ruch, by A. I. Hillerson and myself; the other places of the district, by I. G. Tzifrinovich). In the time following the visits of the agents to these places, there have been no new occurrences of pogroms here. The bloody stream of banditry and insurrection, which inundated almost the whole of the governments of Kiev and Podolia, touched the edges of this district, but until the last days did not break loose within its borders. The population of these places, in particular of Korosten, found it hard, of course, to forget the occurrences of the past pogroms. But the sharpness of the moment, the bitter want of the first days after the pogrom, the uncooled blood of the victims— all this has had time to heal somewhat, and had it not been for general political and economic conditions, the wounds inflicted on the life of the people might have been healed. But the trouble is that it is characteristic of Korosten that this place is a central point strategically speaking — a favorite tid-bit for the various contending sides in the civil war. For half a year Korosten has remained a theater of military activities on the front. The military side holds the center of attention here. Here there is always an armed camp. Not far away are the "positions," now of the Poles and Petlurists, now of what is called in recent times the "internal front." The civil side, the departments of government and industry, are all the time in a state of suppression here. All the actual power belongs to the military departments, which are, of course, "good" or "bad," and to whose whims the population of this strip along the front is exposed. The general political conditions, the nearness of the "positions" (of the armies), the instability of the front — all create a feeling of uncertainty about the morrow, a state of unemployment, and economic depression. And the "co-operatives" and "sackers" have not been able to improve the economic position of the majority of the Jewish population.
In Korosten it is hard to define exactly the moment of the "present" authentic Jewish pogrom. Here, as is shown by the reports of my predecessors, the pogrom outbreaks happened repeatedly. Moreover this town has the distinction of being the first scene of pogroms in Ukraine. The devastation which is caused by a pogrom in the specific sense of the word, was caused here in Korosten not only by pogroms but also by the presence and the rule of military units of all colors, of all political orientations. The neighboring towns say of Korosten that in Korosten there "really never was any genuine pogrom," and this town has been considered fortunate in the matter of pogroms, up to very recent days.
KOROSTEN PEASANTS