On March 22 the Soviet guerrilla detachment, which had taken Uman in the first place, again entered the city. Again, and in still larger measure, pillaging of the inhabitants was resumed, mostly of the Jews, — performed by the guerrilla soldiers, among whom were many professional thieves, robbers, and other criminals well known in Uman, who had got out of prison and entered this regiment (the 8th Ukrainian Soviet regiment). However, there was no personal violence. Upon this followed a period of comparative quiet, when the plundering detachments departed and the city remained under the protection of the local guards. The lives of the Jewish inhabitants were out of danger for a period of a month or a month and a half. The Soviet regime imposed upon the city a contribution of fifteen millions and a requisition of clothing, and a number of very considerable other requisitions, which were mostly not paid. Some of the rich and thrifty Jewish inhabitants were arrested, some were set at various public works (sweeping the streets, etc.). This time marked the beginning of pronounced anti-Soviet agitation, carried on by its foes among the Christian population, mostly the Ukrainian-Russian officialdom, the clergy and bourgeoisie of the suburbs. The chief motives of this agitation were anti- Semitic. Thus, for example, among the backward and ignorant masses rumors were spread to the effect that all the power belonged to the Jews, that they had closed orthodox churches and turned them into stables, that the bolsheviki were almost or quite exclusively Jews, that they were robbing the petty bourgeois of their property, and a series of provocatory and deceitful reports, rumors and inventions. At the same time the city witnessed an increase in the cost of living and unemployment, and the general economic crisis grew worse. The actions of the bolsheviki, among whom were many narrow and ignorant people, the work
UKRAINE