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The pogroms during the Russian Civil War were a wave of mass murders of
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, primarily in
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, during the
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
. In the years 1918–1920, there were 1,500 pogroms in over 1,300 localities, in which 35,000-250,000 died. All armed forces operating in Ukraine were involved in the killings, in particular the
anti-Communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
Ukrainian People's Army The Ukrainian People's Army (), also known as the Ukrainian National Army (UNA) or by the derogatory term Petliurivtsi (, ), was the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1921). They were often quickly reorganized units of the former I ...
and
Armed Forces of South Russia The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920. On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Ar ...
. Jewish sources of the time estimated that more than a million people were affected by material losses, 50,000 to 300,000 children were orphaned, and half a million were driven out from or fled their homes.


Background

From 1791, Jews living in the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
were largely restricted to the
Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...
in the western part of the country. There was also a ban on holding state and public positions. In the years 1881–1884 and 1903-1906, many pogroms took place. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, almost half a million Jews fought in
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
. However, the command of the Russian army was prejudiced against the Jews. Academy officers were convinced that Jews undermined the power of the tsar, blamed them for not recognizing God in Jesus of Nazareth and stigmatized them as foreigners. During the war, much of the Russian population blamed Jews for causing food shortages and price inflation, or for spreading rumors about the lack of weapons, despite it being one of the most widely known public secrets. The situation was complicated by the establishment of the "German Committee for the Liberation of Russian Jews" in Germany, whose founders saw the war with Russia as a method of liberating Russian Jews from the
Tsarist autocracy Tsarist autocracy (), also called Tsarism, was an autocracy, a form of absolute monarchy in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority an ...
. During the withdrawal of Russian troops in 1915 from
Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...
, under pressure from the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
, the military command deported 250,000 Jews deep into Russia. 350,000 more refugees joined this number. Their property was plundered frequently. The newcomers did not receive legal security in their new homes. The dispersion of the population across the territories of several countries and the division of forces during World War I meant that Jews found themselves on different sides of the front. On each of these sides, they were collectively accused of favoring the enemy, including spying on behalf of the opposing army. Espionage suspects were usually hanged without a trial. According to the historian Peter Kenez, most of the accusations of desertion, after being executed, turned out to be false. A rising atmosphere of antisemitism caused pogroms to break out in Stanyslaviv,
Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...
and
Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...
, during the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region. After the Tsar was overthrown on 2 April 1917,
Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...
's
Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...
abolished the Pale of Settlement and repealed the restrictions on national and religious minorities, thereby granting Jews full civil equality in the Russian Republic.


The first major pogroms (1917-1918)

Antisemitic violence increased dramatically during the first world war in 1914. With the start of
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
pitting
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
forces and against anti-Bolshevik White Army forces, large numbers of weapons fell into the hands of irregular armed forces, and both civil authorities and traditional social ties weakened. In this context, Jews became a particular target of attacks.
Antisemitic canard Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are " sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion. Since the 2nd century, malicious allegations of ...
s, such as a belief in an
international Jewish conspiracy The international Jewish conspiracy or the world Jewish conspiracy is an antisemitic trope that has been described as "one of the most widespread and long-running conspiracy theories". Although it typically claims that a malevolent, usually gl ...
or that prominent Jews such as
Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
,
Zinoviev Zinoviev, Zinovyev, Zinovieff (), or Zinovieva (feminine; Зино́вьева), as a Russian surname, derives from the personal name Zinovi, from Greek '' Zenobios''. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Dmitrievich Zinoviev (18 ...
