makhno's men, the Jews did not receive the regiment in a friendly way. The soldiers, however, quieted the population, con- demned the conduct of their comrades who had come before, promised a strict investigation of the affair, instituted a search in the houses of suspected persons, took away from them what they had plundered of the Jews and gave it back to their owners. This regiment soon left. Peasants from the neighborhood of Rossovo killed the commander of a certain Red troop. A divis- 86 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE ion sent from Mironovka (it is not certain what divis- ion it was) instituted a pogrom among the Jews. They were accused of being enemies of the Soviet power — "We must avenge on you the murder of our com- mander." Then came the demands, "Give money, gold, silver, etc." The Jewish population was plundered, beaten and killed. 2. Pogrom in Korosten (March 12). Excesses were committed by members of the Red Army, who even demanded the delivery of their own officer who had defended a Jewish woman from a soldier who had taken away from her twenty pounds of sugar. 3. Pogrom in Cherniakhov, Government of Vol- hynia. On the i8th of April the 9th Soviet regiment passed the unfortunate spot which had suffered any number of pogroms. There was much pillage, in which peasants also took part. The soldiers justified their conduct by alleging that the. Jews supported Pet- lura. There were none killed. 4. Annopol, Government of Volhynia. In the com- plaint addressed to the Section for Social Relief, the Jews of the place speak of plunder and excesses by the Taraschan regiment. There were no death victims. 5. Volochisk, Government of Volhynia. In the complaint to the Revolutionary Committee the Jewish population report excesses by members of the Red Army. No cases of death are reported. 6. Pillage by a Soviet regiment in Vasilkov, in April. 7. Pillage by the Sumsky regiment in the town of Gorodische (May 31st), in which Jewish members of the Red Army also took part. There was robbery but no murder. 8. Uman. Here the eighth Soviet regiment of free- THE SOVIET POWER 87 hooters carried on its activities twice. On the 22nd of March the freebooters instituted a great predatory- expedition. On the 22nd of May after a terrible pog- rom made by bands, the same regiment came again to Uman, and began to plunder the population, especially the Jews, en masse. There was murder and rape of women and girls. Many Jewish freebooters belonged to the regiment, who were known in the city as pro- fessional thieves. From the detailed minutes of a meeting of party functionaries and public men of the city of Uman it can be seen that the local authorities were trying to fight these excesses. Orders were issued making participation in the pogrom punishable with death, and about ten of the less important bandits were shot. But the military authorities did not succeed in check- ing the anti-Semitic sentiment that prevailed in the regiment. Up to the first days of July this regiment was not replaced by another despite the urgent request and categorical demands of the authorities of Uman, who repeatedly made appeals orally and in writing to the authorities at Kiev. The regiment could not be relieved because of the critical situation on the outer and inner front, and also for the reason that authori- ties held the eighth regiment, which was reputed to be an important body of fighters, in readiness to keep down the insurrectionary movement in the precinct of Uman. It is clear from the same minutes that the eighth regiment did in fact prove itself a dangerous opponent in defending the cities against the insurrec» tionary forces who made the district unsafe the whole time and attempted again and again to take posses- sion of Uman. The troops of Tiutiunik, Popov and Klimenko were defeated, and their arms, equipment 88 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE and munitions were taken away from them. As long as the eight regiment remained in Uman there was no fear of its being occupied again by the insurrec- tionists with a possible repetition of the first terrible pogrom. It was relieved later by the first Ukrainian Soviet Cavalry Regiment. With the departure of the eighth regiment the plundering also ceased. To be sure, this regiment too was not very friendly to the Jewish popu- lation, but plundering happened only occasionally. A company of this regiment which committed acts of violence in the villages demanded among other things that the people give up the "communists and the Jews." In a certain village the soldiers of this com- pany were on the point of killing a Jewish girl because according to their opinion she turned the heads of the men by her beauty. On the fifth of July the regiment proceeded from Uman to Poltava. In its place came the Fourth Inter- national Soviet Regiment. This regiment was the first disciplined body of Soviet soldiers that the people of Uman saw. No more robbery, no more murder took place on account of national or class divisions. The population of the town was able to breathe freely again. 9. Jewish pogrom in Zolotonosha. 10. Pogrom in Obuchovo (May 7; 6th Soviet regi- ment). 11. Pogrom in Pogrebische (May 18; 8th Soviet regiment). 12. A violent pogrom in Theophipol, Government of Volhjmia. According to a brief report of A. Wertheim, auth- orized agent of the Red Cross for the support of the THE SOVIET POWER 89 victims of the pogroms, the Fourth Taraschan Soviet Regiment and the second cavalry brigade, having defeated a Petlura company of 120 peasants and 27 Jews, entered the town without the slightest offer of resistance by the population. Directly after the occu- pation of the place, the soldiers began to rob, plunder and set houses on fire. About 300 persons were killed, about 150 houses were burned, and a number of women and girls were violated. Further details are wanting. All the pogroms and excesses were expressly military in character. Before we go on to show how the Soviet power fought politically and by means of agitation against the anti-Semitic spirit of the troops, how they fought against it from the first day of their appearance in the Ukraine — we will describe the constitution and character of the military bodies belonging to the Red Army. . The overwhelming majority of the Soviet troops consisted at the time in question of insurrectionist bands of freebooters. Some of these were formed independently, others went over during the fight from Petlura to the freebooters after the second occupation of Kiev by the Soviet troops. Finally there belonged to them also in part the bands of Makhno and Grigo- riev who remained loyal to the Soviet government. These troops consisted of Ukrainian peasants. Like all Ukrainian freebooters they were radical in senti- ment. One charteristic of theirs is antipathy to strangers, especially Jews. They are therefore easily accessible to anti-Semitic agitation, especially in mo- ments of doubt when they are not clear what attitude they should assume toward the Soviet power. They are always vacillating in their loyalty to the Bolshevist 90 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE government. Again and again they go from the Soviet power to the side of Petlura or the Batki. After a defeat or an unsuccessful uprising they go back to the Soviet troops. Often it happens that certain portions of the troops declare themselves "independent," retain- ing the entire revolutionary phraseology and watch- words. They still call themselves Soviet troops but . are in reality in the service of the enemies of the Kiev Soviet government. Such troops are in many cases under the influence of the so-called "Independent Ukrainian Social Democracy." This party has played a momentous role in the history of the Soviet power in the Ukraine. After they broke with the official social democratic party (Vinnichenko and Petlura), they took into their program the principle 6i the Soviet power, instead of that of the social democracy, and joined the Soviet organ in the Ukraine. In conse- quence of their close relations to the freebooters, they began, after they had broken with the Soviet power also, to incite these people against the communistic- Jewish government. They are opponents of Denikin, but they are also opponents of a false commune. They are also against the power of the Jews, but are for a "Ukrainian Independent Socialistic Republic." This party was led by Mazurenko, the Batko of all Batki, mentioned in the last chapter. The proclamations of these people are so significant that it seems useful to quote one of them in full. "Comrades, Red Cossacks! ask yourselves. Were you not the first to rise against the force of the Ger- mans, have you not shed your blood for a better lot and life of the Ukrainian working people? Where are these rights that we fought for? We see, comrades, how we must fight our way through, while those who THE SOVIET POWER 91 do not work hang on our necks and lead and enslave us. "Comrades ! can we not arrange our own life in our own house better, in the interest of the working people ? "What are we waiting for? Why don't we get these Jews out of the way? Why don't we take into our own hands this matter, which is so important for the working people? "Comrades, we have fought against the Hetman, we have learned the injustice of the Directory, we fought and are still fighting against Denikin and the reactionary officers. But if we see injustice on the side of the commtmists, Jews and similar people, are we not in duty bound to say. Out of our house ! You have done us harm! Liberate therefore, Comrades, our land from the Jews and other communists. "Long live the Soviets of the working peasantry, and the laboring population ! "Long live the local and central power of the Batki ! "Long live the Ukrainian independent socialistic Soviet republic! "Death to General Denikin! "Down with the false commune! (Signed) The Council of the Insurrectionary Troops of Ukrainia on the Left Side. The Hetman of the Troops, Lopatkin. The Chief of Staff, Zavgorodny." These troops, who call themselves Soviet troops, were guilty of excesses. The pogrom in Rossovo was also according to all probability the work of such a band. The sentiment of the troops who enacted these pogroms can be seen from their watchwords. The acts of violence in Zolotonosha (see above No. 92 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE 9) were perpetrated under the cry, "Ah! you are a communist, we will teach you!" In Vasilkov (No. 6), the soldiers of the "Red Hundred" cried, "Down with the Jewish commissars!" It is clear that when such troops as these proceed against Jews, they are under the influence of another party hostile to the Soviet power, with which they are sometimes even united in the same organization. The bands of freebooters consisting of deserters were the cause of the instability and insecurity of the Soviet power at Kiev. They prepared its fall while ostensibly acting in its name and under its flag. The great majority of the freebooting troops finally fell away from the Soviet power and went over to the side of their enemies amid the enactment of horrible blood baths (Grigoriev and his people). It must be openly and honestly admitted that the effect of the Soviet government upon the troops must have been ex- traordinarily great, for as long as they were actually subject to the Soviet government at Kiev, they were scarcely guilty of any excesses. We see here at any rate that two opposite political systems (the Kiev Soviet government fighting against pogroms, and the opposite party making use of them) working on the same basis, namely the anti-Jewish feeling throughoul; the Ukraine, and on the same human material, led to entirely opposite results. The freebooters were not the only troops on which the Soviet government supported itself. In their fight against the unreliable troops and the excesses com- mitted by them, the Soviet government supported itself on not large but loyally devoted associations of communists, the so-called "International Division." To the communistic troops belonged members of the THE SOVIET POWER 93 mobilized Ukrainian communistic party as well as workmen of other socialist parties, who were called to the service of the army, as a result of a resolution of the Soviets, by the union and trade councils. To prevent a dissolution of the insurrectionist troops and to maintain their firmness, communists were assigned to the several military associations. In this way a disciplined Red Army was formed. The international divisions (whose appearance, as mentioned before, was greeted so gladly by the Jewish representatives in Uman) were small and very reliable units made up of groups of Hungarian, Austrian and German prisoners, who were under the leadership of their Soviets. They were sent by the government to relieve politically unreliable troops and to fight against the excesses committed by the latter. At the time of the fight against the volunteer army of Denikin, troops appeared also from Great Russia in consequence of a resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the Ukraine that the military leadership of the two repub- lics should be uniform. In connection with the excesses mentioned above it should be stated that the constantly vacillating and un- reliable freebooters were under the influence of certain agents whom they trusted and thus betrayed the Soviet government. We have already referred to Grigoriev and Mazurenko. Beside these prominent men there are a number of less important ones, whom we shall name. In Cherniakov, Davidenko, the president of the revo- lutionary committee, who was at the same time com- missar for military affairs, was in connection with the bands of Sokolovsky. The result was a Jewish pogrom. In Matusovo, Government of Kiev, the following 94 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE thing happened. A few days before the beginning of the excesses, the Executive committee (the highest Soviet organ in the place) received from Shpola a provocatory letter, purposely signed with a Jewish name (Goldstein if we are not mistaken), reading as follows : "The churches should be sealed and the church furniture and fixtures brought to Shpola." On the tenth of May some riders brought to Matusovo a manifesto of Grigoriev, which was read on the same day to an assembly of the inhabitants called for the purpose, by Kesser, the Secretary of the Executive Committee. Whether that which Kesser read was actually contained in the copy of the manifesto handed to him, or whether he read something of his own making (which is more likely), we shall have to leave undecided. At any rate Kesser told the assembled peasants that an order had come to destroy the Jews. A terrible blood bath followed, due to a treacherous government official, who stood under the protection of the government and inspired confidence by his official position and the assurance that he was acting in the name and interest of the Soviet power. From the beginning the Soviet government in the Ukraine carried on a decisive battle against the lust for pogroms, by preventive measures and the devel- opment of agitation, propaganda and organizing activ- ity to that end, as well as by threats and strict penalties. In the first order issued by Rakovsky in Kharkov, which was repeatedly confirmed by the Soviet govern- ment of Kiev, the penalty of death is threatened for pogrom excesses of any kind, and heavy punishments are laid down for all anti-Jewish agitation. "The Jewish proletariat and the poor population are our confederates. The Jewish bourgeoisie is as good THE SOVIET POWER 95 as any other. The order to fight against the Jews is a proyocation by the enemy who wants to introduce into the Red Army the spirit of demoralization and betray the interests of the workers and peasants to their ene- mies." So reads a government pamphlet. At the same time the fight against anti-Semitism took an important place in the pages of the People's Commis- sariat for military affairs and in their political activity. The anti-Semitic propaganda of the enemies of the government became a dangerous factor in the forma- tion of disciplined military associations. The idea of the government and the people's commissariat for mili- tary affairs was to supplement the peasant bands of in- surrectionists with workmen. For this purpose they intensified the above mentioned mobilization through the unions and trade councils, and prepared the mili- tary education of the workmen. In addition to this the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, in the months of March and April, turned to the Jewish soci- alist parties of the Labor Bund, to the United Soci- alists and to the Poale Zionists with the request that they make serious efforts to mobilize the Jewish social- ist workmen, pointing to the fact that all of the experiences of the Red Army during the last months showed that even the most backward and anti-Semiti- cally prejudiced peasants became more sensible after living with the Jewish workmen for any length of time, and were accessible to appropriate influence and en- lightenment.* ♦This step of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs had no significance as a numerical strengthening of the troops, for the summons to the Red Army took place on the basis of the general regulations. The aim here was to utilize most effi- ciently the forces necessary for carrying out the task indicated. 96 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The political administration of the People's Com- missariat for Military Affairs formed besides a special Jewish section for propaganda, the purpose of which was to distribute the Jewish workmen, called to the service by general decree, among the several military units and thus to influence the troops so as to make the Jew-baiting propaganda ineffective. This section, which had branches in all parts of Ukrainia, received reports from various sides concern- ing the relation between the Jewish workmen and the other members of the army. According to existing information backward troops received the Jews with the greatest distrust and even animosity. Here and there there were also excesses. The Jewish "intru- ders" sometimes had to overcome the greatest difficul- ties. It happened sometimes that the sections were urgently entreated to transfer the Jews to a part of the army that was more tolerant. The second phase of the mutual relations ended almost always, even in the case of the most prejudiced parts of the army, with the admission, "They are no Jews, they belong to us." This was usually connected with discussions about Jews and anti-Semitism. This part of the work was hard, but it produced political results. Living together gradually led to a removal of the anti-Semitic feelings which had been implanted in the character of the Ukrainian peasant in the course of centuries of historical development. In addition to the political and cultural work, the government employed force and inflicted penalties. The perpetrators of anti-Jewish excesses and the authors of propaganda were tried and condemned as being counter-revolutionists. On the other hand those THE SOVIET POWER 97 troops that were incurably anti-Jewish were isolated, relieved and their constituency changed. Thus at the end of May in Kiev a whole regiment re- fused to obey an order to fight, given by the chief mili- tary officers, and gave out the watchword, "Down with the Jewish commissars!" The rebels were sur- rounded by the loyal portion of the regiment and forced to execute the order. The instigators were arrested. In June an open rebellion broke out in another regi- ment that was quartered in Kiev. They were burning to plunder the Jews, and announced a similar watch- word. In both cases the agitation came from obscure elements, which were supported by some officers of the old tsarist army. In this last case the regiment was disarmed by the Kiev communistic reserve regiment and dissolved. An objective study of the investigations of the authorized agent of the relief committee of the Red Cross and of the annals of the Jews in the Ukraine leads to'the conclusion that the Soviet troops preserved the Jews from complete annihilation. Retirement of the Soviet troops signified for the territory left behind the beginning of a period of pogroms with all their horrors. On the other hand the advance of the Soviet troops meant the liberation from a nightmare (Zhito- mir, Yelisavetgrad, Novo-Mirgorod, Proskurov, Goro- dische, etc.). The watchword of the Jew-haters, identifying Judaism and communism, had terrible consequences for the Jews. On the retirement of the Soviet power the Jews abandoned their homes and possessions and followed the Soviet army, being exposed to an un- certain existence and the prospect of dying of hunger or meeting death in some other way in the civil war 98 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE that was raging. At the time of the second pogrom in Zhitomir the Jewish youth followed the retiring Bol- shevist army. In Tarascha (Government of Kiev) the retiring Soviet regiment was followed by almost the entire Jewish population (4,000 persons). The tragedy of the situation can only be fully realized when we consider that a very great part of the Jewish middle class are skeptical in their attitude to the Soviet power, and the Jewish bourgeoisie is decidedly hostile to it. Certain death forced the Jewish bourgeoisie to flee under the cover and protection of Bolshevist divisions. In Lebedin (Government of Kiev) a Bolshevist armored car came in while a pogrom was being insti- tuted by bandits, fetched the surviving Jews, who had concealed themselves in the cellars and lofts, and took them along, thus saving them from certain death. It is no wonder therefore that the Jewish youth, especially in the pogrom districts, tried to enter the Red Army without regard to their sympathies other- wise in regard to the Soviet power. They entered their ranks, seeing therein the only possibility of saving the hves of their nearest and the honor of their wives and daughters. CHAPTER V THE DENIKIN REGIME The Grigoriev uprising opened the gates wide to the Ukrainian volunteer army. The Ukrainian Red Army could not recover from the blow it received and was compelled to retire before the supreme power of the well equipped troops of the volunteer army. The internal front was becoming stronger, which meant that the Ukrainian cities were evacuated by the Soviet power, one after the other. Denikin occupied gradu- ally Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav, Poltava and finally -on the twentieth of September, Kiev. The Ukraine was "freed" from the Bolsheviki. The troops of Petlura remained inactive. Where they opposed the volun- teer-bands, they were disarmed. The number of Pet- lura's troops was small. Their position was some- where on the Galician frontier. There was quiet for a while on the internal front. It seemed as if the peas- ants wanted to find out first what the new ruler, the representative of a "united and undivided Russia," would bring them. The peasants had no particular illusions in the matter. At any rate the transfer of power into other hands meant a slight breathing spell. Besides the men of the village hoped that they would be able to get wares, especially manufactured goods, from the Entente. It was otherwise in the city. The 99 loo SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE upper and middle classes who more than others were made to feel the Soviet rule; the intellectual classes, who for the most part stood aloof from the Soviet order and while securing positions in the Soviet organ- izations yearned for the coming of another power, closer and more akin to their ideas ; the poorer citizens who dreamed of cheap bread and believed that the bay- onet of the volunteer army would bring back the five- kopek loaf of white bread (instead of black bread at the price of 50 or 60 rubles a pound) ;. the nationalistic part of the tramp-proletariat of the Ukrainian cities, recruited from the Black Hundred — all these set great hopes on the coming of the new government. The Jews, all except the workers, baited to death as the great majority of them were, awaited the new masters not without a feeling of unrest, but still in the quiet hope that instead of the unstable Soviet government there would finally come a government of permanent stability which would bring quiet to the village and conclude peace with the loyal portion of Jewry. The memorial handed to General Denikin by the representatives of the Jewish communities of Yeka- terinoslav, Kharkov, Rostov and Taurida (Bulletin du Coniite des Delegations Juives aupres de la Con- ference de la Paix, No. 9), reads: "Ukrainian Jewry, which belongs economically to the poorer class of citizens (90 per cent, artisans and traders, 5 per cent, capitalists and only 5 per cent, laborers), awaited with suppressed impatience the coming of the volunteer army, from whom it expected liberation from the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Jewish population therefore prepared an enthusi- astic reception for the volunteers and was ready to support them with money and men." THE DENIKIN REGIME loi To be sure the expressions of humility were partly exaggerated. But speaking generally, the middle class of Jewry, not to speak for the moment of the higher classes at all, and perhaps also a part of the smaller artisans, secretly cherished the hope that the new government would make it possible to come to a toler- able understanding with it. These classes had not believed that the Soviet regime could be lasting. Now they had to feel in their own persons the "benevolent" policy of the Directory toward the Jews. They had dreamed of a tolerable and quiet life; for two years of boiling in the Ukrainian witches' caldron, the various political changes and upheavals, the pogroms, the Batko institution — all this created in them a desire to be able to maintain their life in some manner or other. They were willing to renounce the national and cultural autonomy legally assured to them by the Direc- tory, as long as they were given their bare lives and the possibility of economic existence. From the economic standpoint the return to an order which made speculation legal seemed to them desirable. On the other hand there was a rumor that Denikin was well disposed to the loyal portion of Jewry. They even spoke of his benevolent attitude towards the labor unions and the socialistic organizations of the right (menshevist). They were skeptical also of the (as was assumed) party-colored reports which were communicated in the "Soviet News of the City of Kiev" concerning the cruelties of the Denikin govern- ment. A proclamation published by the followers of Denikin in Kiev speaks of his "benevolence towards the moderate classes and parties." About Jews specifically it said (I quote from memory) : "Jewish citizens, I know that not only the Christians but also the Jewish 102 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE population is suffering under the Bolsheviki. The volunteer army brings peace to all citizens of Russia without regard to creed. Wait quietly for the coming of the volunteer army and support it, for it will pro- tect you from the Bolshevist terror. I am convinced that you will yourselves deliver up from your midst all scoundrels and loafers." Finally the volunteer army occupied Kiev and thus became master of the situation in the Ukraine. After gaining his victory Denikin thought it was time to un- mask and show himself before the world in his true ugliness. The village was again made happy with the landed proprietors of blessed memory. The l^nd was returned to the former owners. Then came the famous order about the third sheaf which the peasant had to give up to the landed proprietor "for using the lord's estate." The volunteer army was not able to deliver any Entente goods at all, which the peasant needed so much. On the otl^er hand, grain was again requisi- tioned and confiscated. The peasant in the Ukraine began to use the same methods of fighting the new government as he used against the previous one. Sud- denly and with quick precision there grew up before Denikin's army the internal front already described. The Batki and new heroes who joined them carried on a stubborn, intensive and very successful fight against the volunteer army. The Ataman Angel started the up- rising in the government of Poltava and for a short time even occupied the outer precincts of the city of Poltava. The Ataman Zeleny developed an extraordi- nary activity south of Kiev in the precinct of the city of Vasilkov. It is said that it was the "division". Zeleny which occupied the western suburbs of Kiev. The Ataman Shepel developed great activity on the THE DENIKIN REGIME 103 Kiev-Poltava railway line and on the highway between the cities of Pereyaslev and Zolotonosha on the left bank of the Dnieper, calling upon the peasants to rise against Denikin. The Batki Sokolovsky and Arbel succeeded in organizing quite considerable bodies of troops along the Kiev-Poltava railroad line, and the Ataman Malinov did the same in the neighborhood of Kherson. Makhno, however, was the man who played the chief role in the rise of the Ukrainian peasants against Denikin. His troops of freebooters continued their activity along the whole lower course of the Dnieper between Melitopol and Yekaterinoslav. A whole line of reports state that all the activities of the several units were subordinated to the united leader- ship of Makhno's staff and that they were even partly united with his main forces. That Makhno, who had recognized as early as the time of Grigoriev the danger that a Denikin invasion would have for the Ukrainian middle class peasant and had fought against it, should have been able to step into the centre of the free- booter movement against Denikin is easily under- stood. The internal front, the uprising of the village against the now "white" city, from which nothing came except the order "concerning the third sheaf," requisitions and confiscations, with the appearance of penal companies, had disappointed the hopes of the urban middle classes about cheap bread. The price of bread (which deter- mines all other prices) remained after some relatively slight variation very high (to be sure it was lower than under the Soviet government). The "karbovantzy" as well as the money of the Soviet government, the very medium which was current among the middle classes, were declared of no value. 104 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The Ukrainian culture was proscribed, the schools were closed and as a result the nationalistic tendencies bore the most luxuriant flowers. The white terror prevailed in the occupied city. In the mind of the Restoration Government, for in the last resort this is what the Denikin Government was, the principal crimes were the March revolution and the destruction of absolutism, for they had destroyed the "great, united and undivided Russia" and introduced great confusion and ruin. "All social forces, all parties who participated in them are equally 'seditious,' dan- gerous and illicit, equally deserving of persecution and partial annihilation. Bolsheviki, Mensheviki, Trudo- viki (group of laborers) or people's socialists — they are all rebels and 'responsible for the reduced state of the land." Anti-Semitism was one of the fundamental elements of the Restoration rule, exactly as under the tsar, and the rule of Denikin approached this ideal with gigantic steps. All traces of the "liberties" promised in the Kerensky period were definitely wiped out, among them the liberties granted to the Jews. The volunteer army, which was composed princi- pally of officers, admitted Jews also, who from the time of Kornilov were loyally devoted fighters for a democratic order and opposed to a dictatorship of the Bolsheviki. Denikin and his followers regarded them- selves as conquerors and resolved to free the army from Jews. In the volunteer bodies anti-Semitism was in full flower. The politically experienced officers saw in the Jews the persons responsible for all the mis- fortunes of Russia. They imputed to them the respon- sibility for the Bolshevistic terror under which so many persons near to them had had to suffer. They carried THE DENIKIN REGIME 105 on an anti-Jewish agitation which had but one mean- ing. The names and pseudonyms of all Jewish Bolshe- vist commissars were cited to show that the Bolshevist government was a "Jewish government." The respon- sible positions in the volunteer army were held by members of the Black Hundred and anti-Semites. At the head of the department of propaganda of the volunteer army of Kiev stood the well known leader of the Black Hundred in the time of the tsar, Savenko. The rage against the Jews among the troops was enor- mous and the high command considered it its duty to exclude Jews from the army. In the above mentioned memorial, handed to Denikin by representatives of the Jewish communities, the following facts are cited: "The commander of the first infantry division' sent back thirteen ofificers who had been assigned to him to the staff of the first army corps with an official note in which he requests that no Jewish officers be sent to him to make up his division. The commandant of the second railroad battalion sent back Corporal Spunt to the head of the army transport with the statement that he 'belonged to the Jewish religion, whose fol- lowers, as is well known, are not fit for military rail- road service.' The chief commander of Kharkov an- nounced in the newspapers that officers of the Jewish faith would be assigned to a special category and that until further notice they would be free from service." In a memorandum of the Central Relief Committee for Jews injured by pogroms in Russia, which was handed to the Zionist Actions Committee in London and to Dr. Margoline, the representative of the Ukrai- nian republic in London (the memorandum, by the way, is written with a certain bias), the following credible communication is found : io6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE By an order to the volunteer army of the 6th of October, 1919, sub No. 21,322, General Denikin re- moved all Jewish officers from the army solely because of their race. A deputation of representatives of four communities (Kiev, Kharkov, Poltavay and Yekateri- noslav) respectfully called to the attention of General Denikin that this order would indirectly incite the ignorant masses against the Jews, which might lead to new pogroms (the volunteer army had at that time already perpetrated several pogroms). The Gen- eral explained to the delegation that the order had been given in the interest of the state, and that he placed the welfare of the fatherland above everything. The official information bureau of the chief com- mander of the volunteer army developed an enormous anti-Semitic agitation. Theoretically this agitation found expression in the sanguinary anti-Semitic arti- cles of the well-known follower of the Black Hundred, the able and talented Shulgin, a convinced monarchist and Jew-hater. He was the editor of the officii organ of the Denikin government, "Velikaya Rossia" (Great Russia), was a member of the "Dictatorship Confer- ence," a minister without portfolio, and carried on unbridled agitation against the Jews as well as against all democratic elements. We quote below a quite lengthy extract from the "Kievlianin," from which can be seen his attitude to the proclamation of the labor unions, directed against anti-Semitism, as well as his attitude to the events that happened during the period of the pogroms instituted by the volunteer army. In his opinion the original sin of progressive Russia is the first Revolution of February and March. Following is an abstract of the article: THE DENIKIN REGIME 107 KiEV^ October 13, 1919. There came accidently into our hands a printed copy of a circular addressed by the Kiev labor union to its members. This circular deserves greater attention than it claims for itself. Even those workmen who recently diagnosed with apparent correctness the clas4 struggle into which their ringleaders and "intensifiers of the Revolution" drew them, must ponder very carefully the contents of the circular. The same holds true of the whole Russian intelligentzia with whom the class- conscious laborers now desire to work in common, and also of the government which has reconquered our homes from their destroyers and robbers and is making efforts to build a common house for the whole Russian people and all its classes. The circular begins with the words : We are living in a terrible time. The days through which we live are terrible not because of the new efforts of the Bol- sheviki, if only for a short time, to take to themselves a few important points, our Kiev among them, from which they were driven out by the volunteer army, but because "a wave of bloody, cruel and bestial Jewish pogroms is approaching Kiev." After a lyric and dramatic description "of the bloody extermination of a whole people, of the loss again and again of thousands of new victims, of de- fenseless women and children, of old men and vigorous youths who were shot or cut down with the sword, torn in pieces and left to perish beneath the ruins of burned- down villages and towns" — a description of such defi- niteness as if it dealt with a principle or a well-known fact of undoubted certainty — ^the circular says, "Now this disgrace is passing through Kiev." "In the name of the provocatory calumnies, pub- io8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE lished even in the press, charging the Jews with sup- porting the Bolshevist advance, low elements of the city population, sharpers demoralized by soldiers (as has been established from special orders) enter the houses in bright daylight, impose contributions on the Jewish population (sic!) in amounts of hundreds of thousands of rubles, take away their last shirt and commit mur- der and excesses of all sorts." So this is what happened in Kiev, and this is what we learn from the organ of the Kiev council of labor unions. This literary and political masterpiece would completely suffice to establish the author of the, doubtless, inspired circular, as well as the purpose of the composition. The quoted fragments are, how- ever, only the beginning, the necessary introduction merely to a lengthy explanation of the question laid down in the circular. What is the ground of this blind hate, i.e. the hate against the Jews? In their attempt to throw light historically upon the Jewish question in Poland and the Ukraine, the authors of the circular solve this complicated question simply, easily and without the slightest doubts. The respon- sible parties in all things are the Polish landlords, who left the peasants too little land, drove them into the net of the usurers and then took away the gains from the usurers themselves. The Russian peasant and the Jew, so it says, had to suffer equally from the land- lords and their rule. But the peasant did not know who was his real enemy and hated the Jew. When the Ukraine came under the rule of the tsar, there was no change. The tsar's government taught the people that all evil came from the Jews, furthered pogroms, supported them directly, and in this way prolonged the time before its downfall. Finally, however, the work- THE DENIKIN REGIME 109 men and then the whole people recognized that it was not this or that people who were their enemy, but the government, under which the peasant lived in want and under which the workman was compelled to be satisfied with miserable conditions of work. The peo- ple rose against the real enemy and overthrew the tsarist regime. The enemies of the people, however, knew that if they could again make the latter see in the Jews the responsible authors of their want, they would place no difficulties in the way of the attempt to restore the tsaristic regime, which was the real cause of the suffering of the people. And so they began again to spread calumnies against the Jews, and "the people, wearied by harrassing agitation and exhausted by long years of intolerable sufferings, vents its fury and hate on the innocent, unhappy and tormented Jewish people." And "in this terrible moment" the Kiev council of the labor unions directed a passionate appeal to all confederates to unite in fighting for the preservation ' of that which the great revolution of 1917 had brought. Much can be said about this circular, as the reader sees. Having given extracts, we do not consider it necessary at this moment to say anything further about it. For is it really worth while to say anything about the "passionate appeal" to fight for the preservation of that which the treasonable revolution of 19 17 brought to Russia and the Russian people, when everybody knows that it caused a disgraceful desertion of the front in the World War, a shameful betrayal of our common cause with the Allies, defense of the freedom and independence of the several states, the dissolution of Russia, destruction of the entire econ- omic life, general impoverishment and the triumph of no SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Bolshevism, against which the newly rising Russia and the volunteer army are fighting ? ' How much courage is necessary to appear publicly with such a circular proclamation in Kiev, which is after all still in the possession of the volunteer army ! How degen- erate the Kiev labor union must be if after the many acts of destruction which the Bolsheviki have caused in Kiev, they dare to come out openly with such an- nouncements !' \ We repeat^ the "Kievlianin" was the official govern- ment organ and the ideal herald of the current policy of the government. This agitation led to very definite results. The volunteer army was already in a state of decomposition. The great majority of obtuse ordinary officers dreamed of plunder, and in their lust and wanton unrestraint they saw an object of their sadistic and rapacious incli- nations in the lives, honor and possessions of the Jews who were left to their mercy, particularly since the official press declared these heroic deeds to be deeds of patriotism. The pogroms perpetrated by the volunteer army took the following course. As soon as the volunteer army entered a city, one could find everywhere on the walls next to the official communications, proclamations against the Jews, which were almost all alike in form and content — "Underlings of the Red Guard!" "To AH" — and called the people to make pogroms (evi- dently the authorities of the Denikin government simply adopted the method of the tsar's police depart- ment, namely to send proclamations for pogroms from their main printing office to the places where they planned to enact them). The careful memorial men- THE D]ENIKIN REGIME iii tioned above states that in all places without exception to which the volunteer troops came there invariably took place more or less important, but always systemat- ically carried out excesses, which in the great majority of cases developed into pogroms. "So in Kharkov there were robberies and acts of violence every day. In Yekaterinoslav all Jewish houses in the four most important Jewish streets were destroyed. Many Jews were killed, hundreds of Jewish women and girls were dishonored." The volunteer army instituted pogroms in the fol- lowing places: Sinelnikov, Bespalovka, Losovaya, Mikhailovka, Valki, Kremenchug (350 women vio- lated), Motovilovka, Borispol, Grebyonka, Smela, Kor- sun, Germanovka, Cherkassy, Makarov, Gorodische, Stepany, Ignatovka, Tripolie, Rossovo, Bielaia Tser- kov, Fastov and Kiev. In Fastov the volunteers searched all the Jewish houses (they overlooked two houses by accident) . The furniture was dragged out of the houses or destroyed ; women were violated. All imaginable kinds of tor- tures and cruelties were perpetrated on the Jews. Even children of six weeks were slaughtered. The number of dead amounts to from 1,500 to 1,800. More than 100 houses were burned down. The pogrom in Kiev was also terrible. On the 14th of October the city was again occupied by the Bolsheviki. Two days later they were driven out by the volunteers. Hardly had the city been cleared of' the Bolshevist troops when an organized pogrom set in which lasted five days, from the 1 6th to the 20th of October. The plundering bands consisted for the most part of soldiers, who went from house to house and robbed, tortured, violated and mur- dered. The heart-rending cries of the victims were of 112 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE no avail. No one came to their assistance. All the money and valuables that the bandits were given as ransom they put in their pockets, and kept on all the same, murdering men, dishonoring women and then killing them in a brutal manner or throwing them from the fifth and sixth stories into the street. Many were thrown into the Dnieper and found their death there. The number of killed is given at 500 to 600, the ma- terial loss is estimated in hundreds of millions of dollars. When the pogrom had reached its highest point, the organs of the Black Hundred, "Vechemiye Ogni" (Evening Fires) and "Kievlianin," published provoca- tory and, as was shown later, knowingly untru^tate- ments to the effect that the Jews had shot at the troops as they were retiring before the Bolsheviki. In "Vech- erniye Ogni" data were given indicating the time of the shooting, the house from which it was done and sometimes the person who did it. An investigation undertaken by the "League to Combat Anti-Semitism," with the active cooperation of the Mayor, Ryabtsov, the magistrates, Butenko and Zagorsky, the high priest of the Greek Catholic Church, K. M. Agayev, the woman physician, Potkanov, the city commissioner Zanubin and the representatives of various public, trade and socialist organizations, showed that not one of the alleged facts stated in the papers was true. In many cases there were no such numbers as those mentioned in "Vecherniye Ogni." The military censor canceled the articles which were brought to the above named paper for the purpose of fanning the pogrom sentiment, and struck out the re- ports of other papers about the participation of the troops in the pogrom and the horrors that had been THE DENIKIN REGIME 113 committed. It is needless to say that no legal steps were taken against the instigators when the falsity of their reports became clear. The terrors of the Kiev pogrom and the cynically clear and definite explanation of the causes of this as well as the other pogroms that were perpetrated by the volunteer troops are shown in their most terrible pre- cision and clearness in the article of Shulgin, "The Torture of Fear." The Torture of Fear At night there moves in the streets of Kiev an awful medieval spirit. In the general stillness and emptiness of the streets there suddenly breaks out a heart-rending cry. It is the cry of the Jews, a cry of fear. In the darkness of the street there appears a group of "men with bayonets." At their sight gigantic five and six- story houses begin to shriek from top to bottom. Whole streets seized with mortal anguish scream with inhuman voice and tremble for their life. These awful cries remind one of the night of the revolution. Naturally this fear is exaggerated and assumes, from our point of view, senseless and degrading forms. Nevertheless it is a real anguish, a real "torture of fear" which has come upon the Jewish population. The government fights, as far as is in its power, to prevent robbery and murder. But the Russian popula- tion who hears this horrible groaning which bursts from the breasts of the Jews under the "torture of fear" thinks its own thoughts. It is thinking. Will the Jews in these nights of terror learn some- thing, will they learn what it means to incite the classes against each other according to the recipe of the "great 114 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE master, Karl Marx" ? Will they understand what is socialism, from whose bosom have come the Bolshe- viki? Will they understand what it means to realize in Russia the principle of the rule of the people ? Will they understand what they must now do? Will they go to their synagogues and before all the world pro- notmce a curse upon all those Jews who had a hand in all the confusion? Will the mass of the Jewish people withdraw from the "Fathers" of the "new" regime with the same passionateness with which they attacked the old regime ? Will the Jews beat their breasts, cover their heads with ashes and repent before all the world that the sons of Israel took such active part in the Bol- shevist madness? Will the Jews found a league to combat socialism? Or will everything remain as be- fore after these dreadful nights full of anguish, and as before will they form a "League to Combat anti- Semitism," senselessly denying well-known facts, and thus still more inflaming anti-Jewish feelings? The Jews have two ways before them. One is to confess and repent. The other is to accuse every one else but themselves. Their fate will depend upon the way they follow. Is it really possible that the torture of fear will not show them the right way ? Shulgin. This article places Jewry before the following dilemma: They must either repent, i.e., take upon themselves all the sins of the Soviet government before the volunteer army and their leaders, or they must per- ish. The Denikin government had really devoted the Jews to destruction. And in this they found moral support in the Cadet party (Constitutional Demo- crats). This party of the humblest opposition to His THE DENIKIN REGIME 115 Majesty (the tsar) forms, in the excellent characteri- zation of Maxim Gorky, a sore, consuming the Rus- sian intelligentzia, for they adapt themselves to the absolutist regime of Rasputin and Shekheglovitov, who brought the country to the brink of ruin. The party which called itself in Siberia the "party of the coup d'etaf proved to be an ultra-reactionary party in the Ukraine. In the Ukraine the Cadets sup- ported from the very beginning the Ataman Skoro- padsky as soon as this stage-dictatorship came into be- ing with the help of Baron von Mumm and German bayonets. The main leader of the party, Pavel Niko- laievich Miliukov, approved of this act and at once went over from a pro-English to a pro-German policy. In the south of Russia the central committee of the party, as well as the party as a whole, were the only "moral" support of Denikin, whose predecessor Alex- eiev had also been supported by them. The Cadet party demanded a "military dictatorship." Miliukov de- clared that the Russian democracy was not able to organize the state and a military dictatorship alone was able to do this. The party yielded to the will of its leader, and demanded that all power be taken over by the volunteer army and that all democratic organi- zations, the provincial and city administrations, etc., should renounce all independent policies and all inde- pendent activity as organs of force, for "the time demands a military dictatorship." This party, which was so proud of its liberalism and had Jews also among its leaders, took the standpoint of Shulgin in respect to the pogroms. Their attitude to the Jews is the same as that of the author of the terribly candid article ex- cept that they are not so frank and cover their thoughts with a pharisaic cloak. At the party conference of ii6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the 19th of November in Kharkov, where all the organizations of South Russia and the Ukraine were assembled, the following resolution was adopted on the Jewish question (taken from the Warsaw Jewish paper, "Moment," of the 14th of December, 1919) : "The Kharkov conference of the party for popular freedom (Cadets) expresses the conviction that Jew- ish pogroms are undesirable not merely from humani- tarian considerations, but also from the point of view of the great purpose which the volunteer army is fight- ing to realize. At the same time the conference repudi- ates every suspicion that the deeds of violence are not counteracted by the competent authorities. The con- ference considers it its paramount duty to approve a whole line of means and measures undertaken by the government for the prevention of pogroms and the protection of the innocent population. The Jewish pogroms," the resolution continues, "are a consequence of the general demoralization due to Bolshevism as well as the result of direct incitement by Bolshevist agents in their attempt to create confusion behind the front. The reasonable and the leading circles in Jewry must carry on a bitter and unrelenting fight against all elements in Jewry who take active part in the Bolshe- vist movement and thus are guilty of a wicked and criminal deed. Russian Jewry must understand that if absolute and unconditional support is not given to the national dictatorship