[Page 35]

The national development of the Ukraine and the Jewish population in the various cities and towns – The Swedes, Poles, Germans, Turks and Tartars in Ukrainian history. – The Khazars, who converted to Judaism and established a Jewish state in the Ukraine. – The Cossack pogroms and Bogdan Chmelnitsky. – The important role the Jews played in the Ukraine.

[Page 36]

[Blank]

[Page 37]

While living in Kiev with my family, prior to our departure from Russia in 1928 and considering the fact that we might never see this city again, I reviewed in my mind the history and importance of Kiev to Russia all through the centuries while it was forging its ultimate form as a world power with untold wealth and countless colourful nations.

The first chronicles about Kiev were written in the 12^th century. Since then, this name figured prominently in all historic research about Russia. In the 19^th and 20^th century, generations of historians and scholars made this city the subject of their study and research.

As is well known, Russia is recognized as part of the European continent consisting of the Eastern sector, the Ukraine, parts of Rumania (Bessarabia) and White Russia, which is bordered by the rivers Bug, Dniester and Dnieper; two other major bodies of water are the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The country also embraces central Russia, along the length of the Okka River and the Volga, beyond the Ural Mountains and the Steppes of Siberia, with Moscow in its centre. There have been opinions that the entire land mass of Russia cannot truly be considered European because of its culture, way of life and traditions.

Russia spread out in Asia during hundreds of years and annexed vast stretches of its territory; however, unlike England, France, Spain, Holland, Germany and others, it never owned any colonies on the African continent.

The other world powers with their central governments in Europe ruled their colonies from afar through military and

[Page 38]

colonial occupation. Russia, with its many different nationalities, languages and cultures, still forms a single national entity ruled by one system of government. This was particularly true under the Romanoff who ruled for 300 years. They developed here a national and patriotic element ever ready to defend the fatherland. This gave Kiev the name of: “Mother of the cities of Russia”.

From the middle ages on, Russia was considered a European power in the sense of its cultural and political attachments to that continent although Russia in reality forms a continent unto itself.

The more one studies Russian history, the more one becomes aware of the fact that although its rulers were true autocrats, it must be admitted that from the 18^th to 1917, several of the Czars tried to institute more liberal laws. They freed the serfs and developed juridical order by a system of law and legislative bodies. Between the 14^th and 15^th centuries, when Moscow was a separate principality in a much smaller part of present-day Russia, the system of government was a fully autocratic one, under the rule of several princes. Even at that time, Kiev had a more liberal internal political form of government under the leadership of its own prince.

By the 17^th century, Russia instituted a system of representation by delegates from the different sectors who would gather in Moscow and defend the interests of their localities. How much effect they actually had on the local government is hard to tell. Very little has been recorded concerning the requests of these delegates nor how the ruling princes reacted to these requests. The Russian Greek Orthodox church was already considered a power to be reckoned with, in matters of political and religious nature.

The totalitarian and dictatorial concepts of ruler ship were largely due to the fact that many centuries, perhaps even millennia before, Russia expanded to the size and borders familiar to us in our day. It ought to be taken into account the myriads of battles and wars that Russia was obliged to fight against the hordes of nomads, Mongols, Tartars and others who were ever ready to annex parts of Mother Russia, as well as the constant struggles in subjugate the local tribes in order to weld them into one Greater Russia. With all of that activity, it is no wonder that the rulers, be they princes, feudal lords or Czars, were hardly interested in

[Page 39]

granting their people any degree of freedom, nor to improve the lot of the poor. They were more likely to be preoccupied with organizing better military units and to arm them with the latest implements of war in order to vanquish their foes.

The problems of governing Kiev were likewise not easy. The feudal lords who were in charge of all commerce, managed to find a common means of communication with the rulers of Kiev.

The far-flung population, however, showed no interest in maintaining Kiev as its capital. In the latter part of the 8^th century, Prince Oleg of the North conquered Kiev and extended his rule over Southern Russia, thus gaining the respect of all the tribes. Several years later, Prince Oleg sent his forces to the Crimea and near the Black and Azov Seas, where he smote the Khazars and united the entire region, North and South, under the hegemony of Kiev, opening up direct routes from the Dnieper to the Sea of Azov.

Prince Oleg developed an active export trade with the Greeks via the Black Sea. He gathered furs, honey and other products, as well as hundreds of slaves and transported them in primitive boats. These products brought him much revenue. He also brought back silks, manufactured goods, wine and spices.

The rulers of Kiev during the 10^th century had a larger and more active fleet than the other European nations. This raised the prestige of Kiev in the eyes of the people of the rest of Russia.

With the strong position that Kiev occupied in the, as yet, un-unified Russia, its merchants managed to sail down the Dnieper and the Black Sea and reached Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine. It was from here that the Greek Orthodox religion spread and was accepted throughout all of Russia. While the predominant number belong to the above-mentioned church, the other religions also had their adherents. We refer, of course, to the Roman Catholics, the Moslems, the Jews and there were even pagans there too. The established state religion, however, was always the Greek Orthodox and it was given the official support of the government, which worked hand-in-hand with it.

We should mention that after the communist regime strengthened its position as the sole political power (1918-1925), all religions were officially abolished and an ongoing struggle exists between the atheists and the believers. It is strictly forbidden to

[Page 40]

teach any theology in the Soviet Union, theology of any creed or religion.