, and
Kamenev Lev Borisovich Kamenev. ( Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. A prominent Old Bolsheviks, Old Bolshevik, Kamenev was a leading figure in the early Soviet government and served as a Deputy Premier ...
supported the Red Army, were widely propagated. Nearly all military or political initiatives against the Bolsheviks in Ukraine adopted antisemitic rhetoric. Historian Peter Kenez has argued that antisemitism was a focal point of the anti-Bolshevik White movement's ideology, reaching a fanaticism during the revolutionary and civil war period comparable to that of the later Nazi movement. Disagreeing, historians
Richard Pipes Richard Edgar Pipes (; July 11, 1923 – May 17, 2018) was an American historian who specialized in Russian and Soviet history. Pipes was a frequent interviewee in the press on the matters of Soviet history and foreign affairs. His writings als ...
and
Orlando Figes Orlando Guy Figes (; born 20 November 1959) is a British and German historian and writer. He was a professor of history at Birkbeck College, University of London, where he was made Emeritus Professor on his retirement in 2022. Figes is known f ...
have argued that the White's movement antisemitic activity was above all motivated by nationalist sentiment and greed. Historian Oleg Budnitskii has stated that civil war antisemitic activities were inflamed by years of antisemitism in the army during the First World War; acting on the view of Jews as disloyal outsiders, imperial Russian authorities deported hundreds of thousands of Jews from areas near the front line, prompting frequent pogroms against those being deported. Antisemitism increased further after the 1917
February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...
, and did not abate after the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
. Between November and December 1917, there were antisemitic pogroms in sixty towns, including Bender,
Tiraspol Tiraspol (, ; also /; , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Transnistria, a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the third-largest city. The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of cul ...
,
Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
,
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
and
Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...
. In January 1918,
Central Council of Ukraine The Central Rada of Ukraine, also called the Central Council (), was the All-Ukrainian council that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputies as well as few members of political, public, cultural and professional organizations o ...
promulgated a
declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
of the
Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...
. Of the territory that would later become part of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, the largest number of Jews lived in Ukraine (1.6 million out of 2.6 million). The
General Jewish Labour Bund The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (), generally called The Bund (, cognate to , ) or the Jewish Labour Bund (), was a Jewish secularism, secular Jewish Socialism, socialist party initially formed in the Russian Empire ...
, which had supported Ukrainian autonomy, this time opposed separation from Russia. Other socialist parties abstained from support for the declaration. The Ukrainian national movement was infuriated by the lack of support for independence. Already by the middle of the month there were pogroms in
Bratslav Bratslav (, ; ) is a rural settlement in Ukraine, located in Tulchyn Raion of Vinnytsia Oblast, by the Southern Bug river. It is a medieval European city and a regional center of the Eastern Podolia region (see Bracław Voivodeship) founded ...
, combined with looting and arson. On 20 January in
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
, during the fights between Ukrainian nationalist and Soviet forces, over a hundred Jews were killed and Jewish shops were plundered. Ukrainian nationalists arrested members of the First All Russian Congress of Jewish Fighters, and shot an organizer for the Ukrainian Union of Jewish Fighters, I. Gogol. In some cases, the communists saw the Jewish community as the
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...
, their class enemies. During the withdrawal of
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
from Chernihiv province in the spring of 1918, the Red Army, motivated by "fighting against the bourgeoisie", committed pogroms against Jews. Retreating Soviet forces are believed to have been responsible for a brutal 7-8 March pogrom in
Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...
and
Hlukhiv Hlukhiv (, ; ) is a small historic List of cities in Ukraine, city on the Esman River. It belongs to Shostka Raion of Sumy Oblast of Ukraine. Population: It is known for being a capital of the Cossack Hetmanate after the deposition of Ivan M ...
, where about 400 Jewish residents, including many children, were murdered within two days. During the civil war period, Bolsheviks are estimated to have been responsible for 9% of pogroms, White movement forces for 17%, Ukrainian nationalists for 50%, and unaffiliated groups for the remainder. In April 1918, as a result of a coup d'état in agreement with the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
, the military leader
Pavlo Skoropadskyi Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi (; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, who served as the Hetman of all Ukraine, hetman of the Ukrainian State throughout 1918 following a 1918 Ukrainian coup d'état, coup d'éta ...
seized power and established the
Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...
. At that time, the authorities issued proclamations that collectively blamed Jews for spreading
anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...
and participating in the
black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...