and the volunteer army, who are restoring Russian political life, there is no source of safety left. Nothing but a strong order based on law, such as the national government administration is en- deavoring to establish, can guarantee the security of all citizens of Russia without distinction of nationality or religion." THE DENIKIN REGIME 117 If we add to this that in the Cadet organ "Svobo- dnaya Rossia" (Free Russia) anti-Semitic articles of the not unknown Mr. Nashivin were published, in which the proposal is made to declare all Jews foreigners, the picture becomes clear. The first para- graph of the resolution does not change the matter in any way. To be sure, the party (just like Shulgin) is opposed to pogroms if the Jews will unconditionally support the volunteer army and the national dictator- ship which aim to exterminate these very Jews. The civil war pulled down the last remains of the liberal veil which covered the lean forms of the "Party for the Freedom of the People." The People's Social- ist, N. Tchaikovsky, member of the Russian delegation in Paris (of the foreign representatives of General Denikin and Admiral Kolchak), said in an interview with the correspondent of the "Moment," the Jewish paper of Warsaw (No. 15, Jan. 18, 1920), that the Cossacks "merely" committed robbery, and had no part in murders; that the horrors committed by, Makhno and Grigoriev as well as by the insurrection- ary freebooters were unjustly charged against the vol- unteer army and General Denikin, while it was the former whose aim it was to exterminate all Jews. Tchaikovsky declares categorically that Denikin and Kolchak were against pogroms and that they had even issued an order prohibiting all anti-Semitic agitation. The Bolsheviki, he says, utilize all excesses and give exaggerated accounts of the pogroms. (In this re- spect his statements completely agree in method with those made by the foreign representatives of the Pet- lura government, who denied that the pogroms were made by them and pointed to the deeds of horror com- mitted by the volunteer army, remarking at the same Ii8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE XJKRAINE time that the Bolsheviki grossly exaggerated the pog- rom excesses.) Under the influence of "foreign opinion" Admiral Kolchak gave the following "liberal" interview to an American journalist : "You may be a.ssured that in Siberia there is no anti-Semitism and no so-called Jewish question. Those Jews who have lived long in Siberia are regarded as having the same rights as other members of society. In so far as anti-Semitism is to be met with there, it comes from the outside, from Russian fugitives. In any case the influence of anti- Semitism is very insignificant in that part of the world. When we have conquered Bolshevism, the senseless charges that all Jews are Bolsheviki will disappear. The average Jew is more loyal and more conservative than the Russian middle class. And if the Jewish peo- ple are to be made responsible for the deeds of Trot- sky, Sverdlov, Joflfe, etc., then the whole Russian people must answer for the activity of Lenin, Kry- lenko and Lunacharsky." ("Dalnevostotchnoye Obozrenye" — "View of the Far East," of Sept. 21, 1919; taken from "Le Temps" of Dec. 14, 1919). Kolchak could easily express himself on the "Jewish Question" for there are no Jewish masses in Siberia and there could be no pogroms there. Deeds of violence were committed there also, and some of them were perpetrated against the pure Russian peasants. The matter of pogroms was not so simple as the explana- tion of General Denikin and other responsible leaders of the volunteer army would make us believe. News about pogroms reached the foreign press which could not be passed over in silence. The chief of the Kiev precinct. General Dragomirov, had a conversation with representatives of the military and administrative THE DENIKIN REGIME 119 authorities in which, among other things, he said: "Excesses have taken place in a whole series of locali- ties in which the Jews had to suffer. The chief com- mander has taken decisive measures to prevent a repeti- tion. All those whose guilt has been discovered were handed over for court martial, and the same will be done in the future. But repressive measures alone are not enough. Preventive measures are no less important. The ignorant masses must be made to understand that the Jewish nation cannot be held responsible for crimes of the Jewish Bolsheviki, that innocent persons must not be punished for the sins of other guilty persons. Care must be taken that the Jews should separate themselves from the Bolsheviki and their sympathizers and that the ideas propagated by the volunteer army should be circulated among them." This conversation was published in "Svobodnaya Rech" (Free Speech), a paper appearing in Rostov, and had apparently taken place a short time before. Directly after the conversation, when the Bolsheviki had held Kiev in their hands for two days, this was laid to the charge of the entire Jewish population, which had to expiate this offence under an organized slaughter of the "men with the bayonets." And this massacre was not prevented by the telegram sent by Denikin in Odessa to the chief commander of the Kiev military district. The telegram read as follows : "I have received new reports of violence perpetrated by the troops against the Jews. I order that proper meas- ures be taken to suppress the excesses. ' Most severe penalties ^ust be imposed upon the guilty. Signed: Denikin." ("Svobodnaya Rech," Rostov, October 16, 1919). This telegram did not, however, prevent the 120 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE educational experiment, which was intended to teach the unhappy Jewish population that they must not des- troy "a state that they did not create" and must not "realize the principle of the rule of the people." The pogrom lasted till the 20th. Systematically, methodi- cally, step by step, house by house, street by street, the Jewish population was killed, violated and extermi- nated. Of counter measures there was not a trace. Reports by opposition papers of the participation of the troops in the pogroms were not allowed by the censor. The instigators of the "Kievlianin" and the "Vecher- niye Ogni," who incited the troops to violence not merely against the Jewish population in general, but also against the inhabitants of definite streets and houses and against definite persons, were not taken to account in any manner, although their acts were in vio- lation of definite articles of the criminal law. Savenko continued his dirty work and remained in his position as "Chief of Propaganda." The telegram of Denikin is a typical example of political hypocrisy, a document to mislead foreign opinion. To summarize, the pogroms instituted by the volun- teer army of Denikin took people's breath away by their inevitable necessity, the exactness with which they were carried out and, as is correctly said in the "memorial," by their systematic execution. In this way they are differentiated from the pogroms which were charged to the Directory of Petlura. The pogroms instituted directly or indirectly by the Directory and their responsible agents did not arise on the ground of hatred for the Jewish masses as such, and are not connected by the representatives oT the national Ukrainian movement with the prejudice that XHE DENIKIN REGIME 121 grew on the ground of feudalism. The unconscious antipathy against the Jews as such and the instinctive anti-Semitism were, on occasion of need and in con- sequence of political and in part military circumstances, transformed into an "actual method." The occupation of the Ukraine by the Bolsheviki made of this means an almost uninterruptedly working system. The ex- pulsion of the Bolsheviki from the Ukraine caused the Directory to give up this two-edged weapon and to look for support in the Jewish socialistic party of the right. At the end of August the Rada of the people's ministers as well as the chief Ataman expressed them- selves decidedly against pogroms and even took prac- tical measures to combat them, all of which naturally did not exclude the possibility of a renewed use of this terrible fighting instrument in case of political necessity. The victorious national-Ukrainian move- ment did not take refuge in pogroms. Quite different must be the political estimate of the pogroms of the volunteer army. They were not merely a political means but also an act of retribution, "for the dishonored and violated Russia." Not only the political leaders, but almost all ordinary officers of the volunteer army were filled with hate and thirst for revenge. The old spirit of caste in the officer corps of the tsarist period was strengthened by the feeling of revenge called forth by the destruction of thousands of persons close and related to them in consequence of the Red Terror, which they ascribed to the "Jewish Extraordinary Commission." The same thing applies to the agitation of the Black Hundred in the official "Osvaga" as well as to journalists like Shulgin and Savenko. With the increasing power of the volunteer army 122 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the pogroms gained in extent. Reaction increased as the power of the government grew firmer. The vic- torious regime of Denikin advanced over the dead bodies of the Jews. The most terrible thing about the Denikin pogroms was the apparent durabihty of the government. The institution of the Batko was felt to be the work of robber bands, the attitude of the Directory was re- garded as that of a weak and temporary government whose residence was in some out-of-the-way city like Vinnitza or Kamenetz-Podolsk. But a great part of Ukrainian Jewry believed in the permanence of the restoration government, which was based upon inter- national recognition and actual military support by the Entente. This created a completely hopeless and des- perate situation. And the more so because the upper as well as the middle classes of Jewry had cherishedi certain illusions with regard to this government as the means of restoring legal order, which would put an end to civil war and make it possible for tortured Ukrainian Jewry to lead a tolerable life. CHAPTER VI SELF-DEFENSE The Attitude of the Several Groups of the Christian Population to the Pogroms. The watchword "Self-defense" played a great role in its day; in the tsarist period it was regarded as revolutionary. The pogroms of the eighties took place without meeting resistance by the Jews, who as in the middle ages looked upon it as an unavoidable punishment of Heaven. Young and old hid in cellars and lofts and did not venture in the daylight until the danger was over. So also in the Kishinev pogrom in 1903, which was enacted by the dictator Plehve as a method for intimidating the Jewish socialist youth. It was after this pogrom that the Bund for the first time gave out the watchword "Self-defense." Under the condi- tions of the time it proved to be pretty effective and even led to definite positive results. Up to the year 1905 the pogroms were organized according to a definite plan. At the instance of the police department, the governors with the help of the heads of the police staged the "popular indignation and revolt against the Jews" by means of a crowd con- sisting of disguised policemen, domestic servants, police spies and well-paid city hoodlums. By reason 123 124 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE of the comparative weakness of the opposition and revolutionary movement at that time, the tsarist gov- ernment took pains to preserve a measure of decorum before western Europe, and the police as well as the military remained neutral. It was therefore not diffi- cult to offer resistance to the cowardly and more or less drunken crowd, who thought themselves quite secure. At the first shots the crowd dispersed. On the purely technical side the pogroms were so organized that the actors were divided into small groups, every group taking a different street. By organized recon- naissance the defenders could block their way. A few shots in the air sometimes and the pogromists would scatter. So it was during the pogrom in Gomel, where the Self-defense organized by the Bund played a very important role. Quite different is the character of the pogroms in the years 1905 and 1906, in which the participation of the authorities is clearly evident. In South Russia as well as in other places the pogromists were surrounded by armed policemen and sometimes soldiers, who de- fended them against all attacks of the "Self-defense divisions." The latter were prevented from getting to the places where the pogroms were going on, or they were shot at when they came near. The former type of self-defense (primitive groups armed with revol- vers, knives, etc.) were no longer adequate to offer resistance. It was now necessary to organize properly armed divisions. So it was in Riga in the year 1905. The pogrom, in which the police and the army partici- pated, was stifled in its very beginning by armed Let- tish divisions, who were essentially disciplined, revolu- tionary war divisions. Where such divisions did not exist, the pogroms, which had the character of military SELF-DEFENSE 125 punitive expeditions (Siedlce, Bielostok), passed off safely for the actors. To be able to offer resistance it was no longer sufficient to have Self-defense in the technical sense of the word, but it was necessary to haye an organization of military divisions, a thing which was impossible except in localities where certain conditions obtained, in which such things as open armed insurrection occurred (in the Baltic provinces). A summons to Self-defense necessarily meant under such conditions a call to an armed uprising. From the foregoing chapters can be seen the char- acter of the pogroms in the Ukraine in the year 1919. Since their purpose was the destruction of the Jewish nation according to a concretely worked out plan and by means of armed regular troops or insurrectionist bands which were likewise armed to the teeth, it was necessary in order to fight against them to create an army similar to that of the aggressors. From the sad chronicle of events during the pogroms in the Ukraine it can be seen that in the great majority of cases it was only after a temporary defeat of the aggressors that the pogrom in each case came to an end. Some- times, as we shall see later, the cessation was due to the assistance of the Christian elements of the popula- tion. At the beginning of the pogrom wave the Jews had recourse to the old method of protection, namely brib- ing the commanders of the various divisions. By paying a considerable sum to the authorities it was sometimes possible to buy one's safety (as was the case in Kremenchug). Often, however, this was not suc- cessful. The money was taken and the massacres went on nevertheless. Nay it was worse in such cases, for the Jews believed they were safe and did not hide. 126 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE So it was in Felshtin (Government of PodoHa). When the Jewish community heard of the frightful massacres in Proskurov, they began to negotiate with the commander of the miHtia about taking measures for protection, gave him 15,000 rubles and promised a valuable set of furniture besides. He promised that he would invite the security police of the village Po- richie to support his soldier militia. And in fact the security police actually appeared the next day. But their activity consisted in not allowing any Jews to leave the place, so that the latter fell into a trap and were cut down in considerable numbers. In a number of cities Self-help was organized. The fate of this organization is very instructive. In Kremenchug the union of Jewish soldiers organ- ized a volunteer security police numbering about 1,000 men. During the first pogrom in Yelisavetgrad a portion of these, about 200 men, proceeded thither and brought the pogrom to an end. This security police consisted mainly of Jews, but there were Christians in it also. It was under the command of Grag. During the second pogrom in Yelisavetgrad the security police no longer played any role. This time the resistance came from the Committee of Public Safety which controlled a sufficient number of defend- ers. They had 22 men killed (8 Jews and 14 Chris- tians) and about 30 men wounded. During the third, genuinely military and most frightful pogrom, which was carried out by the bands of Grigoriev, no security police could do anything. On the day after the pogrom the union of metal workers and the members of the peasant congress organized the class-conscious workmen into a division for the protection of the city. A number of automo- SELF-DEFENSE 127 biles with armed workmen passed through the city. The soldiers and sailors thought that this division was organized by order of the staff. But when they found out the next day that no such order had been given, they began to kill the Jews. The Jews, who had come out of their hiding places, thinking that the pogroms were over, could not hide themselves so well on the third day, and the number of victims on this day was therefore particularly large. The infuriated bandits murdered whole families and spared neither old men nor infants. On representations being made by the unions of metal workers and the president of the peasant con- gress to the staff of the troops of Grigoriev, the pog- roms were checked. We see from this case that the volunteer organiza- tion of the security police was not able to offer resis- tance to the troops. The same thing is shown in the pogroms of Golovanevsk and Alexandria. Golovanevsk is situated in the government of Po- dolsk on the boundary of the circuit ,Uman, in the government of Kiev. This place had gained legendary fame among the Jews by reason of its well organized Self-defense, composed of several hundred young Jews who had guns, machines guns and even bombs. The surrounding peasants had respect for the Self-defense of Golovanevsk and did not dare to attack the place. The Self-defense succeeded even in driving away a band of 1,000 to 2,000 men. But even this "safe rampart," in which by reason of its safety more than 2,000 fugitives had gathered from the neighboring pogrom-visited places, was powerless when the strong band of Sokolovsky appeared. The Self-defense could not offer adequate resistance, and in the course of a 128 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE half hour about 200 Jews lay dead in the streets. The band killed all who came in their way. The same fate befell the "Workmen's Fighting De- fense" in Alexandria, at the time of the second attack of Grigoriev on the 27th of June. The Defense con- sisted of 600 men, of whom 300 were trained in arms, while the other 300 were just learning to shoot. They stationed watches every day. The suddenly appearing band of Grigoriev met a division of only 40 men. These resisted them in a four-hour fight and lost 11 men killed. The remaining members of the Defense did not appear at this moment when action was im- perative. But they would not really have made any change in the general picture of the pogroms. After the pogrom the members of the Defense fled, fearing the vengeance of Grigoriev's bands. Very instructive in this regard is the history of the pogrom which was instituted by the troops of Petlura in the city of Rovno on the 21st of May, 19 19 (Com- munication of A. Cherkassky). Petlura's armored train "Streletz" came into the city. About 12 o'clock midnight pillage began in some streets, especially in the "Volya," the Jewish part of the town. The soldiers who came in the armored train went from house to house and took money, valuables, clothing and other things. . . . Everywhere one heard heartrending cries. ... A group of young Jews who were in a house waited for daylight, armed theriiselves and re- solved to offer resistance to the pillagers. Being ten in number they ventured to enter into an armed fight with the bandits in the "Volya," where the pillaging was going on. In one hour they had cleared a few streets (Dubenskaya, Alexandrovskaya, Novakovskaya and a part of the Minskaya) of the bandits. At the same SELF-DEFENSE 129 time they caught two soldiers and shot them. The suc- cess of this group encouraged the male inhabitants of^ the adjacent part of the town, who gradually grew into a Self-defense. They divided themselves into groups of 6 to 8 men and covered the whole suburb Volya. The Self-defense so created in the Volya forced the bandits to go back to their train. In a half hour stronger divisions of plunderers were sent from there to the Volya, who took up the fight against the Self-defense. To help the bandits drive away the Self-defense, they shot into the Volya with cannon from the armored train. It is clear that the Self- defense could not withstand such force and had to withdraw, which they did in good order. . . . When the bandits had driven away the Self-defense, the pil- laging of dwellings and shops began again. A few persons who had nothing that could be plundered were put to death. We have treated the Self-defense in Rovno at such length because we find there both the stages of which we spoke above, namely the stage of resistance to groups of bandits who do not feel quite secure and are therefore cowardly, and the other stage of the military pogrom, which it requires an organized military power to oppose. It is true that the Self-defense succeeded in a number of small places, situated away from the pogrom wave, in driving away the small local bands (Bogopolie, Golta, Golovskov, Krivoie Ozero), but this does not change the general position of Jewry, given up to destruction. The need felt for protecting themselves was very great. The masses of Ukrainian Jewry were filled with the desire to defend their lives with arms, or at least to sell them dear, and to avoid disgraceful death in I30 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE some cellar or loft. In Zlatopol for example (Govern- ment of Kiev), the survivors of the pogroms were gathered at the station, as they feared another pogrom. They were defenseless and could not even save them- selves by flight. They ran hither and thither but there was no help any-where. Their leader, Mr. Romsen, sent telegrams in all directions, Kiev, Odessa, Yelisa- vetgrad. He asked for a division of defenders or at least for arms for self-defense, but there was no answer from anyvi^here. According to his communication, old men, women and children cried with one voice, "We want nothing. We are hungry and barefoot, but in- stead of bread give us protection, give us arms !" They asked for arms in the name of those 250 volunteers who entered the Red Army; they said, "Give their fathers and mothers the possibility of arming them- selves, so as to die honorably at least." This was their only wish. If they must die, let it be at least with arms in their hands and not in a cellar. Yet arms, too, would scarcely help the unfortunates. But they were not to be had ; there was not enough even for the army which protected the population against the at- tacks of the bands. Equally unsuccessful were the attempts to organize purely Jewish military divisions. In Skvira, after the first pogrom, when the same band appeared again, the "Ispolkom" (executive committee of the Soviet) quickly organized a Jewish military division of 900 men. There were also a number of workmen among •them and members of the Red Army. Thirty men fell in battle, and they had to withdraw together with the Soviet division. Thereupon the insurrectionists took possession of the town. This came out very clearly in the pogrom in Cher- SELF-DEFENSE 131 kassy. This case being extraordinarily important, we shall deal a little more at length with the statements of a member of the left flank (the Jewish). On the 15th of May at daybreak the Soviet troops left the city. In consequence of the unsafe situation at the front, the staff ordered the organization not only of the com- munists but also of the trade unions. The Christian workmen withdrew from the meeting. The labor divi- sion going to the front consisted mainly of Jews. The sending of such a division excited new talk among the population incited by the reactionary officers and pogromists. This division occupied the extreme left flank. Their equipment was for technical reasons in- sufficient. The arms brought to the city could not, by reason of certain conditions, be kept at the front. Dur- ing the clash the soldiers of Grigoriev purposely al- lowed themselves to be captured and then developed an anti-Semitic agitation. They had a very definite theme : "Brothers are fighting against one another. There is no difference in our aims. It is the 'Jews and the Com- munists' who circulate reports that Makhno is coming with a great army. . . ." "This agitation," the wit- ness says, "was successful even among the members of the Red Army, despite the protests of the intelligent persons and of the whole party and labor division." The two partisan armies, the army of the Soviet and of Grigoriev, find a common speech and common feel- ings and sentiments (anti-Semitic). Between these two the purely Jewish division forms a wedge, as it were, which by its protest apparently represents the third party, which prevents the "brothers" from unit- ing. The union came to pass. During its retirement to the bridge, the Jewish division was pressed back to the premises of a sugar factory inhabited by a poor class 132 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE of laborers engaged in the factory. They already knew that the Soviet troops had suffered a defeat, for Grigo- riev's troops were already in the city (in consequence of poor information service, the Jewish division knew nothing of it as yet and withdrew too late). The majority of the local workmen armed themselves and opposed the retiring division. They shot at the men who were retiring to the bridge over the Dnieper. "Great numbers of men attacked them as they retired from their positions and killed them on the spot with stones, pulling them down from their horses. Young people and women, also, took part. They fired on them from the gates and from behind house comers as they withdrew to the Dnieper. They killed every one who looked like a Jew even if he did not belong to the Red Army. The Jews who were captured in their positions were at once torn to pieces. One division under the leadership of an officer met a body of prisorlers. He had the Jews separated from the Christians and shot the former on the spot. . . . Their bodies were mutilated as were those of the men killed at the sugar factory." The statements of this participant are fully confirmed by the account of the former president of the city Duma, V. Petrov. The latter said, "I know that the executive committee of the Soviet proposed to the trade unions to organize city guards, that a commit- tee was appointed, but received no arms or cartridges from the executive committee, since there were not enough even for the troops. Some of the members of the unions, mainly mechanics (needle makers, shoe- makers and others), went with the troops to the front, where they fought on the left flank near the sugar factory. When they retired on this flank the workmen SELF-DEFENSE 133 were killed almost to a man by the local population." From the tragedy of Cherkassy we may draw the conclusion that the idea of a Jewish legion advocated by some nationalistic groups of Ukrainian and other Jews is a political idea thoughtless and naive; practii cally, however, and in its realization it represents an enormous provocation which might lead to the complete annihilation of the whole of Jewry, for the Ukrainian peasants saw in this legion a union of Jews to destroy Christianity. The anti-Semitic front would have been very much strengthened by such a legion. The reader must not suppose that the whole Ukraine was divided into two camps, a Jewish and a Christian, and that Ukrainian Jewry was opposed by a closed anti-Semitic front. If this had been the situation there would be no trace of Jews left in the Ukraine. In reality the feeling of the peasants toward the Jews was subject to variation. The transition from an anti-Semitic attitude to active participation in anti- Semitic pogroms was for a considerable portion of the peasantry neither simple nor easy. Many years of living together in peace had struck deep roots, which could not so easily be pulled out even by the hurricane of civil war. The vacillating attitude of the peasantry is also shown in the fact above mentioned that Makhno's division once themselves made pogroms and then approved of the murder of Grigoriev by their Batko because "Grigoriev was a counter-revolutionist and organized Jewish pogroms." They discuss the question, and sometimes at length, whether they should begin a pogrom or whether they should continue a pogrom that had already begun. . . . When the bands of Makhno took Yekaterinoslav the first time (in November, 1918), they called a meeting at the 134 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE staff headquarters, of the responsible leaders of the several partisan divisions, where the question was dis- cussed almost a whole day, whether they should make a Jewish pogrom or not. There was much weighing of arguments pro and con. It is clear therefore that every circumstance which makes Jews appear in the specific role of an active, closed and organized body aggravates their position and makes the masses of the Jews who are not scattered among the Ukrainian peasantry, «ven more defenseless than before. The peasants often distinguish between "their" Jews, whom they have known a long time as honest people, artisans and traders, and the "strange" Jews who, in the inciting words of the provocators, introduce the terrible commune. This can be clearly seen in the country town of Ushomir, in the district of Korosten. The peasants of the surrounding villages came there all armed. There was such a crowd of peasants that they filled town and village. They came from all sides. . . . The peasants went from street to street. The Jews in their anxiety concealed themselves, but the peasants quieted them, saying that they had nothing against them, that they had in mind the town of Iskorost where the "com- mune" had made its nest, and that they had made up their minds to get even with those (the Jews of Isko- rost). But they called upon the Jews of Ushomir to join them, registered them and gave them certain "certificates" with seals at ten rubles apiece. They had in this way, so to speak, attached the Jews of Ushomir to their movement. The old peasants said to the Jews that they were forced to do this. The peas- ants not merely did not lay their hands on any one, they took nothing away from the Jews and paid for SELF-DEFENSE 135 everything they took. The peasants also actively de- fended "their" Jews against the bandits. There appeared in the town the vanguard of Soko- lovsky's band, five armed riders, who went to the market place and began to beat the Jews whom they met. These riders attracted attention at once by their brutal appearance. . . . Hearing of the disorder on the market place, the local peasants appeared, pro- tected the Jews and asked the Sokolovsky band why they had come. The riders replied that they wanted to get even with the Jews. The peasants then said to the riders that they should not dare lay their hands on a single Jew, for the Jews of Ushomir stood together with the peasants and that if a single Jew was harmed the riders would be called to account. The latter withdrew with the excuse that they "did not come to kill the Jews, but to take out the bombs which Petlura's men had thrown into the river." Soon the riders disappeared. This case is not the only one of its kind. In other places the local population took part in the pogroms, especially in the cities, where the reactionary element of the poorer classes and the officials in the south always were distinguished by their anti-Semi- tism. In Cherkassy, Uman, Zlatopol and other places, the local population played the chief role, especially in Cherkassy, where, as we have seen, the Jewish fighters on the left flank were torn to pieces by the local popula- tion of the factory precincts. In Uman we have the same phenomenon. On the third day of the massacres a procession took place with church banners, at the head of which marched the orthodox clergy, and the devotees passed the fresh bodies of the Jews shot or stabbed to death. But even in Uman there was a part 136 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE of the Christian population that was opposed to the pogroms. During the pogrom an assembly of the peasants was called by the insurrectionists. Here many Ukrainians spoke against the pogrom and in favor of the Jews. A Jewish delegation was received by the assembly who heard what they had to say. Under the impression of these speeches the assembly repudiated the pogrom and condemned the poorer classes, the clergy and the officials — the elements which, as the speakers showed, were alone responsible for the pog- roms. The peasants as a class, the speakers thought, took no part in the pogroms and massacres, and only in isolated cases did they allow themselves to be misled by the provocatory agitation of the Black Hundred. Even if the speakers exaggerated the role of the in- surrectionists, it is clear in any case that the peasants as a class were opposed to the pogrom in Uman. In the country town of Dubovo (Government of Kiev) at a meeting held at the residence of the captain of the insurrectionists, many peasants said in the pres- ence of the Jewish delegation that they had nothing against the Jews. In Cherkassy, a group of local public men, mainly members of the city Duma, tried at the beginning of the pogrom (May 17) to send a delegation to the staff of the Grigoriev troops at the station with the pur- pose of asking the staff to withdraw the soldiers from the city and prevent murder and robbery, but they could not do it on account of the bombardments which had begun. On the 8th (i8th?) of May they came to the staff in a first-aid wagon but accomplished nothing (one of the officers of Grigoriev said to the delegation that the Christian population need not be disturbed, for only the Jews were robbed and murdered). On the SELF-DEFENSE 137 same day a meeting of the inhabitants took place in the city Duma and a committee was appointed to see that the staflf issued an order forbidding arbitrary searching of houses, plundering and shooting, and ordering a control of the soldiers loafing about in the city. The committee which was elected at the follow- ing general assemblies succeeded in two very serious cases, in which many Jews were threatened with death, in saving the situation and proving to the staff the innocence of the Jews. Besides the delegation of the population a delegation of railway officials also came to Grigoriev's staff, protesting against the murders and the shootings. In Kremenchug, during the pogrom of May 12-14, which was instituted by the bands of Grigoriev, a com- mittee of public safety was quickly called together. They organized a defense consisting of Russian work- men, who succeeded in checking the excesses. In Yelisavetgrad it was shown, as we have seen, that the Christian defending force organized by the peas- ant congress and the unions of metal workers was not able adequately to check the pogrom. Soldiers, sailors and the city mob intensified their pogrom activity when they saw that the defense was a volunteer force and was not established by order of the government. The union of metal workers and the peasant congress then urgently implored Pavlov, the commander of the front, to put an end to the horrors, and this time they suc- ceeded.* In the evening an announcement was posted, dated the 7th of May, which began with the following words : "I have heard the voice of the representatives of the workmen and the peasants, and have decided to * Twice they appealed to the government in vain. It would not listen to them. 138 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE put an end at once to the destruction of the economic life." The frightful pogrom then ceased. During the pogroms a few representatives of the Christian intellectuals attempted to give protection. In Novo-Mirgorod the local clergy had a procession which marched to the pogromists while they were mak- ing their gruesome preparations for the pogrom (they were digging graves for the future victims, who hid themselves and awaited in despair their inevitable death) and tried to intercede with them, but in vain. The bandits would not listen to their admonition. To diminish the nimiber of Jewish victims the executive committee of the "Volost" had a great number of the Jews arrested together with their families (about 1,300 persons) and kept them in custody 89 days. This saved them from death. In Matusovo (Government of Kiev) the pogrom due to the reactionary agitation of the local intellectuals began with the watchword, "How long will you Jews continue to rule us?" In the com- munal assembly the question of continuing the pogrom was discussed. Two teachers spoke energetically in favor of protecting the Jews, pointing out that the power of the Jews had already been removed for the time being and that the survivors were poor unfortu- nate creatures. At first they were not allowed to speak. Even their colleagues turned against them and threat- ened to get even with them. But the peasants who had become sobered heard them and the pogroms were stopped. The active interference for defense by the Christian population caused the cessation of the po- groms even in those cases in which the massacres were organized by disciplined military forces who could be depended upon by the military authorities. This was the situation in Proskurov. The request of a group of SELF-DEFENSE 139 city deputies that the commandant put a stop to the po- grom had no effect. A session was called of the city Duma (a Jewish deputy was the only one who suc- ceeded in having this done). The chief culprits, Semosenko and Kiverchuk, participated in the meeting. Semosenko maintained that the Jews alone were re- sponsible for what was going on; that being mostly Bolsheviki, their purpose was to kill off the Gaidamaks and the other Cossacks. He said that he would con- tinue to act in the future as he had done in the past, as he considered it his sacred duty. Kiverchuk spoke to the ^ame effect. The city deputy Verkhpla replied to them. He addressed the Duma in a long speech in which he brought out that the things that happened in Proskurov were a disgrace to the Ukraine. He spoke of the meritorious deeds of the Cossacks in the past and pointed out that in the present case Semosenko had put robbers in Cossack clothes and made himself their cap- tain. Turning to Semosenko, he said, "You are fight- ing against the Bolshevists, but were the old men and children whom your Gaidamaks massacred, Bolshe- vists? You insist that only Jews are Bolshevists. Do you not know that there are Bolshevists among the other peoples too, even among the Ukrainians?" After the session of the city Duma there were no repe- titions of massacres on a large scale. Semosenko gave an order to that effect, although according to the origi- nal plan the massacres were to last three more days. Thanks to the efforts of Verkhola, who actually saved the Jews of Proskurov from complete destruction, Semosenko was recalled from Proskurov.* ♦ Concerning the personality of Verkhola, who played so im- portant a role in defending the Jews of Proskurov, see Appendix, p. 314. 140 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The Jews therefore were not alone in their fight for life in the midst of a raging sea. Many of the Chris- tian population were on their side. Not only in the first period of the pogroms, during the military pog- roms of Petlura and the so-called "Batkovschina," but also in the pogroms of Denikin, the best Christian ele- ments among the intellectuals as well as among the workmen took the part of the Jews, often risking their own lives in doing so. Hence that fearful hate in the above mentioned articles of Shulgin against the League to Combat Anti-Semitism, which was active in the Ukraine and gathered to itself the best Russian- Ukrainian intellectuals. There we saw clergy, pro- fessors, teachers an^ representatives of the liberal pro- fessions and of the working people. The assistance of the Christian population often led, as we have seen, to a pogrom being checked ; in many cases, too, it had no effect at all ; still it had an enor- mous moral significance for the Jews, who felt that they were not altogether alone and abandoned in their mortal terror before the approaching pogrom wave. CHAPTER VII POGROM PICTURES— A FEW EPISODES The insane tragedy which we are considering from the historical and political standpoint in order to lay- bare its roots and place the guilt, is so horrible that human speech is too poor in words to describe the infinite despair and hopelessness and the various phases of human misery which the Jews in the Ukraine have suffered. One single episode, the massacre in Novo- Mirgorod, is a sjTnbol of the entire tragedy, a living ex- pression of the frightful events. The bandits entered the town, armed and equipped for robbery, murder and rape. The Jews of the place in mortal anxiety had concealed themselves with their wives and children in the lofts and the cellars of the houses, in dumb despair and helplessness, and very likely also doubting the goodness of the All-high who allows such frightfulness to happen. The bandits made their preparations. A grave was dug in the Jewish cemetery. Lime was secured for those who, dreaming of life and love, expected a miracle. But no miracle happened. The murderers went from house to house, raping, beating and killing. They were followed by vehicles, on which were placed those who had not yet succumbed to their wounds. When loaded full, the vehicles were taken to the cemetery, where the living and the dead were thrown in without delay. The 141 142 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE graves were covered with lime so that when they were opened many bodies were no longer recognizable. The episode in Novo-Mirgorod contains the trag- edy of all Ukrainian Jewry, who live scattered thinly in many towns and villages of beautiful Ukraine. Novo-Mirgorod is a symbol. Everjnvhere the Jews felt the sword of Damocles of armed bands, freebooters, regular troops, Batki, and so on, and they saw the inevitableness of their fate and the certainty of their destruction. In despair the Jews looked for a way out. But there was none. Wherever they went they were overtaken by their fate and met a horrible death. In Cherkassy the city was fired on from with- out, while inside a band of murderers and plunderers went from house to house and killed all Jews. "The city was under fire continually. The shells exploded over the houses and only during the night the cannon- ading stopped for a few hours. The Jews, seeking safety from the shells and the bandits, fled from loft to cellar and from cellar to loft. Even now when I close my eyes I see these people, men, women, children, insane with terror, like a frightened herd of sheep, running now here, now there, not knowing where they should go or where it would be better for them. Just now they have gone up to the loft and think they are safe there. The cannonading begins. It is so horrible there: they can hear the whizzing of the shells dis- tinctly. So they flee to the sticky, dark and damp cel- lars. There it is really gruesome. The crying and weeping of the children confuses their understanding. The shooting stops. All stream out of the cellars into the yard and from there again to the loft. And so it goes during the five long, long days and nights. . . . and then . . . then you see dead bodies lying every- POGROM PICTURES 143 where in the streets, horribly disfigured bodies, lakes of blood. . . . And then you see again the mass graves opened, and the people trying to identify their friends and relatives by their buttons, by their mono- grams, for the bodies are unrecognizable You see the burial of the dead. . . . You hear sobbing, the long uninterrupted sobbing of an entire city." * In Rotmistrovka the entire Jewish population was driven into the synagogue, where 1,200 persons, men, women and children, huddled together in a heap, spent, without food and drink, endless hours of anxiety in fear of their lives. The bandits had a bomb ready to blow up the house of prayer. Only by a miracle did they at the last moment succeed in averting the disaster and buying their freedom.f The pogrom held full sway in Uman. Whole families were put to death, horribly tortured and slaughtered. Women were violated. All this was going on often in one half of the house, while in the other half inhabited by Christians, the inmates re- mained quiet and undisturbed, having pasted crosses on the walls and placed crucifixes in the windows. The pogrom finally came to an end, and by order of the Ataman Klimenko, the leader of the insurrection- ists, the freebooters drove the Jews together and told them to gather the bodies of the murdered in the houses and streets and load them on the wagons. They were taken to the Jewish cemetery and buried in three gigantic graves. The Jews were not allowed to dig individual graves, all had to be quickly thrown into the mass graves. While the Jews, thus collected, ♦See Appendix, pp. 248 ff. t See testimony of the authorized investigator, I. G. Tzifrino- vich, in Appendix, pp. 300 ff. 144 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE fathers, mothers, wives, brothers, sisters and children, were making the graves and weeping, they were in- sulted, scoffed at and mocked in every way by the in- surrectionists. Under threat of violence the women were forbidden to weep. A company of insurrection- ists passing the cemetery began to sing jovial songs as they saw the Jews burying their dead.* At every step one met the greatest moral corruption, the most refined torture, the evidence of sadistic incli- nations. The murderers were lost to all human feel- ing. Bloodthirsty animals were at work. This atmos- phere of corruption took hold of the young people and children also. The district agent of the relief com- mittee makes the following report : On the 9th of June a peasant brought to the Jewish hospital the two last Jews of Ladyzhenka (before the pogrom there were 1,600 Jews in that town). They were two young girls, frightfully mutilated, one with her nose broken off, the other with broken hands. They are now in Kiev, suffering not only from exter- nal injuries but also from venereal diseases contracted from their violaters. In Rotmistrovka a father and a son were shot in a house. The father was hanged later, and all this took place before the eyes of the mother and wife. The mother begged to be killed also. But the bandits re- fused, and as she kept on screaming aloud they drove her out of the house. In the same place when the bandits had taken everything out of a certain house, they put the whole family of four persons against the wall (the father, 65 years old, the mother of the same age, the son, 30, and the daughter 28). They began ♦ See Appendix, pp. 310 ff. POGROM PICTURES 145 with the daughter so as to take revenge on the par- ents. All were killed except the son, who as if by a miracle remained alive. In Slovechno the fiends stuck a four year old child on a bayonet and killed it. In Rotmistrovka a woman (the wife of the local Rabbi) fled with her children from the city. On the way she injured her foot. Her fourteen year old son, seeing his mother bleeding, asked some peasants to help her. One of them consented to take them to the neighboring village. He then took a pick and killed the mother. The two children of four- teen and five years respectively he wounded with the same pick. In the same town there was an old woman, a grandmother, her daughter and five grandchildren (the oldest child was seven years, the youngest six months old), who were looking for a place to hide. On the way they were all put to death. The children of three and one-and-a-half years had their heads split. The youngest of six months was left to itself and died of hunger the next day.* In Uman five Jews were killed in the fields. One of these, an old man with a white beard, was not killed at once, but met his death in a long agony and great torture. This attracted the attention of Christian children, who gathered around him and threw stones at him, thus hastening his death. Not far from there the bandits murdered a Jew, who fell down dead. He was then lifted up, tied to a tree and made a target at which the fiends kept shooting a long time. At the same time a mother, crazed with despair, killed her own child. In Rotmistrovka a mother fled with her children to the woods, thinking that there she * See Appendix, pp. 300 ff. 146 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE had found a hiding place. When she heard shooting she was seized by the fear that the cries of her eleven- months child might betray her and choked it with her own hands. There were at the same time also examples of most noble humanity, cases of self-sacrifice, of covering one's neigbhor with one's own breast. Cases are known in which persons were glad to accompany others out of this tearful valley of life and sorrow. It happened sev- eral times in Cherkassy that Christian servant girls put themselves in front of their masters to protect them. One of these was actually killed together with her mis- tress. In Uman a woman tried to protect her husband and her father with her own body, and received a bullet in the breast. The woman was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and on the following day gave birth to a boy, so that there were three dead bodies lying on the floor of the house, among them that of the husband and the father. In the same place a young pregnant woman tried to protect her husband and was killed by a bullet. The heroic death of the beautiful young woman affected even the murderer. In many houses which he visited later he said regretfully, "Ah, we killed a Jewess in the Kahan house ; how she looked at me before she died — I shall never, never forget the eyes of that Jewess." * In Trostianetz two young girls (the daughters of Beerman) hung on their father's neck and begged to be killed together with him. Father and daughters were tortured and killed in the most brutal manner. The same fate befell the two daughters of Mogilev, ♦See Appendix, pp. 314-315. POGROM PICTURES 147 who did not want to survive their father (testimony of Sandler).