Massacre of Jews at the town of Proskurov (present-day Khmelnytskyi) in Ukraine on 15 February 1919
Monument to victims of Proskurov pogrom in Khmelnytskyi
The Proskurov pogrom took place on 15 February 1919 in the town of Proskurov (now Khmelnytskyi) during the Ukrainian War of Independence,[1] which was taken over from under the Bolshevik control by militants who claimed themselves to be 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 Ukrainian People's Republicsoldiers of Ivan Semesenko. They were ordered to save the ammunition in the process and use only lances and bayonets.[2]
One witness writing of the violence said "It is impossible to image what happened here on Saturday, February 15, 1919. This was not a pogrom. It was like the Armenian slaughter."[4] Samosenko was executed in 1920 albeit the charges for which he was shot are disputed. At the time, it was claimed that Semesenko was executed on charges of organizing Jewish pogroms. However, modern historians concluded that he was instead shot for dissent against Symon Petliura.[5]
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 initiated by Ivan Samosenko following a failed Bolshevik uprising against the Ukrainian People's Republic in the city.[6]
The mention of pogrom was brought up during the Schwartzbard's trial in Paris, France. Reportedly, the evidential proof of an order by Ukrainian People's Republic head Symon Petliura himself was discussed during the proceedings. The actual cable was burned by a Jew fearing death. According to Canadian historian Henry Abramson the cable is probably a forgery "Given the repeated publications condemned by Petliura of pogroms".[6]
A few days later, the Red Cross representative in Proskurow witnessed Semosenko'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.[7]
↑ Війна з державою чи за державу? Селянський повстанський рух в Україні 1917-1921 рр. Харків: Книжковий клуб сімейного дозвілля: Likбез. Історичний Фронт. 2017. pp.137–140.
Bemporad, Elissa (2019). Legacy of Blood: Jews, Pogroms and Ritual Murder in the Lands of the Soviets. New York: Oxford University Press. p.4. ISBN978-0-19-046648-0.
A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire. Similar attacks against Jews which also occurred at other times and places became known retrospectively as pogroms. Sometimes the word is used to describe publicly sanctioned purgative attacks against non-Jewish groups. The characteristics of a pogrom vary widely, depending on the specific incident, at times leading to, or culminating in, massacres.
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Symon Vasyliovych Petliura was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a part of the wider Russian Civil War.
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