Proskurov pogrom

Monument to victims of Proskurov pogrom in Khmelnytskyi

The Proskurov pogrom took place on 15 February 1919 in the town of Proskurov during the Ukraine Civil War,^[1] (now, Khmelnytskyi) which was taken over from under the Bolshevik control by the Haidamacks. In mere three and a half hours at least 1,500 Jews were murdered,^[2] up to 1,700 by other estimates,^[3] and more than 1,000 wounded including women, children and the old.^[2] The massacre was carried out by Symon Petliura's soldiers of Hetman Semesenko. They were ordered to save the ammunition in the process and use only lances and bayonets.^[2]

History

According to historians Yonah Alexander and Kenneth Myers the soldiers marched into the centre of town accompanied by a military band and engaged in atrocities under the slogan: "Kill the Jews, and save the Ukraine."^[2] The pogrom was investigated during the Schwartzbard's trial in Paris, France. Reportedly, the evidential proof of an order by Petliura himself was discussed during the proceedings. The actual cable was burned by a Jew fearing death. A few days later, the Red Cross representative in Proskurow witnessed Semesenko's verbal report to Petliura, admitting to killing 4,000 Jews, which nevertheless remained unconfirmed.^[2] The town of Proskurov was renamed Khmelnytskyi in 1954 during the Stalinist era, in spite of the fact that Bohdan Khmelnytsky himself committed a terrible pogrom there against the Jews already in the 17th century.^[4]

Notes

1. David Alan Chapin, Ben Weinstock (2000). The Road from Letichev: The History and Culture of a Forgotten Jewish Community in Eastern Europe. Volume 2 (Writer's digest). pp. 506–508. ISBN 0595006671.
2. Yonah Alexander, Kenneth Myers (2015). Terrorism in Europe. Rutlege Library Editions, RLE: Terrorism & Insurgency. Routledge. pp. 40–41. ISBN 1317449320.
3. John Doyle Klier, Shlomo Lambroza (2004). Pogroms: Anti-Jewish Violence in Modern Russian History. Cambridge University Press. p. 381. ISBN 0521528518.
4. Judith Pearl Summerfield (2015). A Man Comes from Someplace: Stories, History, Memory from a Lost Time. Springer. p. 194. ISBN 9463001905.