* All descriptions of cruelty in the world'sj literature pale into' insignificance before the horrors of the Jewish tragedy. This tragedy knows no shades, no high lights. All is equally horrible and frightful. . . . Terrible is the birth of a son from a wounded mother in a room where the father and the grandfather lie lifeless on the floor. Terrible is the plight of the son, who, seeing the torture and death of all his rela- tives, loses his reason. Horrible is the case of the mother who chokes her own child in order to save the others. Out of the enormous material collected by in- vestigators of the Ukrainian tragedy, in which every line reports Jewish grief, where' Jewish blood trickles from every paragraph, we will present only a few sketches and incidents, the testimony of eye witnesses who by a miracle escaped from hell where, however, they had to leave their friends and relatives. Who- ever has seen these tragic witnesses, who knew how to tell of the horrors they endured, with epic dignity, without coloring and exaggeration; whoever has seen their sunken, earth-colored faces, their eyes filled with insane sorrow and despair, having no desire for re- venge or life — must, like Lazarus in the gospel, lose the power to laugh; he must wander with a poisoned soul through the world, without finding a resting place. Involuntarily one thinks of the words of the poet: "Ye Clouds, if behind you in the depths of the blue the ancient God still lives on his throne though invisi- ble to me — I ask you, pray for me and my bloody fate ! I have no more prayer in my breast nor strength in * See Appendix, pp. 396 g. 148 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE my hands, nor hope How long, how long, how long!" (H. BiALiK, on the massacres.) Following are a few episodes selected almost at ran- dom. For in this tragedy everything is t3rpical. There are no exceptions. Every incident is an ex- ample of what hundreds of unfortunate towns and villages in the Ukraine had to undergo. They are all illustrations, essentially similar to each other and mo- notonous like the groaning and the weeping and the corpses and the graves. All is one great cry of the lie of life, and the shameless cruelty of man, who desires to gain power at such a price. I. Drownings in the Dnieper. a. Steamer "Baron Gunsburg." Testimony of Shifra Shklovskaya, 40 years old, Widow, Shopkeeper. Only Survivor. On the 7th of April I boarded the steamer "Baron Giinsburg" in Kiev. The steamer was going to the village Sukhovchi with a cargo of sugar. It was chartered by three Jews of Sukhovchi, who took pas- sengers on board on their own account. To be exact, I was sleepy when I boarded the steamer and did not observe the passengers on board or how many there were. I found a seat in a corner and sat there dozing. I was awakened by a noise. The Jews were terribly excited and frightened. "Nothing can be done, they are shooting," I heard, and at the same time came the crackling of arms and bullets penetrating the ship's POGROM PICTURES 149 side. I lost my head completely. The whole unhappy occurrence that took place after this has remained in my memory only partly. I saw, heard and did everything as in sleep. I still recall vaguely that the steamer reached the shore and five or six brutalized bandits, armed with weapons, rushed on board, stamped their feet and gave the order, "Jews here, Christians there!" The Russian passengers stepped aside. Then came a new order, "Women aside." The men were apparently taken on deck. If I am not mis- taken three women remained behind under the care of several bandits. Shortly after, the bandits who had gone on deck returned. We were then dragged on deck. We began to cry and lost our senses. The ban- dits first seized an old woman and threw her into the river just as she was. Then came I. I lost consciousness. I do not know how I succeeded in swimming down the river. I imagine I must have been carried down by the current. I felt swampy ground under my feet and clambered upon a small island covered with shrubs. How long I lay there I do not know. When I came to myself somewhat and looked around, I noticed that something extraordinary was going on on the opposite bank. There was shoot- ing, cries and alarms. I crept deeper into the sedge and lay there. My clothing stuck to my body, my limbs were numb and I felt an intolerable dryness in my mouth. So I spent two days and two nights. In the early dawn of the third day I saw a boat with two peasants in it. It was clear to me that lying there I should die anjrway, so I resolved to ask the peasants to take me to the opposite bank. The peasants agreed and brought me as far as the village Meshigorye. I entered the hallway of a convent and hid myself under ISO SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the steps. How long I remained there I do not know. When I opened my eyes, I saw a nun tending me. She was very kind, led me to her cell, gave me warm milk, took off my clothing to dry, placed me near the stove, stroked my hair and tried to comfort me in the kindest way. She kept me several hours. Then she told me to go, for the whole convent might suffer on my account. I went, but was afraid to look for the village. So I hid myself in the court- yard of the convent in the pig-trough, which was empty. I lay on the wet dirty ground, but here too my rest was not long. A peasant came with pigs. He did me no harm, but told me to go, for he was afraid. Such were the tortures I was exposed to for five or six days. I crept from one trough into another. and from one hole into another. What I ate I do not know, and if I know I cannot say it. In this way I was saved. In the village the bandits raged the whole time uninterrupt- edly. They shot, screamed, played accordions and sang merry songs until far into the night. Signed for the witness, who cannot write, Khassya Karpirovskaya. b. Steamer Kazak. Testimony of Bar Borukhov Mogulevich, 39 Years Old, Butcher. On the 7th of April I travelled on the steamer "Kazak" from Kiev to Chernobyl. Twenty-five Jews whom I knew were on board and about twenty Rus- sians. There was a rumor that armed bandits were also on board. But we felt comparatively safe, as among the passengers there were fifteen members of the Red Army with machine gims and a whole chest POGROM PICTURES 151 full of firearms. As we drew near Meshigorye our steamer was fired on. The military leader of Cher- nobyl, who was on the "Kazak," came out on deck and saw signaling from the shore with a flag. He thought it was a military signal for an inspection of the steamer, and ordered the captain to stop at the shore. When we reached shore about six or eight young men came on board armed with rifles and sticks, armed peasants wrapped in half-fur coats. Holding their weapons ready to shoot, they ordered, "The Russians step aside ; the Jews hands up !" The Russian passengers and soldiers separated from us, and we were instantly surrounded by the bandits. We were searched, our bodies were pinched and our clothes torn from our bodies. They took away all our valuables, such as money, watches, etc., and earrings from the women. A few more men came in village dress and armed like peasants, who divided us in pairs and drove us to the bank. There we found almost the entire Jewish population of the village Petrovichi, young and old, girls and women with children in their| arms. We were all huddled together. We learned from the Jews of Petrovichi that all of the Jews who were on the steamer "Baron Gunsburg" had been drowned. The Jews of Petrovichi had been seized in the night and had just been brought to the bank, also to be drowned. They said that the peasants had had a meeting in the evening to determine what they should do with the Jews. The old peasants, who had often been in the Jewish houses and had grown up with the Jews, said that the village should not take such a sin upon itself, recommending that the Jews should merely be expelled from the village, that their fate should overtake them at a distance, out of the 1 52 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE peasants' sight. But the young peasants insisted that now was a favorable opportunity, that they must not hesitate nor allow the Jews to escape them; that the Jews in the whole of the Ukraine were now being drowned and killed, and Petrovichi must not stand back. We were kept some time on the bank and then we were driven into the village. We tried to find out from the bandits where they were taking us. The answers were blows, an order to keep quiet and with a gnash- ing of teeth they said, "for examination." We were brought to the inn of the convent. It was still early, between six and seven in the morning. We were all shut up in a room and the shutters were locked. Soon there came armed bandits and many older peasants of Petrovichi. We were searched again. Anything that pleased them they took away. A little later a new band came and did the same thing. After a time there came a third. This lasted two hours, until we were stripped of all our clothing except our underwear ; and those of us who were unfortunate enough to have good underwear remained entirely naked. Among the peas- ants who came in there were many good acquaintances of the Jews of Petrovichi. The latter turned to those of the peasants whom they knew and asked them to save them. Instead of answering they searched with greedy eyes to see if there was not something else that they could appropriate. Among our visitors there were also some who explained indignantly, "You Jew- ish communists, you changed our holy houses of God into stables. In Kiev you killed our brothers. We will torture you as you tortured them." There were also some who told with special gusto how the Jews were being massacred everywhere, how their eyes were POGROM PICTURES 153 being gouged out and the women's breasts cut off, etc. It was clear to us that we were lost. We lay on the floor motionless and without a sound. The women did not even shed tears. Only here and there one heard a child cry or ask for something to eat. During the day twelve more Jews were brought in, who were caught in a boat on the river, and also the Jewish com- munist agitator Shapoval, who boarded the steamer with us at Kiev in the company of the members of the Red Army. Shapoval was brought in by a powerful fellow of middle age, wearing a red military uniform. As I learned later, this was Klimenko, the chieftain of the band. Shapoval told us confidentially that it was possible to come to terms with this man and buy our freedom. We fell at his feet, embraced and kissed him, begged for our lives and promised "mountains of gold." He said coolly, "Give me 30,000 rubles." The Jews of Petrovichi entreated, "Let two of us go to the village and we will bring you the money." "60,000 rubles," was the answer. "We will give you 100,000. Keep our women and children as hostages, let us go to the village and we will bring you the money." Kli- menko went away with the statement that he would come back later. In the meantime peasants came in and out, and when they saw the naked persons before them from whom there was nothing further to take they insulted us in the coarsest fashion. Klimenko came back. We began to hope again. We kissed his boots and begged him, "Let two of us go to the village and bring you the money." Klimenko heard the sob- bing and crying, accepted our kisses graciously and demanded 900,000 rubles. We promised. But he thought differently, asked us for the addresses that he might get the money himself and departed. The day 154 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE lasted an eternity. Then came night. Klimenko did not return. We were sure then that we were lost. We prayed to God, said our last prayer, the "vidu/' (con- fession), took leave of one another and sought each one of us a corner to collect our last thoughts. I found a block-book and a lead pencil and we began to write our wills. The paper was not enough for all, and many scratched their names on the walls of the convent inn. Our wills we gave to a very old Jewish woman. We felt sure that they would have pity on her. About one o'clock after midnight six bandits appeared, seized seventeen persons and bade them go with them. Even now I find it hard to tell what happened. The seven- teen persons took leave of us and went. Through the cracks in the shutters we could see that they were going toward the river. About an hour passed. The ban- dits came back and took a second batch of fifteen per- sons. Again some time passed and the bandits came to take the rest. Everyone clung to his nearest and to his relatives. When we were taken out it was already very dark. I went along with two friends of mine. We resolved to die together. We were taken on the steamer again. We felt that the steamer was pushing oiif from shore. The bandits seized one of my friends and led him out. I wanted to follow him, but was pushed back. I listened for a few minutes. Everything was still. Suddenly I heard a noise as of a tree trunk falling into the water. Then my second friend was taken out. Two or three min- utes later I heard the same noise. Now came my turn. I had nothing on but torn drawers and a "talis koten" (a prayer mantle worn over the shirt). I was led by two soldiers. One of them pulled off my "talis koten." I kissed the soldiers and begged them to give it back to POGROM PICTURES 155 me. I thought it might be useful in having me buried in the Jewish cemetery. But it was of no avail. I was taken out on deck. The soldiers had already taken hold of me. But I closed my eyes, called out, "Shma Isroel" (Hear, O Israel!) and jiftnped into the water. A wave threw me under the steamer. The steamer went on and I swam with the current. I was still con- scious and made for the left bank of the river, where Chernigov is situated. I have no idea how long I struggled in the water and what forces carried me. It seems to me that I had seized a tree stump in the river and made for somewhere, I know not where. My strength gave away entirely, when I noticed that the bank was near. I crept to the bank, rolled myself in the sand to get rid of the water which I had swallowed and to warm myself a little. Naked as I was I walked on in the cold damp night. I saw a fire gleaming and proceeded in that direction. Two peasants with boat rudders in their hands ran up to me and told me to stop. I begged them not to hold me back and told them that I was a butcher in a neighboring village and that bandits had attacked me on the road and robbed me. The peasants called some one. A man appeared, who asked me in Jewish who I was. My joy knew no bounds. I told him my name. The man threw himself around my neck. He was a good friend of mine. He talked the matter over with the peasants, with whom he was carrying fish for sale. They gave me room in their boat and covered me with a half-fur coat. In the early morning we came to the little village of Strakholessye. We came to a peasant hut. The peasant showed himself very kind, looked at me and shook his head in sympathy. He gave me old torn clothes and allowed me to warm my- IS6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE self near the stove. I thought that my life was no longer in danger, when two young peasants came in. "What, you have Jews here? There is an order to take them to the Stafif. In these days all Jews should be killed and drowned." The owner of the hut asked them to let us alone, seeing that God himself had saved us, and it would be a sin to mix in his afifairs. The young peasants were unconvinced and sat down. The peasant allowed us to escape through a window in the adjoining room and told us to run. We ran into the bushes, then into swampy land where human beings do not usually go. Wading in mud and water up to our waists, we looked for a place where there would not be a trace of a human being. Again and again we had to hide ourselves in the bushes when we saw armed men pass. There was a great deal in store for us yet. Finally we came to a factory, where Russian work- men gave us some clothing, warmed us up, gave us something to eat and provided us with a vehicle, which brought us to Kiev. There I became ill and was con- fined to bed for a considerable time. I remember that I found in the inn a note addressed to the alderman of the village of Petrovichi, in which it said, "Now all the Jews must be produced without delay." The note was signed by Lazarenko. Baer Borukhov MogulevicHj June 1st, 1919. Butcher in Chernobyl. Strakholessye is six versts from the village Pechki. There were nine Jewish families there. The village consisted of about three hundred houses. Most of the Jews are artisans. The relations between the Jews and the peasants were so good that Strakholessye was known for its friendliness to the Jews. Strak- POGROM PICTURES 157 holesseye did not give any volunteers to the gangs of Struk. Under the rule of Struk the peasants began to cavil at the Jews. Now the peasants have become sobered again. II. Town of Smela (Government of Kiev) a. Testimony of Cantor Gersh Zaslavsky,. 60 Years Old On the i6th of May, 1919, about seven o'clock in the morning, I came to the synagogue to pray. When I had put on my "tfilin" (phylacteries), two armed soldiers rushed in and called out, "Jews, get to- gether !" They began to beat us and drive us out of the synagogue (there were in all eight old men there). When I asked one of' the soldiers where they were taking us, he said, smiling ironically, "You communists will be taken to death." A few minutes later I found myself in the midst of 42 Jews, and we were told to proceed by twos. The insults and annoyances to which we were exposed are beyond description. One old man had his beard pulled out. In this way we were led along the main street to the Smela station. There a railroad car was standing ready, and we were or- dered to get in. We climbed in by standing on the shoulders of the others. The car was then locked up, and shifted awhile hither and thither. Then they began to shoot. After we had gone about three versts the car was finally opened. A man came in and threw us out one by one, shooting after each as he was thrown out. Terrible cries of "Shma Isroel" (Hear, O Israel) could be heard far away. The blood of those shot flowed into a brook nearby. I was the eighteenth. As by a miracle I fell alive among the dead. Dead men fell on IS8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE top of me and I swam in their blood. When the slaughter was over, a wild drunken voice called out, "Hurrah! all Jewish communists are dead. Comrade sailor (leader of the Grigoriev bands), what shall we do now?" "Go home," was the answer. "It is not worth while to use up any more bullets on the Jews." Before leaving, one of them said that he had noticed that one of the communists had good shoes on (he meant me). He took off my shoes, and to make sure that I was dead he stabbed at me with his bayonet. After the Grigoriev men left, I raised myself with great difficulty and looked around. Then I saw the frightful scene. The Jews who had been shot lay on the ground and the blood flowed into the river. Com- pletely exhausted I began to walk at random. Wading in water up to my neck I crossed the river and went into the woods. I came near a tree. Not far from this tree stood a man with a machine gun, shooting in the direction of the tree. I threw myself on the ground and pressed against the tree. Thus I lay 48 hours. In the evening I drank water from the river. A peasant came along. I asked him for a piece of bread. He refused. Another peasant came along and gave me a piece. When at last I came out of the woods to go home, I saw many wagons carrying loads of wood. I asked the drivers to take me under their protection, but they all emphatically refused. They would not even let me hold on to a board, though I was nearly ready to drop of exhaustion. With difficulty I reached home. Gersh Zaslavsky. b. Testimony of Dina Lif shuts, 32 Years Old On the eleventh of May, about three o'clock in the night, there was a knock at our door. Three men POGROM PICTURES 159 in military uniform came in and asked for arms. They searched the house, but found no weapons. Then they chased us all into a room of the sub-tenant and kept asking for arms. Ekhiel Lifshiitz, my father-in-law, affirmed on his knees that there were no arms in the house. Schlema Lifshiitz, a son of the old man, showed them a document which proved that he had only re- cently returned from a German military prison. At first this seemed to do some good. A few minutes later, however, they were all told to place themselves against the wall. One of the bandits gave the order to shoot. Schlema Lifshiitz fell dead. Ekhiel Lifshiitz was severely wounded. They wanted to kill me too. But one of them had pity on a five-months old infant that I was carrying in my arms. I remained alone in the room, which was overflowing with the blood of the men killed. Another band came in, and when they saw the severely wounded Ekhiel Lifshiitz, they began to shoot at him and at the dead body of Schlema Lif- shiitz. I sat for a time as if petrified. When I came to myself somewhat I noticed that Schlema Lifshiitz was still alive. I asked for medical assistance, but it was refused. I was compelled to take him to the hospi- tal, where he died three hours after the operation. DiNA LiFSCHUETZ, III. Cherkassy (Government of Kiev) a. Testimony of the Wood Merchant, Getzel Rot- mistrovsky, 59 Years Old On Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17, there were no excesses of any kind in Krasnaya street. We saw only the men who live on the river bank dragging i6o SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE stolen goods. People spoke of two or three murders, but they were regarded as accidental attacks. The inhabitants of the street became more and more anx- ious and began to look for hiding places. On Sunday May 1 8, at 6 o'clock in the evening, four military per- sons appeared in Rotmistrovsky's cellar, where a few neighbors had sought protection against the shooting, took money, rings, boots and shoes from the people and went away telling the people not to dare give the alarm. A half hour later they came back and ordered the men to follow them to the station. They quieted the weeping and praying women by saying that those who were not communists would suffer no harm at the station. The men, nine of them, left. On the corner they saw eleven more men under military escort. There were in all twenty men between the ages of 19 and 60, the old men predominating. On the way to the station, they insulted, tortured and beat them with clubs ; they were forced to sing songs, and were stripped to their underwear. When they were brought to the station, a man, whom Rotmistrovsky did not know, jumped out and cried, "What sort of a communist is Rotmistrovsky, why did you bring him here?" He seized Rotmistrovsky by the hand and pulled him away with great difficulty from the soldier who was escort- ing him and would not let him go. Rotmistrovsky wanted to beg for his children, 19 and 33 years old respectively, but his rescuer explained that now was not the time to intercede for anyone else, that his life was in danger, and pusheH him into a railway car. He locked the doors of the car and promised to get him home in some way. When he was alone and recalled the words of his saviour he understood what danger threatened the other nineteen men, his sons among POGROM PICTURES i6i them. He looked out of the upper windows and listened, but the noise of the drunken bands drowned everything else. After one or two hours Rotmistrovsky recognized by the light of a lantern Tkachtenko, a young peasant from the neighboring village, Russkaya Polyana, and asked him to let him out. The peasant also recognized Rotmistrovsky and threatened ito shoot him on the spot. After a time Rotmistrovsky observed to his horror that his car was moving in the direction of Smela. On the siding in Belozeria the train stopped and wounded men were put in and taken off. In Belo- zeria Rotmistrovsky again saw a peasant (an old man dressed like a peasant, but armed) and asked him to help him out, but the peasant paid no attention to him. In the early morning they came to Smela. He looked for acquaintances among the curious persons who were at the station but found none. Suddenly a military person stopped before his car. He was evidently sur- prised to see Rotmistrovsky. He brought him a sheet, wrapped him up in it and promised under all circum- stances to get him home. He was a commissar and had formerly been a longshoreman and knew Rotmis- trovsky well. A little later a Russian shoemaker who lived in Smela came to the car and said to Rotmistrov- sky that he had recognized him long before and wanted to help him out, but that he was prevented and was told that there was no pity for Jews. At Bobrinsky station they gave Rotmistrovsky a pair of trousers, a coat and rubber shoes and a certificate entitling him to go to Cherkassy. But they advised him to remain a few days in Smela, as they could not guarantee his life in Cherkassy. He followed their advice. Of the other nineteen who had been brought along with him to the station, only one survived. Wounded, he •I 62 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE secretly got away and reached home. All the others including the sons of Rotmistrovsky, the 33 year old Srul and the 19 year old Shier, were shot to death at the station. Getzel Srul^vich Rotmistrovsky. b. Testimony of a Man Who Escaped Death It was on Tuesday, May 20th, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. A division of soldiers was marching through the street, al'so bandits in civilian clothes. They stopped everyone they met and asked him where the communists were hiding. I lay in the cellar. A girl ran up to me and just had time to say, "The sol- dies are coming." Soon after two soldiers came up and began to persuade me to leave the cellar, for, they said, the pogrom was over and the men were ordered by the commandant to go to the station and be registered. As soon as their names were entered they would be freed. I came out. At the gateway sixteen Jews of various ages were standing, among them a venerable old man of sixty. We were taken to the station. We all had our documents ready, but there was no examination at the station. The soldiers chased us away from the tracks, stripped us of our clothing, leaving us in our underwear, and began to fire on us. The first who fell was Kanevsky, then the older Rotmistrovsky. What happened later I do not remember any more. About ten o'clock in the evening I regained consciousness. I had such pains in my bones and in the stomach that I lost consciousness again, but came to in a few min- utes. Dead bodies lay near me. I rose, my under- wear was all soiled with blood, and near me 1 heard the groans of a dying man. I summoned all my strength to get to the dying person. All around there POGROM PICTURES 163 was no one, it was quiet and the groaning was dis- tinctly audible, but I could not find the man. Again I lost consciousness. How long I lay there unconscious I do not know. But when I woke up I realized I was lying next to Kanevsky and it was he who was groaning. "Kanevsky," I said, "maybe you can get up and we will try to go home." "No," he replied, "I am dying. I beg you, find my son and put him next to me. I should like to embrace him be- fore I die." I found his son. He was dead. I moved the father near the son. He embraced him, burst into tears, heaved a deep sigh and died. Driven by fear, I suddenly began to run straight ahead without knowing where, but I kept on running. By some mira- cle I came to the bank of the river and from there I got home. In the morning I was taken to the hospital. It appeared that a shot had grazed the tissue of my stomach. M. N. c. Testimony of Niunia Krasnopolsky, Nine Years Old, the Only Survivor of His Family Saturday, May 17, at four o'clock in the morning, we were all at home. At our house were also our neighbor Maya Lyss, his wife, my mother, my little sister, my little brother and myself. One other neigh- bor came running to us; her husband had just been killed, she said, and asked us to take her somewhere. Our neighbor and I were going with her. We had no sooner opened the door than about fifteen or so bandits rushed in. "Where are you going?" said one of them and shot twice. Our neighbor was hit and fell. I ran into a room, our woman neighbor into an- other room, where she also was killed. The whole time I crouched under the bed and saw how one of the i64 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE band, dressed in a sailor's uniform, shot everybody. The soldiers were all quiet. They asked for no money and did not shout. They remained about five minutes. When they left, I crawled out from under the bed and saw that all were dead. I remained in the house. A little later another band came. I jumped out of the window and ran to the station. There I saw Jews being shot, and heard their cries. But I did not cry. I asked a boy to tell me in detail what he had seen at the station, but he said, "I cannot, it is too frightful." I collected cartridges as if nothing had happened, as if mama had not been killed. I had quite forgotten everything. Then I ran through the city and came to the river's bank. I went along the bank. Nobody touched me because they thought I was a Russian. A soldier came up to me, gave me a sack and said, "Go plundering." Then I began to run to my relatives', but all was in ruins at the house of one aunt as well as the other, and they were not at home. Finally I came to the third aunt and there I remained. NiuNiA Krasnopolsky. d. Testimony of Terpiansky Saturday, at nine o'clock in the morning, there was a knock at the house of Boganovsky. He would not open. Then they began to break the doors in. Seeing this, Boganovsky opened the door. Six soldiers came into the room and asked for money. The women had hidden themselves under the bed. One of the soldiers must have noticed it, for he pulled the women out from under the bed by their legs. After he had pulled them all out, they were told to go out into the yard. There the women had to lie on the ground while the men had their money taken away. After they had POGROM PICTURES 165 taken the money from Boganovsky they placed him against the wall and fired on him. One shot went through his hand, the other grazed his head. The women raised a terrible cry. The bandits began to fire on the women. Boganovsky meanwhile was left in peace. He lay half unconscious and they thought he was dead. After they had murdered the women, the bandits attacked Mandel and Khazonov. They were taken out on the street. One soldier knocked Mandel down and shot him. K^hazonov fell down himself (apparently he fainted), and was shot as he lay. Khazonov left a son, who lost his reason as a result of the horrors. He lay the whole time under the bed and was not noticed by the soldiers. IV. Town of Dubovo (Government of Kiev) Testimony of Ben Yankelevich Tsukernik, 65 Years Old, An Innkeeper, Who Can Read and Write On the 17th of Jvme a man of Koziakov's and Popov's gangs, with arms in his hand, came into my beer house through the window and demanded money. On the approach of the gang I hid my family in the cellar. I, a feeble old man, remained in the house alone. I at once gave the man 100 rubles. Then an- other soldier came in, said he was the chief and ordered the first one to return the money. Soon others ap- peared and with the consent of the chief began to plunder my house. After they had taken away every- thing I had, they demanded that I, being a communist as they maintained, should go to the Staff with my 50 year old nephew Mendel Vinokur. The Staff were in the cellar of the Feldman house, where there were already a number of victims who had been brought to i66 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE be slaughtered. One after the other was taken into the cellar. The leader was an adjutant of Popov and Shevchenko. The order was "Cut them down, spare your bullets!" Near the door stood the two executioners, a Russian and a Moldavian, with drawn sabers in their hands. The command was, "One, two, three, strike !" As my foot touched the lowest step of the cellar, I received a stimning blow with a saber, one on my hand and one on my head. Although I felt that I was still able to stand on my feet, my instinct told me that it would be better to fall down into the darkness below farther away from my executioners. I fell on the wet, slippery floor soiled with my own blood and that of the others. With one foot I touched a body that was altogether unrecogniz- able. I began to feel about me. There were dead bodies all over. Near me there were twelve. Here and there you could hear low groans. Soon a new body fell on top of me. In the dark I recognized my good friend, the sixty-three-year-old Shmul Pasternak. He was groaning, yet he tried to touch me lightly, and whispered, "Sha, sha!" (Keep quiet.) Creeping along and pulling my friend with me, I got into the corner of a room and hid myself behind a barrel. In the short distance which I covered as I crept, I came upon severed hands and other parts of the human body, which I thrust away from me in horror. After an hour, which seemed to me a whole eternity, I heard calling, "Whoever is alive come out !" But I was afraid to utter a sound. After listening, however, more carefully I heard the lamentations of our women and mothers in the Jewish language and understood that the bandits must have gone away. It was in fact the peasants of our place who had come out POGROM PICTURES 167 of sympathy to carry us out. With great difficulty I took my friend on my back, came out to the exit and gave a sign of life. They pulled us out and took us into the fresh air. I was saved, I know not how. I was saved by a miracle. My friend died. My nephew who was seized along with me was, as was proved later, tortured and slaughtered in the most brutal fashion. I remember as I was being taken to the Staff, the executioners said to me that I would be at once cut down with the saber. I began to beg them and said it would be better if they would shoot me. Thereupon they answered, "It can't be done, we have been ordered to cut down with the saber." With these words they picked up a hand lying near, showed it to me and said, "You see, it is a pity to use a bullet." After these words, I received the blows on the head and the hand. Ben Yankelevich Tsukernik. July 9, 1919. V. Town of Trostianetz (Government of Podolia) Report of B. Sandler, President of the Temporary Soviet of Trostianetz In my home town, Trostianetz, unhappy and ruined forevermore, there was a belief among the people that on account of a blessing it once received from a saint there would never be pogroms or bloodshed there. The people were convinced of the truth of the legend, espe- cially during the last months when the bands of Petlura in their retreat swept away and destroyed ever}rthing, and yet comparatively spared our town and confined themselves to a partial pogrom and the destruction of i68 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE property. Some time passed. The population began to recover from the injuries and losses caused by the bandits. Again they thought of the good saint who with invisible eyes was protecting the welfare of the town. Life in the town flowed along normally and peacefully, when the Soviet power established its rule and the political department appointed a military-revo- lutionary committee, to which our town sent one of its representatives. Then came the ninth of May, and one of the greatest tragedies in the world was enacted in our town, which led to an unsparing extermination of almost the entire male population at the hands of the insurrectionary bands. When I begin to describe the bloody events of which I was an eye-witness from beginning to end, a shud- der takes hold of me. It is too much for me to bear, for wherever I look I see the same thing — ^blood, blood. From whatever side you approach the tragedy, from whatever angle you consider it, it appears frightful and gruesome both in regard to the acts of the fiendish intellectuals of the place, the insults and tortures which they inflicted upon their victims, and in regard to the organization and extension of the districts in which the persecutions took place, the diabolical thirst for blood exhibited by the mob and the secrecy of the plan which was hatched long before this unhappy day and was carried out obstinately to the minutest detail. Yes, it is too terrible to describe all this. I feel as if I were beginning to kill people myself. But it can not be helped. I shall have to carry my memories with me to the end. We, eye-witnesses, who saw those streams of blood; who heard the groans of the mar- tyrs; the weeping and wailing of hundreds of widows and orphans, of brothers and sisters and children; POGROM PICTURES 169 who for eight days heard the terrible tolHng of bells in all church towers; who saw the pogromists, execu- tioners with pitchforks, spades, axes, pickaxes — ^we who saw and heard all this, are marked men, men departed from life. An armed insurrectionary band came in like a flood, drove back the members of the Red Army, a part of whom ran to the station while the others joined the in- surrectionists. One heard the cries of the people who were seized by a wild panic, and the furious and unin- terrupted tolling of the bells, which struck fear into our hearts and announced a storm. I was seized by a terrible excitement and despair and hurried to the city. In the city the usual pogrom scenes were being enacted. From all sides men came running with arms in their hands. They robbed, they screamed, they scoffed, "Now where is your Red Army? Give up your arms or we strike you dead." This bacchanal lasted some time, until they began to pull out all men and boys, and beat them and carried them away. Some said they were going to be fined, others said they would be imprisoned and shot. In this way until eve- ning almost all the men had been captured, except those who knew how to hide themselves well. The town was like dead. The men who had been collected together and a few fathers, brothers, husbands and wives who came of their own accord were taken into the building of the former Commissariat. A frightful and anxious night descended upon the town. The stillness was as that of the grave, broken here and there by occasional shots and heart-rending cries. In the morning it became known that during the night the bandits had killed eighteen persons in their homes, among them two women. I70 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The following day the bands took up their pogrom activity in an intensified degree. They ran through the place, busied themselves with pillage and plunder, perpetrated a few murders, sought out concealed per- sons and took them to the building of the Commis- sariat, which together with the entire street was cor- doned off from the town, so that no one could get in or out. What fate was being prepared for the persons under arrest ; what they intended to do with them ; what they were preparing in secret when they began to dig that terrible grave of thirty-five "arshin" in length, which later received all those martyrs who had to spend thirty hours in the building of the Commissariat under the darkest forebodings, thirsty and in stifling air; what was going on behind the wall of the town — was veiled in deepest darkness. We only saw more armed men marching in from the neighboring villages. Besides, we all cherished the hope that surely they could not kill all those people who were taken to the Commis- sariat. No one had such horrible premonitions. That was a terribly sad mistake. The fate of the martyrs had been decided in advance. On the morning of the loth of May they began to dig their graves. The counter-revolutionists and monarchists of all stations and tendencies exerted themselves to the utmost on this unhappy day. They worked untiringly the whole night and the whole day, preparing the bloody events which began on the loth of May at five o'clock in the after- noon, and which will never disappear from the history of the people. At two o'clock in the afternoon the people assembled in the community house to decide definitely what to do with the "little Jews." Various opinions were ex- POGROM PICTURES 171 pressed. The numerous assembly was divided into several groups. Some cried, "Down with the Jews, with their wives and children, let not a soul remain." Others demanded that the young people alone should be done away with and the others should have to pay an indemnity. The third group recommended that only those who belonged to the Red Army should be exter- minated. Only a few tried to restrain the crowd from the disgraceful work on the ground that enough blood had already been shed. It came to a vote. The assembly, according to the testimony of a peasant, divided into two camps, which balanced each other, some having abstained from voting. Suddenly the bloody ambassador who played the decisive role in the tragedy rushed up on horseback and called out to the crowd, "Brothers, to the harness quickly! The Jews from Obodovka and Verkhovka are coming up behind us in armored automobiles." This hellish fiend was Drevinsky, a former Petlurist officer, who had just been declared commandant of the rebels. There was great excitement. Amid the tumult one heard cries, "Go on, brothers, we will kill them all and not leave a single one alive." The two camps became one, and were transformed into a furious mob, who ran straight to the Commis- sariat, surrounded it and opened fire. The unhappy victims, consisting of several hundred men and boys, fell on the ground in terror, begged for help, cried and wept, but in vain. The bloody watch- word was announced to them, "No survivor." The bestial crowd soon found that it was not easy to destroy so many people by shooting through the windows. They went inside and threw bombs and hand grenades into the mass of people crazed with 172 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE terror and threatening to choke and kill each, other. A bloody dance of death began. Knives flashed, axes whizzed, special weapons were im- provised for the occasion, pickaxes and boot heels were employed. A river of blood was formed with the victims swimming in it. There were tortures and abuses such as the world never knew. Dead and half- dead bodies were desecrated, red bows dipped in their blood were fastened to their breasts with the words, "There you have your commune!" Here Beer- man and his two daughters were killed in the most bestial manner, as the latter fell on their father's neck and begged to be allowed to die with him. Mogilev, the father, died too, and his daughters made the same request as the others. Deutschman, too, perished there with his four sons, of whom the oldest was 28, the youngest 15. Here all the five brothers Kaphun lost their lives, their father having been murdered by bandits the year before. Here a martyr's death came to a father with three sons of ten, twelve and thirteen years respectively ; to two fathers and their only sons ; here two octogenarians met their end, and here Bossa- kovsky died in the arms of his wife (who by a miracle found her way out of this hell) at the hands of Kos- subsky. Look at the building of the Commissariat or ask this living witness — they will tell you a frightful history, the meaning of which is not clear to all, but which sounds in our ears like a sentence of death. Thus in the course of five hours, from five o'clock until ten in the evening, several hundred human lives were extinguished. When the bloody work was over, some of the rob- bers hurried to bring vehicles to carry away the bodies of the tortured victims to the reservoirs where the POGROM PICTURES 173 sugar factory drains off the water during its operation. There, a verst from the town, a ditch had been pre- pared, like the graves at the front, where the mutilated mass of human beings was thrown in. Another gang of bandits fell upon the terror-stricken population, began to drag out of the houses those who had been left unharmed during the day, as for example sick persons suffering from typhus, convalescents, etc., and killed them before the eyes of their relatives, vio- lated girls and robbed and plundered until suddenly there appeared a body of defense which had been formed and organized by the criminal leaders them- selves when they became aware of the enormities they had committed and were frightened of their own deeds. What happened in the town the first morning when it became known that all the persons collected in the Commissariat had been killed cannot be reported — weeping, sobbing, wailing, hysterical cries, madness, fainting and death from heart failure. All wept, the heaven and the angels, the disinterested stars and the unhappy human beings — a sea of tears and endless despair. Ruined widows and orphaned children sent threatening curses against the whole world, threw themselves in measureless grief on the ground and begged God for death. The executioners who organized themselves as a defense in the morning did not even leave the victims to their sorrow, but chased them back into the houses every moment. The houses were no longer occupied by single families, but by several, which consisted only of women and children. The remaining houses were left to the mob and the women of the village, who car- ried away the last remnants of value "under the over- sight of the defense." No one asked for food or help.. 174 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The children died quietly on the breasts of their half- dead mothers. Now and then you could hear the noise in the uninhabited houses where the village women and the mob were carrying on. On the 17th of May Soviet troops appeared, who chased away all the ban- dits and drove them into the woods. The seemingly dead place woke up and the people crept out of their holes. There was terrible hunger. The troops shared their rations with the people. When the Soviet troops left, the town was again transformed into a cemetery. Two monuments of sorrow remained in the unhappy town, the blood-stained building of the Commissariat and the silent grave in which the remains of about 400 innocent victims found their rest. B. Sandler. President of the temporary Soviet of the Town of Trostianetz. i May 30, 1919. CHAPTER VIII RESULTS The results of the sad events cannot be expressed in exact numbers, especially at a time when the civil war is still going on, and there is no connection between different parts of the Ukraine, which are occupied by various powers fighting each other. The internal front of the Batki has divided the Ukraine into a number of unconnected parts.* According to the information in the office of the re- lief committee of the Red Cross for those injured in the pogroms, the complete number of places affected up to September 22nd of last year, i.e., up to a time when the wave of the Denikin pogroms had not reached its highest point, was 372. The number of pogroms in these places is however essentially lariger and will amount to at least 700, as in many places, for ex- ample Rodomysl, Cherniakhov, Komip, Volodarka, Yelisavetgrad, Vasilkov, there were four, five and even ten pogroms. Some places suffered from one pro- longed pogrom until the entire Jewish population and every trace of Jewish possessions were completely wiped out. The following number of places were destroyed: *This is true only of the pogroms of 1919. 176 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Government of Kiev District of Chernobyl (Struk) 43 " Tripolie (Zeleny) 9 " " Cherkassy-Chigirin (Grig- oriev) 21 " Berdichev 5 " Tarascha 20 " Uman 12 " " Skvira and Pogrebische .... 