Now, to return to Kiev, it is worth noting that there was frequently great tension among the nobility, particularly after the death of one of the rules. The heirs would begin to fight for the vacant throne and local wars would ensue until the strongest would win and establish his rule. These local wars tended to weaken Kiev so that it was unable to expand too much, nor to annex the territory of the neighbouring principalities.

The period immediately following the death of Vladimir Monomach, graphically shows the problems of the ruling class in Kiev. For many weeks, the five sons of Vladimir could not decide on who would rule in his place. This caused many small battles between the followers of each son. Finally, the oldest son, Sviatopolk, killed two of his brothers and seized the throne. A short time thereafter, another brother, Yaroslav, Prince of Novgorod, usurped his power and in 1019, declared himself rule of Kiev. He called himself: “Great Prince” and managed to subjugate the state of Kiev. The youngest brother, Myatislav, challenged Yaroslav's might and the latter was forced to share his power with him.

During the reign of Yaroslav, he managed to unite and strengthen his rule and he was, therefore, known as “Yaroslav the Wise”. The years between 1030-1052 were exceptional because Yaroslav ruled over all of Russia during that time. He annexed much territory and advanced greatly through his economic ties with the neighbouring countries. Kiev was the commercial centre where Arabs, Hungarians, Poles and Scandinavians would come to ply their trade. Yaroslav organized schools, encouraged the arts and opened libraries. His wife was of royal blood related to the kings of England and Norway. He was able to found a dynasty that ruled over all of Russia for hundreds of years.

Kiev thereby remained the nerve centre of Russian culture and tied it ever more closely to the more advanced European countries.

After the Tartars overran Kiev and because of the constant tensions between the ruling princes, Kiev began to lose its importance. In the middle of the 12^th century, Prince Andrei Bogolavsky, ruler of Rostove-Sozdol, captured Kiev. In spite of the

[Page 41]

fact that they were all Slavs like himself, he plundered and robbed the inhabitants of the city. Disdaining to rule Kiev himself, he appointed his younger brother, Alex to rule in his stead. He returned to the city of Vladimir which he made into the capital of the territory of Rostov.

As a result of this occupation and the depletion of its wealth, Kiev slowly began to sink into oblivion. His won rule, however, was short-lived when his territory in turn was overrun and occupied by the Tartars.

The Swedes and the Germans also tried to annex parts of the Russian Empire but they were unsuccessful in their attempts. In the middle of the 16^th century, Poland and Lithuania united for military reasons and in the beginning of the 17^th century, they annexed Mala Russia, which later became known as the Ukraine.

Near the lower region of the Dnieper, the Ukrainians constantly tried to free themselves from Polish subjugation. They organized a so-called autonomous centre in the Zaporozhy District, east of Kiev. Their source of power consisted of the Cossacks of Zaporozhy, who elected a Hetman (leader) who kept the entire region in constant fear of his attacks.

The usual occupation of these Cossacks was robbery. They also acted as mercenaries on the side of Poland in its wars with Turkey. Their revolt spread and developed around 1648 and 1650 when the infamous Bogdan Chmelnitzky was elected Hetman of the Zaporozhy Cossacks.

For six years, Bogdan Chmelnitzky led these bands which terrorized the Polish and Jewish populations. His activity coincided with the revolt of the Ukrainian peasants against their Polish masters who ruled Eastern Ukraine. With Bogdan Chmelnitzky, began a new era. A son of a Cossack officer, he had considerable property of his own. He was a typical member of the Orthodox Ukrainian middle class. He was more educated than the average member of his class, having studied at a Jesuit college in Lemberg. When he later spent two years in captivity in Constantinople, he learned to speak Tartar and Turkish as well. He possessed remarkable military and organizational abilities and also knew how to conduct diplomatic transactions. He was rather unstable politically, allying himself with the Tartars or Turks, Moscow or

[Page 42]

Sweden, or suddenly with Poland. Just as suddenly, he would leave Poland and join her worst enemies. The only area where he was steadfast was in his implacable hatred of the Jews.

Chmelnitzky was the spokesman for the entire Ukrainian middle class. He was an arch conservative with dynastic ideas. He openly declared himself the enemy of the Jews and gave his officers a free hand to do with the Jews as they wished, without fear of being punished for their deeds. Chmelnitzky could not free his enthusiastic co-workers from serfdom, or the paying of oppressive taxes because the Cossack middle class would not have tolerated such social reforms. He pacified them, however, by giving them carte blanche to rob the Jews and the Poles and to get rid of their competitors in the cities.

As soon as the Cossack revolt broke out, Chmelnitzky, with the help of the Tartars, defeated the Polish army in two decisive battles during May, 1648: the first at Zholtie Vodi and the second at Korsun. He retreated to Bella Tzerkov to regroup his army and to begin diplomatic negotiations. The entire region was open-game to the victory-drunk mobs of the city as well as hamlet dwellers. At first they attacked the villages and open cities. They killed Jews, Poles, Roman Catholic priests, inn-keepers and officials. The Jews ran in great panic toward the larger fortified cities where they hoped to find asylum. Only the Jews of western Ukraine managed to escape. In the eastern Ukraine, the attack was launched so suddenly that the Jews were overtaken before they could flee and they perished.

