LANSKY sent the money with his wife to Cherkassy; he himself 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.
CHIGIRIN ( F KIEV)
Testimony of Nison Meyerovich Milevsky, Bookkeeper of the Mutual Credit Society of Chigirin; Taken Down by
Our Associate Maizlish; 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 Kremenchug). 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 tanneries 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 lived, as has been said, mostly by trade. Jewish social life, as in the typical Jewish provincial town, was not developed. The only political parties which appeared on the scene anywhere 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 peacefully 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
UKRAINE
the Hetman's officials, appointed political and military commissars, and established relations with the Directory, which was then in Bielaia Tserkov. Kotzyr was an Ukrainian, an agriculturist, 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 sympathy 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 known 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 Directory, under the bolsheviki, and also under the Grigorievists, and then again under the Soviet regime.