30 " Kiev 16 " " Radomysl-Zhitomir (Soko- lovsky) 52 Total 208 Government of Volhynia District of Ovruch 26 " " Zhitomir 20 " Rovno 10 Total 56 Government of Podolia District of Gaisin 29 " Balta 8 " Vinnitza 16 " " Proskurov i " " Kamenetz-Podolsk i Total 55 RESULTS 177 Government of Kherson 23 " Poltava 15 " " Chernigov 7 " " Yekaterinoslav i Grand total 365 Below is a classification according to bands : Regular Troops and Bands of Petlura Zhitomir, Proskurov, Ovruch, Felshtin, Korosten, Balta, Rovno, Litin, Kremenetz-Kodyma, Trostianetz, Krivoie Ozero, Theophipol, Kotelnya, Zhmerinka, Pikov, Yanov, Gaisin, Pecheri, Tulchin, Radomysl, Vasilkov, Rossovo, Skvira, Boguslav, Yelisavetgrad, Novo-Mirgorod, Poltava, Kobeliaki, Ramodan, Piria- tin, Berdichev, Znamenka, etc. Places destroyed 120' Killed 15.000 Bands of Sokolovsky (District of Radomysl- Zhitomir) Radomysl, Makarov, Brussilov, Kornip, Khodorkov, Korostyshev, Yassnogorodka, etc. Places destroyed 70 Killed 3,000 Bands of Zeleny (District of Tripolie) Tripolie, Rzhischev, Vasilkov, Obuchovo, Pereyas- lev, Pogrebische, Bielaia Tserkov, Tatiev, Pliskov, Rushin, etc. 178 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Places destroyed IS Killed 2,000 Bands of Struk (District of Chernobyl) Chernobyl, Gomostaipol, Ivankov, Khabno, Meshi- gore, Vishgorod, etc. Places destroyed 41 Killed 1,000 Bands of Sokolovsky and Others (District of Uman- Skvira-Pogrehische) Uman, Dubovo, Talnoie, Kristinovka, Ladyzhenka, Skvira, Volodarka, Novo-Fastov, Pogrebische, Dzhun- kov, Borshchagovka, Priluki, Turbov, Vakhnovka, Lipovetz, Golovanevsk, etc. Places destroyed 38 Killed 2,000 i Bands of Grigoriev (District of Cherkassy-Yelisav- etgrad) Cherkassy, Belozeria, Smela, Rotmistrovka, Zlato- pol, Chigirin, Gorodische, Matusovo, Yelisavetgrad, Novo-Mirgorod, Znamenka, Alexandria, etc. Places destroyed 40 Killed ,6,Q0Q RESULTS 179 Bands of Yatsenko and Golub (District of Tarascha) Tarascha, Boguslav, Mironovka, Rossovo, Stie- pantsy, Stavische, etc. Places destroyed 16 Killed i^ooo Red Bands Vasilkov, Zolotonosha, Obuchovo, Rossovo, Pogre- bische, Volochisk, Korosten, Brailov, Korsun, Klevan, Rovno, Gaisin, etc. Places destroyed 13 Killed 500 Grand total killed 30,500 This figure, however, does not by any means give a correct idea of the actual number of persons who perished. No account is taken in the above figures of the many victims who gave up their lives in places that could not be recorded because there has not been any connection with them so far and no investigations in those regions have yet been made, as for example in the western parts of the Governments of Volhynia and Podolia, in the southern part of the Government of Kherson, etc. Nor have those missing Jewish families been included who were exterminated in numerous villages and hamlets, or those who were killed during their flight from their ruined homes as they wandered from place to place, or those who were pulled out of railway trains and beaten to death, or those who were drowned by being thrown out of steamers, or those who were killed in the woods and the highways. i8o SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE There is no account taken of the great numbers of those who succumbed to their injuries and fell victims of contagious and other diseases which they contracted during their imprisonment in dark rooms without food, drink or clothing. The entire number of persons who perished during the first period of the pogroms at the time of the Direc- tory and the Batki amounts to at least 70,000. We have no data on the number of persons who fell victims of the Denikin pogroms. The figure 167,000 given in the above mentioned memorandum which was handed to the Zionist Actions Committee and to Dr. Margoline is no doubt exaggerated. According to the statements of persons recently arrived from the Ukraine, the number of those killed in the second period of the pogroms is 50,000. If we assume that 120,000 deaths were due directly to the pogroms, we shall not be guilty of exaggeration. To these must be added the injured and wounded, those suffering from nervous and mental shock and the violated women. The pogroms swept the Ukraine like a hurricane, and it was impossible to undertake a census of such cases. The number, however, must be prodigious, running into the tens of thousands. So also the number of victims who suffered material loss. It may be said that in all of the places which were visited by the pogroms the possessions of the Jews were completely destroyed. We have a typical report in this connection from the village of Orlovetz (Government of Kiev), which reads as follows: "The plunderers rushed at the Jewish houses. . . . Here they were helped by the whole Russian population. Everything was loaded on wagons and carried away. After they had completely emptied the houses and RESULTS i8i squeezed out in every possible way the last savings of the Jews they proceeded to destroy the houses and the shops. Shutters, window panes, doors were taken out, roofs were torn off, and so on. The greatest zeal was shown in searching for money. The floors were torn up, the soil was turned up again and again in the bams, cellars and yards, ovens were taken apart. ..." A similar report comes from Zlatopol, "The shops were plundered and then burned down (of 285 shops 275 were plundered and then burned down). Everjrthing was taken away, from hatchets and wooden spoons to pianos. The poor water-carrier had his last blind nag taken away. Of 1,100 Jewish houses, 1,065 were des- troyed. The goods and possessions were carried away on thousands of vehicles. The looting lasted two weeks." As the local physician. Dr. Isaacson, ex- pressed himself, "The pogrom stopped of itself, since everything was looted and all the inhabitants had fled to Mirgorod." * The Jewish population of the vil- lages and hamlets visited by the pogroms left everything behind as it was, and fled without further thought to a larger place. The roads were covered with the bodies of old men, women and children, and in the larger places the same horrible death awaited the fugitives. . . . The economic situation of the Jews in the large Government cities of the Ukraine is desperate. The authorized agent of the Relief Com- mittee of the Red Cross reports from Yelisavetgrad, "There is need of assistance in every shape and form. If Yelisavetgrad should not get any support, the entire population will die. This is no exaggeration. The people have not a shirt to change and there is no possi- *See Appendix, pp. 288 ff. i82 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE bility of getting any. If no help should come the out- break of disease is unavoidable. Food exists only in very small quantities. The peasants do not come to market as they have nothing to buy. Articles of food are not coming in and hunger is approaching." An- other agent reports, "More than a thousand inhabitants of Ladyzhenka are to this day living in Golovanevsk. Ragged and barefoot, with a completely decayed shirt on the body or without any shirt, healthy and con- tagiously diseased men and women are squatting in the synagogues, in empty barns or simply in the streets. God alone, or the livid and tightly closed lips of these people, can tell you how they live and pass the day. One sees many biers in the crooked streets of Golo- vanevsk, and many collections are made to secure shrouds for the Jews of Ladyzhenka. . . ." According to existing data, 150,000 men suffered material loss in August, 19 19, in the Government of Kiev. And there is no doubt that in the Govern- ments of Podolia, Volhynia and Kherson, the damage was not less. It would not therefore be an exaggera- tion to say that in the Governments of Kiev, Volhjmia and Podolia about 600,000 persons suffered material loss. This was the calculation of the Relief Commit- tee of the Red Cross for the time up to the coming of the Denikin pogroms. We may assume that not less than half a million were affected materially by the latter, and, therefore, that the entire number affected was over a million. If we add about 50,000 or 60,000 orphans we get a complete picture of the destruction of Jewish life in the Ukraine. The pogroms in the Ukraine in the year 1 9 19 form one of the most tragic episodes in the dark history of the much-suffering Jeiwish people. APPENDIX SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER II REPORT OF A. I. HILLERSON I. City of Ovruch Ovruch is a cantonal capital of the government of Volhynia, with a population of about 10,000 people. More than two thirds of this population are Jews. The Jewish population is mostly unpolitical; there were no notable revolutionaries among them. In the period of the im- perial pogroms Ovruch did not suffer. The first pogrom in Ovruch took place in December, 1917, under the first Rada. Polish land-owners sojourning in the city and canton, and likewise former tsarist officials, true to tsaristic principles, sowed seeds of division, and instilled hatred for the Jews, attributing to their machinations the increase in the prices of products. Under the influence of their agitations the i6sth Ukrainian regiment, quartered in Ovruch, upon its demobilization in De- cember, 1917, began to wreck Jewish stores and destroy the wares. Peasants of the neighboring villages came with carts and carried away all that remained undestroyed. Then the local population did the same. Only the stores were destroyed. The homes of the Jews did not suffer. This pogrom gave occasion for the Jewish ex-soldiers in Ovruch to form an organization for self-defense. This operated for a considerable time but finally broke up. Attitude Towards the Jews Under the Heiman Under the Hetman there were no pogroms at all. The power of the Hetman was in reality a restorational power; it was col- ored in tsarist colors, but, according to the circumstances of the moment, in a decidedly faint shade. Under the Hetman 185 i86 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE there was no pogrom-agitation, but there was no lack of anti- Semitic propaganda. Among other things, from Zhitomir there was received in Ovruch a secret order not to accept Jews in the state service, and gradually to discharge those previously taken in. The power of the Hetman, being a continuation of the tsarist power, although in a weakened form, was extremely unpopular among the Ukrainian peasants. And when the Germans, owing to the circumstances of the time, began to abandon the country, uprisings flared up in many places. Uprising of the Peasants and formation of the Republic of Ovruch On November 30, 1918, the peasants of the Pokalev district [volost}, canton of Ovruch, arose. They declared the power of the Hetman overthrown and formed the republic of Ovruch. The volunteer officers who had been guarding the German power in Ovruch, about one hundred in number, fled without making resistance. The peasants introduced strict order in Ovruch. They imme- diately freed the political prisoners from prison, and named one of their number, the peasant Dmitriuk, city commissar ; a Jew, Friedman, member of the Bund, was named his assistant. Among other things the peasants proposed to the Jewish com- munity that they organize from their own midst a military de- tachment of one hundred and fifty men. But the Jews, having considered this proposal and recognized that the peasant govern- ment which had been formed had not sufficient guarantees of durability, wisely declined to form such a detachment. At this time the power of the Hetman in Ukraine definitely fell; the Directory of Petlura came into power. Bolshevism Among the Pokalev Peasants Under the influence of the White Russian bolsheviks, who on the side of Kalinkovichi are the nearest neighbors of the Pokalev peasants, tendencies to bolshevism began to develop in violent measure among the latter, and bolshevist demands were heard ever more loudly. There was formed a majority of bolsheviks, and a minority which was ready to join the Ukrainian national movement. Dmitriuk and Friedman, who stood at the head of the Ovruch republic, came out against the bolshevist tendencies of the OVRUCH: HILLERSON'S REPORT 187 Pokalevites. Draitriuk was killed and Friedman saved himself by flight. A certain Meschanchuk, as I believe an anti-Semite and black- hundred man, had already been named by the Pokalevites as com- mandant of the city of Ovruch. He secretly entered into agree- ment with the Petlura government in Korosten, informed it of the bolshevist tendencies in Ovruch and invited thither the so- called "Clan of Death." "The Clan of Death" (Kuren Smerti) The Clan of Death arrived in the city by night, surrounded the Pokalevites and disarmed them. Then the Cossacks of this Clan began to go around to the homes of the Jews, to remove the, weapons. They found no weapons, but did find money and valuable property in many houses. All this they took. Thus began the plundering in Ovruch. The Jews went with complaints to the commandant Meschan- chuk. He quieted them by declaring that the regular army would soon appear and that then the plunderings would stop. In fact, there did appear on the twenty-fifth of December in Ovruch a detachment of guerrilla-soldiers with the ataman Kozyr-Zyrka at their head. To those who met him Kozyr-Zyrka declared that he had come to introduce order in the city. Some say that Meschanchuk, in presenting a report on the condition of the town, had declared that bolshevism was raging there and that the Jews were to blame for it. The Ataman Kozyr-Zyrka Legends have sprung up in Ovruch about the personality of Kozyr-Zyrka. Some assert that he was a certain count from Bielaia Tserkov, and that Kozyr-Zyrka was not his real name, but only a pseudonym. Others declare that he *as a runaway Galician convict, in support of which they point among other things to the tattooing on his arms. But all descriptions agree in this, that he was a handsome young fellow, a fiery brunet of gypsy type, with good manners, a fine orator, speaking exclusively in the Galician-Ukrainian dialect. He did not speak Russian, though he understood the language very well. Kozyr-Zyrka considered it his first duty to become acquainted with the attitudes of the various social groups. Therefore he i88 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE invited to meet him the mayor of the town, a Pole named Moshinsky, and the representatives of various social organiza- tions, mostly Poles and former tsarist officials. What these invited guests told Kozyr-Zyrka remained unknown, but it is not difficult to make a guess. Arrest of the Clerical Rabbi Having heard the representatives of the Christian community, the Ataman decided to make the acquaintance of a representative of the Jewish community. Therefore he ordered the Jewish clerical Rabbi arrested and brought to him. The Rabbi was arrested December 86 about 3 P.M., and was brought to the commandant's headquarters. There he was de- tained until 10 P.M., steadily exposed to all manner of taunts on the part of the Cossacks. At last at 10 P.M. he stood before the eyes of the ataman Kozyr-Zyrka. The latter received him extremely rudely, and, after questioning him in a prejudiced way, announced to him: "I know that you are a bolshevik, that all your relatives and all Jews are bolsheviks. Know that I am going to destroy all the Jews in the city. Get them together in the synagogue and inform them of what I have told you." First Murders With these words he dismissed the Rabbi, late at night. In the same night Cossacks surrounded a peasant's cart, in which Jewish boys and girls, gymnasium students from Mozyr, were riding. The Cossacks demanded that the peasants give up to them the "Jewish brats," but the peasants saved them. How- ever, they arrested a young Jew from Kalinkovichi, who was passing through Ovruch, and took him to the Ataman. And on the ground that he was from Kalinkovichi, which was in the hands of the bolsheviki, Kozyr-Zyrka declared him also a bol- shevik and ordered him shot. Persecutions There were also arrested two Jews passing through from the hamlet Narodichi; they were peddlers of cheap tobacco and matches. They were declared profiteers and brought to the Ataman. There they were stripped naked, scourged with whips, and made to dance. At the same time a bundle of tobacco was thrust into the mouth of one and a box of matches into the OVRUCH: HILLERSON'S REPORT 189 other's. Kozyr-Zyrka himself stood with raised revolver and threatened to shoot them, if they stopped dancing. Afterwards they made them beat each other and kiss the spot beaten. They also compelled them to cross themselves, etc. After amusing themselves with them as much as they liked they drove them out naked on the street, and then threw out their clothes after them. (Testimony of Rabbi Kipnis 10-11, Weilerman 13-16, et al) Departure of Kozyr-Zyrka and Second Seizure by the Pokalevites The twenty-seventh of December passed in petty robberies in Jewish homes. At this time the following incident occurred. A detachment of Cossacks went to the hamlet Narodichi for the requisition of leather. Returning, the detachment halted in a certain village. There the Cossacks drank too much. When they went on, the peasants ambushed them and fired upon them. Four Cossacks were killed; the rest rode into Ovruch. This incident produced a profound impression upon Kozyr-Zyrka and his partisans, and in the same night they left Ovruch and re- turned to Korosten. The Pokalev peasants again took command of the city. First of all they went to the prison, where were the land-owners and foresters whom they had previously arrested, and slaughtered them all. Then they fell upon several land-owners living in the city, and wounded them badly, and likewise severely wounded the wife of a forester who was under arrest, and her sister, who was visiting her, and the latter's child. Second Attack of Kozyr-Zyrka On December 31 Kozyr-Zyrka again approached Ovruch with heavy reinforcements and began to fire on the town with heavy guns. The Pokalevites replied to them for the course of an hour, but then were silenced. Kozyr-Zjrrka continued to fire on the town, and finally his bands burst into the city, where a bloody bacchanalia began. Pogrom in the Villages Potapovichi and Geshovo. By way of preface it must be observed that on the way to Ovruch near the village Potapovichi the road was found torn up. Someone said to the Cossacks that the Jews had done this. 190 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Then the Cossacks decided to settle with the Jews of the near-by villages. In Potapovichi there were only four Jewish families, and the Cossacks, entering the village, began to rob and murder them and violate the women. In one house the owner was away; his three daughters and son-in-law were there. On the person of one of the daughters was hidden about a hundred rubles. The Cossacks took this and other money, and likewise every piece of valuable property. They violated the women, and since the latter, especially the two girls, resisted, they beat them until their faces were turned into masses of blood. The son-in-law, who had just returned from waf-captivity, was taken out in the yard, where another Jew was found. They shot both of them, killing the son-in-law outright, while the other Jew was only wounded, but pretended to be dead, and so saved himself. From this house they went to a Jewish blacksmith, who had just returned from the front. They sent two bullets into him, and were preparing to shoot a Russian boy servant of his, who was in hysterics. The mortally wounded blacksmith gath- ered his strength together and cried: "Why are you killing him? He is Russian." The Cossacks made sure the boy really was Russian, and left him in peace. But since the blacksmith, by interceding for him, had shown that he was still alive, they finished him off. After this they went out into the yard, where they met an old man, the blacksmith's father-in-law, and killed him, as well as a boy, the blacksmith's nephew. From Potapovichi they went to the village of Geshovo, to hunt for Jews there. In this village lived a number of Jews, but they all had time to flee; only one deaf old melamed (teacher) re- mained. The Cossacks took him along with them and set out in the direction of Ovruch. On the way they met an old shokhet returning to his home. They seized him, too, and on the spot hung both old men on a high tree, one by a telegraph-wire, the other by a strap. The latter, the peasants say, fell down several times, but each time they hung him up again. Then they took them down from the high tree and hung them on a small tree, to which they affixed a placard saying that "Whoever takes them down has not more than two minutes to live." In consequence of this the peasants would not let them be taken down. And only when the bodies began to decay did the Jews succeed in taking them down and burying them in a nearby place. In all nine Jews were killed in Potapovichi and Geshovo. (Testimony of Glossman, pp. 33-35.) Such was the prelude to what afterwards took place in Ovruch. OVRUCH: HILLERSON'S REPORT 191 Murders, Violations and Robberies ' - \ Having entered Ovruch after midday, December thirty-first, the Cossacks scattered over the city and began to rob and murder the Jews. One detachment went to the market-place and there seized about ten Jewish girls, whom the Cossacks dragged into the Feitelson inn, where the girls were exposed to inde- scribable persecutions and violence. Other Cossacks at this time were killing every Jew they met. One Jew whom they attacked took refuge in a 'near-by house. The Cossacks went into a house, where they thought he was hiding, and found a father and three sons sitting at table. They led all four out into the yard and shot them one after another. They came to the house of the lawyer Glossman, an educated man, a member of the commune. They took him and his old father out in the street, then decided to free the old man and told him to go. But he refused to abandon his son, and the Cossacks began to beat the old man with whips, in the course of which they struck out his only eye (he had long lost his other eye) ; and they shot the younger Glossman on the spot. The Ataman Kozyr-Zyrka was present on horseback at this shooting. The mayor of the town, Moshinsky, was passing by at that time, and young Glossman, who was very well known to him, applied to him to intercede and tell the Cossacks whether he was a bolshevik. But Moshinsky went on, pretending not to hear the entreaty. This is a characteristic incident. The Cossacks dispersed about the town, and in parties entered the houses, stole money and property, beat up old men, violated women, and killed young Jews. Many of those whom they pre- pared to shoot bought their safety with money, the price of the ransom being very considerable. Thus, late in the evening, a number of Cossacks appeared in the house of Rosenmann. In this house, besides the old mother and two daughters, were two sons, one of whom had for several weeks been lying sick abed. The son who was well they took for a Russian (he is, in fact, not Jewish in appearance), and told him to go, but, finding that he was a son of the house, detained him. They also demanded that the sick son should get dressed and go with them. But, having convinced themselves that he was really seriously sick and could not get up, they contented themselves with leaving one Cossack by his bedside ; the well son they took out into the yard, where the other Cossacks were waiting for them. There they stood him up against a wall, and one Cossack loaded hii 192 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE gun. The young man began to beg them not to kill him, prom- ising a large ransom. "Give us twelve thousand," demsfnded one of the Cossacks. The young man assured them that his family would pay this sum for him. Then the Cossacks led him into the house, where his mother and sisters lay in a deep swoon. They brought the women to consciousness, and the women be- gan to search the house for money. But only two thousand rubles were found in the house. The Cossacks consented to take this money on condition that the remaining 10,000 rubles should be paid on the next day by 10 A.M. They said they would appear at this time, and if the money should not be handed over they would kill all. In fact, on the next morning at the appointed time two Cossacks appeared, and, having received the 10,000 rubles as agreed, they declared that the Rosenmanns could now live in peace, since their names would be recorded at headquarters and no one would disturb them further. The Cossacks kept their word. The Rosenmanns were not troubled further, whereas visits were made to other Jews by different parties of Cossacks, the later parties taking whatever their predecessors had failed to get. The Cossacks disdained absolutely nothing; they took off the Jews' clothing and shoes. It is characteristic that the Cossack who led out Rosenmann to shoot him gave the impres- sion of being a cultivated man ; he had clean hands, and valuable rings shone on them. He spoke with a marked Polish accent. (Testimony of Rosenmann, p. 27.) In another case a somewhat drunken officer, a captain, de- manded of the Jewish keeper of a small inn that he should immediately serve dinner to his entire company, and pay him personally 5,000 rubles. When the innkeeper declared that it was impossible to fulfil this at once, since he had no money and still less provisions to feed a whole company, the captain gave orders to lay him out and beat him with whips. His daughter,' who had been about to hide herself, ran out and covered her father with her own body. Then lashes were distributed upon her and everyone else in the house. Then the captain took the innkeeper away with him. His daughter followed her father. At first the captain demanded that she go away, but finally al- lowed her to follow her father. He took them to his quarters, placed a revolver on the table,' and ordered the daughter to prepare a dinner for his company in the course of the day and provide him with 5,000 rubles, otherwise her father would be shot at evening. It occurred to the old man to use this pro- posal to save himself. He assured the captain that his daughter OVRUCH: HILLERSON'S REPORT 193 could do nothing, but that if they would let him go for a single hour, he would get the money and provisions. After long hesi- tation the captain agreed to let the old man go for half an hour. The old man ran to his home, which, by that time, had been stripped bare by the Cossacks. He advised his family to hide wherever they could, and then hid himself in a garret with acquaintances. Afterwards he and his family fled from the town. (Testimony of Wachlis, p. 36.) In the first two days seventeen Jews were killed. The Jews applied to the mayor, Moshinsky, begging him to send a depu- tation of two Christians and one Jew to the Ataman to beg him to stop the pogrom. The mayor promised to do so, but in the end did nothing. Then the old men and women (the young Jews were all hiding) went with tears and lamentations to the house of the Ataman. The Ataman consented to receive a depu- tation of three from those who had come. When the deputation was admitted, he demanded that all the male Jewish popu- lation between the ages of 15 and 40 should appear on the square near headquarters on the next day. Panic Among the Jews This demand threw the Jewish population into a fearful panic. All were convinced that the working Jewish population was being demanded for slaughter. However, it was impossible to disobey the command. So on the next day the entire Jewish population between the ages of 15 and 40, protected by old men and women, appeared at the appointed spot near the headquarters building. After about an hour Kozyr-Zyrka at last rode up in an automobile. The Jews cried "Long live the Ataman, long live Ukraine!" Kozyr-Zyrka got out of the automobile and delivered a speech to them in which he enumerated all their "bolshevistic crimes." Ko2yr-Zyrk(/s Speech to the Jews In his speech, spoken in beautiful Galician-Ukrainian dialect, he said that he had the right to destroy all the Jews, and would do so if even a single Cossack suffered. In Potapovichi he had already done so, shooting a Jewish spy himself. He would destroy all Jews in Ovruch, if a single Cossack suffered. There- fore he advised the Jews, if there was a single bolshevik spy among them, to strangle him with their own hands. When Kozyr-Zyrka finished his speech, the Jews cried hurrah. 194 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE The fiscal Rabbi proposed to him that all Jews should swear loyalty to Ukraine and furnish a military detachment from their midst. The Ataman replied that he had no use for Jewish oaths or Jewish detachments. He permitted the Jews to breathe the air of Ukraine, but demanded that they remember his warn- ing. The Jews dispersed and began to consider how they could move the Ataman. They collected about 20,000 rubles and gave it to him, for gifts to the Cossacks. Collections Kozyr-Zyrka accepted the money, but observed that not many gifts could be bought for this sum. He demanded 50,000 rubles more. The Jews promised to collect it. But since they were all plundered and ruined, it was not easy to collect such an amount. It was necessary to apply to the small artisans and Jewish servants, who contributed their savings. Having received the extra sum, Kozyr-Zyrka issued an order forbidding plundering. But plundering continued on that and the following days. Requisition of Tailors and Cobblers At the same time Kozyr-Zyrka requisitioned all Jewish tailors and cobblers, and ordered them to work on the clothing stolen from the Jews. They made shoes, cloaks, uniforms, trousers, etc. Out of women's silk skirts were made scarfs and the like. They were compelled to work from 8 A.M. to midnight, even on Fridays. No food was allowed them during working hours. (Testimony of Shetman, p. 21; Stoland, p. 12.) Kozyr-Zyrka as Judge Kozyr-Zyrka also undertook to settle civil disputes. To give an idea of the sort of judge he was it is enough to cite the fol- lowing case. A certain Jewess was in possession of some land by inheritance. The original owner had acquired the land from a peasant by purchase. A peasant, descendant of the seller, taking advantage of the agrarian disorder, had already brought suit for the land under the first Rada, and his suit had been denied. When Kozyr-Zyrka appeared, and the peasant felt sure that Jews had no rights, he applied to him with a suit for this same land. Kozyr-Zyrka ordered the peasant to bring to him the husband of the respondent. But the latter did not believe OVRUCH: HILLERSON'S REPORT 195 that Kozyr-Zyrka had really summoned him, and did not go. Then the Ataman sent for him. When the Jew arrived, he asked him why he had not come before. He replied that he had no reason to believe that the peasant was really conveying to him the command of the Ataman. Kozyr-Zyrka ordered the Jew stripped and twenty-five lashes administered to him, which was done in his presence. Half an hour after this he proceeded to question the Jew about the land. The latter replied that, being fearfully beaten, he was not in condition to talk at all, and that as far as the land was concerned it belonged not to him but to his wife, who could give the necessary information. The Ataman summoned the wife. She showed him a copy of the court decision recognizing her right to the ownership of the land. Kozyr-Zyrka was not satisfied with this and demanded, for the settlement of the dispute, the presentation of witnesses by both sides. The witnesses were presented, and all confirmed the fact that the Jewess was the lawful owner of the land. Then Kozyr-Zyrka ordered the Jewess to hand over a written docu- ment to the effect that she voluntarily yielded the land to the peasant and renounced forever all claims to that land. The document was furnished. (Testimony of Kheierman, p. 35.) Requisition of Musicians Kozyr-Zyrka also was fond of entertainment. H,e requisi- tioned a Jewish orchestra, making it its duty to play at all Cossack parties. To the sounds of the music of this same orchestra Kozyr-Zyrka once scourged two bolshevik peasants. They were given a countless number of blows, and then shot. Kosyr-Zyrka Amuses Himself Kozyr-Zyrka also was fond of more "refined entertainments." One evening they brought him nine comparatively young Jews and one elderly and stout one. The Cossacks had driven them pellmell through the streets. When the Jews, panting, came at last into the Ataman's rooms, he was lying in his bed undressed, and his assistant was also lying undressed in another bed. Right there they compelled the Jews to dance, meanwhile chasing them, especially the stout one, with whips. After this they demanded that they sing Jewish songs. But it turned out that none of them knew the Jewish songs by heart. Then the Ata- man's assistant began to recite the words of the songs in the 196 SLAUGHTER OF/JEWS IN THE UKRAINE "jargon" (Yiddish), and the Jews had to repeat them in sing- song. For a long time they sang and danced, while Kozyr- Zyrka and his friend and assistant laughed merrily. Then the Jews were taken into another room and fools' caps were put on their heads. They were brought before the Ataman again, a candle was put in the hands of each, and in that aspect they had to sing songs. Kozjrr-Zyrka and his friend were so con- vulsed with laughter that the latter's bed even broke down under him. The Jews were compelled to raise the bed and put it in order, while the officer remained lying upon it. One of the Jews could not endure these persecutions and began to weep. Kozyr-Zyrka observed to him that 120 rods was the penalty for crying. The Jew said: "In that case I will sing." "Well, sing then," was the answer, and the Jew began to sing again. During an "entracte" the Ataman's friend said: "It's time to let them have their trousers." But Kozyr-Zyrka this time did not agree. Having amused himself as much as he liked, the Ataman let the Jews go, and gave them a chauffeur as escort so that the guards should not shoot them. The chauffeur con- ducted them, but demanded to be paid 15,000 rubles for saving their lives. Of course they had no such sum. But the chauffeur went home with each one and collected of their families as much as each could pay. (Testimony of Beioband, p. 23.) It is hard to count all the characteristic incidents which took place in Ovruch while it was Kozyr-Zyrka's capital. But we must dwell on the following incident. The Case of Herzbein The Poles and former tsarist officials, in their newspapers, spread the report that the Jews had plotted a St. Bartholomew's night against the Christians, and had marked as many as 150 victims. They asserted that a list of the fated ones existed, and that the list was written by the hand of a petty advocate Herzbein. The latter was arrested. As often happens in such cases, those who had invented this calumny ended by believing themselves in their own invention. The Christians became excited, and applied to Kozyr-Zyrka. He confirmed the existence of the list, but showed it to no one. The excitement increased. Some of the Christians began to leave the town. In reference to Herzbein it must be noted that he took no part in politics at all. He moved entirely among Christians, where he had many friends; he scarcely had any dealings with Jewish society. His wife applied to Christian friends to inter- OVRUCH: HILLERSON'S REPORT 197 I cede for her husband, whom they knew well, as a man not con- nected with politics or with Jews. But they refused. The probable history of the above-mentioned "list" is some- thing like this. Upon the fall of the Hetman's power the mayor, Moshinsky, summoned an assembly of many Christians, mostly land-owners and officials, and proposed to organize for self- defense in case of the arrival of the Petlurists. A list was drawn up in which were entered about 100 names, exclusively Christians. Since Herzbein was noted for his good handwriting — but also, perhaps, for other reasons — Moshinsky asked him to copy this list, which he did. It is extremely likely that some- one, with provocatory intent, handed over this list to the com- mandant, as a list of Christians marked for slaughter. Herzbein's wife applied to the mayor, asking him to summon the council to unveil the slander and re-establish her husband's good name. Moshinsky gave his promise, but when she came to see him again, she was told that he had left town. She then applied to his substitute, who likewise promised, but did nothing. Only the president of the council, the notary Olshansky, sym- pathized with her. He sent around a summons to a session of the council. But only Jews appeared for that session; the Christians absented themselves; there was no quorum, and the session could not be held. Since the reports of the impend- ing "St Bartholomew's eve" continued to excite the Christians, some of them applied to Kozyr-Zyrka to investigate and find out how serious the rumors were. There also appeared before him the notary Olshansky and an official who knew Herzbein well. They declared that they were firmly convinced that Herzbein could not be the author of such a list. Kozyr-Zyrka an- swered that he himself attributed no serious significance to the list and to the rumors that were circulating, and that to quiet the Christian population he would issue an announcement to this effect. As for Herzbein, he promised to free him at once. He confirmed his promise to free Herzbein to the latter's wife. He did actually issue an announcement to the effect that the rumors about a St. Bartholomew's eve planned by the Jews appeared to be a "provocation." This announcement, largely dealing with the establishment of the home guard, about which more will be said below, is attached hereunto. As for Herz- bein, in spite of all his promises, he did not release him, and he was finally shot. (Testimony of Taube Herzbein, p. S9; of Yudin, p. 28.) The regime of Kozyr-Zyrka lasted up to the 16th of Jan- 198 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE uary. The Cossacks continued to plunder Jewish houses, and occasional murders took place. The Civil Commissar and the Home Guard Rumors of Kozyr-Zyrka's doings reached Zhitomir and the commissar of civil (internal) affairs was sent from there. This commissar proved a decent man and the Jews reposed complete confidence in him. But, as he himself said, he was powerless to give them any real help, since Kozyr-Zyrka even held up his telegraphic reports to Zhitomir. The one thing in which he succeeded was the organization of home guards, about which later the Ataman issued a proclamation (see above- mentioned proclamation.) But these home guards, consisting mainly of Jews, did not constitute a real power. The members of the guard were beaten, and one even killed, by the Cossacks. (Testimony of Waderman and others, p. 13.) Mobilization of Jews for Dirty Work On January 15 the Cossacks began early in the morning to drive young Jews to the station, to sweep and clean the cars. They took mostly young Jews, but did not neglect old ones either. On the way the Cossacks robbed them. At the station they were compelled to do all kinds of dirty work, even un- necessary work. They mocked them, and beat them with whips and scourges. They took the better dressed ones to one side and took their clothes and shoes away from them. By evening almost all had been robbed, one killed, another seriously wounded. And while they were at the station, other Cossacks plundered their homes in the town. Panic Reaches Highest Pitch An extremely perturbed state existed in the city. It was felt that a new catastrophe was approaching. The Jews were in a panic of terror. They decided to die all together. So towards evening they began to gather in the sjmagogue. But the syna- gogue could not accommodate all. It became unendurably stifling. Many fell in swoons. Some, being unable to endure the closeness and the throng, knocked out windows and ran away at random. Individual Cossacks got into the synagogue and robbed whomever they could. At the same time other OVRUCH: HILLERSON'S REPORT 199 Cossacks robbed members of the home guard, and, as above mentioned, even killed one of them. Mass Execution and Departure of Kozyr-Zyrka Thus the Jews of the city of Ovruch spent the night of the fifteenth of January. On the morning of the sixteenth the Cossacks spread about the city the report that the commissar of internal affairs, in whom, as was said, the Jews had the greatest confidence, was invitingi the representatives of the Jewish population to listen to an announcement of great im- portance to the Jews, just received from Zhitomir. The Jews welcomed this news, believed it, and about fifty or more men went to the station. On the way they were sur- rounded by mounted Cossacks, who pursued them with whips and made them sing maiefis (a Jewish song) and other songs. The poor wretches understood that they had fallen into a trap. When this extraordinary procession drew near to the station, the Cossacks surrounding the Jews began to cut them down with sabres and fire at them with revolvers. The Jews scat- tered and fled, bullets raining after them. At the same time other Cossacks near the station itself, who had prepared an ambush for the Jews, opened fire on them with machine guns. Thirty-two corpses remained on the spot. Many others were wounded; a few escaped. When this hecatomb was finished, Kozyr-Zyrka appeared among the Cossacks, who greeted him with the words : "Thank the Lord, little father, we shot a lot of the Jews." Photograph of three corpses is attached hereto. (Testimony of Nemerzel, p. 95 ; Weinermann, p. 13 ; Kaplan, p. 1-10.) In the same night, in view of an attack of the bolsheviks from the direction of Kalinkovichi, Kozyr-Zyrka with his crew abandoned the town and departed for Korosten. Thus ended the regime of Kozyr-Zyrka in the city of Ovruch. Summary As a result of this regime as many as 80 Jews were killed and as many as 1,200 houses plundered. Not more than ten or fifteen homes were, by accident, left unharmed. In the given case the pogrom took place under the slogan : "Kill the Jews because they are bolsheviks." But the attitude of the masses in Ukraine towards the Jews is such that any other 200 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE slogan would suit as well for a pogrom. The pogrom came near levelling all the Jews in Ovruch in respect to property; almost all became comrades in beggary. The losses must be reckoned at a hundred million, at the present rate of exchange per- haps in milliards. Local Committee of Assistance to Pogrom Victims In Ovruch a committee of assistance for pogrom victims was formed, which is working very effectively. But the help it gives, of course, is infinitesimal in comparison with what is needed. For Ovruch help is needed on the very largest scale, on a national scale. Regarding the character of the assistance given by this committee, as also regarding the movements of money in general, a report has been prepared by S. S. Kahan, who traveled with me to Ovruch. Soviet Commission for the Investigation of Pogroms In Ovruch we found the Soviet Commission for the investi- gation of pogroms, which had come from the city of Mozjt on orders of the late Sverdlov, president of the all-Russian Cen- tral Committee of Soviets. The commission upon its arrival issued a proclamation, a copy of which is attached hereto. Unfortunately the activities of this commission will not give the proper results, since for comprehensible reasons the Jews are afraid to give the names of person^ connected with the pogroms, even when they know them. As a result some persons, known accomplices of the pogromists, are enjoying liberty, and some of them actually are in the service of the local Soviet regime. We came in contact with this commission and learned from its members that Sverdlov promised to appropriate almost three million rubles for the pogrom victims. It is hard to say how genuine this promise is, but it is indubitable that even such a sum would amount to little for the restoration of what was destroyed in that city. Pogrom in Korosten * The pogrom in Korosten began with robberies and murders of Jews at the station. Afterwards the pogrom spread through the town. The homes which chanced to be nearest to the Podol- * Cf. below, pp. 365 ff. KOROSTEN : HILLERSON'S REPORT 201 sky station suffered most. In one household, consisting of nine people, the pogromists manifested exceptional barbarity. They began by violating three daughters of the house. Since the young women showed superhuman resistance, they were all mutilated and mangled. Even now they are still suffering, with broken arms. They killed the old grandmother, who tried to protect her granddaughters, after first tearing out her tongue and cutting off her nose. In this house they also killed two men and a little girl. The other members of the family were mutilated. One man died later of the wounds he received. The house was plundered. There were murders also in other houses. Ten people in all were killed in the town. , I cannot refrain from speaking of the following very characteristic incident. In one house, whose owners hid themselves, only one old Jewess remained. The pogromists came into the house and demanded to be fed. The old woman received them kindly and fed them abundantly. They ate, thanked her for the hospitality, and went away, without touching anything in the house. After their departure a seriously wounded Jew ran into the house and implored her help. The old woman rushed for help. It was dark, and, without knowing it, the old woman happened upon the same pogromists who had been in her home. They asked her where she was hurrying, and she explained. Then the pogromists returned to her home, and one of them, rolling up his sleeves, washed his hands, and, in perfectly correct fashion, bound up the Jew's wound. When they were gone, the Jew told the old woman that they were the same pogromists who had wounded him. I arrived at Korosten on March 13. About two days before a fresh company of the Red Army had come to Korosten. On the thirteenth one of them went into the store of a Jewish woman and took about twenty pounds of sugar, without paying. The Jewess ran out on the street and raised an outcry. An offi- cer passing by stopped the' Red soldier, took the sugar away from him, and, striking him in the face, placed him under arrest. His comrades of the same company took his part, and demanded of the commandant that their comrade be freed, and the officer handed over to them. The soldier was freed, but they were refused the surrender of the officer. Then they began to hold meetings, and at 8 P.M. opened an incessant fire into the air from rifles and shotguns. This firing was the signal for the beginning of a Jewish pogrom. The pogrom began. One Jew, the cantor of the ssmagogue, was killed. The pogrom stopped, 202 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE owing to an unexpected cannonade on the part of the* Petlurists, who began to attack Korosten. I did not succeed in collecting testimony either about this pogrom, or about the one preceding it, since on, the next day I was compelled to leave the town under the incessant roar of guns. II. City of Proskurov Proskurov has the aspect of a very lively town, in the gov- ernment of Podolia. Its population amounts to 50,000, of which nearly 25,000 are Jews. Its democratic municipal council con- sisted of 50 members ; 26 Christians and 24 Jews. Of the Jewish members 18 ran on Jewish tickets, the others on general socialist tickets. At the head of the council in Proskurov, as almost everywhere in Podolia and Volhynia, were Poles. The mayor was a Pole, Sikora, and the president of the municipal council was a Pole, Dr. Stavinsky. In administrative matters Proskurov was governed by the military commandant Kiverchuk and the commissar Taranovich. The former was in the military service even under the tsar, but the latter was a former schoolteacher. The town was defended by militia, which was primarily subordinate to the commandant. The municipal government, not wholly trusting the militia, organized a guard of its own, called the "ward-guard." At the head of this guard stood a Central Bureau, having as its presi- dent the Christian Rudnitzky and as vice-president the Jew Schenkmann. Since the municipal guard consisted mainly of Jews, it did not at all enjoy the favor of the commandant Kiverchuk, and he made all sorts of difficulties for it. Even under the tsar there were on hand in Proskurov not only all the legal parties, but also the illegal ones. It goes with- out saying that social-political life in Proskurov was greatly enlivened after the fall of tsarism. — Under the Hetman the representatives of the socialist parties in Proskurov, and espe- cially the bolsheviks, were repeatedly subjected to repressive measures. With the fall of the Hetman and the accession of Petlura's regime, the bolshevik units in Proskurov continued to exist, but illegally. But, as a whole, all the socialist groups in Proskurov, not excluding even the bolsheviki, formed a common front, headed by the Bund member Jofife. PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 203 About three weeks before the Proskurov massacre, the follow- ing event took place. It proved fatal for Proskurov. Convention of Bolsheviki in Vinnitza A convention of the bolsheviki of the government of Podolia took place in Vinnitza, Petlura's own capital. It lasted two days and its sessions went off without interference, though it carried resolutions for the raising of a bolshevik revolt throughout the government of Podolia, naming February 15 as the day of the uprising. The circumstance that this convention was not interfered with caused some persons to assert that it was summoned with the knowledge of the Petlura regime, with provocatory intent. But unprejudiced investiga- tions lead to the conclusion that there was no provocation in the case, and that the convention went off all right, owing to the poor state of organization, and consequently deficient in- formation, of the Petlura regime. It is pointed out that the bolshevist uprising took place only in Proskurov, whereas in other places in the government of Podolia, even at the station Zhmerinka, where there are nearly 7,000 railroad workers, no at- tempts were made at an uprising. In this respect also reasons are seen for believing that there was no revolt in the other places, because at the head of the bolshevist organizations in those places were more intelligent people, who saw that the moment was not suitable for a revolt. In Proskurov, on the other hand, the heads of the bolshevist units were too young and heedless. But, besides, there was one material circumstance which prompted the bolsheviki of Prosku- rov to begin their uprising. In Proskurov were quartered two regiments, the 15th Bielgorod and the 8th Podolia, which were definitely bolshevik in tendency. Appearance of the Ataman Semosenko at Proskurov Some ten days before the pogrom in Proskurov, there ap- peared a brigade of "beyond-the-rapids" (Zaporozhsky) Cos- sacks of the Ukrainian republican army, commanded in the name of the head Ataman Petlura by the Ataman Semosenko. With this brigade appeared also the 3rd Gaidamak regiment. Both brigade and regiment, according to Semosenko's announcement. 204 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE had come from the front for a rest and to perform garrison duty in Proskurov. On February 6 Semosenko sent to *the printers a proclamation in which he announced that he was assuming the duties of garrison-commander, and in that capacity forbade any unauthorized meetings and gatherings in the city. He warned that any agitation against the existing regime would be punished according to the laws of wartime. All instigations to a pogrom were also forbidden, and anyone caught in the act of instigating one was to be shot on the spot. He also sent word to the municipal council that he had assumed the duties of commandant of the garri- son, that he intended to prosecute every disturber of order, and at the same time informed them that at one of the stations he had had a Cossack officer shot who had attempted to loot. The vice-president of the Central Bureau of the ward-guard, Schenkmann, heard about this communication, and set off to Semosenko, to make his personal acquaintance. Semosenko re- ceived him cordially, promised to supply the guard with muni- tions, and to co-operate in every way to prevent pogroms. This conversation with Schenkmann, and also the fact that Semo- senko had sent the above-mentioned proclamation to be set up in type, became known to certain agents of the municipal inde- pendent government, and they, according to the words of Dr. Stavinsky, president of the municipal council, went to the com- mandant Kiverchuk, to makei inquiries as to how much authority Semosenko had and who had given it to him. Kiverchuk an- swered that he knew nothing about it, and took steps to see that the proclamation, already set up in the printer's office, should not be published. It must be observed that with the appearance in the city of the 3rd Gaidamak regiment a perturbed tension arose among the Jews. This regiment conducted itself in a challenging manner, and it was definitely said of it that it had a past record for pogroms. No one in the city knew that a bolshevik uprising was being planned-. Only two days before February 15 the commander of the militia, Kara-Zheliazkov, informed Joffe that he had heard that a revolution was being planned in Proskurov and that it was definitely alleged in the commandant's head- quarters that a future bolshevist regime, with Jofle at its head, was already named. Joffe, disquieted, summoned the representatives of the social- ist parties, among them the bolsheviks. Two representatives of the communist party who appeared at this meeting stated that PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 205 an uprising really was being planned and that the new govern- ment was being formed. The representatives of the other groups protested and pointed out that the uprising would end in failure and bring the Jews to complete destruction. They replied that the uprising would take place simultaneously in the whole government of PodoHa and that a part of the garrison in Proskurov would be on the side of the rebels, and that six- teen villages were ready to come to their aid. They did not give information as to when the uprising would take place. (See testimony of Joffe, pp. 84-87 and 92-99.) Beginning of the Bolshevik Uprising On the evening of Friday, February 14, there appeared in the Central Bureau of the ward guards two young men of the bolshevist faction, who declared that a bolshevist uprising was scheduled for midnight, and asked the president, Rudnitsky, and his assistant Schenkmann, what position the ward guards would take in reference to it. The reply was that the ward guards, by their very nature, were a non-partisan organization, having for their purpose only the protection of the inhabitants, and that in the assumed circumstances they would be absolutely neutral. At the same time Schenkmann pointed out the inopportuneness of the uprising and the fact that it would certainly lead to a Jewish pogrom. But he also was answered that the rising would affect the entire government and that its favorable outcome was assured. Later another member of the communist organization appeared, who declared that by order of the revolutionary committee, which was being organized, he was appointed com- missar of the bureau of the ward guards, and that Schenkmann was appointed by them to maintain relations with the bolshe- vist stafif, which was already being organized. He gave Schenk- mann the password by which the latter could get into the headquarters. According to Schenkmann's testimony he and Rudnitsky collected all the individual " members of the guard and informed them that full freedoni of action was allowed them, and called upon them to remove then and there all_ external evidences of membership in the ward guards. This was done. At the same time all who were questioned declared that they would take no part in the political uprising. With the password he had received Schenkmann went to the bolshevist revolutionary committee, and then to the general staff. Having become con- vinced that the bolsheviks' business was not going right and that the proposed uprising would turn out, in his words, a bluff, he approached the most responsible bolshevik and urged the 2o6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE inopportuneness of the uprising. The latter in his turn stated that the uprising had been postponed from 13 at night to 6 A.M., and said he would see to it that it was further postponed to a more favorable occasion. In truth, when Schenkmann, after this conversation, returned to the Central Bureau, the commis- sar of the bolshevik revolutionary committee, who had been left there, told him that he had received a telephone message that the uprising was postponed. Schenkmann then went around the city to make sure that the guards were in their places. And when he returned again to the bureau, the same commissar in- formed him that a new change had been made and that the uprising was appointed for after 6 A.M. ; the signal would be given by shots. Shots were, in fact, fired at a quarter to seven in the morn- ing, and the uprising began. The bolsheviks first seized the post and telegraph office, and arrested commandant Kiverchuk, considering him, not without reason, a dangerous black-hun- dreder and pogromist. In one of the apartments of the Trach- tenberg house on Alexandrovskaya street in the very center of town, they opened their headquarters. Some of them went to the barracks of the 15th Bielgorod and the 8th Podolia regi- ments. There they awakened the sleeping soldiers and informed them that the uprising had begun and that the organs of the bolshevist regime were already being formed. They proposed to the soldiers to sally out against Petlura's soldiers, who were concentrated in cars at the station. When the soldiers pointed out that they had no machine guns, they were told that the peasants had them and were already nearing the city to take part in the uprising. Then the bolshevistically inclined soldiers arrested their officers, and also the soldiers who were against the uprising. They seized the regimental weapons and started in the direction of the station. There they opened fire on the cars in which were the Gaidamaks and other Cossacks. But when the latter came out of their cars and the attacking soldiers saw how numerous they were, they retreated to their barracks. The Cossacks pursued them and began to fire on the barracks. Then the soldiers withdrew to Felshtin and Yarmolintsy, whither a part of them had previously been sent to arouse the bolshevist revolt; and afterwards they dispersed to various places and thus escaped pursuit. After the withdrawal of the soldiers it was clear that the revolt had failed. The shooting which took place early in the morning had aroused the councilmen of the city, and they began to assemble in the Town Hall. Several times the mayor and PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 207 the president of the council went to the commandant's head- quarters, but no information was given them there. At last they saw Kiverchuk driving up to headquarters, and learned from him that he had been arrested. When they asked who had arrested him, he replied, "The Jews, members of the ward gtiard." He added that his own orderly had joined them, and that he had just shot the orderly with his own hands. End of Bolshevist Uprising According to the testimony of witness Marantz (p. 17-32) he, on Saturday morning, dressed as a soldier, came down Alex- androvskaya street to the Trachtenberg house, which, as he learned afterwards, was the bolshevist headquarters. He noticed many workmen about the house, dressed as soldiers. One of them asked him to join them. He then went over to the other side of the sidewalk. At this time he noticed that commandant Kiverchuk's hundred Cossacks, with his assistant Novitsky at the head, was riding horseback from the station in the direc- tion of the Trachtenberg house. He then turned to a Russian workman, an acquaintance, who was standing there, and asked what Novitsky's appearance meant. The other replied : "No- vitsky is with us, and is at the head of the uprising." But he did not have time to finish the sentence when this same Novit- sky gave the loud command: "Load your guns." Shortly a volley rang out. As was afterwards discovered, it killed a young woman, daughter of the Trachtenberg who owned the house, who was in her own room. The bolsheviks surrounding the Trachtenberg house fled, and the revolt was definitely ended. Other volleys were heard in various parts of the city, but apparently with blank cartridges. The Gaidamak soldiers were again concentrated at the station. Arrests took place in town, while at the station tables were laid to entertain the Gaidamaks. The Ataman Semosenko, this time in full accord with Kiverchuk, took up the duties of garrison commandant. He celebrated his assumption of the post by a luxurious entertainment of the Gaidamaks, and after dinner furnished them vodka and cognac. At the end of the banquet he delivered a speech to the Gaida- maks, in which he described the serious situation of Ukraine, and the efforts they had put forth upon the field of battle, and added that the most dangerous enemies of the Ukrainian people and the Cossacks were the Jews, whom it was necessary to ex- tirpate in order to save Ukraine and themselves. He demanded of the Cossacks an oath that they would fulfil their sacred duty and extirpate the Jewish population; but at the same time they 2o8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE were also required to swear that they would not loot Jewish property. The Cossacks were led to the colors and took oath that they would massacre but not loot. When an under-officer proposed, instead of the massacre, to levy a contribution on the Jews, Semosenko threatened to shoot him. One captain was also found who declared that he would not let his com- pany kill unarmed people. This captain, who had important connections in Petlura's government, was sent out of town with his company. The other Cossacks drew up in line of march, with music in the van and sanitary corps behind, and marched into the city along Alexandrovskaya street, where they broke up into separate groups and scattered over the side streets, which were thickly populated with Jews. (See v. II, p. 14, testimony of Baliner.) The Massacre The mass of the Jews had hardly heard of the bolshevist revolt which had occurred. Accustomed in recent times to all kinds of firing, they paid no particular attention to the shots which were heard that morning. It was Saturday and the orthodox Jews had gone early to the synagogue, where they prayed, and then, returning home, sat down to the Sabbath dinner. Many, according to established custom, after the Sabbath dinner, had lain down to sleep. The Cossacks scattered over the Jewish streets in groups of five to fifteen, and with perfectly calm ^faces entered the houses, took their sabres, and began to cut down all the Jews in the houses, without distinction of age or sex. They killed old men, women, and even nursing babies. They not only cut them down with the sword, but also thrust them through with bayo- nets. They resorted to firing only in case individuals succeeded in breaking forth into the street. Then bullets were sent after them.. When news of the beginning of the massacre spread among the Jews, they began to hide in attics and cellars, but the Cossacks dragged them down from the attics and killed them. Into the cellars they threw hand grenades. According to the testimony of the above-mentioned Schenk- mann the Cossacks killed his younger brother on the street near the house, and then ran into the house and split the skull of his mother. The other members of the family hid under beds, but when his little brother saw his mother's death he crept out from under the bed to kiss her body. The Cossacks started to cut down the boy. Then the old father could endure it no longer PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 209 and also came out from under the bed, and one of the Cossacks killed him with two shots. Then they went to the beds and started thrusting at those who lay under them. He himself happened not to be hurt. According to the witness Marantz, fifteen people were killed and four seriously wounded in the house of his friend Auerbach. When he applied to his Christian neighbors to help him bind up the wounded, only one Christian woman consented to help; the others refused. The witness Griinfeld (v. I, p. 29) says that from the window of her dwelling she saw a gang of about 30 Gaidamaks stop at the opposite house, Khaselev's; four of them left the others and went into the Schiffmann house, where they remained a very short time, and on coming out began to clean their bloody sabres in the snow. In that house it turned out that eight people were killed. Another part of this gang went into the inn "France," which was next door ; out of it ran the old proprietor, pursued by the Gaidamaks, and after them ran the old man's children begging for mercy. According to the witness Spiegel (v. I, p. 76) he and his brother were visiting the Potekha family, when he heard that there was a massacre going on in town. Disturbed for the fate of his old mother, he went home, and, by roundabout ways, con- ducted the old woman to the house of Polish acquaintances. But they absolutely refused to take them in, saying they were afraid for their own fate. When he returned to the Potekha house, Christians who were standing around it (so-called petty bourgeois) warned him not to enter, as a massacre was go- ing on inside. But, disturbed about his brother, he never- theless went in and found that the whole Potekha family and all who had been in the house were cut down, among them his brother. The old mother was so hacked that he could recognize her only by her figure. Near her lay the body of her son, hacked with sabre-cuts and thrust through with bayonets. In the same manner her oldest daughter had been killed. The youngest daughter was also killed, and the middle one was lying severely wounded. A woman relative visiting them was also severely wounded. In the yard were two brothers Bressler and their aged mother. His brother was severely wounded, but still breathing, and died in his arms. "Out of curiosity Christian neighbors came into the house, and I asked them to help me lay the wounded in beds, but they refused. Only one neighbor named Sikora rendered me some help. Two of the wounded died; the rest recovered, but remained cripples." 