It was thus that the communities of Staradum, Chernigov Homel (in White Russia) in the Poltava Province Luben, Periaslav, Dirasin, Barishevka, Lachvitz, Borisfal and others went up in smoke.

The worst slaughter, however, occurred in the fortified cities of Podolia and Volynia where the Jews had hoped to find safety. The bloody pogroms at Nemirov, Tultchin, Bar, Ostra, Polona, Zaslav and Old Constantine were led by the radical Cossack leader and fanatical anti-Semite, Maxim Krivanos, a former merchant. He appeared on the political arena in July of 1648 and died at the end of that year. In the short time he was active, however, he managed to kill tens of thousands. Krivanos was the most murderous tyrant, robber of cities, villages and churches, killer of nobles,

[Page 43]

Jews, aged and children. It was thus that a Polish historian of the middle ages described him in his chronicles.

The Cossacks and the aroused mob not only killed, pillaged and burned, they also committed terrible atrocities and tortured their victims mercilessly. The details of their terrible deeds were described in the chronicles of that dark period by Nathan Hannover, Meir Shmuel of Shebreshin and Shabsai Cohen.

The Jews did not accept their fate without resistance. As we have already mentioned, the Jews knew how to use arms and were members of the general paramilitary defence units in the cities of Nemirov, Polona, Tulchin, Ostro, Zaslav, Kamenetz-Podolsk, Grod, Belz, Buchatch, Sokol, Yazlovitz, Lemberg, Norol, Komovne and Zamosch. The Jews were not always successful in their defence efforts, however. In Nemirov, they were tricked by the Cossacks. They raised Polish flags and led the Jewish defenders to think that Poles had come to their aid. When they opened their gates wide to welcome their supposed allies, the Cossacks marched into the city and, with the help of the local Ukrainian population, proceeded to massacre the Jewish townspeople. Many threw themselves into the river but were shot at by the Cossacks and killed. “The water turned red with the blood of the slain”. This was the way Nathan Honover described the slaughter in his chronicles which were published in Vilna in 1838; after his original manuscripts were found.

In the city of Tulchin, there were 1500 armed Jews and 500 Poles. The Jews and the Poles had sworn to defend the city and not to betray one another. The Cossacks struggled mightily to conquer this city. They let it be known that they would spare the Polish population if the city would surrender. The Poles accepted the bargain and were prepared to sacrifice the Jews to save their own skins. The Jews learned of the fact and could have avenged this betrayal but desisted because of their concern for Jews in other communities who might have to pay in their turn.

The Cossacks raised a flag in the centre of the city and declared to all the Jews who had been driven there that they would be spared if they converted. Not one Jew moved from his place. All were slain on the spot. The Cossacks ignored their agreement with the Poles and killed them as well.

In the city of Polona, there were some 12,000 Jews who had fled there to find refuge. The thick walls might have held the

[Page 44]

Cossack hordes at bay but the Poles who were to defend the city treasonably surrendered it. Many Poles escaped on horseback. The Jews were not permitted to flee and they were annihilated. The only ones who managed to escape death were the few captured by the Tartars. In the city of Lemberg, the situation was entirely different. Here Bogdan Chmelnitzky himself was in charge of the siege. (October 1649). The Lemberg citizens sent a delegation to negotiate with their enemy. The Jews were also represented in this delegation by several of their co-religionists. Chmelnitzky asked that all the Jewish inhabitants be handed over to him. The delegation refused his demand and gave two reasons for its stand: The Jews had helped to defend the city and it would not be ethical to betray them; also, since the Jews are the property of the King, the townspeople have no right to dispose of them. After a siege of two weeks, Chmelnitzky decided to withdraw and merely accepted ransom from the beleaguered city.

In some cities, the Jews were saved by the Polish military. This was particularly the case with the units led by Prince Yeremei Vishnivetzky who saved the remnants of Zaslav, Great-Mazeritch and Volynia.

The slaughter lasted for almost a year. The Cossacks overran the Ukraine and beyond, into the districts of Lublin, Shebershin, Zamosch, Tomachoff-Obelsky and other regions like Pinsk (Polesia) and Homel (White Russia).

After much negotiation, the Poles and Chmelnitzky finally agreed to a cease-fire in August (1649).

According to the terms of the Zabrov Treaty, the three districts of Kiev, Chernigov and Bratzlav became autonomous. One result of this treaty was that the Jews lost their rights to live in those districts.

Peace was a short-lived phase, however. All too soon, Poland was invaded by Swedes, Germans, Turks, Tartars and Russians. To all intents and purposes, the Polish kingdom ceased to exist between 1648 and 1657.

Chmelnitzky took advantage of the chaotic conditions, signed a treaty with Moscow and attacked Poland with the Russians. Once again a series of pogroms broke out in many cities. Lemberg was again besieged without success. In Lublin, Chmelnitzky killed off the few remaining Jews from his previous visits. The

[Page 45]

results of the slaughter were catastrophic. All of Poland suffered pillage, rape, murder in no less than the 700 Jewish communities. In the Ukraine, virtually all Jewish communal life was destroyed. The historians and chroniclers of that era tried to evaluate the staggering loss of life and property. Their estimates are purely hypothetical and carry no documentary value. In spite of this fact, it might be noteworthy to cite these figures because of the impact which these events had on the survivors.

