UMAN Pogrom of May 12-14, 1919
I. Testimony of the Student B. Z. Rabinovich, Taken Down by S. Y. Maizlish
In the region of Uman and its canton the rebel detachments of Klimenko, Tiutiunik, and Popov were operating. The pogrom, which took place May 12-14, 1919, was perpetrated by Klimenko's bands, which were joined by a part of the city bourgeoisie and various criminal elements. The rebels with Klimenko at their head occupied Uman on Monday, May 12, on which day and on the following days, Tuesday and Wednesday, they perpetrated looting and murders in colossal proportions. They stayed about ten days, and on May 22, under pressure from Soviet forces, left Uman. The course of events before and during the pogrom appears in the following aspect.
The Soviet regime was established in Uman March 11. The young Jews of Uman took an active part in the communistic movement in general and in the organization of the organs of the Soviet regime in particular. At the head of the Executive organs was the Jew Buhl; a decided majority of the commissariats and other higher offices was occupied by Jews. The Jewish element in considerable proportions was installed in all possible institutions and offices. From the very beginning of the establishment of the Soviet regime in Uman the preponderance of Jews everywhere struck one forcibly. And from various quarters there began to spread criticism and expressions of extreme disapproval regarding the "Jewish oppression." Anti-Semitic attitudes arose, and flate-ups, which later led to active operations, in connection with measures adopted by the Soviet regime regarding provisions and other matters which touched the interests of the peasants.
The surrounding peasants became violently dissatisfied and antagonists of the Soviet rule. This secret dissatisfaction soon began to appear on the surface, and they gradually poured into the organization of the rebel detachments with the object of moving on Uman and overthrowing the bolshevist regime.
UMAN:
The first swallow on the rebel horizon was the Ukrainian left social-revolutionary, S. Shtogrin. Himself a native of Uman, having studied in the Uman horticultural school, Shtogrin was a prominent political worker and was popular as a protector of the interests of the peasants. Shtogrin demanded that the Left Ukrainian Social-revolutionaries be allowed places in the Executive Committee, and that the Soviet and the Executive Committee be reorganized generally in such a way that the peasant element should be put in a majority. Having accomplished nothing, Shtogrin made himself the leader of the rebels and began to agitate against the Soviet regime and to prepare for an open uprising. But this agitation was not only anti-Soviet, but also anti-Jewish. The government began to oppose Shtogrin, arrested him and shot him. When he was examined in the Extraordinary Committee, accusations were also brought against him that he was carrying on an anti-Semitic agitation, and he was asked if he didn't understand that this might lead to a Jewish pogrom. Shtogrin declared that it was true that he was urging the peasants to a pogrom, "for," said he, "it was impossible to rouse the peasants in any other way."
After the shooting of Shtogrin the wave of rebellion grew more violent. The peasants of nearly all the surrounding villages arose and under Klimenko's leadership approached the city. It was known all the time that the rebels were all about the city, but it was not expected that they would attack the city itself. Meanwhile the Soviet regime called an assembly of peasants, which from its very first steps took up opposition to the existing government and carried a resolution demanding a reorganization of the Soviet and the Executive Committee and a change of all previous policies. The government replied to this by dispersing the assembly. This occurred on Sunday, May 11. The dispersal of the assembly served as the spark which lighted all the inflammable material that had been heaped up. On Monday, May 12, in the morning, the rebels entered the city, and on the same day the pogrom began. The city was abandoned by the bolsheviki without resistance, although the numbers of the rebels were considerably less than the numbers of the effective Soviet detachment in Uman. The pogrom, as was said, lasted through the 12th, 13th, and 14th of May. The looting was not of an intensive nature; few things were stolen, and furniture was not destroyed. They took away mainly money and valuables, and searched everywhere for weapons. The material losses, according to the inhabitants, were relatively small, perhaps a million in all, whereas, as the people of Uman say, the
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
8th Soviet regiment (which arrived afterwards) stole incomparably more— up in the tens of millions.