2IO SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE In the house of Wolfzup (v. II, p. 16) all the famijy were killed except one young woman who remained alive with 28 wounds. The murderers came to the house with machine guns and a sanitary detachment. On the command "Halt!" some spread themselves out cordon-fashion, and some began right there to sharpen their weapons. Then the command "Get to work!" was given, and the Cossacks dispersed among the neighboring houses and began the massacre. In the house of Semmelman (p. 13) 21 were killed and two wounded. The Gaidamaks came to the house in regular order with two machine guns. There were with them a sister of mercy and a man with a red-cross band, who proved later to be Skornik, in command of a sanitary detachment. In the house of Blechman (p. 15) six were killed; one by a stroke on the head which split his skull into two parts. A girl was wounded in the hind part of her body, for which purpose her dress was raised. At the house of Korchak (p. 9, v. II) eight men arrived and first of all smashed the windows to bits. Five entered the house, three staying in the street. Those who entered seized old Korchak by the beard and dragged him to the kitchen window, from which they threw him out to those who were standing in the street. These killed him. Then the men inside killed the aged mother and two daughters. A young woman visitor they dragged by the hair into another room, then threw her out into the street, where she was killed barbarously. Then they returned into the house and inflicted several serious wounds on a 13-year-old boy, who afterwards became totally deaf. They inflicted nine wounds in the abdomen and side upon the oldest brother, placed him upon the dead body of his mother, inflicted two more wounds, and said: "Now we have finished with them." In the house of Zazul (p. 16) they killed a daughter after torturing her a long time. A boy in the house received several wounds and pretended to be dead. The mother offered the mur- derers money, but they replied: "We have come only for your lives." According to the witness Glusmann (v. II, p. 17) he was in the street on Saturday, February 15, but militiamen ad- vised him to go home. Arriving at home, he found 16 neigh- bors in his dwelling. From the window they saw a detach- ment of Gaidamaks, armed from head to foot, approaching the house in complete order. He tried to urge his wife and daugh- ters to hide, fearing for their honor. But they refused to hide without him. The Gaidamaks drove them all out in the yard, and then one went to the gate and shouted to those who re- mained there : "Come here, here are a lot of Jews," The Gaida- PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 211 maks soon surrounded them all. Glusmann found himself near the door leading to the cellar, and his family was beside him. He was struck twice with a bayonet and fell into the cellar; this saved him. His wife, who stood above, was killed. He also observed that a young wounded man asked to be shot. A Gaidamak shot at him twice. Then another said to him : "Why are you shooting? Didn't the Ataman say to cut them down, but not to shoot them?" The other answered: "I know, but what can I do? He asks me himself." The massacre lasted from two to five in the afternoon. It probably would have lasted till late at night, but commissar Taranovich, who was not initiated into all the plans of Semo- senko and Kiverchuk, was horrified at the sight of the bloody carnival enacted in the town. He flew to Semosenko and began urgently to request him to stop the massacre, but the other paid no attention to his words. Taranovich went to the telegraph office and over a direct wire informed the head of the govern- ment, Kamentsy, of what was happening in Proskurov. From there he learned that Konovalov, the commandant of the front, was on the spot, and Taranovich, also by direct wire, called the latter and informed him of what was going on. Konovalov at once telegraphed to Semosenko an order to put a stop to the massacre at once. Taranovich brought this order to Semosenko, who then said: "All right, for to-day we've had enough killing." By the signal of a horn the Gaidamaks were notified of the termination of their activities. The Gaidamaks then gathered at a place previously agreed upon and from there went in regu- lar line of march, with songs, to the place of their bivouac at the station. The facts about what commissar Taranovich did were communicated by the witness Verkhola (p. 44-C5), and are also established in the investigation conducted by the bolshe- vist regime regarding the acts of Taranovich. I have person- ally seen the material of this investigation. We must be just to the Gaidamaks; they honestly fulfilled their oath; they cut down without mercy, but did not loot. In some houses they were offered money, and tore the money to bits. If there were individual cases of looting, they were excep- tional. But, together with the Gaidamaks, some other Cossacks joined in massacring the Jews — mainly from Kiverchuk's hun- dred, and also militiamen. These, who were bound by no oath, not only slew, but also looted. But for the most part the robberies took place in the night after the massacre. They were not lootings in the strict sense of the words, but spiriting away of property which had been left, so to speak, ownerless, 212 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE in consequence of the wholesale slaughter of families. In the stealing of this property an active part was taken by the criminal element, which had been released from prison, according to all information, by order of Kiverchuk, who did this apparently with the object of blaming what happened on them, in case of necessity. By the same Kiverchuk's orders the militia was dis- armed, and only those militiamen remained armed who showed themselves accomplices of the Gaidamaks. By the irony of fate, brightly lighted windows testified to the fact that all in the house were massacred. Namely: in Prosku- rov all houses are lighted by electricity, which is very moderate in price there. Now the orthodox Jews, who are the majority in Proskurov, true to their law, do not put out the fires and do not shut oflF the electric lights on Saturday, or rather on the night from Friday to Saturday. So the electricity burns till morning, when it goes out with the cutting off of the current, but then in the evening of Saturday, when the current is turned on, it lights of itself. After the awful Saturday, February 15, the Jews lighted no lights. But all the more brightly burned the light in the windows of the houses where Jewish families had been totally wiped out. And the plunderers went for those lights. There were, of course, accidents, and they entered some Christian houses. This explains the isolated occurrences of at- tacks on Christian homes during the night Saturday to Sunday, of which the witnesses Verkhola and Dr. Stavinsky made men- tion in their testimony (p. 70-75). The witness Verkhola and Dr. Stavinsky, president of the municipal council, state that they did not hear of the massacre that had taken place until late in the evening. They went through the city on foot, and saw many corpses lying around. They also entered lighted dwellings in which murdered people were lying. Intending to establish a base for treating the wounded, they went to several drug stores, but there they met the above-named Dr. Skornik, who was requisitioning all bandag- ing material for the use of the Cossacks, alleging that there were many wounded among them, brought from the front. Upon investigation that was found totally untrue. This Dr. Skornik, with a sister of mercy and two sanitary- corps members, took an active part in the massacre. Dr. Skornik especially distinguished himself. When another sister of mercy, outraged by his behavior, cried out, to him: "What are you doing? You are wearing the Red Cross band I" he tore off the band and threw it to her, and continued killing. According to the testimony of three gymnasium-students, who PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 213 had been drafted in Yelisavetgrad by the Gaidamaks to serve in the sanitary corps, Skornik, when he returned to his car after the massacre, boasted that in one house they met such a beauti- ful girl that not a single Gaidamak could make up his mind to kill her; then he thrust her through with his own hand. Ac- cording to the testimony of witnesses, a body of a young woman of extraordinary beauty, thrust through, was in fact found among the corpses at the cemetery. Since the whole personnel of Dr. Skornik's sanitary corps fell ill of typhus, no one of the corps succeeded in leaving when the Petlurists evacuated the town. They all came into the hands of the bolshevik forces, and, after an investigation, those found guilty were sent to Odessa without a trial. I have seen the data of the investigation and must state that Dr. Skornik was unquestionably proved guilty of active participation in the massacre. It was established, moreover, that he was a morphine addict; and in general he produced a strange impression on all. (See testimony of Dr. Stavinsky, p. 88-90.) On the next morning occasional murders of Jews continued, both on the streets and in the houses. The Jews remained in hiding and very few ventured out on the streets. According to the witness, Tzatzlds (35-40), he, on Sunday morning, dressed himself in peasant's garb, went to Alexandrovskaya street, and approached a group of Gaidamaks, who were talking with townspeople. He heard the Gaidamaks say that up to two o'clock they would be killing Jews individually, but after two o'clock they would repeat the general slaughter of yesterday. Dr. Stavinsky, in the capacity of president of the municipal council, together with the mayor and other persons, went to the commandant's headquarters and begged that the massacre be stopped. The witness Verkhola also appeared there and par- ticularly insisted upon it. Right there in the headquarters it was decided to call the municipal council, and Semosenko and Kiver- chuk promised to attend its session. When Verkhola and Stav- insky went to the council, they were compelled on the way to witness individual instances of murder and wounding of Jews. One was shot before their eyes at the Town Hall itself. Very few members appeared at the Council meeting, and only one Jew, Raigorodsky; the other Jews had to turn back, because attacks were made upon them. (See testimony of Marantz.) The council opened its session immediately upon the appearance of Semosenko and Kiverchuk. Dr. Stavinsky opened the session and in a few words described the situation which had arisen. Semosenko then spoke and declared that what had happened had 214 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE been called forth exclusively by the Jews, who, being one and all bolsheviks, had plotted to murder the Gaidamaks and other Cossacks. He would" continue to act in the same way in the future, since he considered it his sacred duty. Kiverchuk ex- pressed himself in the same spirit. Then Verkhola spoke. I consider it necessary to say a few words about the personality of Verkhola. Verkhola sprang from the people and was self-educated. He graduated from a School of Art, taught in folk-schools, and attended lectures at the university. In his politics he is a Social Democrat and Ukrain- ian nationalist. Under the first Rada he was elected to the municipal council, and also to the Zemstvo board. Twice he ful- filled the duties of commissar of the city of Proskurov. When the revolution in favor of the Hetman took place, he considered the Hetman's regime reactionary and believed it impossible per- sonally to continue his social and administrative work. He re- signed from all his offices and retired to private life. When the peasant uprisings against the Hetman began, the Austrian authorities arrested Verkhola and accused him of organizing these uprisings. He was taken to Tarnopol, where he remained two months in prison. But then, while he was being taken into court, he succeeded in escaping; and all the rest of the time he was in hiding. He returned to Proskurov only on February 13, two days before the massacre. It was immediately proposed to him that he withdraw his resignation as member of the coun- cil, and he consented. When the massacre began, Verkhola devoted himself to incessant efforts to put a stop to the occur- rences taking place. Speaking after Semosenko and Kiverchuk, he delivered a long speech to the Council, in which he declared that the events in Proskurov were a disgrace to Ukraine. Speaking of the past services of the Cossacks he declared that in the present case Semosenko had clothed thugs in the garb of Cossacks and be- come their Ataman. Turning to Semosenko he said: "You are fighting bolsheviks ; but were those old men and children bolshe- viks, whom your Gaidamaks cut down? You assert that only Jews produce bolsheviks ; but do you not know that there are bolsheviks among other nations, too, including the Ukrainians?" He urged Semosenko, for the sake of Ukraiiie's honor, to put an immediate stop to the horrors taking place. After Verkhola Raigorodsky expressed himself in a few words, in the name of the Jews entirely agreeing with Verkhola's speech. Semosenko replied to Verkhola in the same words he had PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 215 used in his previous speech. He said he was not fighting old men, women and children, but only bolsheviks. Looking straight at Verkhola, he said that he did not doubt it was true, unfor- tunately, that there were bolsheviks even among the Ukrainians, but that he would not spare them either. He would consent to issue an order to stop what was going on, on condition that the bodies of the dead should immediately be committed to the earth. He also considered it necessary to observe to the municipal council that, knowing of the impending bolshevist uprising, it had not warned him of it. Dr. Stavinsky and the members of the council denied this charge. Verkhola again spoke, thanking Semosenko for his readiness to issue orders stopping these horrors, but insisted that he order back the Cossacks who had been sent to Felshtin and other places to perpetrate Jewish massacres there. To this Semosenko replied that in Felshtin also a similar bolshevist revolt had taken place, just as in Proskurov, and that it must have the same consequences as here. However, after long in- sistence, Semosenko consented to recall the Cossacks who had been sent out. In the same session of the Council, in the presence of Semo- senko and Kiverchuk, it was voted that the guard of the city should be entrusted to the aviation corps, with the commander of which Verkhola had succeeded in speaking previously. Verk- hola himself was appointed supervisor of this guard. Losing no time, he sent the following proclamation to a printing shop to be printed: "On the Ataman's orders and with his consent, expressed in the council, the massacre of the peaceful population is terminated. The Cossacks are ordered out of town. The guard of the city is entrusted to the aviation corps, and the council guarantees complete security to the inhabitants. Normal conditions of life should be re-established. Order has been issued to shoot all who are caught in the act of looting, and likewise Cossacks who appear in the city after 6 P.M." When this order was set up, Verkhola took the proof of it to the commandant's to get permission to have it pasted up around town. But there he was arrested, because Semosenko and Kiverchuk found that he had no right to issue such a procla- mation, which furthermore was couched in improper language. By Semosenko's orders Verkhola was to be taken to the station for trial — which, in reality, meant to be shot. But the mayor Sikora and members of the Ukrainian national union, who came to the commandant's and found out about what had happened, declared to Semosenko and Kiverchuk that to deal 2i6 SLAUGHTER, OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE so with Verkhola would call forth violent revenge from many Ukrainian organizations, which knew him well. Finally Semo- senko ordered an investigation of Verkhola, and he was im- mediately released. Instead of the proclamation which Verkhola intended to issue, Semosenko issued an order in which he declared Prosku- rov and the canton under martial law, and forbade any move- ment in the streets after 7 P.M. In this order he writes, among other things: "I warn the population to stop anarchistic revolts, since I have the power to suppress them. I call the atten- tion of the Jews in particular to this. You are a people hated by all nations. And yet you bring such confusion among the baptized. Do you really not want to live? Are you not sorry for your own people? As long as no one bothers you, be quiet. Such a miserable nation, and yet they cause so much disturbance among a poor people." Further on in the same order Semosenko demands that all shops, stores, and places of business should at once begin to function. He also orders that in three days' time all shop-signs be_ translated into Ukrainian, "that I may not see a single Muscovite sign." The signs must be inscribed in good style; pasting on of letters is strictly for- bidden. Persons guilty in this regard will be delivered over to courtmartial. On the same day another proclamation was issued, in which Semosenko writes that "In the night of the 14th of February, some unknown, dishonorable, conscienceless persons raised an insurrection against the existing regime. According to infor- mation at hand, these persons belonged to the Jewish nation, and intended to take the power into their own hands, in order to produce confusion in the affairs of state and to bring Ukraine, which has suffered so much, to anarchy and disorder. Most decisive measures were taken to suppress the revolt. It is possible that among the victims were many innocent persons, since nothing can be done without mistakes. But their blood must fall as a curse upon those who showed themselves provo- cators and adventurists." On the next day another proclamation was issued, in which Semosenko writes that the sad fact is established that at the time of the bolshevist uprising of the fourteenth and fifteenth of February the local garrison supported the bolsheviki ; that the soldiers of that garrison went over openly to their side. Therefore he declares the 15th Bielgorod regi- ment and the 8th Podolia disbanded. For the purpose of taking from them their property and documents he appoints repre- sentatives of the 3rd Gaidamak regiment and, a commission from PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 217 the "beyond-the-rapids" brigade. (All these proclamations pub- lished; see p. 3.) As is evident from Verkhola's testimony, as well as from that of other witnesses, the murders continued during the course of three days. But after the session of the municipal council, mass slaughter was terminated. However, all day Sunday and likewise Monday, there were numerous cases of isolated mur- ders of Jews, both in houses and on the streets. Massacres of Jews also took place in neighboring villages, into which the Gaidamaks penetrated either at their own discretion or upon invitation of the peasants. The Jews cast about in all direc- tions, seeking escape from the situation. Most of all they placed their hopes on Verkhola. Since commissar Taranovich had long been weary of his duties and had been asking to retire, which he had not been permitted to do because of the lack of a suitable substitute, the public officials, and particularly the Jews, besought Verk- hola to assume the duties of commissar. The latter con- sented, and he and Taranovich together called up the commissar of the government (gubernia) on direct wire. This official knew Verkhola well from his previous service, and gladly consented to substitute him for Taranovich. Telegraphic orders were im- mediately issued naming Verkhola commissar, which, incidentally, was extremely displeasing to Semosenko and Kaverchuk. As soon as he took up the reins of office, Verkhola issued two proclamations, in which he indicated that "any appeal to na- tional hatred, and particularly to pogroms, is a disgrace to Ukraine and a hindrance to her regeneration." Such appeals were always weapons for the reactionaries. Every hostile mani- festation on the part of a more powerful nation against a weaker shows that that nation cannot assume those forms which are based on equality and fraternity. Such behavior only helped the enemies of Ukraine, and he expressed the hope that the popu- lation would not yield to such provocation. He demanded that all agitators inciting to pogroms should be arrested and handed over to a field court-martial, (v. III.) In the other proclama- tion he demanded that all stolen property be broiight to the commissariat to be returned to its owners. As already stated, it was intended to repeat on Sunday the massacre of Saturday. Three Gaidamaks who appeared Sun- day morning at the city headquarters, among other things, de- clared, in the presence of Verkhqla, that they were granted permission to keep killing the Jews for three days. But after the Sunday session of the city council, Semosenko really did 2i8 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE see to terminating the slaughter, and it was not repeated again in mass proportions. But the murders of individual Jews, as already stated, were repeated on Sunday and Monday. These murders were numerous. By Semosenko's directions the victims of Saturday's massacre were to be buried on Monday. Thus the bodies remained in the houses or lay about the streets from Saturday till Monday. Many of the bodies were gnawed by swine. On Monday, beginning early, numerous peasant's carts, with bodies heaped up on them, started for the Hebrew cemetery. Bodies kept arriving throughout the day and filled the whole cemetery. According to the testimony of the witness, Finkel (pp. 1-4), he himself, while in the cemetery, counted more than a thousand corpses. Hired peasants dug in the cemetery a ditch of enormous proportions, which was to become the common grave of the victims of the massacre. In the cemetery, as re- ported by the same Finkel, there appeared marauders, who, under various pretexts, approached the bodies, handled them over, and robbed them. There also appeared relatives of the slain, who sought out their corpses and took out of their pockets valuables, in many cases very considerable ones ; but very many of the corpses proved to have been previously robbed. Women were found with fingers, on which there had evidently been rings, cut off their hands. The inspector, Dobrovolsky, -had charge of the burials. He had orders that not a single body should remain unburied by night. However, they did not suc- ceed in burying all the bodies until foJur o'clock Tuesday morning. It should be added that besides the common grave four smaller graves were dug and many buried in them. Some Jews succeeded in burying their relatives in separate graves. As already stated, individual murders of Jews continued also on the following days, both in Proskurov and the vicinity. Many were killed on the road to neighboring places, in the fields, and woods, and nearby villages and hamlets. Besides those Jews who were killed by the Gaidamak horde that was turned loose, the authorities themselves arrested many Jews on the pretext that they were bolshevists, and afterwards shot them. In this regard Kjverchuk's assistant, Kovalevsky, especially dis- tinguished himself — a son of a local householder, a very corrupt and cruel young man. (See testimony of Sarah Hellman, pp. 13-15.) Extremely interesting in this connection is the testimony of the witness Tzatzkis, who, with ten others, was condemned to be shot, but escaped by a sort of miracle. This Tzatzkis, who PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 219 has been mentioned before, disguised in peasants' costume, over- heard some Gaidamaks on Sunday morning say to a group of Christians that after two o'clock they were going to repeat the massacre of the day before. He set ofiE for the house of his parents, who lived in Alexandrovskaya street near the commandant's house, to warn them of the impend- ing massacre. In the house, besides his parents and sisters, he found his younger brother, a cousin, and a more distant relative. From the window they soon saw five Gaidamaks with the commandant's assistant, Kovalevsky, approaching the house. This Kovalevsky was well acquainted with his younger brother and had even granted him permission to carry a revolver. They quickly hid their old father and the women who were in the house in the garret, and themselves opened the door to the Gaidamaks. Kovalevsky came in and announced that he had come to search the house for secret implements and weapons. The brother replied that there were no "implements" in the house, and that he had a revolver by permission of Kovalevsky himself. This revolver, along with the permit, he straightway handed over to him. Kovalevsky pretended to search for imple- ments under the beds, and then ordered them all to follow him. When they pointed out that they could not leave the house and that some one had to be left, he, after long entreaties, consented to leave their distant relative in the house. Two Gaidamaks also remained, while three led them to headquarters and placed them in a room where there were already many prisoners, both Jews and Christians, suspected of being bolsheviks. All through the day many new prisoners kept arriving, and finally Tzatzkis' father was brought in. It turned out that the two Gaidamaks who had stayed in the house went up into the garret and ar- rested his father. By evening there were 32 Christians and 15 Jews. The prisoners were persecuted in all sorts of ways. A certain Pole, a former land-owner, was exposed to especially severe persecutions, constant beating with ramrods and other tortures. Individual persons were called to be examined, among them Tzatzkis' brother. The same Kovalevsky did the examining; but it was no genuine examination, only an appearance of one, since the questions put were wholly trivial. On the next day, about 5 P.M., all the prisoners were taken out in the street and drawn up in rank and file. Christians and Jews separately. A vigorous Gaidamak came up to the group of Jews and ^aid triumphantly: "Well, you Jews, you won't come back to us any more, we are going to send you all into the land committee," which, in the 220 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE language of the Gaidamaks, meant "to the other world." They conducted all the prisoners to the station, and continued to persecute them on the way, especially that same Pole. At the station they were all put in a separate car. In the evening they began to call out the Christians in turn. They, it appears, were called into a neighboring car, where three tipsy Cossacks ques- tioned them about something or other and then took them into a third car. Some time passed, and they led five Jews out of the car, among them Tzatzkis' brother. When they did not return in the course of an hour and nothing was heard about them, the remaining Jews understood that they had been taken out to be shot. As indicated, they put the Christians, after questioning them, in another car, sending only one of them back into the car where the Jews remained. About 10 o'clock they took all of them, that is, ten Jews and one Russian, out of the car on to the bed of the railroad. They took the Jews aside, and, first of all, searched them and took away their money. Then they arranged them in two rows and led them to a river slope about 10 versts from the place where the cars were. It was clear that they were being led to be shot. On the way the Gaidamak marching beside Tzatzkis felt of his sheepskin coat. "Are you looking to see how fine a coat you are going to inherit from me?" Tzatzkis asked. "Shut up, you damned Jew, or I'll smash you with the butt of my gunl" the Gaidamak replied, threatening him with the butt of his gun. His father marching in front overheard these words and asked him in Hebrew not to quarrel, lest t'hey torture before killing them. At last the river-slope was reached. The prisoners had to take off their clothes and shoes and remain in nothing but their under- clothes. Tzatzkis asked permission to say farewell to his father. It was granted. He went up to his father, took him by the hand, and together with him began to pronounce the words of the prayer before death, mentioning in it the names of his chil- dren. Then all were placed in one line with faces to the river, and behind them the word was given and three volleys were fire;d. All fell, including himself. The groans and cries of the wounded resounded. The Gaidamaks ran up and began to finish off those who were groaning. They had to busy them- selves a particularly long time with the Russian, who struggled with death stubbornly. Finally all was silent. The Cos- sacks departed. Tzatzkis began to feel of himself and was amazed to find that he was not only alive, but not even wounded. Making sure that no one was near, he hurried and ran as fast as he could towards the nearest PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 221 village. In one place, crossing a stream, he fell through the ice and goti up to his knees in water. But he did not feel either fatigue or cold. At last he arrived at the village and came to the house of a peasant whom he knew, aroused him, and told him what had happened. The peasant wept when he heard his story, but advised him not to stay in his house, because it was near the city. He gave him shoes and clothes, and Tzatzkis went on to the next village, from which he succeeded in getting to the town of Medzhibozh. There were other cases of marvelous escapes. In this regard the story of a young man named Halperin (pp. 31-34) is very interesting. Four times he found himself face to face with death, but each time he escaped. He was a pupil in the commercial school, and, before the pogrom, was a member of the ward guard. He was dressed in a soldier's cloak and cap. On Saturday, after dinner, when bodies of murdered people were already lying about the streets, he went to his home, which was on the outskirts of the city, in the direction of the village of Zarechie. Near his house he met a crowd of Gaidamaks, and one of them stopped him and asked whether he was a Jew or a Russian. He replied that he was a Russian. The other demanded evidence, and he showed him his card as a student in the commercial school, in which his creed was not stated. The Cossack turned the card over a bit, looked at him rather suspiciously, but then said: "Well, go along." When other Cossacks then rushed at Halperin, the first shouted to them: "Let him go, he's a Russian." Halperin went to his house, and found it locked, with a window broken. He did not dare enter the house. Only afterwards did he find out that his family had hidden and had not been injured. But a rich Jew named Blechman, who lived in the same house, was found to have been robbed and murdered, with his whole family, con- sisting of six persons. Halperin went to the neighboring village of Zarechie and visited a Jewish acquaintance named Rosen- feld. About 9 P.M. there began a battering at the door, and some young peasant lads forced their way into the house; they fell on the old man Rosenfeld and killed him. He himself, with Rosenfeld's son, fled in the direction of the woods. Being unable to run far, he stopped. The young men surrounded him and fired at him, but, finding that he was not wounded, they decided to take him to the city and hand him over to the Gaida- maks. Just then a peasant appeared from the city and be- gan to tell of what was going on there. The young men stopped to listen to the newcomer, and Halperin succeeded in 222 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE hiding. Then he went towards the village of Grinovtsy. In this village lived Jewish acquaintances of his named Bucher, but, since it was now very late, he did not venture to go to their house, but spent the night in the open fields. Next day he went to the house, but there it was learned that the peasants were holding a meeting to decide the question of how to deal with the Jews living in the village. He then went back to the city, but, since things were very unsettled there and he did not find his family, he returned to the village again, where he spent the night. Monday morning three Gaidamaks appeared and began to hunt for Jews. Halperin, with two young men and a girl, fled to the woods to hide. After remaining some time in the woods, they decided it would be less dangerous to go to town, and started for Proskurov. On the way they met three young peasants returning from town to the country. One of them had a rifle. The fellows stopped them and examined their docu- ments, and said, "These are just the sort we want," and turned them back towards the village. Halperin was seated in a sledge with the armed peasants. The two other young men and the young woman went on foot. There they met the same three Gaidamaks, who had come to the village earlier, and were now returning to the city. The Gaidamaks stopped them. The peasant with the rifle got down from the sledge and explained to the Gaidamaks that he was taking the Jews he had caught back to the village. The Gaidamaks pulled out their sabres and began to strike the young people who were on foot. All three were killed. Halperin, who was still in the sledge, whipped up the horse, which dashed towards the village. One of the Gaida- maks rushed after him, but could not catch up. Having gone a considerable distance, Halperin got down from the sledge, ran into the field, and stretched himself out on the snow. In the mist he was not easily distinguishable. However, after a time some peasant boys came, who decided to hand him over to the civil authorities as a Jew. They took him to the village of Grinovtsy, taking from him^ his wrist-watch on the way. In Grinovtsy, where the Buchers lived, it appeared that all the Jews had been arrested, and he was added to the number. There were about forty Jews, including children, in Grinovtsy. They all had the name of Bucher, and represented the de- scendants of a certain Bucher who had .settled in the village long before. Between the Buchers and the local peasants good and neighborly relations had always subsisted. Nevertheless, when the news of the Proskurov massacre came to the village, the young peasants decided to settle with their Jews, too. Some PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 223 of them went to Proskurov and brought back the three Gaida- maks of whom mention has been made. Hearing of this, all the Jews hid, but the peasants hunted them down and rounded them up with the Gaidamaks' help. The question was raised whether to settle with them there or in another place. The Gaidamaks first searched the Jews and took their money and valuables, amounting to more than 30,000 rubles. Then the Gaidamaks proposed to massacre them all on the spot. But the old peasants told the Gaidamaks that they themselves would deal with their own Jews, but not here in the village, rather outside the village. They put the Jews, with their wives and children, in sledges, and started them in the direction of Proskurov. On the way the young peasants wanted to put an end to them, but the old peasants insisted that they be handed over to the authorities, who would mete out justice. They were taken to the commandant's headquarters in Prosku- rov, and thence to the station-commandant at the station. The latter, in turn, took them to the office of the field court-martial, but from there they were taken back to the commandant's, and thence to a chamber for prisoners. Since the will to mas- sacre had by that time sensibly diminished in Proskurov, it was decided to set them all free next morning. But when they were freed they did not return again to their homes in Grinovtsy. (Testimony of the Buchers, p. 3.) As for Halperin, during one of the transfers, he succeeded in escaping. The witness Marantz also tells of a marvelous deliverance. On Sunday, February 15, he, as a member of the council, started for the council-chamber to take part in the memorable session at which Semosenko and Kiverchuk appeared. On the way he met the councilman Storr, and joined him. They noticed that a Gaidamak officer was chasing them in a cab. When he caught up with them he jumped out of the cab, took out his sabre and attacked them. In a moment more the blows of the sabre would have struck them. At that moment some one on the opposite sidewalk called the officer by name; he turned around, and Marantz and Storr succeeded in hiding in the nearest house, and so escaped. On the morning of Wednesday, February 19, comparative quiet prevailed in the city. It goes without saying that the Jews did not open their shops, since they had no interest in that. But Semosenko issued an order that the shops should immediately be opened. On February 33, Semosenko issued a proclamation to the effect that, according to information in his hands, there were 224 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE many bolshevik agitators in Proskurov, and, therefore, he de- manded of the population that on this same day by 8 P.M. all bolshevik agitators should be handed over to the authori- ties. If not, the most decisive measures would be adopted. At the same time he again demanded that all shops should be opened immediately under penalty of 6,000 rubles fine for each merchant. The Jews saw a new provocation and a new threat in this proclamation. To pacify Semosenko they collected a sum of 300,000 rubles and decided to offer it through the local government for the needs of the garrison. The mayor, Sikora, took it upon himself to present this sum, but managed it so badly that Semosenko, though knowing that the money had been collected by Jews alone, issued a proclamation stating that he had received 300,000 rubles "from the entire population of Pros- kurov," which he thanked for properly appreciating the labors of his Cossacks. To the central authorities he announced that the inhabi- tants of Proskurov, in gratitude for the keeping of order in the city and for saving them from the bolsheviks, had presented him with 300,000 rubles for the needs of the garrison. On February 37, Semosenko issued a proclamation which be- gins with these words: "Jews, I have heard that yesterday you wanted to hold a meeting in Alexandrovskaya street in order to seize the power, and that you are preparing in four days to start another such revolt as occurred on February 14-15." After this follow corresponding threats. (See vol. III.) This proclamation completely overwhelmed the Jews, since they knew that no meeting had been planned and that the Jews were not thinking in the least of seizing the power. First of all they applied to Commissar Verkhola. Now Ver- khola had certain facts in his hands, which indicated that some- one in Proskurov was circulating provocatory rumors in his own selfish interests. It must be observed that a commission had been sent from Kamenetz to Proskurov to investigate the recent disturbances. But Semosenko, as Verkhola testifies, on his own authority, disbanded the commission, and named his own commission to investigate, not the pogrom, but the bolshevik revolt. One of the most active members of this commission was the Gaidamak Rokhmanenko, whose real name was Rokh- man. This Rokhman, a Jew, according to his statement, en- tered the ranks of the Gaidamaks as a volunteer. He gave himself out for a former student and the son of a rich tanner of Kiev. But, according to evidence I have collected, he was a man of little education, and no means, who had for- PROSKUROV: HILLERSON'S REPORT 225 raerly lived on money which he earned by giving lessons in Jewish. This Rokhman'got himself into Semosenko's favor, was named on the investigating commission, and, as a member of the commission, received power to arrest people on his own responsibility and bring them to trial. He arrested principally sons of rich parents, and through another Jew Prosser, in whose house he lived, received ransom for them. (See testimony of Storr, pp. 7-9.) Verkhola succeeded in proving not only that Rokhmanenko was dealing in extortion and blackmail, but that other members of the commission were also taking bribes. He made a detailed report of all this to Semosenko, and insisted that he give him power to arrest them all. Semosenko, after long delibera- tion, consented to the arrest of Rokhmanenko, but absolutely refused to let the others be arrested. Verkhola searched Rokh- manenko's quarters, took away from him 18,000 rubles in cash, arrested him, and compelled him on examination to admit ex- tortion and blackmail. At the same time Rokhmanenko declared that he had handed over most of the bribes he had received to Semosenko's chief of staff, Garaschenko. Verkhola communi- cated to Semosenko the results of his examination, and gave Rokhmanenko himself over to the public prosecutor. In spite of repeated urgings from Verkhola, the prosecution of the case against him was conducted very feebly, and at last lapsed altogether. "Though Semosenko was asked at least to release the records of the investigation of the case, the latter were not returned. Rokhmanenko himself, while in prison, boasted that no one dared bring him to trial, and that he would soon be free and would then be bitterly revenged on his enemies. When the evacuation of Proskurov by the Petlurists began, it was decided to conduct Rokhmanenko from the common prison to another place, it being expected that his friends would liberate him and take him away. While he was being transferred, some one, out of personal revenge, shot him. Thus ended the days of this adventurist and renegade, who, by the way, boasted that he had taken an active part in the massacre of the Jews. It goes without saying that Semosenko's proclamation of February 27 was issued under the influence of the provocatory activity of Rokhmanenko and other members of the special commission, who in their own selfish interests needed to sow panic and alarm among the Jews. And, in fact, the Jews could not shake off their panic of fear. In company with Commissar Verkhola they considered all means which could be adopted for getting rid of Semosenko. At last 226 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Verkhola applied to the president of the Ukrainian national union, Mudry, who was in friendly relations with Semosenko's immediate superior, the corps-commander Konovaletz, and asked him to use his influence with Konovaletz to get Semosenko transferred to another place, since, while he was there, the tranquilization of the population of Proskurov was unthinkable. In this respect Verkhola also made sure of the co-operation of Kiverchuk, who did not like seeing all the power in the hands of Semosenko, and undoubtedly was envious of the latter. Be- sides this, Kiverchuk thought that Semosenko, in slaughtering a large part of the Jewish population, had done his work and that there was no further need for him. Together with Mudry, Verkhola went to Konovaletz's headquarters and there got from him an order that Semosenko should lay down the duties of garrison-commander and return to the front. Kiverchuk, in turn, was also soon removed from the post of commandant of the city of Proskurov, and remained only commandant of the canton of Proskurov. However, Semosenko was slow to lay down his office. He schemed to remain in Proskurov, and, in his turn, intrigued against Kiverchuk. Apparently he especially disliked the moral satisfaction which his going would give the Jews. But when he saw that he had to go, he made use of, the fact that he was suffering from a chronic venereal disease, called a consultation of physicians, and, through his adjutant, persuaded them to give him their verdict to the effect that in the interests of his health it was necessary for him temporarily to give up service entirely, and to retire to some hospital at a good distance from Proskurov. (See testimony of Dr. Salitronik, pp. 41-43.) With great pomp, attended by sanitary detachments and sisters of mercy, Semosenko at last left Proskurov. This Semosenko, who bathed the houses and streets of Prosku- rov with Jewish blood, was, according to the description of witnesses, a weak young man of SS or 23, who had begun his service as a volunteer under the tsar. With the forced seriousness of his face he produced on all the impression of a half-witted, nervous and unbalanced man. Judging by some of his resolutions in the reports which I have seen, it must be admitted that he was at the same time characterized by great powers of calculation and decisiveness. According to my approximate reckoning more than 1,200 persons were killed in Proskurov and environs. Besides this, out of over 600 wounded, more than 300 died. In view of the fact that in his first proclamation Semosenko / FELSHTIN : HILLERSON'S REPORT 227 threatened to shoot on the spot anyone who instigated a pogrom, and that this proclamation was not published owing to Kiverchuk, who at that time was hindering Semosenko's entry into power by every means ; and in view of the further fact that Kiverchuk willingly let him have this power when he ex- pressed readiness to massacre the Jews ; I come to the conclusion that Semosenko was mainly the physical instrument of those bloody horrors which took place in Proskurov. But the chief inspiration of the bloody times in Proskurov appears to have been, in my opinion, Col. Kiverchuk — ^that old tsarist official and unquestioned pogromist and black-hundreder. It was the sad function of Proskurov to establish a new phase in the technique of pogroms. Previous pogroms had as their chief purpose robbery, that is, the stealing of Jewish property; murders followed the looting, but still they were not the principal purpose. The Cossacks regarded the looting as the just reward for their faithful service; and in the killing