Nathan Hanover had himself been present at some of the pogroms in the Ukraine and was obliged to flee for his life. He estimates the number of Jews killed by Chmelnitzky and his hordes at 500,000.

The famous Menashe Ben Israel of Holland mentions the figure of 180,000 in his petition of 1675 to the English Parliament to allow the Jews to enter England. We can estimate in a rather direct fashion what the staggering loss of life was, if we take into account the fact that in Ukraine alone, there was a Jewish population of almost 600,000 prior to 1648, and only a few thousand managed to survive. After Chmelnitzky died in 1657, things began to calm down somewhat.

Ten years later, a peace treaty was signed. Part of the Ukraine was ceded to Moscow at that time. Jews slowly began to return to their old places and attempted to rebuild their destroyed lives. The influx came from refugees from Poland as well as the freed captives of the Tartars.

In the important Jewish communities of Turkey, Constantinople and Salonika, active projects to ransom the captives were organized. David Caracassani, an emissary of the Jews of Constantinople, visited many Jewish communities in Italy and Holland between 1650 and 1652 in order to raise funds for that purpose. The Jewish community of Livorno pledged 25% of its budget in 1655 to help the captives. Large sums were likewise collected in Venice, Amsterdam and Hamburg. The Jews of Poland themselves began to contribute as soon as they started to recover from the “flood” that had engulfed them. The Jews of Posen (Germany) sent a representative to Turkey twice. The Lithuanian Jewish community took an active part in this campaign and raised considerable sums to alleviate the captives' suffering.

[Page 46]

The memory of the innocent martyrs who died during the Chmelnitzky pogroms has been deeply engraved upon the hearts of all Jews and the wounds suffered then have never healed.

The tragic events of 1648-1657 also impressed the non-Jewish civilized world. Under the influence of England and other liberal governments, Chmelnitzky was prevailed upon to end the blood bath and to sign a peace treaty with Poland in 1651. One of the clauses in that treaty stated that the Jews could remain undisturbed where they were. There were, however, very few Jews left who could benefit from this privilege.

In the 1667 treaty between Russia and Poland, the Ukraine was divided into two zones. The territory to the left of the Dnieper and the city of Kiev and its environs were ceded to Moscow. Poland retained Bratzlav, the district of Kiev, Volynia and Podolia.

Poland was weakened by the constant internecine struggles. Russia took advantage of this weakness and between1700-1710, the Cossacks hordes again overran the Ukraine. These bands were called Hydamaks and they had free reign to kill and pillage Jew and Pole alike. The Ukraine also suffered the same fate in 1734 and 1736-1738. In those years, many cities of Podolia, Volynia, Kiev and Bratzlav fell prey to Cossack bands.

In all these onslaughts, the Cossacks attacked, pillaged and killed the Jews of these districts. They were aided and abetted by the Russians in whose interest it was that Poland should remain weak and in a chaotic state. It was relatively easy to arouse the Cossack mobs, since Russia had always acted as the protector of the Orthodox Church in Roman Catholic Poland. The centre of Orthodox propaganda was in a monastery near Zhabatin, in Russian Ukraine. The Abbot of this monastery, Mlichisedeck Avarske, would meet with the leaders of the Cossacks, particularly with the Zaporozhy Cossack leader, Maxim Zheleznyak.

There was a so called Manifesto issued by the Czarina Catherine II, which called on Maxim Zheleznyak to cross the Dnieper and to slaughter, “with the help of God, all the Poles and Jews who desecrate our holy faith”. A horde of Hydamaks set out in April, 1768, and overran the towns and villages near Kiev, Smila, Cherkas, Korsin, Bogoslav, Tetiyev, Lysianka and other places. Wherever they came, they slew Jews, Poles and Catholic priests. A handwritten newspaper in Warsaw (1768) told about an event

[Page 47]

that took place at Lysianka during which a band of Cossacks took a Franciscan monk, a Pole, a Jew and a dog and hanged them from one tree and fixed a sign on the tree saying: “The Pole, the Jew and the dog are all of the same faith.

The Jews began to flee in panic toward the city of Uman, which was heavily fortified. The Polish commandant, Mlodonovich, decided to prevent the Cossacks from besieging the city and sent out a large military unit to intercept them. This unit was led by Ivan Gonte who chose to betray the Poles and join Zheleznyak. Both now besieged the city and began to negotiate with Mlodonovich. He finally agreed to let the Cossacks in if they would permit the Poles to leave the city. When the Cossack mob tore into Uman, (June, 18, 1768) it murdered the thousands of Jews who came there to find asylum. Of course, they later killed the Poles as well. The commandant was one of the victims of that traitorous attack. According to historic accounts, approximately 20,000 Jews perished in Uman as a result of this onslaught. While Uman was besieged, other bands wiped out the Jews and Poles of Fatsov, Zhivotov, Makarov and other towns. The cruelty of one of the Cossack leaders by the name of Shvatko particularly cast a pall of fear on the Jews of that region. In the town of Fastov alone, he slaughtered more than 700 Jews and Poles. Still another leader, Philo, entered the city of Balta, an important trade centre on the Turkish/Polish border of that era. He and the Ukrainian and Moldavian population of that city, killed all the Jewish inhabitants. As soon as Philo and his troops left, however, the Jews and the Turks who lived on the other side of the river Kadimo, avenged themselves on the murderous townsmen who had helped in the pogrom against the Jews.

