Proskurov pogrom

Monument to victims of Proskurov pogrom in Khmelnytskyi

The Proskurov pogrom took place on February 15, 1919, in the town of Proskurov (now Khmelnytskyi) during the Ukrainian War of Independence,[1] which was taken over from under the Bolshevik control by militants who claimed themselves to be Haidamacks. In mere three and a half hours at least 1,500 Jews were murdered,[2] up to 1,700 by other estimates,[3] and more than 1,000 wounded including women, children and the old.[2] The massacre was carried out by Ukrainian People's Republic soldiers of Ivan Semesenko. They were ordered to save the ammunition in the process and use only lances and bayonets.[2]

One witness writing of the violence said "It is impossible to image what happened here on Saturday, February 15, 1919. This was not a pogrom. It was like the Armenian slaughter."[4] Samosenko was executed in 1920 albeit the charges for which he was shot are disputed. At the time, it was claimed that Semesenko was executed on charges of organizing Jewish pogroms. However, modern historians concluded that he was instead shot for dissent against Symon Petliura.[5]

  1. ^ David Alan Chapin; Ben Weinstock (2000). The Road from Letichev: The History and Culture of a Forgotten Jewish Community in Eastern Europe. Writer's digest. pp. 506–508. ISBN 0-595-00667-1. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b c Yonah Alexander; Kenneth Myers (2015). Terrorism in Europe. Rutlege Library Editions, RLE: Terrorism & Insurgency. Routledge. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-1-317-44932-4.
  3. ^ John Doyle Klier; Shlomo Lambroza (2004). Pogroms: Anti-Jewish Violence in Modern Russian History. Cambridge University Press. p. 381. ISBN 0-521-52851-8.
  4. ^ Bemporad 2019, p. 4.
  5. ^ Війна з державою чи за державу? Селянський повстанський рух в Україні 1917-1921 рр. Харків: Книжковий клуб сімейного дозвілля: Likбез. Історичний Фронт. 2017. pp. 137–140.