of peaceful and unarmed people they saw a manifestation of their valor and personal prowess. Beginning with Proskurov the basic purpose of the pogroms in Ukraine appears as the total destruction of the Jewish population. Looting was also widely practised, but it took second place. In Proskurov the Uman massacre of the time of Honta was repeated. The difference is only that in Uman, under Honta, Poles and Jews were massacred, while in Proskurov only Jews were massacred, with strict neutrality on the part of the Poles and other Christians. III. Felshtin (Government of Podolia) The Felshtin pogrom must be regarded not as an independent pogrom but as an episode of the Proskurov massacre. As I stated in my report on Proskurov, a part of the soldiers who revolted on the morning of Saturday, February 15, went along the road to Felshtin, in order to raise a revolt there. Upon arriving there they first arrested the commandant of militia and announced to all that a bolshevik revolution had taken place in Proskurov, and that a similar revolution was to take place in the whole canton of Proskurov. But soon they released the commandant of militia and took from him, as from other people, their signed statements that they unqualifiedly sub- mitted to the newly organized bolshevik regime. However, on 228 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the same day, February 15, they learned that the bolshevik revolt in Proskurov had failed. They then hastily quitted Felshtin and scattered in various directions. This episode with the bolshevist uprising greatly disturbed the local Jewish population. In the evening this disquietude in- creased when vague rumors began to arrive about the events in Proskurov. The alarm of the Jews increased more when on the next day, Sunday, these rumors became more definite. The Jews applied to the commandant of militia, asking him to strengthen the guard. He promised to summon peasants from the neighboring village of Porichie, and also from Proskurov, to help the local guard. For this he received from the Jews a corresponding sum of money. And, in fact, on Monday morning there appeared armed peasant youths from Porichie, who surrounded the place. This was the auxiliary guard which the commandant of militia had collected. He himself went to Proskurov on Monday morning. He returned at 6 P.M. and after him appeared Cossacks with "red caps," that is, those same Gaidamaks who, as was now definitely known in Felshtin, had massacred the Jews in Proskurov. The Jews understood that they were fated for slaughter and began to hide wherever they could. Most of them hid in cellars and garrets. Many tried to leave the place, but the guard sur- rounding the place, which the commandant of militia had in- vited from Porichie, did not let the Jews pass through. Thus the Jews were completely hemmed in ; very few got out. The night was spent in great agitation. Occasionally individ- ual shots were heard. According to the testimony of the witness Landa, whose house opens on the square of the main street of the town, he saw from the window of his house that several hundred Gaidamaks were collecting in the square, and with them many peasants' carts from the neighboring villages. In the morning, approximately at seven o'clock, he heard the sound of a horn, and saw the Gaidamaks forming in line on the square. Someone addressed them, after which they scattered through the town. Soon he began to hear the cries of people being murdered. Four Gaidamaks came in to his own house, and one of them made a motion at him with his sabre, but another stopped him. They demanded money of him, and he gave them about 6,000 rubles, assuring them that he had no more, and offering them all his things, but asking that they spare his life. They took no things and went to the door. The same Gaidamak who had stopped his comrade when he threatened him with a sabre said : "You had better hide, because FELSHTIN: HILLERSON'S REPORT 229 others will come and will certainly kill you.'" Landa, who was alone in the dwelling, since he had previously sent his wife and only daughter to another place, with the aid of this same Gaida- mak got up into the garret by a hanging ladder, which the Gaidamak handed up to him in the garret, where he hid it. From the garret Landa was able to view all the horrors which were taking place in Felshtin. He saw old men and children dragged out of the houses and murdered. After a long time he saw three women near his house, and thinking that one was his wife, jumped down to look at the body. He found that it was not his wife, but did not venture to return to his dwelling because the ladder remained in the garret. He then ran into the house of a Russian neighbor and begged for refuge, but was driven out. Then he ran into the garret of a neighboring house and hid there in the straw. Two lads of the Porichie guard saw this, and pursued him ; they went up into the garret, but did not find him. They tried to set the straw on fire, but did not succeed. Another witness, Sviner, who had recently returned from the front, tells how he, with his mother and sisters, hid in their house, and several groups of Gaidamaks visited them. He bought them off with money. When the last group appeared, he had no money left. He went out on the street to them and began to beg them to spare him. He took refuge in cunning and turned to one Gaidamak and said that he had Iain with him in the trenches during the war. The Gaidamak began to look him over, and then turned his glance towards his legs and said: "You have some fine shoes, give them to me." He gladly agreed, and went into the house with the Gaidamaks and took off his boots. The Gaidamak in turn took off his own boots and put on Sviner's. Then he took out of his pocket a fresh pair of stock- ings, gave them to Sviner, and helped him put on his old boots. Having received a pair of rubbers also, he turned to his com- panions and said : "We won't kill a man with whom I sat in the trenches." Towards evening Sviner and his family, not knowing that the massacre was over, decided not to stay in the house any longer, and, making their way through the corpses on the street, they all left the town and spent the whole night in the fields. They only returned on the next day, when they learned that the town was quiet. Sviner then went to the house of his brother, who had been president of the Jewish community. With difficulty, walking over bodies, he got to the house, and there found his brother, his wife, her parents, and also several other people who had hidden in the house, all murdered. The witness Kreimer states that he was in Proskurov at the 230 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE time of the pogrom there. Having saved his life, on Sunday, February 16, at 12 noon, he started on foot for Felshtin, where he regularly lives. But at the village of Malinichi he was ar- rested by a militiaman and taken to the militia headquarters. The commandant of militia 'said he must take him back to Proskurov, to the commandant's. When he said he would be shot there and begged him not to send him there, the commander of militia replied that he himself would undergo a serious risk if he did not do so. He showed him a telegram received from Kiverchuk, commandant of Proskurov, telling him to shoot on the spot, or send to him in Proskurov to be shot, all agitators and Jews. At this time militiamen brought in an entire family which had escaped from Proskurov in the same way and was heading for Felshtin. But when asked whence and whither the family was going, the head of the family was clever enough to answer that they were going from Felshtin to Proskurov. Then the commander of militia took steps to send this family back to Felshtin. The witness Kreimer made use of this and immedi- ately asked this family to tell his relatives in Felshtin of his dangerous situation, and to ask them to spare no means what- ever to save him. After this the commander agreed to let him stay in the village till the next morning. But after some time, approximately two hours, the militiamen brought in sixteen other Jews, who had escaped from Proskurov. Then the commander of militia declared that he could not keep such a crowd of people until morning, and decided to send all of them, including Kreimer, to Proskurov at once. They were already placed on carts, but at this time a telephone call came from Felshtin and the (Felshtin) commander of militia, who knew him, asked in- sistently for Kreimer. Then it was again decided to let them all stay in the village till morning. In the evening Kreimer suc- ceeded in speaking with a certain local Jew, who entered into negotiations with the commander of militia on his behalf and that of four other Jews, to let them go to Felshtin for a fixed sum. The amount agreed upon was five thousand rubles, which was paid. Owing to this, Kreimer and the four other Jews, with the latter's families, succeeded in getting away in carts to Felshtin. But the other Jpws, not having money to pay a thousand rubles apiece, were taken back to Proskurov. Kreimer arrived in Felshtin on Monday during the day; in the evening the Gaidamaks arrived there. He succeeded in getting his rela- tives to a neighboring village in good time, and he himself hid in the cellar, where he spent the whole night, and likewise all FELSHTIN: HILLERSON'S REPORT 231 the next day. Through a crack in the boards with which the cellar was covered he watched various episodes of the massacre, and also saw how the militiamen, especially peasants, stole goods from the shops, and also property from the houses. The witness Schneider assures us that telegrams similar to the one received from Kiverchuk by the military commander in Malinichi, were sent also to other villages and hamlets, and that owing to them many Jews were shot on sight. He knows of the fact that a Jewess named Brauer, who was fleeing with her children from Proskurov, was in this manner led out to be shot, but ransomed herself for a large sum of ' money. The same witness Schneider states that he was well acquainted with the head of the post and telegraph bureau, who likewise managed the local Bureau of Information, and that he went to see him at twelve o'clock noon to find out about the situation. While he was there the postmaster was called on direct wire from Prosku- rov, and remained at the telephone more than an hour. When he returned, Schneider asked him: "Well, what do they tell you from Proskurov?" The other answered that the Gaidamaks had gone out over the whole canton of Proskurov, and would probably come to Felshtin, too. When he asked what was going to happen in Felshtin then — surely not a repetition of the horrors in Proskurov, the other gave an evasive answer. Upon the repetition of the question he made no reply. Then Schneider hastily said good-bye to him, so as to communicate what he had heard to the Jews. As he left the postmaster said to him: "Come and see me this evening." But Schneider in his heart replied that he had no time to go visiting at such a time. It is to be noted that the Gaidamaks arrived the evening be- fore, but nevertheless did not let the Jews leave their houses. Schneider spent the night from Monday to Tuesday, the whole day Tuesday, and the following night, in the cellar where he had hidden himself. He did not know that the massacre had ended at two o'clock on Tuesday. Only on Wednesday morning did he come out of the cellar. But even then corpses in great numbers were still lying about the streets. He started to help the wounded and with this object went to the public hospital. The militia commander happened to be there, and Schneider was an involuntary witness to the following conversation of the militia commander with the regional ("government," guhernia) commander from Kamenetz. Evidently in reply to a question about the happenings in Felshtin, the rtiilitia commander re- ported : "Monday morning some Cossacks appeared, who said they were Gaidamaks. Their ataman suggested to me that I 232 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE should not hinder them from dealing with the Jews as they might see fit. And when he asked me whether I consented to this, I replied: 'I haven't the power to oppose you, and I shall not interfere with you.' " Further he communicated the facts ^bout the massacre that had taken place in the town, and stated that the number of killed was about 500. "Before leaving the place," he said, "the same ataman said to me : 'Don't interfere with the peasants ; let them do what they think best. Let them take that which the Jews have sucked out of the people for such a long time.'" And, in fact, the peasants did come with carts, and plundered the property of the Jews. At Felshtin there were gathered several hundreds of Gaida- maks'; that is, apparently, all the Gaidamaks who were in Prosku- rov, since the whole third Gaidamak regiment consisted of only several hundreds all told. It is characteristic that some of the Gaidamaks who arrived at Felshtin on Monday evening went to Jewish homes and asked for lodgings. They were not only furnished with lodg- ings, but fed an abundant supper with sweetmeats. These Gaidamaks behaved themselves very decently and even respect- fully. They declared that they had come to Felshtin without any evil intentions, and that they would go back the next day. However, in the morning, after the signal-horn, those same Gaidamaks cut down the very same Jews who had entertained them. The question has arisen how to reconcile the massacre in Felshtin with the promise, which, according to Verkhola and others, Semosenko gave on Sunday to the session of the council, namely, to call the Gaidamaks back from Felshtin. The Jews of Felshtin declare that Semosenko gave orders to this effect by telegraph, but that the telegram was hidden by the head of the post and telegraph bureau. This rests on an evident mis- understanding. The distance from Proskurov to Felshtin is only 35 versts in all, and the Gaidamaks who came to Felshtin Monday evening unquestionably left Proskurov on the morning of the same day. It is clear that what was needed was not for Semosenko to recall the Cossacks from Felshtin, but simply not to send them there. But it is possible that it was no longer in Semosenko's power to keep them in Proskurov. We must remember that the Gaidamaks had been promised bloody sport with the Jews in Proskurov for three days. But the experience of the first day, Saturday, surpassed the expec- tations, apparently, of Semosenko and Kiverchuk themselves. It was therefore decided to stop the massacre in Proskurov. FELSHTIN: HILLERSON'S REPORT 233 But at the same time the Gaidamaks, having tasted Jewish blood, got a liking for it, and showed a desire for further slaughter. It was not so easy, apparently, to stop them. Besides this, the telegrams sent out all over the canton by Kiverchuk, of which mention has been made, stirred up the entire canton. From Kiverchuk's point of view, after what had happened in Prosku- rov, the capital of the canton, it would have been unjust, perhaps insulting, to the rest of the canton, to leave it entirely without Jewish blood. However this may be, at any rate, the Gaidamaks received permission to go out into the canton. Moreover we must remember that they were afforded freedom to act on their own responsibility. It depended on them to act in this way or that. This explains the fact that in Yarmolintsy, where the bolsheviki had also been, they contented themselves with a considerable sum of money. The local Jews went out of the town to meet them and furnished this sum to them; and they did not start a massacre. But when they came to Felshtin they found a pogrom-like frame of mind already prepared there. This frame of mind had been created by the guard from Porichie, which the militia commander had summoned, and also by the commander of militia himself, who, according to all the evidence, sympathized and co-operated with the pogrom. Even his eighty-year-old father, during the massacre, took a stout board in his hands and finished killing wounded Jews, as is confirmed by several witnesses who saw it from the garret where they were hiding. This pogrom-like frame of mind was also helped on by the head of the post and telegraph bureau, who was informed of everything, but not only did nothing to avert the pogrom, but did not even try to mitigate it. This is made sufficiently clear from ^he testimony of the witness Schneider. Under the influence of this pogrom-like frame of mind, the debauch of the Gaidamak horde in Felshtin was irre- strainable. The pogrom in Felshtin lasted several hours. There were 485 people killed, and 180 wounded. Of the wounded more than a hundred died of their wounds. Thus the killed amounted in all to 600 people, which amounts to nearly a third of the Jewish population in the town; it contained in all about 1,900 Jewish inhabitants. It should be observed that in Proskurov the Gaidamaks, who had taken an oath on Saturday to slay but not to steal, hon- estly fulfilled their sacred oath. Robberies on the part of the Gaidamaks were rare there. But from Saturday to Tuesday, when the Felshtin massacre took place, several days had elapsed. 234 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE and in this time the sanctity of the oath, apparently, had evap- orated from the consciousness of the Gaidamaks. In Felshtin robberies went hand in hand with murders. It must also be noted that while in Proskurov the assaults on women were isolated, in Felshtin there were a great many. The majority of the murdered women had first been violated, and many women who were not killed also suffered violation. Twelve cases were registered in which the unfortunate women needed surgical attention as a result. As they left after the giving of the signal by trumpet, the Gaidamaks poured kerosene and benzine over five of the best houses in town and set them on fire. Thus these champions completed their work for the welfare of the Ukrainian fatherland, and thus ended i this bloody baccha- nalia in Proskurov and Felshtin. (End of A. I. Hillerson's Report.) SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER III I. POGROMS OF STRUK'S GANGS Hamlet of Pechki (Canton of Radomysl) Testimony of Simon-Leib Rabinovich, age 42, fish-dealer. On March 20, when navigation began, there came to Pechki 20 Strukists. They were appointed to guard the river; perhaps steamers might pass, and then, as the soldiers themselves put it, "there will be gold bracelets, watches, and fine boots." Ten of them were quartered about the hamlet. The rest of the day and the night passed quietly. On the next day, early in the morning, two armed Strukists came to my house and ordered me to go with them. When I asked where they were taking me, they answered, "To headquarters, to Struk's." I went with them. On the way the bandits took three other Jews and started us in the direction of Gornostaipol. When we came out of the house, the soldiers began to demand money. Having received a comparatively small sum, the soldiers let us go. We returned to the hamlet. There a Strukist met me and yelled at me: "You are a Jew! You Jews want a commune! You'll find it in the water or under the ground!" I began to reply to him. Peasants gathered around us. The soldier proved rather dull, he had no answer for my arguments, and the peasants looked ironically at him. The soldier let me go and went away. (As I afterwards found out, that bandit was a Jew named Orosky, from the hamlet of Gorodische; no one knows what his former occupation was.) On the same even- ing the bandits rounded up all the local Jews, old men and women, and, showing them a machine-gun, demanded a con- tribution of 4,000 rubles. We began to bargain with them and 235 236 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE struck a bargain at 1,800 rubles. Things became peaceful. On March 83 firing began; a bolshevist detachment began to attack the Strukists from Oster. The Jews left the village and hid themselves as best they could in the vicinity. The Strukists won, and again became the only government in the whole region. Three days later the Jews returned to the hamlet. Their houses had been completely plundered. In my own house the windows and doors were smashed, and all the furnishings had vanished. I learned that the Strukists had only made a beginning at this ; all the goods had been seized by the local peasants. I began to demand insistently that the peasants return the plunder to me. This helped. The peasants got frightened (on this day there were no Strukists in the village), and began, little by little, to bring my goods back to me. I was told that my neighbor had taken my feather-bed and cushions. I went to ask him to return my bed to me. He fell on me like a wild beast; how did I dare to demand of him, the head man of the village? He would arrest me and hand me over to the Strukists as a Communist. I saw that some change had taken place in my neighbor. He had previously been peaceable, and extraor- dinarily conscientious, and had always been kind with me. I understood that I could not stay any longer in the village. I had to get away to save my life. I left the house, and slowly, as if taking a stroll, so that they should not notice my plans, began to go out of the village. On the way I kept chatting and joking with the peasants. I felt by the behavior of the peasants that something was due to happen to me there. For a minute I entered a peasant's hut. In a couple of minutes the head man ran after me with a gun in his hand : "AhaJ you're here ! I'll shoot you right here at once. You want to give us the slip." I managed to appease the head man with words, and got him pacified. He went away and told me to wait for the overseers (desiatniki) , for whom he had sent. I again sneaked out of the hut without being noticed, and, slinking along over fences and through fields, going in up to my neck in water, got to the river, and from there got across in a boat to Oster. As I learned, the Strukists came to the village on the next day. They took the entire Jewish population of the place, young and old, out beyond the village into the fields. They demanded money. Whoever had money with him bought himself off, re- ceived blows to boot, and was undressed (they undressed them all and left them in nothing but underclothes). My father, a 75-year-old man, had no money with him and was killed on the spot, before the eyes of the other Jews. Now there is no one ' ORONY: STRUK'S GANGS 237 left of the Jews. The peasants are quite friendly to us when we visit them. Simon-Leib Rabinotich. Village of Orony (Government of Kiev) Testimony of Vasia Makovskaia Our village furnished many Strukists. There had never been any friction between the Jews and the peasants. The Jews had been living there a long time ahd were on good terras with the peasants. When the Struk gangs appeared in our region, the attitude to the Jews changed in our village. The Strukists from the village and their comrades came there on every convenient occasion. They brought with them malice and hatred for the Jews. The peasants' attitude to the Jews became worse and more hostile from day to day. They began to discover that the Jews were in the way there, and disturbed the freedom of life. Every time when the Strukists came into the village the peas- ants told them what could be demanded of each of the Jews. Often they would send the Strukists into Jewish stores or homes to seize something that suited their own, the peasants', needs. In a short time there had disappeared from the Jews' houses much property, clothing, and money. I won't go over in detail all that happened among us at this time, how they stole all our money, took our shoes and clothing off from us, how they beat us and threatened us with death. All this is nothing in com- parison with what happened to us afterwards. At Passover about ten bandits came to us. The "guests" were very impudent. Whenever they saw a Jewish face, they mercilessly beat him. From the peasants we found out that they were getting ready to hold a Jewish massacre the next day. Then all the Jews left the place by stealth. My husband was 93 years old and I had to hunt for a cart for him. All the peasants to whom I applied for a cart refused, explaining that they had been strictly ordered not to transport Jews. My husband and I hid in a poor peasant's hut. At night I was informed that the Strukists had left. My husband and I re- turned home. About ten minutes afterwards ten bandits burst in and demanded that we tell them where our "communist"- sons were. They began to beat us. My husband gave them our last 200 rubles, and the bandits left. We could not stay in the house any longer and decided to hide again somewhere. We had only gone a few paces when we saw the Strukists coming 238 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE towards us. We tried to get into the barn ; I succeeded in doing so. But they saw my old husband and tatk him to the nearest hut. I heard them demanding of him that he surrender his sons. The old man replied, in exasperation, that they should leave him in peace. One of them shot at him three times. He fell dead. Another soldier, when he was already dead, beat his head and cut his face. They undressed him, took the things, and went out of the hut. I heard them saying to each other: "We must find his wife, she must be somewhere about here. It would be a good thing to hitch her up and have her take her husband to the river, and then drown her." I don't know where I got such strength and skill. As soon as the soldiers left, I began to make my way across fences until I got to the end of the village. There I betook myself to the grain-fields, where I spent the night. Early in the morning I left the grain-field and went to a certain peasant who was very well acquainted with us. He was sorry for me but was afraid to let me into his hut. He took me into the barn with the potatoes and locked me up. I spent two days in the barn. On the third day, when the bandits left the village, the peasant brought me into the house. I fell in a faint, and was brought to. I lay abed several days. When I came to myself, I didn't even look at my house and started for Gornostaipol. Two of my sons are serving in the Red Army. (Signed for Vasia Makovskaia, who is illiterate, at her re- quest.) Orony is a village of 300-400 huts, eight versts from Gor- nostaipol. Four Jewish families lived there. The name of the 93-year-old man who was killed was Benzion Mikhelev Oranik; he is buried in the Gornostaipol cemetery. Village of Karagod (Government of Kiev) The village of Karagod, canton of Radomysl, 14 versts from Chernobyl, consists of approximately 300 peasants' huts. Fifteen families of Jews lived there, The village lies on the road from Chernobyl to Khabno. The Jews of Karagod had lived very peacefully with the peasants. When the gangs of Strukists began to operate in the region of Chernobyl and Khabno, misery began to be widespread. Many Jewish houses were destroyed down to the foundation. Peasants took part in this, in Karagod, as in a whole series of other villages. All the Jews of Karagod abandoned the places they had occupied, and fled. In Chernobyl KARAGOD: STRUK'S GANGS 239 I happened to meet three Jews from Karagod. I must say things went oflf comparatively well there, since there were no human lives lost. Of three Jews whom I questioned, one had been considered the rich man of the place. He left the village in good time. On the way "soldiers" fell upon him, and took ofif his clothes and left him half naked. Now he is going tattered and hungry, and relies on people's charity, to escape death from hunger. Of the other two, one has his head bandaged; his skull was hurt. Sometimes he cries from pain in an inhuman voice. His face is nothing but a mass of livid wounds; from the bloated mass his eyes look out through little cracks. The other Jew looks better. His left hand is hurt and he cannot use it. I could not question them long, I could not bear to listen to their broken, hoarse words, full of sighs. I was simply not able to see the tears slowly wandering through the Jew's gray beard. Here, in brief, is what they say: Zolotar, Nukhim Avrumov, 41 Years Old, Married, Tailor Beginning in December, 1918, the gangs of Struk visited our village endlessly. They were peasants of the neighboring vil- lages, mostly former soldiers, or simply scum with a very bad reputation. From our village also some young peasants, who loved to live well and had little hankering for agriculture, ad- hered to the Strukist horde. When the Strukist gangs passed by not far from us, groups of them came in to the village to visit their people, and on the way, playing with their rifles, to ertipty Jewish pockets or carry away some domestic articles from the Jews. This lasted for a rather long time, and we got used to such a condition of things. On April 10 there appeared in the village seven such bandits. One of them came to me while I was sitting at work. At the time several peasant customers were with me. When the soldiers came in they said to the peas- ants : "Take your cloth, and if you recognize cloth belonging to other peasants here, take that, too, because we are going to clean things up here right away." The peasants did so and left. The bandits demanded money from me. I felt at once by their tone and all their behavior that a more serious matter was impending than in the previous attacks, and I gave them all the cash I had. Having taken the money they began to pack up the linen, clothes, and household goods, as much as they could carry away with them, and departed. I hoped that I had gotten off with this, but I was mistaken. After about ten minutes one of them returned with an order from the leader to bring me to 240 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE him. I tried to buy myself off with money. The soldier took the money, but nevertheless took me, too, to the leader. The latter demanded 200 rubles of me. I had no more money. The leader began to beat me with a whip and the handle of his revolver. I was covered with blood. I began to implore him to let me go into the village, where I would be able to borrow the amount from an acquaintance. The leader consented and went in person with me. On the way we met a crowd of peas- ants. The bandit began to beat me, make me sing Jewish songs, dance, fall on my knees, and cross myself. I was compelled to do all this. The peasants did not interfere. But the spectacle was apparently not very pleasing to them, because they began to disperse. The leader took me farther. Meeting a Russian girl he knew, the bandit bade me repeat the dance, the singing, etc. The peasants to whom I applied for money would not lend it to me. Blows rained upon me without end. In one hut, where I went for money, I found a Jewess of the place with black and blue marks on her bare arms, in tears. Three bandits stood around her. What happened afterwards it is unnecessary to relate. With great difficulty I got 200 rubles from a peasant lad. The soldier let me go. For several days I hid, and then went away to Chernobyl. I was informed that absolutely noth- ing was left in my house and establishment. I must add that they took my clothing and shoes off me and compelled me to perform the "comedy" in nothing but my underclothes and bare feet. (Signature.) Khatutsky, Moise Duvidov, 43 Years Old, Married, Shop-Keeper. With the appearance of the Strukists I had nothing left to sell in my shop. The goods were stolen by troops of bandits, who paid me for them with vilest epithets and blows. To hide the goods anywhere, to bury them in the ground, did not help. They did not spare the trouble of hunting everywhere, and the longer the search lasted, the more blows were inflicted on me and my wife. I don't remember when this was ; but two solc^jers came to me and demanded money. I gave them two hundred rubles which I had. They were not satisfied with this and com- manded me to go with them. I knew that this threatened seri- ous danger for me, because there had been several similar cases. The Jews returned with such disfigurements that it was hard to recognize them, and told of horrible things. I began to en- treat the soldiers and oflFered them various things. But nothing CHINKOV: STRUK'S GANGS 241 * Ped. They began to beat me, and I had to go. The soldiers °k me to a brook and threw me into the water. They appar- ently wanted to drown me. But the water there was very shallow. They threw me around every way; in spite of all, I remained alive. Then they took me out of the village and threw me into a pond which was near the distillery. There death ap- peared inevitable. But it happened that two peasant acquaint- ances went past, and they interceded for me, saying that I was a "good Jew." Cursing, the soldiers left me in peace. i (Signature.) Village of Chinkov The village of Chinkov is 25 versts from Chernobyl ; has about 100 houses ; only two Jewish families lived there. When Struk's gangs appeared there and began to pay special attention to these two Jewish families (to visit them often, take away what they liked, and threaten), one of them left the village, while of the other there remained an old man (he hoped that his age would save him from danger) with a youth of 16-18 years, his assist- ant in his mill. This boy is the only witness of what happened in the village. He is now in the Chernobyl alms-house, seriously ill, according to the physicians. He is all done up in bandages, and cannot move his arms. On one arm are four open wounds, on the other hand one finger is entirely cut off. On his head are several serious wounds, and his nose is badly injured. Here is his story: We got used to frequent visits from guests who grossly reviled us. The visits always ended with the receipt of small sums of money or of articles having no special value. My employer had rented the mill for a long time and was on the best of terms with the local peasants. He always hoped that the peasants, with whom he had grown up together and with whom he constantly associated, would save him. I cannot say that the peasants instigated the bandits or sympathized with them. But they did not do the least thing on their part to avert the actions of the bandits. The word of a single local peasant was enough (of this we have seen ocular proof) to stop the action of the bandits. I don't remember myself on what day this occurred. A tall, vigorous soldier came in and demanded money. The old man agreed with him on 2,000 rubles. This was the last cash which the old man had. Several days later the soldier came again and demanded now 20,000 rubles. 242 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Three other soldiers were waiting in the street. The old man had no money. The soldier became furious, and, shouting "Damned Jewish communist," struck him so violently with his bare sabre that the old man fell dead on the spot, without even uttering a sound. I started to move for the door. The soldier noticed this and struck me on the head with his sabre. I fell. The soldier called his companions from the street and they all began to run around the place and take everything they liked. As they left our house one bandit noticed that I was still alive. He struck me several times more with his sabre. Then they set fire to the house and barn. I did not lose consciousness. When I began to suffocate with the smoke I tried to jump out of a window. But the bandits noticed me and I had to go back into the house. The barn was already in flames and the fire was beginning to penetrate the house. I approached the win- dow. The bandits were gone. I went out from the house in the direction of Chernobyl. What happened afterwards I do not know. They say that peasants found me on the road and took me to Chernobyl. Recently they brought the charred bones of my employer there, too, and buried them. Village of Ditiatki The fortunate village of Ditiatki got off without human vic- tims. It consists of approximately 300 peasants' huts ; it is eight versts from Gomostaipol. In December, 1918, the Strukists began to appear there. They were young peasants from the neighboring villages, with rifles. They permitted themselves frequent taunts at the Jews, of course not without blows and threats with revolvers. The peasants soon fell under the in- fluence of the Strukists and began to dig up ancient sins of the Jews. They began to hunt for old "unpaid" debts and to think up various crimes (the Jews served as spies of the bolsheviki, had invited the Hetman to return to Kiev, etc.). And they de- manded unconditional fulfilment of their demands and claims, otherwise they would summon the Strukists thither. The Jews were compelled to pay and pay. This became a chronic phe- nomenon. "For a lark" they would arouse the Jews by night, or would stop them on the street, saying, "Why, those shoes are mine." The Jews could not endure this any longer and left the village, abandoning their property to the will of fate. And they did well. Soon they heard that they were being searched for. It is difficult to believe that the search was for the sake YELISAVETGRAD : GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 243 . of money, of which they long since had no more. Even yet the Jews of Ditiatki have not returned to the village. Testimony of Gusovsky, Joseph Berkov, 45 Years Old, Married, Shop-keeper The Strukists often visited our village and every time came to me and took whatever they liked. Often they divided my goods among the peasant children, who followed them in throngs. If ans^ing was not given to them quickly enough, they would beat me, threaten me with rifles, etc. Once, as I was coming home, I heard Strukists asking the peasants, "Where does the spy Gusovsky live here?" I under- stood what this meant. I hid in a peasant's barn. At night I returned home. They had wounded my wife, and completely plundered my household goods. Everything had vanished ; they had taken the feathers out of the pillows. My wife told me that the bandits had come looking for me, and said they would come again. I understood that it was impossible to stay in the village any more, and with my wife and children left the place, carefully creeping through fences. (Signature) II. POGROMS OF GRIGORIEV'S GANGS AND OTHERS YELISAVETGRAD (GOVERNMENT OP KhERSON) Pogrom of May 15-17, 1919 On May 15, 16 an'd 17 of this year a pogrom of which I was an eye-witness occurred in Yelisavetgrad, Government of Kherson. The Soviet forces, which, under the leadership of the ataman Grigoriev, had taken Nikolaiev, Kherson and Odessa, after the taking of Odessa, disposed themselves on the line Voznesensk- Pomoschnaia-Yelisavetgrad-Znamenka-Kremenchug, and Zna- menka-Korystovka-Piatikhatki. Among these guerrilla forces, consisting exclusively of the dregs of the peasant population of the Kherson government, there were very many criminals, who poured into the divisions of Grigoriev during their occupation of the towns, since upon the transfer of the towns to the Pet- lura-Grigoriev regime all the criminals were released from prison, and part of them entered Grigoriev's ranks. The frame 244 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE of mind of the Grigoriev forces was always hostile to the Jews, and when these forces, after the taking of Odessa, freed from military activities, began to stretch out in squadrons along the line of the railroad, the pogrom agitation began to increase among them and speeches began to be delivered ever more frequently on the theme of "the injuriousness of Jews and com- munists." Two days before a Jewish pogrom had been carried out by the Grigoriev troops in Znamenka (36 versts from Yelisavet- grad), and the Grigoriev squadrons from there began to arrive in Yelisavetgrad. Great agitation arose in the city. The stores did not open; attacks on dwellings began; on all the streets groups of soldiers went about questioning passers-by jvhether they were not communists. On the tenth there appeared on the streets of the city a manifesto ("Universal") with the signature of the ataman Grigoriev, calling for the overthrow of the Soviet regime, which, according to the manifesto, consisted of foreign- ers from "Moscow and the country where they crucified Christ." The Soviet institutions were destroyed, the militia units broken up; the city remained without protection. Throughout the city there began to popup everywhere hooligans, dwellers in the out- skirts, tramps from the market place, and educated black-hun- dreders and members of the Union of the Russian People. They carried on open agitation and called for the destruction of the Jews. To arouse the masses of the people against the Jews the genuine Russians disinterred the bodies of the well-known local bandit, Petka Smely, and the former mayor, Verischagin, who had been shot by the bolsheviks immediately upon the withdrawal of the Petlurists, and held a solemn funeral. Un- official and isolated attacks on Jewish houses continued for about a week. On the tenth of May there approached the city from the direction of Odessa a small detachment of Soviet forces that had been despatched; it consisted of Georgians and sail- ors. The Grigorievists hastily left the city towards the station of Znamenka. The town went over to the previous regime, but not for long. For the ataman Grigoriev, learning that the number of the detachment sent out was not large, again attacked the city, and on the night of the 14th a battle took place near Yelisavetgrad between several thousand Grigorievists and the Soviet detachment. When the sailors and bolsheviks drove the Grigorievists out of the city, the latter threatened to return and massacre all Jews, so that the Jewish population knew that if the city was taken this time there was no escape from a pogrom. The Soviet YELISAVETGRAD : GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 245 detachment of Georgians and sailors resisted for only some hours. Seeing that the enemy was superior, the Georgians re- treated and succeeded in escaping towards Odessa, while the sailors went over to Grigoriev's side and together with him entered the city on the morning of May 15. Immediately the Grigoriev forces opened the prison, let out all the prisoners, and then dispersed about the city in groups of five or ten and began to smash shops and houses. They were soon joined by Russian inhabitants of the outskirts, market women, tramps and hooligans, and also educated black-hundreders. In the mass of excited people you could find officials, teachers, etc. The local Social-Democratic newspaper "Our Life" (Nasha Zhisn) a few days after the pogrom came out openly reproaching the workmen for the fact that even they took part in the pogrom. Compatriots who hid in the cellar of the house where I live heard some one playing excellently on the piano for more than an hour while the house was being wrecked. On the first day the pogrom was carried on by the soldiers, sailors, and inhabitants of the place. On the second and third days the city was filled with peasants from the neighboring villages, who came to plunder and carry off Jewish property. The murders were committed principally by soldiers, sailors and criminals ; the rest looted. They operated as if on definite plans. A group of soldiers armed with rifles would come up to a house or shop, break the doors or windows, enter the house, kill the Jews who did not succeed in hiding or hid ineffectively, and take away everything of value — money, gold, and silver. When the soldiers left the premises a wild mob would break in and plunder the whole property, not excluding furniture and the heaviest articles, which were then and there loaded on peasants' carts and taken away to the outskirts of the city and to the villages. What could not be taken or carted away was smashed and destroyed. Whirlwinds of feathers from feather-beds and pillows blew around the streets. The soldiers, who devoted them- selves principally to killing and looting, hunted around in gar- rets and cellars, hauled out the Jews from wherever they could, demanded money, and then, having got money, shot them on the spot. If no money was produced they killed both men and women. Through all the streets ran gangs crying, "Kill the Jews, kill the communists." The Jewish population hid in gar- rets, cellars, barns, and in the houses of Christian acquaintances. Very many Christian householders concealed Jews and saved thousands of them ; for the pogromists did not touch a single Christian house or shop. On the Christian houses were depicted 246 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE crosses, and saints' images were set in the windows; or the people stood in the doors of their own houses, and the thugs ran past them. The pogrom hegan May 15 in the morning. On the same day the trade union of metal-workers and the president of the ' Peasants' Assembly, which was being held at that time in Yeli- savetgrad, went to the station and demanded of the command- ant of the Grigoriev forces on the front, Pavlov, that he im- mediately stop the pogrom. But neither on the 15th nor on the following day, the 16th, were they listened to. They were even warned that in case of a revolt of the population against the Grigorievists the city would be shelled with cannon. On the second day towards evening a "revolutionary committee" which had been organized in the city, and which consisted of the trade union of metal-workers and a representative of the Peasants' Assembly, succeeded in organizing a small detachment of the most class-conscious workers to defend the town; sev- eral automobile loads of armed workjnen were sent through the town, and the plunderers stopped their activities. The pogrom died down and the Jews began to shdw themselves on the streets. On the third day, May 17, it was quiet, but about 10 A.M. the thugs, thinking that the city-guard was weak, and also the soldiers and sailors, finding out that the order to stop the pogrom had not come from the commander of the forces, again began to plunder and kill. Since by this time almost the whole city was already plundered, the soldiers devoted them- selves chiefly to killing Jews. Those who had come out of their hiding-places on the second day did not succeed in hiding as well on the third day as on the first, and, consequently, the quantity of victims on the third day was particularly large. Whole families were slaughtered; neither old men nor infants in arms were spared. The mob ran around the city in throngs and finished smashing up houses and shops. The Metal-workers Union and the Peasants' Assembly again asked the commander on the front, Pavlov, to stop the horrors. This time, at last, on the evening of the third day, they suc- ceeded. That evening a proclamation was pasted up, which be- gan: "I have listened to the representatives of the workmen and peasants, and have decided immediately to stop the devasta- tion of industrial life." The pogrom ended. The Grigorievists returned to the station, the robbers disappeared, and it became quiet in the town. For three days anarchy reigned in the city, since the Grigorievist commanders took no measures, while the revolutionary com- YELISAVETGRAD: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 247 mittee had no power to take measures without the Grigorievists. On the 21st or 22nd four Soviet regiments came to Yelisavet- grad from Odessa, and after a brief exchange of shots the Grigorievists withdrew to Znamenka. The city was occupied by the Soviet Voznesensky regiment; the other three regiments continued to pursue the enemy. With the entry of the Soviet forces the Jewish population came out of its places, of refuge, but it was impossible to return to their houses, since all the Jewish houses had been plundered, all the furniture and beds taken away or smashed to bits, all the articles of the households stolen, so that there was nothing to sleep on, cover oneself with at night, or cook dinner with. In Yelisavetgrad the number of Jewish inhabitants was reckoned at 50,000, and they were all left beggars. In the city there had been some provisions, but most of them had been stolen, and what remained with the Christian co-operatives was enough for a week. The flour in the mills had been plundered at the time of the pogrom; in several mills the communicating cords had been removed, so that they could not function. The population was utterly ruined and condemned to extinction. Commerce was destroyed, and from this the peasant population also suf- fered. Out of hundreds of stores there were only five counted which happened to be spared by accident. On the day after the pogrom they began to take the bodies to hospitals and cemeteries. All the hospitals were filled with the dead, who were reckoned at two thousand people. The Grigorievists ordered burial immediately after the pogrom and forbade anyone to go to the cemetery except people needed to dig the graves. An accurate count is still going on at the pres- ent time, since, when I left Yelisavetgrad on May 27, they were still finding bodies of the dead in various places. Aid in all shapes and forms is necessary. If aid is not fur- nished to the city of Yelisavetgrad, the entire Jewish population will perish. This is no exaggeration. People have no change of linen and no possibility of getting it, so that unless help is furnished the appearance of contagious diseases is unavoidable. There are very few provisions, and the peasants do not come to market, since there is nothing for them to buy; there is no importation of provisions, and famine has already begun. There remain thousands of widows and orphans; there are wounded, and they must be treated. In Yelisavetgrad a committee of aid for the suffering popula- tion has been formed ; it consists of Christian and Jewish persons in public life. This committee empowered me to use every 248 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE means to get aid. In the name of this committee and' in the name of the fifty thousand Jewish population, I appeal to you for immediate assistance. I cannot set definite limits. The losses are reckoned in hundreds of millions. It is necessary immediately to send underclothes and other garments, pro- visions, and medical aid. It is necessary to establish feeding stations, to treat the wounded, and, if possible, to prevent the fearful plague of an epidemic from arising. From eight to ten thousand Jewish families are ruined. Ten to fifteen feeding stations are required for the feeding of ten to fifteen thousand people. The necessary medicines, band- ages, and medical personnel are on hand in the city. For the first about ten thousand suits of underwear for men and women are necessary. Cherkassy (Government of Kiev) Pogrom of May 16-20, 1919 Preface to the Material Collected hy I. G. Tzifrinovich; by the District Teacher KlUger, July 15, 1919 From the material evidence collected offhand, and still more from the valuable statements of persons who were utterly unwilling to furnish written testimony (through fear of re- venge, since their testimony involves a whole series of people, persons in public life, and organizations, which are now flour- ishing and peacefully functioning), — from all this evidence it is clear that the pogrom was planned in advance and carried out according to definite plans. There are strong suspicions that the people of Cherkassy, who took direct part in the mur- ders and robberies and at the same t^me concealed in their houses many Jewish neighbors, did this with the definite pur- pose of rehabilitating themselves afterwards in regard to their activity in the pogrom. All Russian servants in service with Jews left their places before Grigoriev's entrance, evidently being informed of what was coming. Peasant women and city market-wives, who arrived at the market to hang around even on May 12, complained, saying: "They said it would start at two o'clock, and here it is almost three and nothing doing! Maybe they have postponed it." Following the course of the massacre it is easy to establish the fact that almost one and the same gang, without demanding money or ransom, and without looting, kept on slaying and CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 249 shooting, as if it had takeii for its ainii the wiping out of a certain fixed quantity of Jews. In this group was Fedorovsky, a degenerate with earrings in his ears, a human beast, who had no use for money. In this same group also "worked" some of the "intellectuals," who had succeeded in dividing among them- selves money from the treasury and consequently had no need for more, but did their work as "amateurs." The killing was done by orders; such orders were issued, or given orally, by Grigoriev, as follows from the following scene. In one place the stony heart of Fedorovsky shuddered, and he was on the point of sparing his victim. "You forget, sir, Ataman Grigo- riev's orders," one of his companions in arms reminded Fedo- rovsky, who had almost forgotten his role; and — the Jew was killed. Other similar gangs, but without leadership, added loot- ing to their primary duty of killing "Jew-communists" and Jews in general. From these it was possible to purchase safety, unless there were local people among them; the latter, fearing to be recognized afterwards, put an end to their victims without mercy. After them came the "manufacturists," as Grigoriev himself called his soldiers. These were "commissary"-soldiers, collecting household supplies. The majority of them wore red bands or ribbons. After these came "marauders" — ^local inhabi- tants, servants, boys and girls, who grabbed and carried off all that was still left. The Jews' own servants came — and they knew very well where everything was, and even where anything was hidden; for you could not hide things from servants who had been in service five to eight years. However, we must be just to the servants. There were some among them who guarded their employers and their property with their own breasts. There was even one who was killed along with her employers. Except for the first gang, which did its work calmly, — I should have said, mocking their victims in every possible way (in one place Fedorovsky offered to grant his victim life in exchange for his daughter's honor), — all the other gangs were in a terrible hurry, worked in haste, and were very cowardly; they were afraid to go into cellars and garrets. This, perhaps, explains the absence of violations of women. They were afraid, apparently, because the force of soldiers consisted of not more than 300 men in all, and it is said by those who were at the station and at the cars that they kept running away every couple of hours to the station of Smela, because the bolsheviki were firing on the town very often and they feared an attack. It can be said with confidence that 150 to 200 men could have 2SO SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE driven them out of town, and that the two hundred or two of Jewish youths who perished on the left fiank in covering the retreat of the bolsheviki would have been sufficient, if disposed to advantage, to have saved the whole city from the frightful massacre. On Friday, May 16, when the Grigorievists began to press upon Cherkassy, and the bolsheviki, not relying on their units, began to evacuate their establishments, they started in to mobilize the trade unions and dispatch them to protect and cover their retreat. On the left flank were Jews, namely in the center of that wing. There a butchery in the literal sense of the word took place. Almost without rifles, without cartridges, without defense, and with a flank uncovered and not connected with the general staff and the other units, they were hurled to the attack, surrounded by Grigorievists, and almost all killed. To complete the picture it will not be superfluous to add that from Friday the 16th to Wednesday the 31st the city was under unintermittent fire, bombs kept tearing over the houses, and only for a few hours at night the cannonade ceased. The Jews had to hide both from the bombs, and from the bandits; they went from garret to cellar and from cellar to garret. Even now, when I shut my eyes, I see before me those men, women and children, rushing around in frantic fear, like a frightened herd of sheep, not knowing where to take refuge, where it would be best. They have just got up into the garret. They are afraid there. They clearly hear the hissing of the bombs. They rush to the close, dark, gloomy cellar. There they are still more afraid. Their minds are numb with the cries and wailing of children. The cannonade quiets down. All drag themselves out of the cellar into the yard and again up into the garret. And this continues for five long, long days and nights. And then . . . then the sight of the killed, lying about the streets, torn corpses, pools of blood. Then the common graves dug, the recognition of one's family and friends by buttons, by marks, since the bodies were mutilated. The funeral . . . and lamen- tation, long, incessant lamentation of the whole great city. It is comprehensible that many of those who were saved by some miracle, who lived through all those horrors, are not in a condition to give any sort of testimony. Furthermore very many of the eyewitnesses immediately, as soon as it was possible, fled pellmell, only to get away as far as possible from the nightmare. This and the time-limit of the work explain the insufficiency of the officially reported material evidence. Very many request that no publicity be given to their testimony. CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 251 The photographs are monotonous, as groans and wails are monotonous. Bodies and tombs, tombs and bodies. And on them is a fearful inscription, an inscription which gives no rest: "Why and wherefore?" /. ' Testimony of the ex-President of the Municipal Council, V. Petrov I have lived in Cherkassy about six years and know little about life in the town in the past, but I know it very well for the past two and a half years. In spite of its favorable geo- graphical position and nearness to large centers, Odessa and Kiev, the composition of the city's population and the general basis of life create the impression of an uncultivated provincial city. The most numerous group of the population is the petty bourgeois (meshchane) ; small householders, renting pieces of city land and transferring it to peasants of neighboring villages, kitchen-gardeners, formerly construction-workers in the building of the railroads, and men who work for small contractors ; some workmen in the local factories and industries. These groups, centering about the orthodox parishes, at the beginning of the revolution of 1917, played the part of a constant and hostile opposition to the Executive Committee of social organizations, the democratic council (Duma), and the Council (Soviet) of Workmen's Delegates. However, at the time when the'Bolshe- viki came into power (in February, 1918 and 1919), out of these groups there had split off some communists and sympathizers with them, who understood the war upon the bourgeoisie and the speculators as a punishment of the Jews. At difficult moments in the state of provisions, in turn at the shops, at the bakeries, and in the crowds that indulged in un- authorized visits of search while looking for provisions, it was always possible to hear anti-Semitic opinions and expressions. But, nevertheless, during a whole series of changes of govern- ment — from the Rada to the Bolsheviki, from the Bolsheviki to the Germans, from the Hetman to the Directory, from the Directory to the Soviet regime — the tense atmosphere expressed itself in night robberies and attacks on the streets, but did not take on more serious forms. Though it must be said that in the period after the occupation of Cherkassy by the Petlurist forces (December- January, 1919), the actions of the guerrilla soldiers in the way of general searches, with removal of articles declared to belong to the state, and with arrests of "profiteers," took place by preference in Jewish streets from house to house. 