. In March 1918 in Kiev, during the takeover of the city by the Ukrainian-German forces,
haidamaks The haydamaks, also haidamakas or haidamaky or haidamaks ( ''haidamaka''; ''haidamaky'', from and ) were soldiers of Ukrainian Cossack paramilitary outfits composed of commoners (peasants, craftsmen), and impoverished noblemen in the easter ...
of the captured and shot Jews. There were also murders in
Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...
and Hoholeve. In November 1918, the
Polish–Ukrainian War The Polish–Ukrainian War, from November 1918 to July 1919, was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces (both the West Ukrainian People's Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic). The conflict had its roots in ...
broke out. After the
Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...
captured
Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
(then Lwów or Lemberg), 72 Jews were killed by a Polish mob that included Polish soldiers. The report states that in Lviv "disreputable elements rom the Polish Armyplundered to the extent of many millions of crowns the dwellings and stores in the Jewish quarter, and did not hesitate to murder when they met with resistance." Some other events in Poland were later found to have been exaggerated, especially by contemporary newspapers such as the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', although serious abuses against the Jews, including pogroms, continued elsewhere, especially in Ukraine.Andrzej Kapiszewski
Controversial Reports on the Situation of the Jews in Poland in the Aftermath of World War
''Studia Judaica'' 7: 2004 nr 2(14) s. 257-304 (pdf)
The result of the concern over the fate of Poland's Jews was a series of explicit clauses in the
Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactl ...
protecting the rights of minorities in Poland.Norman Davies
"Ethnic Diversity in Twentieth Century Poland."
In: Herbert Arthur Strauss. Hostages of Modernization: Studies on Modern Antisemitism, 1870-1933/39. Walter de Gruyter, 1993.
David Engel. "Lwów, 1918: The Transmutation of a Symbol and its Legacy in the Holocaust." In: Joshua D. Zimmerman, ''Contested Memories: Poles and Jews During the Holocaust and Its Aftermath'', Rutgers University Press, 2003,
Google Print, p.33–34
/ref> In 1921, Poland's March Constitution gave the Jews the same legal rights as other citizens and guaranteed them religious tolerance. In total, during the years of 1917 and 1918, there were 90 pogroms, most of which occurred between August and October 1917 and between March and May 1918.


Ukrainian pogroms (January-July 1919)

In November 1918, the Ukrainian Hetmanate was replaced by
Directorate of Ukraine The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on 13–14 November 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against th ...
, and on 22 January 1919, the re-established
Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...
carried out a
unification Unification or unification theory may refer to: Computer science * Unification (computer science), the act of identifying two terms with a suitable substitution * Unification (graph theory), the computation of the most general graph that subs ...
with the
West Ukrainian People's Republic The West Ukrainian People's Republic (; West Ukrainian People's Republic#Name, see other names) was a short-lived state that controlled most of Eastern Galicia from November 1918 to July 1919. It included major cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kolom ...
. In February,
Symon Petliura Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...
became the president of the Directorate. At the same time, starting in January 1919, the Red Army initiated an invasion of Ukraine from the
east East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
. In order to internally integrate its own troops, the Directorate used antisemitic agitation. Pogroms were launched on a massive scale in places where
Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian nationalism (, ) is the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The origins of modern Ukrainian nationalism emerge during the Cossack uprising against the Poli ...
felt threatened. By the summer of 1919, various Ukrainian forces had murdered over 30,000 Jewish civilians. In mid-January 1919, the troops of stationed in
Ovruch Ovruch (, ) is a city in Korosten Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. It was the capital city of the Drevlians in the 900s, later conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, then later part of the Grand D ...
killed 80 inhabitants and plundered approximately 1,200 houses. The
otaman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; ; ) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukrai ...
blamed the Jews who had gathered in the market square "for
Bolshevism Bolshevism (derived from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined p ...