After untold bloodshed, Russia finally agreed to intervene in this rebellion. It denied any complicity in the outbreak and piously began to punish its former allies. Russian military units arrested Zheleznyak and Yavaresk and exiled them to Siberia. Gonte, who was a Polish subject, was tried and sentenced to death.

Approximately 60,000 Jews lost their lives because of the above-mentioned murderers. The normal Jewish population of that region was 120 to 150 thousand.

In 1764, King Fonitovsky was elected to rule over Poland. He was well educated and a progressive monarch who wished to

[Page 48]

rid his country of anarchy and to establish needed reforms. These aims were shared by many of the more enlightened of his subjects. The majority of the ruling class was reactionary, uneducated and completely opposed to his planned reforms. In any case, these reforms came too late. The chaotic conditions in Poland had reached such a state that the neighbouring powers, Prussia, Russia and Austria, started to consider partitioning Poland among themselves. They were hardly desirous of seeing the reforms implemented and a strengthened Poland established. They, therefore, began to obstruct the plans of the liberal by intervention and political intrigue. Russia, in particular, constantly interfered in Poland's internal problems and used any excuse, such as the uprisings and the so called attacks against the Orthodox churches, as just cause to intervene actively in the affairs of her beleaguered neighbour.

With the flimsy excuse that Poland is incapable of maintaining law and order, the powers along its borders partitioned it in 1772. Austria took Galicia, Prussia took several north-eastern provinces, Russia took the White Russian provinces. In 1793-1795, two more partitions took place virtually ending the existence of Poland as an independent sovereign state. In the second partition, Russia took the major part of the Polish Ukraine (Kiev, Bratzlav, Podolia and Eastern Volynia). In the third partition, it took Western Volynia. Russia thus took over all the Ukraine on both sides of the Dnieper and incorporated it into Greater Russia.

I would like to explain here why I brought these events into this narrative, with the details of the behaviour of the Ukrainians toward the other ethnic groups. The first reason is that in all of the history books which deal with the development of Russia, very little is mentioned about the Ukrainian leaders of that era; even less is said about their crimes vis à vis the Jews. In very important tomes written by historians of great renown, the murder of these thousands is accorded a few words. It is to offset this act of injustice by the biased historians that I have enumerated these crimes against humanity. I have done it also to shed light on this tragic era for future historians and the readers who were not aware of these events. No one will dare to deny that the Jewish people brought up in the spirit of the Bible, have contributed greatly to western civilization. Wherever they dwelt, they added immeasurably

[Page 49]

to the development of culture, science, literature, commerce, medicine and other areas. This redounded to the well-being of the population at large. All the powers that exiled the Jews because of religious persecutions or for other reasons (viz. Spain in 1492) stopped growing and showed no further historic evolution.

The Ukraine likewise did not advance and played no important historical role in the past centuries. During all the wars, it had the opportunity to assume some importance or even to gain its independence. Before World War I, Ukraine boasted of a population of 30 million, approximately 20% of the entire Russian population. Ukraine was known as the most fertile part of the country and fed Russia and the neighbouring countries. Its region is also blessed with great natural resources: oil, coal and good communications because of its lakes and rivers. Despite its manifold blessings, it did not produce any important leaders nor any great national figures. The national poet, Taras Shevchenko, may be the only exception. All the other personalities, national as well as patriotic, were second rate, although the communists recognized Bogdan Chemnitzky and his colleagues as heroes and have changed their murderous deeds into great epics of heroism and national patriotism.

We will dwell again on what the Ukraine represented after World War I and the historic events after the Bolsheviks came to power; how the Ukrainian leaders and national heroes tried to establish an independent state, what means they employed toward that end, and the complete frustration of their plans to achieve a separate national state in the Ukraine.

We will now note the second epoch of the national independence movement immediately after World War I (1917-1920). Russia had just lost the war and the Bolsheviks had seized power. The Ukrainian leaders felt that the time was ripe for declaring an independent state and secede from the Russian Empire. This was not an isolated case because Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Estonia also broke away at that time. The only difference was that these countries were granted their freedom as a result of the treaty of Brest-Litvosk. The Ukrainians likewise tried to gain their independence to re-establish their own sovereign state with their own national language, culture, etc. They also dreamed of establishing a democratic form of government with a parliament, preferably

[Page 50]

at Kharkov, which would then include the region on the right side of the Dnieper. If this, however, were impossible, at least the Ukrainians would keep all the land on the left side of the Dnieper with Kiev as the capital city.

It should be admitted that, up to that time, there did not exist any important national Ukrainian organization which could take over the leadership of such a movement and ultimately take over the reins of the government when the proper time arrived. In all of the Ukraine, in the cities and towns, the Russian language reigned supreme. This was the language that united all the peoples of diverse national and ethnic backgrounds.

The press, the schools and the libraries were of the same quality as those of Central Russia. The peasants in the villages spoke Ukrainian and were illiterate in Ukrainian as well as in Russian.

In spite of the complete Russification of the cities, the first demonstration at Kiev in 1918 drew a crowd of 100,000.