252 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE And the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, both military and civil, treated the population's complaints and the municipal council's protests at this as something of no conse- quence, something that had its explanation, and a very natural one in their opinion, in the elemental frame of mind of the masses; they thought people were too much excited over such phenomena. This view of the local administrative authorities was entirely accepted by the militia, which in the period of the Soviet regime had encouraged the anti-Semitic feeling in the population, because of the setting of the bourgeoisie to forced labor, the searches for provisions, etc. The experiments of local communists had great significance as propaganda by "ac- tion"; such things as the taunting of the bourgeoisie when they brought in the levies, the beating of bourgeois hostages in prison by local communists, the shooting of "green" hostages from among Christian counter-revolutionaries taken at the be- ginning of the movement, the shooting of ten of them after the attack, which was not investigated afterwards, upon the assistant to the President of the Executive Committee (who was wounded in the finger), the arrest of two local clergymen, etc. The dark reactionary petty-bourgeois masses who even before then were pervaded with anti-Semitic feelings, had prac- tical lessons in an attitude of levity towards human life and in the impunity of bloody experiments. And so, what did not happen in Cherkassy throughout the series of earlier changes of government, but what the people in public life in the city (of whom there are very few) all the time expected with alarm, dreaded, and tried to avoid — this happened on the second entry into the city of Grigoriev's gangs, on May 16. The chronological order of events preceding the pogrom was as follows. After the Grigoriev forces had occupied the^ station of Bobrinsky and after the treachery of part of the forces sent by the Executive Committee to fight with them at the station of Belozeria, on the evening of May 10 the Executive Committee gave orders for all the Soviet institutions to abandon the city. But when the latter with their necessary things, property, and money arrived at the station, got loaded into a train, and started off, the train was fired upon and had to stop. A meeting was held, after which a delegation from the garrison was sent out to Smela to the Grigorievists ; there were attempts at the station to deal roughly with communistic Jews. The members of the Soviet institutions were compelled to return to town. On the next day at twelve o'clock the members of the Executive Com- mittee, with a detachment of the Extraordinary Committee CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 253 (Chrezvychaika), and a small military detachment, left the city on horseback and in carts, going across the strategic bridge to- wards Zolotonosha. Soon after this the city was occupied with- out opposition by Grigorievist guerrilla soldiers, with a detach- ment. The commander of the mobilization division of the Soviet military committee was made commander of the garrison. On the eleventh and twelfth the Grigorievist forces entered Cherkassy. These days were marked by organized at- tacks on a number of Jewish dwellings. Soldiers under the command of officers, on the pretense of searching, plundered and carried oflf clothing, money, and other things, taunting the Jews and calling them both bourgeois, and communists or bribers of communists. The feeling on the streets in these days was agitated; groups of petty bourgeois kept collecting, expect- ing something; people talked of retaliation for the cruelties of the Extraordinary, for the shooting of hostages, for the arrest of priests, etc. On the eleventh I met on the main street a group of Ukrainian agents, who came to me and said they were alarmed by the state of feeling in the city, that they wanted to prevent a pogrom, but did not know how to go about it. I advised them to stay around the headquarters at the station and persuade the commanding powers to restrain the soldiers from excesses in the city. The Ukrainians went to the station, but the results of their conversations with the general staff are unknown to me. On the morning of the 13th a Soviet detach- ment with some of the members of the Executive Committee returned to Cherkassy. Apparently the Grigoriev forces aban- doned the city during the night before. But towards evening on the 16th a hasty evacuation began. I know that the Executive Committee proposed to the trade unions to organize city guards, that a committee was appointed, but received no arms or cart- ridges from the Executive Committee, since there were not enough even for the troops. Some of the members of the unions, mainly mechanics (needle makers, shoe makers and others), went with the troops to the front, where they fought on the left flank near the sugar factory. When they retired on this flank the workmen were killed almost to a man by the local population. Towards evening on the 16th the Grigoriev forces broke into the town. The soldiers dis- persed about the streets and began shooting at crossways, looting and killing in houses, and plundering in shops. The local petty bourgeois, women and children, readily took part in the plundering, pointed out Jewish houses to the soldiers, etc. Late in the evening the pogrom quieted down, but it broke 254 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE out again with renewed force on the next day, the 17th of 'May. Bands of soldiers, conducted by volunteer guides, went through the streets from house to house asking: "Who lives here, Jews or Russians?" and, according to the answer and its plausibility, either went past or entered the houses and yards, killed the men if they did not succeed in ransoming themselves, looted, and then went on to the next house, leaving the con- tinuation of the work begun to a crowd of women and boys. I saw soldiers, evidently sent out from the station, hurrying along; they said they were allowed to go into the city until 8 A.M. ; and, in fact, about that hour I saw soldiers collecting at the Executive Committee's office, and then getting on their horses and depart- ing in the direction of the station. But the pogrom did not stop; groups of soldiers, and bands of local inhabitants, small householders and workmen, roamed over the city and continued to slay and pillage. It was mainly the Jewish men that they killed, but in a number of houses and apartments they killed women and children and even entire families. By night and during the shelling of the town by the communists the pogrom temporarily stopped. On the 18th and 19th there were more cases of removal of Jewish men to the station, where most of them were shot. On the 19th the pogrom began to subside, but on the 30th the city again experienced an alarm and the pogrom threatened to break out again with new force in connection with the spreading of the news among the soldiers that on the evening of the 19th a soldier had. been killed by a number of Jews, who offered resistance when he tried to shoot them. In connection with this there began searches along the Krasnajra street and further throughout the city. Whole wards were surrounded by the soldiery and only through the agency of negotiations between the Committee of Safety and the general staff did they succeed in scattering the ever-increasing and in- furiated bands of soldiers. Towards evening the murders and robberies ceased. On the morning of the 31st there began a violent bombardment of the city by the Soviet troops, after which during the day the town was occupied by them. Already on May 17th a group of local people in public life, mostly former members of the municipal council, tried to organize a delegation to go to the station to the staff of the Grigorievist detachment with the object of persuading them to call off the soldiers from the city and put a stop to the killing and pillaging. But on account of the repeated bombardment, and because there was no previously established center, they did not succeed in going to the station. On the 17th the dele- CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 255 gation met, and on the 18th it got to the station, using a first-aid wagon for the trip. At the station the delegation was received by the- commander of the detachment and by several officers of the staff. Uvarov said he was busy with exclusively military matters. The staff officers said that all necessary measures for the protection of the town were being taken — a horse-patrol was going through the town and dispersing the plunderers. One of the officers suggested that the delegation should attend to the removal of the dead bodies. The position of the delegation was very difficult; on the one hand, asking for the withdrawal of the troops from town; on the other hand, for the sending of reliable patrols to guard the city. The main thing was that there was no common language. One of the staff officers, for instance, openly declared that the Christian population need not be alarmed; they were robbing and murdering only Jews. The delegation returned to the city with no real accomplishment. On the 19th a more extensive conference of a group of local inhabitants was held in the court of the municipal council. An "initiative" group of three persons was elected, plans were started for the establishment of a militia, and a summons was issued for a meeting on the next day of trade unions and of the population in general to elect a committee of safety and take measures to re-establish life in the city. The "initiative" group printed a short circular addressed to the population, hunted up the assistant commander of militia and the commander of the first region and proposed to them that they make it their busi- ness to re-establish the militia and postal service. On the same day this group again went to the staff at the station, and re- ceived permission to summon a meeting and establish militia, and again discussed the situation in the city. Reciprocal aid was planned between the militia and the patrols, and the staff prom- ised to co-operate with the committee in protecting the town and re-establishing normal life. The group proposed that the staff issue an order to stop the unauthorized searchings, pillag- ing, and shooting, and to control the soldiers who were wander- ing about the town. The staff consented to issue such an order and asked the group to prepare a draft of it. The draft was prepared and sent to the staff next day. The latter made im- portant additions at the beginning and end, and Order No. 1 was printed and pasted up in the city. On the next day. May 20, an assembly of the inhabitants was held, which elected a committee of safety of five persons. The make-up of the as- sembly was very mixed ; there were few laborers ; largely small bourgeois, and groups of intellectuals. The membership of the 2S6 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE committee elected, in spite of the mixed character of the assem- bly, proved pretty good. The committee went to work immedi- ately upon the conclusion of the assembly. The main part of its work consisted in attempts to intervene in the activities of the gangs of soldiers. Two serious efforts were made on that day. A telephone message came from Dicker's drugstore that a detachment of soldiers had come there with an order from the staff to carry out a search, whereby during the search a rifle and a revolver were found in an apartment adjoining the drug- store. The soldiers were for arresting all the people in the drugstore. Immediately the committee despatched the vice-com- mander of militia and Uspensky, a member of the committee, who succeeded in explaining to the soldiers that the rifle and revolver had been left in the apartment by the vice-commander of the cantonal militia, who lived in the apartment, and who had gone out into the country. The soldiers departed, but after some time came back again and took away to the station all who were in the drugstore, both attendants and wounded. When we in the committee heard of this, I with Uspensky, member of the com- mittee, went to the station, and there in our presence all those who had been taken were called from the prison car and re- leased. At the same time Uvarov explained that the arrest had taken place on the ground of a soldier's report that in Dicker's drugstore was concealed an armed detachment of Jews with supplies of weapons, cartridges, and machine guns, waiting for a chance to attack the Grigorievists. Here at the station we were informed that 36 prisoners had been freed at the staff headquarters up to the 30th. Here we also saw whole groups of Jews coming to the station, worn out with ceaseless and anxious hiding in cellars and dugouts ; and here after a brief questioning permits were issued giving them the right to live freely in the city. The second serious case was on Krasnaya street and elsewhere, in connection with the searches instituted because of the killing of a soldier by some Jews on the evening before. Around this region and in the neighboring streets ever-increasing bands of soldiers began to wander. After un- successful attempts to stop the murders and searches by talking with the soldiers, we communicated to headquarters about it and asked that the bands be dispersed. The staff sent a detachment with an officer at its head into the city, and with some difficulty the detachment succeeded in dispersing the bands. But many of those who were seized in this district and taken to the station were killed upon the hasty retreat of the Grigorievists next day. The rest of the work of the committee consisted in hunt- CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 257 ing up carts for the department of health to remove the corpses, co-operation with the hospitals in getting wood and flour, and attempts to re-establish the public institutions, which attempts did not succeed, owing to frequent bombardments. I know that besides the delegations from the population a delegation from the railroad workers also went to the Grigorievist general staff to protest against the murders and shoot- ings. When I was at the station I saw, among the military, workmen, students, and gymnasium boys. I heard from third parties that when they were about to shoot a Jewish gymnasium student, named Bahr, at the station, several gymnasium students among the Grigorievists ran to the ofRcer who had charge of the shooting and tried to persuade him to let their comrade off. But the officer proposed then that one of them should take Bahr's place. No one cared to do this, and Bahr was shot. I know that there was a series of cases in the city in which the intervention of Christians, especially from the common people, stopped or prevented murders. There were quite a good many Christians who hid Jews in their houses, cellars and barns, but there were also cases of refusal to hide and protect them. In trying to explain to myself the attitude of the workmen during these terrible days, I received the impression from their repre- sentatives, from exchanges of opinion on the subject in the Soviet of trade unions, that the masses of workmen were indif- ferent in feeling, and that the worst elements among them took part in the pillaging and even in the murders. Those who had been connected with the party activities of the com- munists withdrew with them, or hid. But there were among the workmen some who, blinded by Grigoriev's manifesto ("Universal"), at the same time genuinely did not want to see the return of the Soviet regime, which, because of its ranks of guards, the procrastination of the Extraordinary Committee, the inaccessibility of the commissars, and owing to its distrust of the masses of workers, was always too remote from them and in no way dependent on them. Ex-President of the Municipal Council of Cherkassy, V. Petrov. Appendix I. Circular to the population on the necessity of an assembly for the election of a committee of safety; prom- ulgated in the city on May 19. "Citizens I The population of Cherkassy is stunned by the horrible occurrences which have taken place during the last few 258 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE days in the city. All the inhabitants are in anguish and in fear for their lives. In the environs military operations are going on, and, owing to that, the activities of previously existing in- stitutions have ceased. It is necessary to care for the guarding of the city, and for removing the bodies of the slain ; it is neces- sary to have a care for the sale of bread, for keeping up the water-supply, etc. Therefore a group of persons, on the request of various institutions and citizens, summons all to help in the common cause. All citizens who can help in the common cause by deed and counsel, and especially representatives of all in- stitutions and professional organizations, are requested to meet on Tuesday at eight o'clock local time, at the Town Hall, to decide what measures should be immediately adopted, and who should be entrusted with the conduct of the city's affairs and the care for the needs and defense of the population hence- forth, until such time as the fighting shall cease and a govern- ment be organized. "Citizens ! Preserve order, and help each one in establishing peace among the population. Do not spread abroad false ru- mors, but live peaceably, by honest labor. It is time to under- stand this and everyone should persuade his neighbor of it — that robberies and violence must not be permitted." A true copy : Ex.-Pres. of the Council, V. Petrov. Appendix II. Order No. 1 "I, Ataman Uvarov, commander of the guerrilla detachments, order the population of the city of Cherakssy and the surround- ing villages to be quiet. All who have weapons not registered with the guerilla detachments are to surrender them at the staff headquarters of the Personal Military Detachment (station of Cherkassy) in the course of 24 hours from the day of publi- cation of this order. Every form of violence, pillaging, murders, unauthorized searches, and other disorders are most strictly forbidden. Searches and arrests may be made only by order of the staff of the Cherkassy garrison. All persons appearing on the streets with weapons, and not belonging to the organization of defense or the military patrols, will be disarmed and taken to the Per- sonal Staff (station of Cherkassy). For disobedience to this order the guilty will be exposed to the laws of wartime with all rigor, even to execution. Citizens I Understand that the time for violence and arbi- trariness has passed. Come to your senses and each take up his CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 259 honest labor. Do not conceal agitators and others who are undermining the authorities. Only by simultaneous common endeavor can the government be strong and the life of every worker be secure. May 20, 1919. The Commander of the group of Cherkassy forces, Ataman of the Personal Detachment, Uvarov. . . The head of the general staff, Abramov . . . Adjutant Fedorovsky. II. Testimony of Mariam Dubnikova On Saturday morning. May 17, two soldiers entered the house of Bielotzerkovsky, next door to ours, and started pillaging. Bielotzerkovsky succeeded in hiding. My husband went to them, opened the way to them, and tried to reason with them. They took away from us money up to 20,000, watches, rings, and other things. "But now what's to be done with you?" one of them asked my husband. My husband again began to argue with them, telling them that he and the others were not com- munists. "We aren't after communists, we are after Jews." Then they took everybody out in the yard and ordered the men separated from the women. A fearful outcry arose. Silber- man's wife cried violently. At this moment there burst into the yard a gang of forty or fifty men with curses and cries of "What are you bawling for?" "They wanted a commune." "We'll fix them." Incidentally, one of them noticed an in- scription in Jewish on a kindergarten sign, and said to another: "Here must be a Bund." Straightway they began to beat and torment the men, and took them away, as they told us, "to be examined," because there were a great many there and it was necessary to find out who they were. On the way to the station they took off their clothes and killed them near a dumping ground. In the yard a patrol remained, who would not let us pass, however much we struggled. When the patrol left, my daughter and another girl ran to the station. On the way they met Bondarev, who was shocked at what had occurred and con- sented to go with them to the station. They went by roundabout ways by his direction and on the way counted 28 corpses. At the station they asked where the commandant was. They were told that he was on the ninth road. They went thither. The commandant was not there, but some soldier or other came out and when asked if 17 Jews had been brought there replied that no such persons had been there. But when my daughter started to insist, saying that they had brought them there, he replied : "Your staf]f is in the field." Among the 17 slain, whom they found, on the way back 26o SLAUGHTER OF JEXyS IN THE UKRAINE from the station, were: my husband and son Benjamin, the fiscal rabbi Silberman, Bolakhovsky, Kapitanovsky, Vimunsky, Vinokur, Polonsky, Eidelman, two Ruthman's, Chernobylsky, Bielotzerkovsky, and his son, a boy of 16 years, Brusilovsky, and two others unknown to me. Mariam Dubnikova. III. Testimony Given by M. T., Who Was at the Station On May 18 at 11 A.M., there burst into the yard of Lurie's match factory a band of about 20 men, armed and in military uniforms. The first victim of this gang was Simon Antono- vich Yakhnis, manager of the factory. The story of his mur- der was told by the soldier B. E. Lurie, who went with them to the station. In the yard a bandit met Yakhnis and started to load his gun. The other seized the barrel and began to plead : "Don't kill me ; here is money for you." The soldier took the money and killed Yakhnis. M. T., upon being ques- tioned, communicated the following facts about himself. I was sitting in the cellar. Hearing a voice, I came out and saw a soldier. I started to run away. In the yard blocks of wood and boards were lying around. I started to run around the boards. There I met Lurie, and we began to circle around together. About three soldiers met us. "Hands up I" We put our hands up, and were searched; they took our money and began to load their guns. The workmen and guards came out of the factory and asked them not to harm us. Then we were surrounded and taken to the station. On the way various gangs came up to the soldiers and asked them where they were taking us. One of the bandits who met us cried : "Why don't you cut off their noses?" On the Smolianskaya street we heard cries: a number of bandits were chasing a Jew. He was struck on the head with a gun-butt; some one fired, and he fell. The bandits rushed at the dead man and began to strike him with sabres. We kept going. Outside the city, along the road leading to the station, bodies of Jews were lying about. Everywhere were traces of blood and brains ; papers and passport books lay around. We arrived at the station. I was no longer walking with Lurie, who had been taken away somewhere, but they put with me an old, tall Jew. We were led to a car. In the car were soldiers and a Russian woman with two children. A soldier came up to me and began to yell: "You want to rule I" Then the chief of staff, Uvarov, inspected my papers ; though he thought they were not genuine, he nevertheless decided to spare me. "We were not spared, and we shall not spare you; but it is enough for CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 261 the present, we have enough. We shan't be able to dispose of the bodies. Take him home and see to it that you get him home alive." We went back. On the way we were stopped many times. One bandit on horseback stopped, questioned us, and, when he found out the facts, said: "Well, look out, don't kill any more, or you will suffer yourselves." M. T. IV. Testimony of the Son of a Murdered Shoemaker, Simon Pogrebiehsky: Israel, Aged 13 The killing took place on Saturday, May 17, at 10 A.M. Four men knocked on the door. It was opened to them. Among them was Fedorovsky, personally known to Israel, and three whom he did not know, but who were local people according to the statement of neighbors. All those who entered were armed with rifles. Two of them were in civilian clothes. They began to demand money. Fedorovsky shouted: "If you want to live, give me a thousand rubles." This amount was in the house, and Simon gave it to them. Then Fedorovsky bade him show him the cellar, as he said, in order to hunt for communists. The other started. His son Jacob, a gymnasium student of the sixth class, fifteen years old, asked: "Can I go, too?" "Why not? Come along," said Fedorovsky. As soon as father and son entered the cellar they began to load their guns. Under- standing what it meant, the unhappy wretches ran down the steps and succeeded in slamming the door. Then Fedorovsky cried: "If you don't open up, we will kill the children that are left in the house." The father opened the door arid instantly they brought him down in his tracks with shots. Having done their job, they returned to the house again, where four children were left, of whom the oldest, who told the story, was thirteen, the youngest seven. They began to demand more money, threat- ening to kill them. There was a little more money in the house, which they took; they also carried off the leather that was on hand and several other things. They were not satisfied with this and demanded money again. The children swore that they had no more. Then Fedorovsky seized the child of seven by the neck, threw him violently on the floor, and departed. Israel Pogrebizhsky. V. Testimony of Ahram Shenderov On Saturday, May 17, at 4 A.M., there was a knocking at our house. My son David, 18 years old, opened the door, and four 262 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE soldiers rushed in to the room with the cry: "Communists, Jews, just such little fellows were on the front yesterday." They began to pillage. Then they stood my son up against a wall. He ransomed himself, giving them seven thousand rubles. About 13 o'clock another gang knocked once more. David, the same son who opened the door before, opened to them. They killed him instantly on the spot. Then they ran into the rooms, and, without demanding or saying anything, killed in the cor- ridor eighteen people, men and women. By accident my son Judah escaped; he was wounded in the hand and fell, and they apparently thought he was dead. My other boy, who hid under a bed, was killed afterwards, when they began to turn the rooms upside down, looking for more Jews. They found him and sent 15 bullets into him. This boy, named Hesia, was only thirteen years old. Among the slain were my wife, Lieba-Reizia, my daughter, aged 16, my son David, aged 18, and Boruch, aged 14 ; also ten persons of the Ostrovsky family and three strangers. For his father: G. A. Shendb2rov. VI. Testimony of Isaac Khaimoinch Trotzky Since Friday around four o'clock we had been hiding with our Russian landlady, but towards morning, being afraid, we all went into the cellar. There were 23 or 24 of us there, men, women, and children. All night long we remained there in peace. In the morning a servant came and said that they were going to search in the cellar, but that there was no reason for us to fear, since they were only searching for communists. A little while later four soldiers came and shouted: "Come outl" They had evidently been informed that we were hiding, for it is impossible to see from above what is going on in the cellar. We began to come out. My brother Benzion and his family went oat first, then my nephew Zania Trotzky, after him Smyl- ansky with his wife, daughter, and sister. Then Joseph Topo- liansky with his -Hrife and children, after him the barber Berman with his wife and child. The last were Volodarsky, myself, my wife and father. We had not had time to get upstairs when a shot rang out, we were enveloped in smoke, and the student Volodarsky, who went out ahead of us, rolled into the cellar. Then we did not go up, but hid in one of the apartments of the cellar, from which we heard the shooting. They killed all the' men, after going over them all and after accepting ransom from them. After this one of the bandits came to the cellar and cried out: "Comrades, there must be Jews still in the cellar." His CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 263 ( comrades responded to the cry and came down and began to search the cellar, lighting matches one after another. They went over two apartments, and came into the apartment where we sat, pressing close to one another — myself, my wife and father. One passed around the apartment with a match so close to me that it burned my face. "No one here." From nervous excitement we sat in the cellar more than an hour, motionless as stone. Then at last we heard the groans and cries of my nephew : "Uncle, help !" With difficulty we succeeded in finding a physician and took him to a hospital, where he died two days later. Isaac Trotzky. VII. Testimony of the Midwife Beta Moshenskaia On Saturday, May 17, at half-past four A.M., the Moshensky family heard a knock on the front door. No one of the family answered the knock. After a few minutes they heard steps in the blind passage. About fifteen men rushed into the room, all armed with rifles and sabres, with cries of "Where are the men ? Give us the men 1" We answered : "There aren't any men." There were in the house old Moshensky, aged 73, his wife, two daughters and two small children. "Give us money." They were given all the money there was in cash, about five thousand. The bandits took the money and began to take away watches and to pick up articles of value. "Give us gold." The women swore that they had no gold, that they were poor people. "You lie, you Jew, you lie. Give us gold. Put him against the wall, against the wall." The old folks began to weep before them, to plead with them : "Dear friends, spare us, let us live, we have lived so many years, let us die in peace. Dear comrades, don't hurt us." In reply to this they struck the old woman on the head with a sabre, and she rolled over on the floor, bathed in blood; the old man they struck in the side with a sabre, and he fell on a chair dead. But this did not satisfy them. They rushed at the dead man and began to beat him up with gun-butts. "You lie, Jew, you are pretending." When the dead man's children began to wail, they rushed at them and began to beat them with gun-butts and sabres; by good luck none of them was seriously injured. The bandits took the things and departed. On the next day a bandit appeared. When he asked who lived there, he was told that the owner had been killed, his wife seriously wounded, and only one daughter was left. "Where is she then? Why is she hiding? Never mind, 264 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE we'll kill them all, if not to-day then to-morrow, all to the very last." Midwife B. Moseenskaia. VIII. Testimony of G. Krasnov Saturday morning there came to us several armed men, led by the ataman Uvarov. They entered from the blind passage. In one of the apartments (belonging to neighbors) some soU diers arrested N. Krasnov and brought him to us. The family began to plead with Uvarov to let him go, to which Uvarov replied : "I am an intelligent man and shall do no harm to him. We shall simply verify some documents and let him go." The soldier conducting Krasnov, under the influence of the plead- ings, began to waver, and turned to Uvarov: "Mr. Ataman, how about it?" "I said, take him along." At this time Uvarov, after a search and examination of another brother, a pharma- cist, who was with difficulty saved by an acquaintance whom they took for a Christian, rested for several minutes and sat down at the table and drank some milk. They went out, taking Krasnov with them. They did not touch money or goods. Uvarov took Krasnov to the Executive Committee and there shot him with his own hand. This is narrated by the keeper of the courtyard of the Executive Committee. At the same time Fedorovsky brought in Garelik, Boguslavsky and Garnitz- sky, and they also were shot at the same place. The keeper of the courtyard of the Executive Committee buried all four of them. G. Krasnov. IX. Testimony of G. Ukrainskaia On Saturday, May 17, at four A.M., a band of thirty men surrounded the house of those who were killed and began to knock at the doors, from tlie front gate and from the side towards the courtyard. The doors were opened. They started to search everyone and to take articles and money. Then they said to the old man: "Come along." They led him out to the front passage and shot him. From the other door they led out Brusilovsky, searched him, took all the things that he had on his person, and said to him : "Go in peace." But he had not had a chance to go two paces when they sent a bullet into his back, and he fell without a sound. Three hours later, bandits came to them again. The women who were left in the CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 265 barn saw how the neighbors' servants were stealing their property. After a time they came out. The servants saw it and ran up to the bandits who were passing by, say- ing (in Ukrainian): "The Jewess saw us taking things; come and kill them, for if you go away they will put us in prison." The bandits rushed into the house looking for the women. Brusilovskaia ran into the garden; they ran after her. She started to plead with them: "Comrades, my husband has been killed; three orphans are left. I am in such a position — ^how can I hurt anyone? I beg you not to deprive my children of their mother." "They'll be all right, your Jew brats; shut upl" And they killed her. The bandits found Ukrainskaia at the wicket-gate, led her to a wall and started to load their guns. It turned out there were no more bullets. AH but one went for more bullets. The remaining one waited for a time for his comrades. They apparently were detained somewhere. The bandit got tired of waiting, swore, and went away. G. Ukrainskaia. X. Testimony of M. Narodnitzkaia At 5 P.M. on May 16 the gangs began to break into the houses in this court. They came and went, demanded money, and stole goods. They took the men's clothes off. Then ' all those who lived in this court went into the yard of the Provin- cial Hospital, which bordered on their court. They had not had time to get into the yard when the same bands began to appear there. Apparently some of the Russian neighbors told them that Jews were hiding here. L. Narodnitzky and his wife saw the superintendent of the hospital and two sisters coming out of the hospital. They ran to them and implored them to hide them. They rqfused. At this time several bandits came up to L. Narodnitzky: "Come along to the station." His wife implored them to let him go. They quieted her: "It's all right, don't be afraid. We will just verify his documents and let him go right away." His wife went with him. All the way she kept beseeching them: "Let us go; take what you like. We live right near here. Come along with us, we will give you all our money." They replied to her: "You may go, but we will verify his documents and then let him go." Thus they led us to the small bridge near the Polish cemetery. There another band was waiting for them. "We are bringing a communist," they cried to them. (The man had never belonged to any party.) The wretches understood what was in store for them and again began to implore them to let them go. They fell on their knees 266 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE and swore that they had never belonged to any party. Then the jbandits brushed aside the woman, shouting: "Shut up, if you don't want your eyes gouged out." The man they threw to the ground and killed him with shots. The woman began to cry terribly. They said to her: "There's no use in crying now, go along." She went, weeping and crying along the street. Some bands met her and beat her with gun-butts. They beat her head and face. She does not remember what happened afterwards. She came to in the Provincial Hospital; she does not remember whether she went there herself or was taken there. Mania Nakodnitzkaia. XI. Testimony of Abram Safian This happened on Friday, May 16, at half-past twelve at night. There was a knock at the door. I did not open. There were more violent knocks. "Who is there?" I asked. "Open; it is soldiers." I opened the door. A gang of fifteen men rushed in. "Give us money." I gave them my purse. "To the wall I Where is the rest of your money?" I pointed out the chest. Some ran to the chest, others went to the bedroom, where my sick father was lying. "What are you lying there for, old Jew?" My father began slowly to get up. One of the ban- dits struck him on the head with a sabre. "Don't strike him, he is sick, strike me instead." "Don't worry, your turn will come, too. Where is your shop ? Show it to us " I showed them the shop. Some ran into the shop, others were busy with the cupboards ; some were with my father, some in the shop. The door was open. I ran out and hid. I don't know what happened afterwards, but was told that they looked hard for me in the yard. They cut my father to pieces in the literal sense; we found him under the table in the kitchen. XII. Testimony of Gurevich about the Killing of Her Husband and Two Sons It happened on May 17 at 4 A.M. A gang ran into the yard with outcries and shots and began to knock at the door. My husband opened to them. They killed him on the spot. Then they killed my second son, Samuel. Then they went down into the cellar, where my older son Srul was. We began to implore him, and my boy, aged 15, took hold of the muzzle of the gun, begging the soldier not to shoot. ^le went away. Afterwards he came back, evidently under the influence of some one's direc- CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 267 tions, and killed him, crying: "You are a communist; you want a commune." Then they plundered the house. BUZIA GUKEVICH. XIII. Testimony of M. Ukrainskaia Marusia Ukrainskaia, who is very like a Russian in appear- ance, was at the station all the time the Grigorievists were in Smela. On Friday, May 16, five bandits arrested a certain Tyverovsky, a relative of Ukrainskaia, and took him to the station. After some time Ukrainskaia also rushed to the station. There she passed for a Russian the whole time, and by this means succeeded in seeing much of interest. All the soldiers to the last man were drunk, and Ukrainskaia did not know whom to apply to. One of the railroad men advised her to apply to a sailor, who was in command of some band or other (this sailor afterwards shot forty people at the third verst). His name was Commander Mozzhukhin, and he asked Ukrain- skaia what she wanted. She answered that among the prisoners in the car was a neighbor of hers and she was asking in his behalf. "Asking for a Jewl What good have they done you?" Ukrainskaia began to implore and to say that her neighbor was a fine man, that he was not involved jn anything, etc., and begged that he be freed. "Yes, I can — I can shoot, and I can pardon. You know I hate Jews terribly, but I will fulfill your request; go and pick out your Jew." At this time at the station there was a great deal of shouting, laughter, noise and hubbub. This, meant that they had brought in looted goods and the band was dividing them up. Among the gang Ukrainskaia recog- nized boys and girls from the gymnasium of Cherkassy, officers, and people who had social standing. All this assembly was dancing to the sound of a gramophone. Shouts, tumult, and the most unrestrained merriment . . . M. Ukrainskaia, an inhabitant of Cherkassy, happened to be at the station of Smela, and shared with us her impressions of what she saw there. XIV. Testimony of One of the Participants in the Battle on the Left Flank On Thursday, May 15, at dawn, the Soviet forces left the city, and in view of the alarming situation on the front, towards evening all the party strength in the city was mobilized. Into the party ranks entered also, voluntarily, upon the suggestion of 268 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the operative staff, the workmen of several trade unions. It was intended to mobilize on the next day all the organizations in which workmen were taken into account; but they were not called to arms, because arms were not received in time. It should be observed that among these workmen there were, with very few exceptions, no Christians, because they obviously evaded it; so that the departure for the front of a workmen's division almost exclusively composed of Jews caused fresh comments among the population, which had already been suf- ficiently stirred up by black-hundred officers and pogromists. The detachment of Cherkassy occupied on the left flank the extreme section of the flank, from the sugar-factory past the brick works in the direction towards the station. About 2 P.M. on Friday, May 16, the detachment, being in line with the detachments of Lokhvitz, Piriatin and others, went into action, and, having repulsed the attacks of the Grigorievist lines, drove the Grigorievists back to Belozeria. Of the negative aspects of the moment must be mentioned the absence of cartridges and arms. Many comrades started going without rifles, with noth- ing but revolvers, or even with nothing at all. Cartridges soon ran out. All these things had been brought up nearjthe city in sufficient quantities, but the train was unable to get into the city. Further, connections were wholly destroyed; on the defeat of the second Soviet regiment, the commanding personnel of which went over to the Grigorievists, all technical facilities were seized. All these and many other conditions brought it about that the right wing and after it the center wavered and fell back. Be- cause there were no communications and the lines were inter- rupted, the retreat of the first part was not known on the left wing, and it held for two or three hours after the right wing had broken. Besides this, the more the lines of the left wing advanced against the Grigorievists, the less became the distance between the two lines; and there came a time when the enemy were clearly visible to the writer (at a distance of 100-150 sa- zhens). At this period the Grigorievists completely stopped firing and stood up at full length; they began to wave their swords, and it looked as if they were surrendering. In response to the cries of our red soldiers they scattered over the field and some of them surrendered, possibly with provocatory intent, be- cause they immediately started a violent agitation among the red soldiers (the prisoners remained in the lines, since we were far from the city and there was no one to take them away). This agitation followed the definite theme that the war was between brothers, that there was no difference in their aims, that CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 269 only the "Jews and communists" had spread rumors that Makhno was coming with a large army, etc. The agitation had success among the red soldiers, in spite of the protests of the class- conscious ones, and of the entire party and workers' division, which continued to fight. The ranks of the Extraordinary Committee, perceiving the desire of the enemy to cease firing, also rose and went to meet the Grigorievists, waving their swords and not firing. But the situation was still such that it seemed that the Grigorievists were going to surrender. They, however, let them come close up, and then opened furious fire from machine guns, etc. This threw confusion into the ranks of the Extraordinary Committee, the ranks broke up, and most of them were taken prisoners. And when the neighboring part of the front gave way, evidently the section of the party and work- ers' division was also surrounded. Almost all of them were taken prisoners, being surrounded by both infantry and cavalry scouts, except those who fell in battle. The rest were driven during the retreat to the bridge. The rear of the battlefield at the close of the battle was the territory of the sugar-factory, all the houses belonging to bourgeois workmen who worked in the factory. They all knew of the defeat of the Soviet forces before the retreat on the left wing, because, as I said, the Grig- orievist forces had entered the city long before. Most of them were armed and fired upon the retreating soldiers on their way to the bridge across the Dnieper. Others collected in gangs and seized them as they withdrew from the position, and killed them on the spot with stones, or dragged them from their horses. Even boys and women took part. From the thresholds and from behind the corners of the houses they fired on the soldiers going along the road to the Dnieper. They killed not only Red soldiers, but all who looked like Jews. The Jews who were taken in the field were immediately shot; the Christians in large numbers went over to the Grigorievists. The rest of those who were taken prisoners spent the night on the battlefield, and in the morning were taken out and sent towards the city. On the way they were met by a detachment with an officer, who made the Christians go apart on one side, the Jews on the other. The Jews were all killed on the spot (at the corner of Sadovaya and Alexandrovskaya streets). The bodies, as well as those killed in the region of the factory, were mangled and mutilated. At the same time several comrades who had hidden