To complete all this horror famine was added, since the peasants were forbidden to export their products under pain of most severe punishment, and the stricken population was condemned to drag out its existence for the course of seven weeks without bread and without any assistance from outside. Of the government there was no trace. Both the Soviet and the trade unions had scattered at the moment of the pogrom. At last a detachment of Zhivoder's brigade of sharpshooters arrived at the station, and occupied the place after a brief exchange of shots. He issued an order about bearing arms, but the order had no effect. Zhivoder soon departed, and with him half the population dragged themselves away — all who could in any way get away anywhere; to such an extent had horror mastered them. There remained almost no one but beggars, among whom famine typhus began to rage. The public hospital refused to take the sufferers. Gradually the peasantry began to sober down, asking themselves where was that malicious Jewish speculation? — before the pogrom a box of matches cost a ruble and a half, while after the pogrom the robbers sold them for ten and twelve rubles; and so with all wares. Peasants began to appear in the market, in many cases expressing sympathy and trying to justify themselves, saying that it was not their fault, but that the landowners and intellectuals had deceived them. They began to bring in bread, and relations in a way became smoothed out. On June 20 a punitive detachment from the third army arrived, under the command of Zinkov, and began trials, but in the majority of cases not with the right persons; while the flagrant hooligans and robbers whom they succeeded in arresting were let off with a fine of ten to fifteen thousand. They took away the stolen goods, but gave back almost none to the naked and barefooted population, but took it all to the station and loaded it on their own cars. So it went on for about eight days. No one was in the least concerned to establish a government and a local punitive detachment; on the contrary, the militia's last three rifles were taken away. In such circumstances the punitive detachment decided to leave this unhappy town; and together with the detachment all the rest of the inhabitants started out, but they were thrown out of the cars. The detachment departed, and the population, seized with terror, remained in expectation of death and a repetition of the nightmare, since the peasants, the bandits, and the intellectuals were much ruffled after the trials conducted by Zinkov. It's the Jews, they said, that brought in this Jew detachment (the commander, Zinkov, was a Jew). On that night of evil memory I arrived at the station, and found a picture of frozen horror like that of a struggling trapped animal. When they found that I had come as an instructor to show them aid, they advised me to depart at once by the return train, for they were actually all there at the station and were preparing to leave. But I decided to remain as long as there were even a few families there. Towardf
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morning the rumor went around that the bandits killed by the punitive expedition were going to be exhumed; and since the graves were at the station, the whole population was in danger. And, however, hard as it was, we had to apply to those who in one way or another, whether by their passive attitude or by active work, had perpetrated the pogroms, and had to ask them for help, assuring them that if it were repeated the punitive detachment would again take vengeance on innocent intellectuals.
At last, we succeeded in persuading the president of the trade unions at Novo-Mirgorod to send a guard of three men to the station, after entreating him to organize a home guard in general, and giving him 5,000 rubles for the expense. When the train came some hundreds of people in all left; the rest wandered back home.
When I came in touch with realities, my first help was devoted to buying a number of rifles for self-protection from the bandits. I telegraphed in all directions, to Kiev, Odessa, Yelisavetgrad, asked for a detachment or at least for weapons for selfprotection; but have not yet received an answer. In the meetings old men, women and children cried with one voice: "We want nothing, we are hungry and barefoot, but instead of bread give us protection, give us arms." And up to the present day nothing has been done ip this respect. Every day almost there are murders and robberies. In the name of those 250 Jewish volunteers who entered the Red Army, they demand that at least the possibility be afforded to their fathers and mothers to arm themselves, that they may at least die an honorable death. This is the single desire of all; if they must die, let it be not in a garret, but with arms in their hands.