It is quite possible that among the demonstrators there were many Russians who thought that an independent Ukrainian state would be better than life under the Bolsheviks. Suffice it to say that after some time, a breed of leaders arose who managed to set up an administrative apparatus and even found some college professors and other intellectuals who joined their ranks in the same cause; namely, the rebirth of the Ukrainian independent state.

It is important to know that the Ukrainians from the West (Galicia, Bukovina and Carpathian Russia) were, at that time, under Polish jurisdiction. Their number was rather small but having been part of the Austro-Hungarian empire prior to World War I, they were accustomed to great freedom particularly in their cultural and literary pursuits. There was, however, no communication between Eastern Russia and Western Ukraine (Galicia). The Ukrainians to the West also developed their own intellectuals who were mistreated by the Poles after they acquired rule over them in the treaty of 1918, which granted Poland its independence. There were several reasons for this situation: the fact that most Poles were Roman Catholic whereas the Ukrainians were Greek Orthodox. Another reason was the fact that Poland paid scant attention to the needs of the minorities within its borders. As a matter of fact, Poland treated its Jewish minority far worse. The Jews formed a large percentage of the population and

[Page 51]

several years after Poland regained her freedom, her foreign minister, Mr. Beck, travelled far and wide to find a place where he could dump the Jews. The Jews had lived in Poland for one thousand years and had helped to develop and industrialize it. They had also contributed to Polish culture and actively participated in its public affairs. This, however, is a separate tragic chapter, which has no place in my writings and my personal reminiscences of events in the Ukraine and Russia.

The negotiations between the Petrograd ministers (before the Bolsheviks dispersed the Provisional Russian Government) and the representatives of the Ukrainian Parliament were concluded by July 3, 1917 and a Ukrainian Peoples Republic was proclaimed.

The first session of the Ukrainian Parliament took place in Kiev on July 12, 1917. According to the agreement between this Parliament and the Provisional Government at Petrograd, the status of the three minorities – Russians, Jews and Poles – was assured.

Henceforth, the Ukrainian Parliament (called Rada) would be the law-making body and not just the representative of the Ukrainians. This new status in political life placed the group on the highest rung of the administrative ladder of the Ukraine. All that was lacking was the ratification and acceptance of this status by the Russian Provisional Government.

De facto, however, it was an accepted fact of political life, and the laws this body promulgated were taken as the basis for a constitution of autonomous Ukraine. It was thus that the Ukraine became an independent state.

The Bolsheviks were holding the political reins. They had better means of restoring the Ukraine to their leadership. Their radical solutions began to filter through ever so slowly but inexorably into the Ukraine. The local leadership did not counter these reforms with its own programmes of social action, such as radical agrarian reforms or cessation of hostilities.

It seems that the newly installed leaders felt that the magic of independence itself would suffice to hold the population in check and prevent it from embracing communism. They also hoped that the Ukraine would be vouchsaved for the Ukrainians by arousing the nationalist feelings of the masses.

It soon became apparent, however, that it was impossible to

[Page 52]

isolate the peasants and the soldiers in order to prevent them from exposure to the Bolshevik germ. The Bolsheviks did not enter into any debates about autonomy, federation, competence and other “bourgeois ideas” like their predecessors, the Provisional Government.

The first offensive of the Bolsheviks was a propaganda campaign in the villages and among the ranks of the Ukrainian national military formations.

The results of this campaign were to utterly confound the soldiers who were to defend Kiev against the Red Army units, which had started an offensive against the Ukrainian Republic in the winter of 1917. Now that the Bolsheviks had attacked the Ukraine, there was no longer room for any talk about federation with a belligerent government. In fact, it was decided, thereafter, to secede from Russia altogether.

In January, 1918, the Ukrainian “Rada” proclaimed its independence. This proclamation was forced upon it as a result of the political events which we have described. It was also hoped that it might stimulate the flagging nationalistic fervour of the masses. It was hoped that it might stem the process of Bolshevization.

This manifesto was more an act of desperation than one of victory for the idea of national self-determination.

All through 1919, the Germans constantly came to the aid of the Ukraine. This was done not because of any great love for the Ukraine or its dreams of national independence, but rather for its own Machiavellian aims. It had always been the dream of the Junkers to annex this territory so rich in resources and known as the “bread basket of Europe”.

The Germans put a puppet by the name of Skoropadsky on the throne and hoped that he would be able to get the peasants to cultivate their fields so that the Germans could use the harvests to feed their own hungry masses. This plan was not successful. The Ukrainian leadership was not duped into accepting the plan. Just then, the revolution broke out in Germany proper, and these plans were crushed under the juggernaut of the historic events that followed.

The Germans were forced to leave the Ukraine. From February 1919 to November 1920, the few intrepid leaders of the

[Page 53]

Ukraine liberation movement were forced to fight off three armies: The Bolsheviks, the units of Denikin and the members of the Polish army.

During this struggle, the Jews joined in the fight on the side of Ukrainian independence. They also took an active part in the political and cultural life of this region. They were very much interested in the success of this quest for independence. The Ukrainian Jews had full confidence in the integrity of the Ukrainian leaders in their promises to grant minorities autonomous cultural life, and in the establishment of a truly democratic system of government. These Utopian dreams were, of course, preferable to the Bolshevik rule which faced them.