during the night, and who ventured to come out on Saturday to change their hiding-places, were killed. The bodies were mutilated. Crowds of soldiers searched all corners, and sevei'al times 270 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE searched over the field-hospital stations in the region of the sugar- factory, looking for "Jews and communists." As I hid near the factory I heard some Grigorievist soldier -agitators and civilians going from house to house, collecting all the inhabi- tants and inviting them to the pogrom in town. Throngs of in- habitants were in the square ; a great many workmen. Two days later similar agitators, with militiamen and armed soldiers, went around the streets of this region, going into all the houses, and called out the men, demanded a call to arms, and shouted that "We have beaten the Jews, but now we must all defend our- selves." Large military detachments, with the director of the factory at their head, were formed. (Signature) XV. A Letter to the Editor of the "Cherkassy Izvestia." , Comrade Editor: In order to make clear to the people and the workers the truth about the personality of Ataman Uvarov and his agents, do not refuse to print the following. As is now at the present time known to all, Uvarov and his hereafter-mentioned agents have shown themselves provocators, and murderers of innocent people in the cities of Cherkassy, Chigirin, Medvedovsky and others. Besides this they have turned out to be thieves, who have stolen from the deceived and starv- ing workers. Millions of the people's money in the treasury of Cherkassy, which ought to have gone to maintain the detach- ments, was seized, and almost half of the money received by Uvarov was stolen and appropriated by the following persons : Ataman Uvarov, 500,000 rubles. Abramov, his chief of staff, 850,000 rubles. Nedelka, treasurer of the division, 150,000 rubles. Andrei Romanovsky, assistant to the treasurer, and his brother, 800,000 rubles. Vasili losifovich Gontkovsky, secretary of the detachment, 100,000 rubles. Adjutant Fedorovsky, 150,000 rubles. Ivan losifovich Gagarin and his son Kostia, 100,000 rubles. Vasili Ivanovich Oziran, 50,000 rubles. Grigori Ivanovich Shramenko, 50,000 rubles. Sergei Ivanovich Vasilievsky, 25,000 rubles. In all, about 1,600,000 rubles. Here you see for whom and for what, comrades, we have spilled our blood, gone hungry, fed parasites ;— so that a bunch of these bandits, thieves, murderers and pillagers might stuff their pockets and rob you — protecting themselves with your honorable name and your support. You, comrades, spilled your blood without a murmur, suffered from parasites,' hunger and cold, thinking that you were suffering and fighting for the estab- CHERKASSY: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 271 lishment of order and legality, while in fact you were only helping the above-mentioned bandits and provocators to fill their pockets with your own, the people's, money, and helping them to plunder and kill perfectly innocent people, peaceful inhabi- tants. When you read this letter, comrades, you will understand yourselves whom you followed; and your conscience will tell you what to do next. But in the first instance we must merci- lessly reckon with the thieves referred to and take from them the people's money they stole. And for this purpose it is neces- sary to help with all your might the workers' and peasants' Soviet authorities to search for those thieves and mercilessly punish them in public, as they have deserved for deceiving and robbing you. When you read this do not imagine that it is written by some agitator who wants to blacken the name of your former government. No, it is written by your former comrade, who suffered with you, and you can verify all that I have written by your comrades whom you trust most of all, who were taken prisoners at Raigorod on the day of the battle. All this was made known at a meeting in their presence, together with the sixth regiment, and it was announced to all in the presence of your delegates, who had been sent to negotiate with the sixth regiment about joining them. There were present about forty of our prisoners, the whole third battalion of the regiment and your delegates. Your former comrade of the 7th company, P. BUKBEIEV. XVI. A Letter to the Editor of the "Cherkassy Isvestia." Comrade Editor: I am sending herewith a list of persons who killed and robbed Jews and where they are at the present time, and also in part where the money they stole is ; which list I beg ygu to deliver to the proper persons that they may go after these persons and take from them the people's money. UvARov — ^the money is at his mother-in-law's, in Cher- kassy. Nedelka and the Romanovs ky brothers went to Nale- snoe, and from there to Kremenchug. Search must be made in both places. The money is partly with him, the rest, about 400,000 rubles, his wife brought from the Motrovsky monastery to Cherkassy and in all probability hid it in her dwelling. GONTKOVSKY, Vasili losifovich, is himself hiding in Raigo- 272 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE rod, with the teacher K., or if not there then he has gone to his father's in the village of Piliavo. His wife has the money in Cherkassy, or if she hasn't, then his sister M. Kerezhegin or his mother-in-law, who lives at Russko-Polianskaya street 68; in the house is a storeroom with a double hidden partition, where all stolen and pillaged goods are hidden. His sister and mother-in-law live opposite. He formerly served as a commis- sary official, where he also stole about 200,000 rubles. He bought a house all furnished at Ozeron in his wife's name. Fedqrovsky, if not yet arrested, is either at the house of his uncle Kaurov or at Dr. Chiprina's,; the same also have his money and stolen goods. Gagarin and his son Kostia are in adjacent villages; it will be easy to find them, since he is traveling with his whole family, that is, his wife and children. His money is hidden in his own house in Cherkassy, where it should be searched for in the secret places of the house. OziRAN, Vasili Ivanovich; I do not know where he is hid- ing, but the money is at the house of his father, Ivan Terentiev Oziran, Alexandrovskaya II. Shramenko, Grigori Ivanovich; his money and stolen goods are located with Stepan Mikhailovich Vasiok, his brother Ivan Ivanovich Shramenko, and Feodosi Mikhailovich Borisenko or Borisenko's son-in-law Pechikin, together with whom he robbed the Zaritzkys ; he is also hiding with the same. Vaselievsky, Sergei Ivanovich; the money is with him or else with his son-in-law Rybakov, former presiding justice of the peace. He is hiding with the same; he has shaved off his mustache and beard, has put on eyeglasses, and is living with him under the name Ismailov. He plundered Jews in the com- pany of Pratzenko Grigoriev; he lives corner of Bulvarnaya and Beloserskaya. With Ilia Mikhailovich Lobzenko, Belozerskaya street, and Grigori Fedosievich Orovia, Kavkaskaya street (near the tower), they destroyed Zisin's strongbox, etc. Lansky sent the money with his wife to Cherkassy; he him- self has gone over with others to the sixth regiment. BoNDAREV, Nazar Filimonov, robbed and killed Jews in Chigirin ; I do not know where he is. This is all I know at the present time about these robbers and thieves, both those who departed with Uvarov for Milastyr, and those who remained in Cherkassy after the looting. P. BUKREIEV. GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 273 Chigimn (Government of Kiev) Testimony of Nison Meyerovich Milevsky, Bookkeeper' of the Mutual Credit Society of Chigirin; Taken Down by Our Associate MaizKsh; 6. VI., 1919 Chigirin is a cantonal capital in the government of Kiev. It is 35 versts from the railroad station Fundukeievka and 18 versts from the landing-place Buzhin (not far from Kremen- chug). The inhabitants of Chigirin number about seventeen or eighteen thousand, of which five or six thousand are Jews. The population is mostly occupied with commerce and trade, partly with handicrafts. In manufactures the tanning industry is much developed here; there are twelve tanneries with about four or five hundred workmen. Of these twelve tanneries seven were in the hands of Jews. There were about a hundred to a hundred and fifty Jewish workmen in the tanneries. Up to the end of 1918 all the tanneries were working, and the owners got enough raw materials for production. Before the coming into power of the Directory (at the beginning of November, 1918) the Jewish proprietors of several tanneries left town, and their tan- neries were municipalized by the city government, which named commissars for the tanneries and took charge of production and sales. The municipal government, however, was not able to manage production as successfully as the private enterprise of the owners, and the Jewish tanneries began to fall off, while the tanneries of non-Jews, which remained in the hands of the private owners, are working almost at full capacity. The Jewish population of Chigirin is rather poor, and live'J, as has been said, mostly by trade. Jewish social life, as in the t5T)ical Jewish provincial town, was not developed. The only political parties which appeared on the scene anyiwhere were the Zionists and the Bund. The only social organizations were the Talmud-Torah, a hospital and an impoverished library. The years of war and revolution brought no very special changes in the life of the population of Chigirin. Of course, during war-time, speculation became widespread; some made money, but not in large proportions. In general the Jewish and non- Jewish populations lived peace- fully with each other. Signs of private anti-Semitism were not visible. The Hetman's power fell in Chigirin at the beginning of November, 1918. The regime which succeeded it was the rebel detachment of Kotzyr, which arrived in Chigirin November 8, arrested the Sovereign Guard (the militia), removed some of 274 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE the Hetman's officials, appointed political and military commis- sars, and established relations with the Directory, which was then in Bielaia Tserkov. Kotzyr was an Ukrainian, an agricul- turist, born in the river-source village Subbotovo (eight versts from Chigirin). He was known as an old revolutionary who had spent 12 years in Siberia at hard labor for participation in the revolutionary movement of 1905. He enjoyed the sjrmpathy of the surrounding and local population, which co-operated with him in overthrowing the power of the Hetman and the Germans, and in supporting the Ukrainian popular movement in the person of Petlura and the Directory. On November 10 Tikhonenko, with a detachment, appeared in Chigirin, and declared himself also on the side of the Directory, and became a close associate of Kotzyr. Tikhonenko, born in the village of Kitaigorod (thirty versts from Chigirin), was well kriown to the people of Chigirin for his previous activities as a member of the Zemstvo governing board, and was known as an adherent of bolshevism. The power of Kotzyr and Tikhonenko lasted all the time up to the pogrom, which was perpetrated by Grigorievist gangs (under Uvarov) who arrived at the end of May. Even during the period of the Directory Kotzyr and Tikhonenko began to incline to the side of the Soviet regime. When the Industrial Congress met in Kiev, there was sent as delegate from Chigirin, Braiko, who spoke for a resolution in bolshevist spirit. With the arrival of the Soviet regime, Kotzyr's detachment remained, and the military power continued in his hands. Incidentally, all this time the political commissar was the Ukrainian Dzygar, who was sufficiently pliable to be able to hold his place as commissar under all regimes; under the Di- rectory, under the bolsheviki, and also under the Grigorievists, and then again under the Soviet regime. During all the time of Kotzyr's government no excesses of any sort occurred, and specifically none against Jews, With the arrival of the Soviet power part of Kotzyr's detach- ment left, and only a battalion commanded by a certain Les- chenko remained. At first Leschenko was peaceable in his behavior, and the population felt no special constraints. But later requisitions began (mainly of the Jews) and searches. A contribution was imposed, which in the last analysis was paid only by the Jews, because the non-Jews were able to get them- selves absolved from it. Already in the beginning of May, with the attack of the Grig- orievists, the peace of Chigirin was broken, and agitation* con- ALEXANDROVKA: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 275 stantly arose. On May 14 the bandit Ovcharenko arrived at the city with a small detachment, but his onset was quickly stopped. Leschenko, with his battalion, energetically took the field against him and drove him off. The Jewish population lived in dis- quietude, but still did not expect a pogrom. On Monday, May 19, an incident occurred which greatly alarmed the population, and which seemed entirely incompre- hensible to the people of Chigirin. It has remained inexplicable up to the present time. On that day, May 19, on the usual day of the market-fair, the frightened population gathered only very languidly; and only after Leschenko had given assurance that he would permit no excesses, had brought a machine gun into the fair and had calmed everybody, did the people begin to collect at the fair and to engage in trade. But at that same time Leschenko with men from his detachment was going about the city to the dwellings of ten persons previously marked out, and took away five men and one woman, all Jews, and shot them. After this occurrence the population was still more frightened and lived in constant terror. Beginning with May 20 various gangs of Grigorievists began to appear. On the 21st Kudriavtzev (Uvarov's lieutenant) arrived, and on the 22nd "Uvarovists" probably from the region of Cherkassy. The Uvarovists behaved very well for the first few days, did not allow robberies or murders, and the whole population met them cordially. Leschenko's detachment had abandoned Chigirin on the 20th. On the days following this still other bands arrived, operating from a base at the town of Kholodny Yar (about 16 versts from Chigirin). On Sunday, May 25, there arrived from Tzybulevo a "Smeliansky" detach- ment which was already infected with the poison of anti-Semi- tism and pogrom agitation, and which immediately started the slogans of "Kill the Jews" and "Save Russia." On the same day pillaging began, and eleven Jews were killed. The rob- beries continued on Monday and Tuesday, and several more people were killed. On Wednesday, probably under pressure from the Soviet forces, the gang disappeared. Town of Alkxandrovka (Government of Kiev) 3,000 Inhabitants Testimony of Yelisavetsky, Presented by Tztfrinovich The pogrom began on May 15 and ended on May 22. All the inhabitants of the place suffered. The victims numbered 211 276 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE killed and about 30 wounded, of whom many have since died, and some are still in danger of death. Eruptive typhus is raging in the town. It is imposs^le to get flour. The majoritjr of the victims were small shop-keepers, who at present have no means of livelihood. The pogrom was perpetrated on the initiative of the Grigorievists, but the local population took part in it. There was violent anti-Semitic agitation. It was carried on by peas- ants, and by teachers of the local gymnasium, who went through the villages and said that the Jews wanted to usurp religion, that the Jews were communists, etc. The pogrom was ferocious in the degree of taunts and revilings of people. There were many cases of violation of women, who were then killed after- wards. In general not only young people, but also old men and children were killed. Whole families were killed. One family of 17 persons was wiped out completely. (Sig^nature) Novo-MiRGOROD (Government of Kherson) Written June 20, 1919, from the Dictation of the Fiscal Rabbi S. Schwars and the Shokhet P. Resnichenko Novo-Mirgorod is a "supernumerary town" {zashtatny — ^town without a district) of the government of Kherson, canton of Yelisavetgrad, situated on the railroad. It has 12,000 inhabi- tants, of whom about 1,500 are Jews (300 families). Its occu- pations are handicrafts and petty commerce. There was no poverty. There were few speculators ("profiteers") among the Jews. In general, thrift was prominent, and it increased during the war. There had never been any pogroms before. The re- lations between the Christian and Jewish populations were good. The Directory penetrated to Novo-Mirgorod in January, 1919. The Soviet regime replaced it approximately in April. Under the Directory a mobilization (draft) was declared, but the Jews did not answer the summons. Among the Hebrew youth there were rather many communists. A verst from Mirgorod is Zlatopol, in the neighboring government of Kiev. There pogroms began as early as May 6, starting from local gangs ; but on May 10 or 11 the Grigorievists arrived there. The number of Jewish families was as many as 1,100. Sixty Jews were killed and very many wounded. Under the influence of this the local peasants tried to start plundering, but the volost (district), that is, the Executive Com- mittee, stopped the looting. But when the Grigorievist detach- ments arrived, May 17, they perpetrated a savage pogrom, ac- NOVO-MIRGOROD : GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 277 companied by murders and pillaging. Murders were fixed in advance as the main object, since graves for the expected corpses were dug in good season the day before in the Jewish cemetery, and lime was prepared for disinfection. More than a hundred people were killed. The local priest vainly went with a proces- sion of the cross, to the robbers, entreating them not to kill or rob. The number of the slain would have been incomparably higher, but the Executive Committee of the volost purposely arrested an enormous number of Jews with their families (up to 1,300 souls), and kept them for eight days in a house of detention, supplying them with food. This saved them from massacre. But their dwellings were stripped bare during this time by robbers, the doors broken in, and the windows smashed. There were no burnings, nor violations (of women). About May 22 a Soviet detachment under the command of Zhivoder arrived. The Grigorievists disappeared. To the Head Mission of the Russian Red Cross Society in Ukraine Note of Report from the Representatives of the Committee of Aid to the Pogrom-Sufferers in the City of Novo-Mir- gorod. Government of Kherson: S. Schwars and F. Reznichenko On May 17 the Jewish community of our city suffered an extremely severe pogrom, which caused the death of over a hundred victims and the complete economic ruin of the city. Out of three hundred Jewish families, one or two escaped during the outbreak. Everything was taken — wares, money, valuables, and stores of provisions. The pogrom itself had an exception- ally savage character. On the day before the pogrom, graves were dug in the Jewish cemetery; lime was prepared; carts fol- lowed the murderers, upon which were loaded the bodies of the wounded before they were actually dead. As soon as a cart was full it started for the cemetery, where immediately both dead and living were buried. Lime was strewn in the graves, so that it was impossible to recognize many corpses when the graves were opened. The consequences of the pogrom are frightful. About two hundred orphans are deprived of any sort of aid. There are sixty wounded, a part of whom are lying in a hospital which will have to close for lack of means. The rest of the popula- tion is starving. The peasants until very recently have scarcely been selling provisions to the Jews. We are getting aid from nowhere, since Novoukrainka, the only city that has helped us, 278 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE is at present cut off from Novo-Mirgorod. The local regime is not affording help to the suffering population. The cpmmittee of aid which has been formed is also unable to relieve the con- dition of the starving, on account of the absence of means. In the meantime the condition of the sufferers becomes worse with every day. There is nothing to bind up the wounded with, there is no one to look after the orphans, there is nothing for the healthy to eat. Help is needed at once, and on an extensive scale. (Signature) Alexandria (Government of Kherson) Second Grigorievist Pogrom of June 34, 1919 Testimony of Nukhim Levin, Member of the Alexandria Militia Troop. July 8, 1919 After the first pogrom, perpetrated by Grigoriev on May 20, there was formed in Alexandria a workers' military troop at the Central Bureau of the trade unions, which was entered by 30 "military" members and 300 who had learned to shoot. The troop consisted almost exclusively of Jews, since Russians did not enter it. The Jews, however, entered it freely. In the synagogues it was proclaimed as the duty of every Jew to enter the troop, which thus represented the Jewish self-defense at the Central Bureau. There were close to 300 rifles. On Friday, May 9, two weeks before the second pogrom, the 12th Moscow sharpshooters regiment burnt Grigoriev's own house beyond the embankment. Grigoriev is a native of the place. The burning was done by incendiary bombs to the sounds of the Internationale. The military troop took no part whatever in this act. Nevertheless provocatory rumors had it that Jews had burnt Grigoriev's house. The 300 members of the troop were divided into four pla- toons, each of which was on duty for a night. The commander was a Jew; his assistant a Russian. On June 23 the rumor spread that Grigoriev was coming again, and on the 24th he entered the town by night. In his detachment it is said there were about 800 men. Grigoriev him- self, Tereschenko, and Gorbenko (of his staff), with their wives, rode horseback at the head. Of the troopers there were in all about forty effectives on guard. They sustained a four-hour fight with the Grigorievists. Two or three communists also took part in the fight. Eleven troopers fell in it. The most of Grigoriev's detachment at once started to rob and kill Jews. Grigoriev himself was apparently against po- TARASCHA: YATZENKO'S GANGS 279 groms and murders. He rode around on horseback and stopped the pillaging. According to the account of Mikhail Chverkin, who had been stripped naked and was about to be killed, Grig- oriev saved him from the hands of the murderers. A part of the troop after the battle withdrew to the village of Abramovka, where the peasants killed six or seven. The total number of the slain was 43 Jews (including 18 troopers). Among the slain were old men and women. Grigoriev plundered the arsenal, the Executive Committee, and the treasury, where he is said to have taken three millions, and went on to Novaia Praga and Verbliushka, having remained in Alexandria only a few hours in all. He took his own dead and wounded with him. According to what the transport convoy said, there must have been about 300 such. Grigoriev was a second-captain (stabs-kapitan) , owning many forests in the region of Alexandria and Znamenka, where he hid with his wife and two children. After the occurrences of June 24 the Jewish youth of Alex- andria began to leave town, fearing the vengeance of Grigoriev, who, according to" rumors, had got hold of a list of the troop. Among those who left was the author of this testimony Nukhim Levin. But nevertheless a new troop was formed. Tarascha (Government of Kiev) Testimony of Goldfarb, written in Kiev, June 27, 1919 Tarascha is a cantonal capital of 20,000 inhabitants, of which 7,500 are Jews (500 families), 22 versts from the railroad at Olshanitz. The city was not rich; for instance at Passover 30,000 rubles were distributed to the poor. The relations with the local bourgeoisie were peaceful but they were, of course, anti-Semitic. In November, 1918, the region of Tarascha was the starting point of the uprising against the Hetman. On June 16, 1919, the city experienced its fifth pogrom. They were caused by the band of Yatzenko, a native of the village of Kerdan, three versts from Tarascha. All around are vast, thick pine forests, where it is easy to hide. Yatzenko is 24 years old and completed the course of the two-class school in Tarascha. In March he declared himself for Petlura and im- mediately started an anti-Semitic agitation, saying that "the Jews are all communists, they defile our sacred edifices, turn them into stables." In the Executive Committee of Tarascha were many Jews, all local. The Extraordinary Committee had 28o SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE shot six local counter-revolutionaries not long before the June pogrom. Although there was not a single Jew in it (the Extraor- dinary Committee), the gang spread the report abroad that they had been killed by Jews, their tongues and ears cut off, etc., and that for these six slain, six thousand Jews ought to be de- manded. When the city was taken they ordered the bodies dis- interred. This band, beginning in March, several times broke into the city and perpetrated pogroms, but they were comparatively trifling and were limited to pillaging and extortions. In May it was driven out by a Soviet detachment, after which the Soviet regime lasted about a month in Tarascha. But in the middle of June the band again approached the city in larger numbers (about 800 men). The garrison numbered not more than a hundred men and therefore withdrew. The band seized the town. It consisted of Yatzenko's men and some remnants of Grigorievists under Col. Nechai. Immediately plundering began and devastation, which lasted two days. The local bourgeoisie took no active part in this pillaging. A contribution of a mil- lion rubles was levied on the Jewish population. They suc- ceeded in getting 300,000, and announced that if the rest were not furnished they would massacre everybody. At this point the sixth Soviet regiment arrived and the band departed. The Soviet regiment put a stop to the plundering of the city. All the shops were smashed and plundered. The losses were more than ten millions. Two persons were killed. Approximately on June 20 the rumor went around that the "villagers" ("village- workers") were again attacking the city. The Soviet regiment withdrew, and with it departed almost the whole Jewish population. Four thousand Jews went to the town of Rakitnoe. The rumor proved untrue, but not more than fifteen Jewish families remained in the city. Lebedin (Government of Kiev) Pogrom of Mlay 5, 1919 Testimony of L. Dashevsky, Emissary of the Authorized Investigator Tzifrinovich Lebedin is located several versts from Zlatopol, near the boundary of the government of Kherson. All the winter of 1918-19 the Jews of Lebedin suffered from the attacks of local bandits, who terrorized the Jewish population beyond all measure and very often indulged in pillaging. The frightened Jewish population hastened to leave Lebedin, and about sixty families LEBEDIN: LOCAL GANGS 281 left the place. Those who remained were chiefly Jewish paupers and the operatives of a sugar- factory; about forty or iifty families. The pogrom took place on Monday, May 5. During the day before the Jews learned of the approach of the rebels, and began in large numbers to leave for Shpola, ten versts from Lebedin. The pogrom was perpetrated not by Grigorievists but by local bandits, who were egged on by the local intellectuals. On Mon- day morning the bandits broke into the ofRce of the sugar- factory, drove out all Jewish employees and immediately re- placed them with non-Jews. At the same time there began in the market-place in the center of the town a shooting in which four Jews fell. There were instances of torture and barbari- ties. On the next day an armed force of bolshevists from Shpola went and collected the Hebrews who remained alive, and who were hiding in cellars, and took them away to Shpola, abandon- ing Lebedin to the will of the bandits. Now there is not a single Jew in Lebedin. The Jewish houses have been broken open and robbed bare. Some have been burned. The bandits, having no more Jews to rob, are killing rich peasants. Direction of Sugar Production to the Kiev Provincial FROM THE Station of Znamenka From the Jewish Employees of the Refined Sugar Factory of Lebedin, Who Were Victims of the Pogrom in Lebedin and at the Factory PETITION On May 5 of this year the Jewish employees were informed by telephone that within 34 minutes not a single Jew must re- main in the factory. Many fled from the factory to the nearest towns of Matusovo and Shpola. But before they got out of the region of the factory they were met with volleys of shots by bandits lying in wait near by, and four employees were killed on the spot. From this time there began to operate here a small band of local bandits, who by their onslaughts and pillaging brought alarm and terror to the Jewish population. The local adminis- tration of the factory and the authorities took no steps to stop the pillaging and murders. The slaying was accompanied by cruel torments and violations. What the bandits could not take with them, they destroyed and burned. And then the wave of bloodshed poured into the territory of the factory even. The 282 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE bandits began to execute their destructive, death-dealing work upon the Jewish laborers, who with blood and sweat had been earning their living at this factory for many years. And here, in the territory of the factory, a drunken rout began, accom- panied by violence, murders, and destructive looting. This took place under the influence of anti-Semitic pogrom agitation, which had inflamed the passions of these monsters and infuriated ban- dits. We are the victims of this agitation: we, the Jews work- ing in the factory — ruined, plundered, and beaten. We have been turned into beggars ; we have no roof, no refuge ; we are naked, barefooted; and yet we have been working all our lives; with hard toil we had gained everjrthing we had, every trinket in our homes, every article, is the product of stubborn, long labor. And now, all that we have won by our honest, persistent toil, has been plundered and carried off by a drunken gang. We apply to the Soviet government as the protector and guardian of the interests of the laborers ; and our just prayer is that the losses inflicted upon us be replaced. This will be an act of humanity and justice in relation to us as laborers. We believe that this government, which is introducing into life the principle of justice and of defense of labor, which stands on guard over the interests of the workers, will pay due attention to our sad situation and will satisfy our just petition, since this is the petition of people who have worked all their lives. Among us there are those who have worked twenty to thirty years in this factory, and at this day have been driven from their settled abodes and find themselves with their families beggars in the street. We are at present living in the neighboring town of Shpola; some have fled to Kiev. We have no possibility of going to Lebedin. We are living in the most terrible conditions. The administration of the factory refused to send us even provisions of the first necessity. The lists of things plundered and the family situation of each one is appended herewith. The delegates of the workers in the Refined Sugar Factory at Lebedin. (Signatures) The Sugar-Factory of Sablino-Znamenka, Eight Versts FROM THE Station of Znamenka From the Statement of the Son-in-Law of the Former Owner of the Factory, Bernburg In the region of the Sablino-Znamenka sugar- factory, eight versts from the railroad station of Znamenka, lived several LEBEDIN: LOCAL GANGS 283 hundred families of Jews and Gentiles, members of which were workmen and employees of the factory and thus supported their families. In general the entire population of this settlement was supported, so to speak, by the factory. The workmen and em- ployees of the factory itself numbered about 300, and among this number were 53 Jews. Before the end of the year 1918 the peasants of the village of Moshorino, about three versts from the factory, raised a revolt against the Germans and the Hetman, and, with the appearance of the Directory, adhered to it. At the head of the rebels was a certain Tkachenko. When the Soviet forces approached, the peasants went over to their side. Then the revolters seized the factory and declared it the property of the peasants. A detachment of sixty men, with a commander at its head, was formed; it was quartered in the factory and formed its defense. All the employees for the time being remained in their places ; the family of the owner, Bernburg, also remained at the factory. At the beginning of May, 1919, traces of anti-Semitic agitation began to appear at the factory. The members of the guard, and also some of the employees of the factory, such as the manager, cashier, and others, took part in it. The slogan of the anti- Semitic agitation was the accusation that the Jews filled the best positions, and the like. The Jews who lived in the region of the factory had grounds for alarm and for expecting disorders. They applied several times to the local powers, that is, to that same- guard which was itself the home of the anti-Semitic agi- tation, and asked that measures be taken against the occurrence of disorders in general and of anti-Jewish outbursts in particular. Each time they were promised that measures would be taken. Even on May 19 the commander of the guard, Moroshuk, calmed them and assured them that he would allow no uprisings or dis- orders. At twelve o'clock midnight between May 19 and 20, shots were suddenly heard, and the members of the "guard," with perhaps some other elements, began shooting, and scattered over the settlements in the territory of the factory, crying, "Kill the Jews, save Russia" and the like ; and, falling upon the Jews, they began to pillage and slay. In that night 42 Jewish employ- ees were killed. Their property was plundered. Many of the members of the factory "guard" took part in the murders, so that in some cases it is possible to state definitely who killed whom. On the next day the pillaging and killing continued, and seven 284 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE more people were killed at the factory and on the road to it. Thus there were in all 49 human victims of the pogrom at the Sablino-Znamenka sugar-factory in May, 1919. Only two or three of the Jewish employees of the factory were uninjured, and also Bernburg's family, whom some threatened to massacre. Town of Gorodische (Government of Kiev) Pogrom of May 11-12, 1919 Communicated by the Authorised Investigator Deschinsky The town of Gorodische is about 50 versts to the southwest of Cherkassy and forty versts west of Smela, on the rail- road from Shpola to Fastov. Inhabitants, about 35,000; of these close to 3,500 Jews (800 families). By the first day of the Jewish Passover it became known to the local Executive Committee, through its agents, that some sort of counter-revolutionary outbreak was being prepared, having as its object the seizing of power and the perpetration of a Jewish pogrom. The Executive Committee knew the names of the persons who had charge of this and who had arranged a meeting outside the city, at which it was agreed : 1. To plunder the Jews, but not to kill them ; 2. To begin the pogrom after the giving of signals agreed upon, namely, the violent ringing of a church-bell and a bonfire. The Executive Committee made no arrests, but strengthened the guard and personally went around by night and inspected the posts that were established. In a panic of alarm the Jewish population looked for a pogrom during the second day of the passover, but it did not take place. This was the situation in which the Jewish population had to remain all the time until the Grigorievists arrived. On May 8 it became known in the town that Grigorievist bands had occupied Znamenka and were advancing on the line Bobrinsky to Tzvetkovo. On May 11 the situation was still more serious. On May 11 the Executive Committee summoned the Jewish bourgeoisie exclusively, and after maltreatment, such as beating, personally performed by the finance commissar, and firing at one of those arrested, a contribution of 95,000 rubles was paid in full. This was the second contribution levied after the first one of 250,000 rubles, which was paid almost exclusively by the Jewish population. Towards evening of the same day the Executive Committee, taking with it all papers and the detachment which it had with it, left the town. The commander of militia remained in town with his militiamen, having first GORODISCHE: GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 285 agreed with the Executive Committee that the defense of the town against any outbreaks whatever should be entrusted to him. On May 11 at 9 P.M., the militiamen who had remained to guard the town opened a violent fusillade with rifles on the main street. The first victim of it was L. Kahan. At the same time the ringing of the bell was heard. The pogromists flocked together. They set off a rocket (as signal) and plundered two shops, and then started to besiege the homes of rich Jews. All night long they raged. During this night L. Trigub, R. Sosnov- skaia, and E. Dinerstein were killed. On the morning of May 12 it became known that local Grig- orievists had seized the power. At their head were Gritzai, a former officer, who, under the Central Rada, had served as ata- man of the Cossacks and been ruler of the town ; and Onis- chenko, former commissar at Mleievo village (seven or eight versts from Gorodische) under the Directory, and delegate of the inhabitants of Kiev at the industrial congress. On the same day the Jews paid to Gritzai 25,000 rubles and to the com- mander of militia 15,000, which was intended to pacify them and stop the pogrom. But the pogrom not only continued but became more violent. It is interesting to note that a local group of teachers and pupils in the gymnasium and the school of agricultural economics appeared as leaders of the pogrom. They not only inspired and led it, but themselves actively robbed and murdered. Thus it continued until the 15th of May. On May 17 Soviet forces entered the town. The sum total of the pogrom : seven killed, three wounded, of them one mortally, and 135 houses wrecked. The losses were about three millions. After all these horrors the Jewish population had to go through a second pogrom on May 31, at the hands of the 7th Sumsky regiment, which finished the plundering of the Jewish population. In this new pogrom it is characteristic that : 1. Jew- ish Red soldiers of the 7th regiment took active part in it; 2. Not only were people robbed in their houses, but they were stripped in the streets and in the synagogues ; 3. The attack was perpetrated on Saturday. Appendix 1. List of Victims Who Perished During the Raid of Grigorievist Bands in the Villages near Gorodische Village of Khiystunovka, 7 versts from Gorodische: Killed, L. Bylevsky, 55 years old, small trader, with three sons. Four Jews in all killed. 286 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE Village of Viazovok, 12 versts from Gorodische: Killed, Kh. Rabinovich, 24 years, inhabitant of the village of Svinarka. Was visiting in Viazovok. Appendix 2. Proclamation of Commissar Onischenko, May 131 Toum of Gorodische, Government of Kiev All the Jewish population are ordered to hand in all weapons by 8 P.M. Disobedience to this order will be judged by laws of wartime. * Commissar Onischenko. May 12, 1919. Original in Ukrainian language. Appendix 3. Proclamation of Commissar Onischenko, May 15 Town of Gorodische I order all Jewish shops to be opened at once. I Commissar Onischenko. May 15, 1919. Original in Ukrainian language. Village of Orlovetz (Government of Kiev) On May 12, towards evening, three horsemen rode into the village from Smela (they were inhabitants of Orlovetz) with cries of "Kill the Jews," "Save Russia." The local Executive Committee arrested them, but in an hour or two they were released, and, together with a gang of peasants who joined them, started to wreck Jewish shops. On May 13 the plunderers at- tacked Jewish houses. Now all the Russian population came to their aid. Everything was carried off in carts. When the houses were completely stripped bare, and when by all manner of extortion even their money savings had been collected from the Jews, then they started to destroy the houses and shops com- pletely. The shutters, doors, windows, iron from the roofs, etc., were taken out. They hunted for money in the most determined way, tore up the floors, dug up the earth in the barns, cellars and yards, broke open ovens. And even now it is still going on, only a more quiet pillaging; everjrthing is removed. The summation of the pogrom is two killed, one wounded, sixty houses and 25 shops in all plundered. The village of Orlovetz is situated about 50 versts to the south- west of Cherkassy, about 35 versts to the west of Smela, several versts from Gorodische, on the railroad from Shpola to Fastov. About 16,500 inhabitants, among them about 350-400 Jews (60 families). GRIGORIEV'S GANGS 287 Town of Stavische (Government of Kiev) Pogrom of June 5-15, 1919 Testimony of a Refugee, Taken Down by S. Y. Maizlish The town of Stavische, canton of Tarascha, government of Kiev, is located 30 versts from Tarascha. It has approximately fifteen to eighteen thousand inhabitants; approximately 1,000 Jewish families. Early in 1919 there was organized in the town a detachment under the leadership of a certain Zemnevsky, who supported the Soviet regime. This detachment was small, about forty to fifty men, and it preserved order in the town. Later, when the Grig- orievist uprising occurred, the detachment departed for Tarascha. Approximately on June 5 there arrived at Stavische from the town of Gobuslav a band which had formerly operated in Kaneva (probably Grigorievists) ; they called themselves "White Guards." They began to plunder, and killed four Jews. Ac- cording to accounts of eye-witnesses, many land-owners, stu- dents, and priests were among the members of the band, and it was precisely these that openly called themselves "White Guards." When the band arrived it herded together all the Jews in the sjmagogue, accused them of being bolsheviks and communists, and demanded that they surrender their weapons and pay a contribution of 400,000 rubles. Entreaties and ex- hortations were of no avail, and after long agonies they col- lected among the Jewish population 357,000 rubles and handed it over, through the Rabbi, to the head of the detachment. The Rabbi remarked as he handed it over that the money was taken from poor people; the head of the detachment "showed mercy" and handed back seven thousand. The gang stayed in the town about seven or eight days, during which robberies and murders continued. Two more Jews were killed. Moreover, two non- Jewish communists were also killed. Then a part of the gang departed for Tarascha, where the Soviet troops defeated them and drove them away. Then, approximately on June 16, they returned to Stavische and began to pillage again, and killed 23 people. In all about forty Jews were killed. On the next day the 6th Soviet regiment arrived in town. The "Grigorievists" naturally retreated and disappeared. The soldiers of the 6th regiment also indulged in some plundering. But the 6th Soviet regiment only remained one day in all and on the next (ap- proximately June 18) left Stavische. The town remained entirely unguarded, and the Jews had grounds to fear new attacks of Grigorievist gangs. The greater part of the Jewish 288 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE population abandoned their property to the will of fate, arose and left for Bielaia Tserkov, which is about fifty versts from Stavische. At twelve versts from the town the flee- ing Jews were held up by a detachment of the 6th Soviet regiment, which perpetrated some robberies and wanted to turn them back to Stavische. Some scattered through the villages and towns (e.g., Volodarka, canton of Skvira), but about seven or eight hundred of them arrived at Bielaia Tserkov. Here a committee of aid was organized for the refugees from Stavische, who spent about a week in Bielaia Tserkov. When some reassuring tidings were received from Stavische, the com- mittee of aid hired carts and took the refugees home. Town of Zlatopol (Government of Kiev) Pogrom of May 2-8, 1919 I. Testimony of the Physician Joseph Benjaminovich Isaacson, July 21 Zlatopol is a town in the government of Kiev, canton of Chigirin, a verst and a half from Novo-Mirgorod and the border of the government of Kherson. It has 15,000 inhabitants, of whom ten or twelve thousand are Jews. The chief occupations are small handicrafts and commerce. During the war and the revolution speculation throve. Previously the town was consid- ered very poor, but later it began to be considered decidedly rich; there was no poverty at all. This was true of the Chris- tian population as well as the Jewish. There was no open anti- Semitism visible, but the Christians lived a separate life from the Jews. From the time of the fall of the Hetman's power, and the appearance of the Petlurist regime, and afterwards of the Soviet regime, the town constantly was visited by various detach- ments and gangs, which seized the power, levied contributions, and sometimes pillaged and took away weapons. There came the gangs of Kotzyr, Lopata, and Yastrensky, in general each with about sixty to eighty men, not more than a hundred. There was a militia and a home guard in the town, and latterly even a self- defense guard, but they all ran away at the first shots, and the gangs would penetrate into the town without resistance. When the Soviet regime was established, the local population discovered with amazement that Jews were at the head of many of its institutions. This led to the accusation that all Jews were responsible for the disorganization of life, and anti-Semi- I ZLATOPOL: KOTZYR'S GANGS 289 tism increased. At the same time there arose among the sur- rounding peasantry an opposition and a rebellious movement against the communistic Soviet regime. In the neighboring vil- lage of Listopadovo (two versts from Zlatopol) the peasants were armed, and threats came from there against the town. The holiday of May 1 was the occasion for the pogrom. The local intellectuals (young students and gymnasium boys) wanted to parade with the Ukrainian flag. But the Executive Committee would not allow it. The May-day manifestation took place; many Jews, artisans and apprentices, took part. The day passed without disturbance, but on the next day there appeared armed groups from the direction of Listopadovo, which opened fire and entered the town. Some of the Jewish inhabitants hurriedly fled to Novo-Mirgorod ; the rest hid in cellars and garrets. They began to shoot all the Jews they met, and on the next day began a general pogrom and pillaging, which lasted a whole week. The Executive Committee and all officials, without difference of nationality, had already fled in the morning (May 2). About sixty Jews were killed. They set fire to the whole market square and to several houses, expecting that the whole town would burn up. But fortunately there came a rain so heavy that the other houses were saved. The local bourgeoisie and part of the intel- lectuals took part in the pogrom and the looting. The pogrom stopped "of itself," since ever3fthing was looted and all the inhabitants had fled to Novo-Mirgorod. After about a week the inhabitants began to return. There remained in town the head of Kotzyr's band, who had set up a government, in the expectation that Grigoriev's uprising would succeed. When a pogrom broke out later in Novo-Mirgorod (May 17), 'the pogrom was repeated also in Zlatopol on the same day. With the sup- pression of Grigoriev's uprising Kotzyr disappeared from Zlato- pol. The narrator is an inhabitant of Zlatopol, where he prac- tised medicine. He also escaped to Novo-Mirgorod, and on his return found his entire apartment, his chemical-biological labor- atory, and all his instruments, plundered. Certain instruments were found on the premises of .the local hospital, from which he infers that the hospital staff took part in the pillaging. II. Extract from Report on the Town of Zlatopol by the Instructor of the Government of Kiev, Comrade Romsen INFORMATIONAL PART Until the revolutionary overturn, Zlatopol had not been touched by any pogrom outbreaks, even in the year 1905, when 290 SLAUGHTER OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE a wave of pogroms broke out all around. It did not reach Zlatopol; and this was not accidental. As far as can be ex- plained, these relations with the peasantry were based on mutual confidence and solidarity, and with the intellectuals there existed a bond based on culture and enlightenment. But the revolution broke out, and the population triumphantly reacted to that joyous sound. The Jewish inhabitants also took open part in the fes- tivity. Soon the local intellectuals and the nearby landowners, seeing before them dangerous rivalry in the persons of capable and intelligent Jewish workers, united with the ruined land- owners. They stood in opposition to the changes that were being carried out. They adopted the usual methods, playing upon the ignorance of the peasant masses, inflaming them with various calumnies. They said the revolution, speculation, high prices, everything was the handiwork of the Jews, and the only way out was repression. The agitation grew, and the village teacher in the country, and the priest and the intellectuals in the town, at markets, at peasant gatherings, in the co-operatives — everywhere the work went on. And soon its harvest appeared in the form of individual outbreaks of looting of wares belonging to shopkeepers and Jews. Petlura appeared on the political horizon, and gave free rein to the chauvinistic feelings of that crowd with its mad thirst for Jewish blood. Then came bands under the flag of the slogans of the bolsheviks, mainly from Chigirin; under the pretext of searches they systematically terrorized the Jewish population. The band of Yastrensky, and then that of Lopata established arbitrary regimes, always solely in regard to the Jewish inhabi- tants. The local League of Labor, composed of representatives of the trade unions of the town, declared itself an Executive Committee ; but they were not able to accomplish anything owing to absence of connections with the central power. Only in Feb- ruary, when the Soviet regime was growing stronger, was a Soviet elected here, into which honorable and conscientious peo- ple entered. About April 2 there arrived 80 of Lopata's men, occupied the Soviet, tore down the portraits of Lenin and Trotzky ,and tried to start a pogrom; but the Soviet entirely forestalled this outbreak, and called for 130 men from Yelisavet- grad, who after killing 40 of Lopata's men took the rest pris- oners (40 men). Lopata got away, but promised to be avenged on the "Jew Soviet." But the Soviet at this time sent two dele- gates to Kiev to solicit the separation of Zlatopol into an inde- pendent unit, unconnected with Chigirin, which was a nest of bandits and counter-revolutionaries. ZLATOPOL: LOPATA'S GANGS 291 At this time, having misgivings as to the weakness of the government over the canton, the local and volost Executive Com- mittees quarreled; and the local intellectuals decided to make use of this moment in unison with Lopata, Kotzyr and other bandits from Chigirin. They sent their agitators through the towns and villages calling people to an open uprising against the Jews. Upon a designated signal fifteen villages were to take up this crusade. There was needed only an external occa- sion, which was not slow in presenting itself. This was the day of the international holiday. May 1. When the procession under red flags began, there suddenly appeared the Ukrainian national flag, which was to figure in the first ranks. The authori- ties declared that it was an international holiday, and that con- sequently international flags had to be in the first position. The flag was removed. On the next day the sound of the warning bell rang out, rifle-shots were fired, and the bloody feast began. The first day jaelded modest results, several innocent victims and complete destruction of their property. On the third of May they carried out the wares from the shops, accompanjring it by incessant shooting. But the systematic pogrom began only on Sunday the fourth. On that day both the year-old child, and the eighty-year-old man, both the workman and the factory-owner, were alike found guilty of bolshevisra and mercilessly shot. Of course cases of violation