" and demanded a large ransom. Despite collecting tribute, the order to stop the pogrom was not obeyed. The events ended only with the withdrawal of the otaman's troops under the pressure of the Bolsheviks. At that time, in
Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...
, soldiers, joined by peasants from nearby villages, started a pogrom, killing 80 people and plundering property. Two months later, during the takeover of the city by the
Ukrainian People's Army The Ukrainian People's Army (), also known as the Ukrainian National Army (UNA) or by the derogatory term Petliurivtsi (, ), was the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1921). They were often quickly reorganized units of the former I ...
, a rumor was spread among the soldiers that 1,300 Christians had allegedly been murdered by Jews. It was a rumor based on the killing of 22 people by the Bolsheviks, which had actually included Jewish victims. A delegation of city officials managed to convince the commanders that the accusation was false, but it was too late to convince the rank-and-file. Despite the escape of many Jews from the city, during the pogrom that lasted five days, 317 people were murdered and many injured. Many Jews were saved by some of the city's Christian inhabitants, who provided them with shelter. The pogrom ceased with the recapture of the city by Bolshevik troops on 24 March. The February massacres in
Proskurov Khmelnytskyi (, ) is a city in western Ukraine. Located on the Southern Bug, it serves as the administrative centre of Khmelnytskyi Oblast as well as Khmelnytskyi Raion within the oblast. With a population of Khmelnytskyi is the second-largest ...
and the adjacent in Podolia province were among the bloodiest acts of antisemitic violence during the war in Ukraine. In Proskuriv, the local Bolsheviks planned an armed uprising on 15 February. Despite the opposition of the Jewish socialist parties and the warnings of the city guard, and without consulting the inhabitants, the Bolsheviks went ahead with their coup attempt. However, they were quickly defeated by the Cossack army. The head of the stationed brigade, Ivan Semesenko, then issued a speech to the soldiers in which he blamed the Jews for the incidents, considering them to be dangerous enemies and ordering their extermination. Cossacks massacred Jews and non-Jews for multiple hours. There is at least one instance of Jews engaging in the pogrom as well. The pogrom was stopped by the intervention of the front commander. However, estimates range from 1,200-1,700 people killed, including approximately 300 who succumbed to injuries following the incident. In the following days, the otaman issued a proclamation on antisemitic rhetoric, and only collecting the ransom removed the threat of a resumption of the pogrom. Semesenko was arrested a few months later. It is unclear whether he was released or executed. Some Bolshevik rebels tried to take over the nearby Felsztyn, but they scattered after hearing about the defeat of the Proskuriv uprising. This episode terrified the Jewish inhabitants of the town. On 17 February, several hundred Cossacks encircled Felsztyn and the next morning they unleashed a massacre. Soldiers killed residents in their homes or after dragging them out into the street, and robbed houses and shops. There were also numerous rapes. According to one eyewitness account, the head of the post office and telegraph office did not react to the incidents, although he was aware of them. As a result of the pogrom that lasted several hours, 600 out of 1,900 Jewish inhabitants of the town were murdered. Between February and April, there were fights between the Cossacks and the Bolsheviks in the area of Balta. There was a pogrom during each of the Ukrainian takeovers. In total, 100-120 Jewish inhabitants died, and almost all houses and shops were devastated. Pogroms were often repeated in the same places. Between May 1919 and March 1921 there were 11-14 riots in
Bratslav Bratslav (, ; ) is a rural settlement in Ukraine, located in Tulchyn Raion of Vinnytsia Oblast, by the Southern Bug river. It is a medieval European city and a regional center of the Eastern Podolia region (see Bracław Voivodeship) founded ...
, during which a total of over 200 Jews were killed and 1,200 people lost their homes. In turn, during the pogrom in
Chernobyl Chernobyl, officially called Chornobyl, is a partially abandoned city in Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, to the north of Kyiv and to the southwest of Gomel in neighbouring Belarus. ...