The outcome of this struggle ended tragically and with it Ukrainian independence. The “Directorie”, which presented itself as the administrative apparatus of this abortive movement, was forced to operate out of moving trains during the last months of 1919, shuttling between Kiev, Zhitomir and Vinitza and from there to Kamenetz-Podolsk, in its efforts to rally the remnants of the military units. Because of the constant pressure of the Red Army, however, they lost all contact with these units. Only a few of their leaders like Petlura and Ataman Semosenko managed to fulfil their national and patriotic dreams by organizing pogroms against the Jews of the region.

We have thus far described two epochs of the Ukrainian rebellion; the first in the days of Bogdan Chmelnitzky (1648-1657); the second in the years between 1918 and 1921.

We shall now shed some light on the third and final act during Hitler's reign.

Between 1941-1944, the Ukrainians played an important role in the German scheme of killing off the Jews of Europe. They were particularly helpful in the Western part (Galicia, Carpathian Russian and Bukovina) and the Eastern sector of the Ukraine and on both sides of the Dnieper.

It seems that the dormant Nationalist feelings of the Ukrainians always awoke when the country was in disorder. Then the patriots appeared on the arena for a brief moment only to fade into oblivion.

As was already mentioned, they constantly changed their tactics during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. When Poland was strong,

[Page 54]

they joined it to attack Russia. When Poland was weakened, they attacked Poland as Russia's ally. In 1918-1921, without any genuine programme nor true political guidance, the constant bickering among the different party leaders who came to the surface because of the monumental events in Russia, prevented the Nationalist movement from achieving any important goals. They, therefore, resorted to military adventures, pogroms and banditry.

As soon as they felt the pressure of the Red Army units, large segments of the Ukrainian army surrendered and joined the ranks of their former foes. They even formed their own division and helped to fight their own countrymen. This division had to be reorganized and reformed by the Red Army, however, since most of the Ukrainians were too busy plundering and robbing to do much fighting.

In 1941, the German army advanced at a fast pace on the roads of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Ukrainians, as well as the other nationalists of Russia, were not too happy about the German invasion. Although they opposed the communists and their ideology, they were filled with patriotic fervour for their fatherland. They also realized that the Germans, Italians and Rumanians did not come for the purpose of liberating them from Communist subjugation. It was clear that they were there in order to annex the Ukraine which was the “bread basket of Europe”, and rich in oil, coal and other minerals.

It was well known that the Germans considered all Slavic people as lower humans and that it was their plan to exploit them for their own ends. In spite of that, the Ukrainians of Galicia awoke from their long lethargy and decided to join Hitler after he had overrun Poland. They helped to kill their Jewish neighbours and participated in the advance on the Easter Ukraine. The Galician Ukrainians were more cultured than their Russian compatriots but they also lacked political leaders.

It seems rather difficult to grasp the political situation of that period. When Hitler's hordes overran Galicia, they signed a treaty with Russia and divided Poland between them. When the Germans attacked their former ally, neither side thought of granting the Ukraine some sort of autonomy. It would seem that Germans needed the Ukrainians to do their dirty work in liquidating the two million Jews who lived in that region. They also needed

[Page 55]

the Ukrainians to act as interpreters for them when they crossed into Russia.

The descendants of Bogdan Chmelnitzky and Petlura went to work killing and burning the innocent and unarmed victims. They thought that Germany would reward them with a free and independent Greater Ukraine which would act as a buffer state between Germany and Russia. Thus, European civilization and German culture would be safeguarded from the ideological attacks of the communists. Of course, it mattered little to Germany that six million Jews, as countless others, would perish in the process.

Happily, there were some who refused to collaborate in this scheme. Sheptizky, Metropolitan of Lemberg, welcome the German army as the liberators of his people from the communist yoke. He soon, however, saw them as they really were: murderers of thousands of innocent Jews. It particularly grieved him that the Germans were using the Ukrainians of the Western part of the region in the murderous work done in Eastern Ukraine. He went as far as interceding with Himmler that the Ukrainians be freed from their onerous task, but to no avail. Thus, this ecclesiastic dignitary realized that Hitler and his followers were far worse than the Communist regime.

In spite of all his efforts, a volunteer Ukrainian division was organized with another priest, a Dr. Lovo, as chaplain. He blessed the soldiers at a mass in the Lemberg Cathedral that they be successful in attaining their goal. Dr. Lovo must surely have thought that he was witnessing the birth of an independent Ukrainian State. The reality, however, proved to be quite different.

Between 1943 and 1944, the Russians began to push back the Germans and their Ukrainian allies. At the general retreat, the Germans magnanimously permitted the Ukrainians to fight along with them, but it was too late to stop the Russian advance. The dream of an independent Ukrainian state was not realized. Moreover, tens of thousands of Ukrainians were sent to Germany as slave labourers to work for the great glory of the Third Reich.

The Ukraine today, as part of the Soviet Government, is called Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. It occupies an area of 220,000sq. miles and boasts of a population of more than 44 million people. It is larger than France and is divided into 24 districts. After the Russians annexed Western Galicia in 1939, 7 million

[Page 56]

more people of Ukrainian lineage were added. In 1940, Bukovina was added to Greater Ukraine and in 1945, Carpathian Russia was included in this region, thus adding another 5 million Ukrainians to the population. In Central Russia, as well as in Siberia, another 4-5 million Ukrainians were added. This country ranks first in the production of agricultural products, steel, coal and many other raw materials. The Don Basin and Kriva-Rog are the most important centres in this area.

