The mutual relations between the Jewish and Christian inhabitants had been of the most friendly character. Thus, the year 1905, which was a year of pogroms in that region, passed for
UKRAINE
the town of Dubovo without any excesses at all. Likewise excellent was the attitude of the local intellectuals — the town priest, the school teachers, the postmaster, etc. The drafts during the years of war also passed off successfully for the town. The great change of Feb. 27, 1917, strengthened still more the friendly relations between the Jewish and Christian inhabitants. The period of the regime of the Central Rada was not distinguished by any incidents which indicated national antagonisms. It was only after the overthrow of the Rada by the Germans and the establishment of the "hetmanhood," attended by the German punitive detachments for extracting grain from the villages, that a sort of dull resentment towards the Jews began to be observed. The village gossips talked about some kind of specially close relations between the Jews and the Germans. But even these rumors did not assume an ominous character for the Jewish population, because the peasants blamed most of all the local Christian mill-renters for the calling in of the Germans. The withdrawal of the Germans from the boundaries of Ukraine and the firm establishment of Petlura's regime were signalized in the town by the passage of the government into the hands of the Ukrainian republican authorities. And although during this period certain occurrences of an anti- Semitic character were observed, in the way of accusations that the Jews had indirectly participated in the Hetman's punitive expeditions, they were not of a sharp and definite character.
The peasants of the neighborhood mostly entered the ranks of Petlura's army. The withdrawal of the Petlurists and the beginning of the bolshevist power expressed itself in the formation of a committee in the town. At the start of this regime, a "Kombed" (Committee of the Poor) was formed; afterwards, with the participation of the sailor Zarachinsky (an old acquaintance to the town of Dubovo, who, during the Hetman's regime, had been hiding in Odessa), steps were taken to organize an Executive Committee. Five Jews entered this Committee, one a workman, four proprietors in the town. The tasks of the Executive Committee at first were centered on the organization of a Tribunal. At the same time a convention of Red soldiers, workmen, and village delegates was called by the Executive Committee for the 10th of May in the city of Uman. The Executive Committee of Dubovo was dissolved on this same day, May 10. One of the delegates to Uman returned to Dubovo on May 11 and reported the closing of the convention. The atmosphere began to become decidedly tense.
Against the background of the life of Dubovo and the sue-
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