, which lasted between 7 April and 2 May, 150 Jewish residents were killed by the forces of and most of their property was destroyed. There were also cases of capturing Jewish passengers on ships. On 7 April, the
Dniepr The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
ships "Baron Ginsburg" and "Kozak" were captured by the forces of . About 100 Jews were separated from the rest of the passengers and drowned in the river. In May, the violence increased. On 10 May, raiders killed 258 people and wounded 150 in the village of Kryve Ozero. The forces of
Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (or Grigoryev, real surname Servetnyk; – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian military leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian War of Independence and Soviet-Ukrainian war. He is today con ...
showed particular cruelty. Initially, they recognized the command of the Red Army and, together with its troops, in March and April 1919 carried out
operation Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
to capture
Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...
, Nikolayev and
Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
from the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
. But at the beginning of May, Hryhoriv launched an anti-Bolshevik uprising. He published a "Universal", in which he called for the overthrow of
Ukrainian Soviet Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Republic (; ) was a Soviet republic created by the Ukrainian Bolsheviks after the Second All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets declared independence of Soviet Ukraine in March 1918 and merged the Ukrainian People's Republic o ...
, which he described as "foreigners from
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
and the country where Christ was crucified". In a short time, his troops committed a series of massacres. After the capture of
Trostianets Trostianets or Trostyanets (, ; ) is a city in Okhtyrka Raion of Sumy Oblast of northeastern Ukraine. It was the administrative center of Trostianets Raion, Sumy Oblast, Trostianets Raion until it was abolished on 18 July 2020. The city lies ...
on 10 May, the Jewish residents were taken to the police station building. At the same time, at a meeting of the city council, a rumor was spread about the alleged relief of Jewish relief from the vicinity. The angered crowd went to the police station building, which they shot at and threw grenades inside, before killing the wounded. From 342 to over 400 Jews died. At the same time, property was plundered and women were raped. Between 15 and 22 May, a pogrom took place in Oleksandrivka, as a result of the unleashed antisemitic agitation. Hryhoriv's troops, together with a part of the local population, killed over 210 inhabitants there. Famine and
epidemic typhus Epidemic typhus, also known as louse-borne typhus, is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters where civil life is disrupted. Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact wit ...
flared up in the village soon after. The bloodiest pogrom of that period took place in
Yelysavethrad Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul, Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population: Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement ...
, which on 10 May was taken over by Hryhoriv's troops. His "Universal" was distributed in the streets and agitation was initiated. On 15 May, the soldiers started a pogrom. In a typical case, a group of several soldiers, after invading a house, murdered its inhabitants and plundered valuable property. Then the house was taken over by a crowd that plundered the rest of the property, loading it onto carts. In the three-day slaughter, between 1,300 and 3,000 people died, despite many cases of Christians hiding their Jewish neighbors. Almost all of the 50,000 Jewish inhabitants of Yelysavethrad were pushed into poverty. Hospitals were overcrowded with the wounded and famine broke out. Red soldiers were sent to recapture Yelysavethrad, only for them to join in the pogrom. The pogrom in
Cherkasy Cherkasy (, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy serves as the administrative centre of Cherkasy Oblast as well as Cherkasy Raion within the oblast. The city has a population of Cherkasy is the cultural, educational and industrial centre ...
had a similar course, where on 15 May, Hryhoriv's troops started plundering Jewish houses and killing their inhabitants. Soon some of the townspeople joined the attackers. Despite some Christians hiding their Jewish neighbors, 700 people died in the five-day pogrom. Other pogroms committed in May by Hryhoriv's troops include the massacres in
Katerynoslav Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...
(150 deaths), in
Kodyma Kodyma (, ; ) is a city in Odesa Oblast (region) of central Ukraine, located in the historic region of Podolia, south-eastern Podilia. It hosts the administration of Kodyma urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: Descriptio ...
(120 deaths) and Oleksandrivka- (over 160 deaths). In
Uman Uman (, , ) is a city in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the east of the historical region of Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River. Uman serves as the administrative c ...