Since the Ukraine is spread out along the European borders, the Soviet government has taken the precaution of moving a part of the heavy industry installations to the Urals, and even further inland to Siberia, in order to avoid their falling into enemy hands in any future years.

At the conclusion of our evaluation of the Ukraine, let us make a few remarks regarding an important book by Dr. Doroshenko, a Ukrainian professor of history, which appeared in 1939. In this work, he characterizes the leaders of the Ukrainian uprisings in an undeserved heroic light.

On page 118 of that book, he writes: “The Jews appeared in commerce and were very aggressive”. A leader by the name of Pavlok issued a manifesto in 1637 that the Cossacks and the peasants join him against the Poles. After several flash victories on the left side of the Dnieper, they lost the initiative and were forced to accept Polish domination. Pavlok was handed over to the Polish military and he was summarily executed.

The historian further notes that the Poles brought along Jewish agents who represented the Polish landowners. That was the reason the Ukrainian peasants turned on them and killed so many of them. As we already mentioned above, the Ukrainians themselves killed their erstwhile patriot and leader albeit with the help of the Poles. Moreover, the infamous Bogdan Chmelnitzky, as secretary of the Cossacks, signed a treaty of amity and unity with the Poles (see pp. 23,29,218). Not long thereafter, the peasants burned several Polish estates and murdered some landowners along with all the Jews (see p.234). The Poles later avenged themselves on the Ukrainians.

[Page 57]

It is truly dramatic and even more tragic that the distinguished historian puts the blame on the Jews, that they forcibly collected taxes from the peasants and that they invented devious means to rob them by overcharging them for the articles they bought from the Jewish merchants (see p.234). The Jews at that time had no rights nor were they permitted to own or cultivate land. They, therefore, imported articles from the more developed neighbouring countries and sold them to the Ukrainian peasants. Thus, normal trade developed between Poland and the other nations.

He notes further that the Ukrainians rebelled and in June, 1648, they overran the region of Podolia, Volynia and Kiev on the Dnieper. He also states that the Jews lived through tragic times. He neglects to mention, however, that the Cossacks and Hydamaks, as well as their leaders, perpetrated these murders against the Jews of the Ukraine.

As we mentioned earlier, the bloodthirsty Ukrainians offered the Jews that their lives would be spared if they accepted Christianity. This proves that Chmelnitzky and his ilk were motivated by religious and national feelings in their efforts to exterminate the Jews. The peasants who lived in abject poverty were not only serfs to the Poles but to the Ukrainian landowners as well.

The Ukrainians were constantly quarrelling with the Poles. Their differences were accentuated by their diverse religious belief as well. The Poles were Roman Catholics, while the Ukrainians belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church. Both churches owned vast tracks of land in the Ukraine. The priests tried to use the Jews as scapegoats to cover up their own exploitation of the peasants for the enrichment of the two churches.

In later generations, the Russian church used the same technique when it organized the libels that Jews needed the blood of Christians for baking matzos on Passover.

We can't recall any statements in any histories that synagogues or religious leaders had any property or that they incited their membership to organize pogroms against their Ukrainian neighbours. The Jewish religious leaders were as poor as the flocks they led and served.

We feel that the 40 million Ukrainians could partly blame

[Page 58]

themselves for not achieving their national and territorial emancipation and independence. Not that the fault lay with the people, but rather with their leaders who built their national homeland on sand and saw all their dreams frustrated and fail.

It would seem that the hundreds of years of murdering and robbing a defenceless minority was not a proper school for learning how to attain their national aims of independence.

Let us now describe some of the positive characteristics of the Ukrainians. They are very industrious, tied to their land with a love for its fields, forests, lakes and meadows. They possess a rich folklore, folk music, a national costume which mirrors the wonderful natural setting which surrounds them.

I recall an opera which we saw in Kiev. The name of this opera was: “Taras Bulba”, and it dealt with one of their warrior heroes. The performance took place during the 20's after they failed to fulfil their dreams of self-determination. The Bolsheviks were then in charge of Russia as well as the Ukraine. They encouraged the Ukrainians to express themselves artistically in their own language in order to gain their cooperation and sympathy. It seems that there was enough ability and intellectual talent which could come to the fore and mount this important production at that time.

It is quite possible that if the Ukrainians had managed to develop true and devoted leaders during the years between 1917 and 1920, they might have been able to gain their independence with a democratic system of government based on justice for the Ukrainians, as well as the minorities who lived in their midst for over 500 years.

Our fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers contributed greatly toward the culture, civilization and progress of the land. Perhaps history will yet rectify the injustice visited on the Ukrainian people. Certainly the large masses will have to develop a core of leadership imbued with true national and patriotic feelings, a leadership that would turn its back on the bloody history which was their patrimony from the previous generations.

We sincerely believe that the over 40 million Ukrainians are capable of producing such representatives who would guide and led them to a high level of culture, progress and civilization among the nations of the world.

  Husyatyn, Ukraine     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 28 Mar 2021 by MGH