, 35,000 out of the city's 60,000 inhabitants were Jews. In Tsarist times, however, administrative positions were occupied by Christians. The arrival of Soviet rule in March 1919 made some Jews join the authorities. This change caused the Jews to be collectively blamed for the Soviet policy of food requisitioning. On 10 May, an anti-Bolshevik uprising broke out and soon Hryhoriv's troops took over the city. They carried out searches of homes, claiming to be looking for "communists". But in fact, random Jews were murdered, and the non-Jewish communists were not disturbed. During the 10-day pogrom, 300-400 people died. Some of the Christian residents hid their Jewish neighbors. Ukrainian peasants also refused to sell food to Jews. The pogrom was finally ended by the intervention of the 7th Soviet Regiment, but three days later the Regiment was ordered to move to a different location, and Uman would be under the control of the 8th Ukrainian Soviet Regiment. The 8th regiment committed another pogrom after assuming power. 150 Jews were killed by the Reds over the next six weeks. On 3 July the 8th regiment was replaced by the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Cavalry of Fedor Gribenko, which committed another pogrom of similar scale. Two days after, the International 4th Regiment, which was made not only of Ukrainians, Russians, and Jews, but also foreign volunteers from China, Hungary, and Germany, came in control of the city. The arrival of this regiment marked the end of the pogroms in Uman. The situation was somewhat similar in the multiethnic
Lityn Lityn () is a rural settlement in Vinnytsia Oblast (province), located in the historic region of the Podilia. It was formerly the administrative center of the Lityn Raion, but is now administered within Vinnytsia Raion. Population: Name In add ...
. The advent of the Soviet power opened up the possibility for Jews to join the government, which some took advantage of. Initially, there were no ethnic disputes among the residents. However, when the troops of took over the city on 14 May, they initiated a pogrom in which 100-120 people were murdered. It was also noted that peasants refused to sell food to Jews. On 12 May, the troops of captured
Haisyn Haisyn (, , ) or Haysyn is a city in central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Haisyn Raion within Vinnytsia Oblast. It is located on the in the eastern part of the historical region of Podolia. Its population is Name It i ...
. 340-350 of the town's Jewish inhabitants died in the pogrom they committed. The violence was stopped thanks to the appeal of Russian intellectuals. In turn, in
Radomyshl Radomyshl (, ) is a historic city in Zhytomyr Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. Before 2020, it was the administrative center of the former Radomyshl Raion. It is located on the left bank of the Teteriv River, a right tributary of ...
, peasant units of initiated a series of pogroms in which 400 to 1,000 were killed. The most serious pogrom committed by Ukrainian forces in July was the
Tulchyn Tulchyn (, ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in Vinnytsia Oblast (Oblast, province) of western Ukraine, in the historical region of Podolia. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Tulchyn Raion (Raion, district). Its population is 13,896 (2023 estim ...
massacre. On 14 July, the attackers killed 519 of the town's Jewish inhabitants. On the other hand, the capture of by the troops of otaman Kozakov cost the lives of 95 Jews, and most of the settlement was devastated. At the end of the month, Uman was encircled again. On 29 July, a group of haydamaks captured the city and started a pogrom, killing 150 people. On 15 July, the
Seventeenth of Tammuz The Seventeenth of Tammuz (, Modern: ''Shiv'á Asár beTammúz'', Tiberian ( SBL): ''Šib̲ʿāʿāśār bəṯammuz'')) is a Jewish fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. It ...
in the
Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...
, locals turned on their Jewish neighbours in Slovechno, modern-day Zhytomyr Oblast after being told false rumours that Jews were planning to attack Gentiles, convert churches into synagogues, and force Gentiles by pressure into Judaism. More than 60 Jewish civilians were killed as an ensuing pogrom broke out and 45 to 100 injured. There was a Jewish self-defense unit in
Pohrebyshche Pohrebyshche ( ) is a small List of cities in Ukraine, city in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of Pohrebyshche Raion (Raion, district) until its abolishment in 2020, when it was incorporated into Vinnytsia Raion ...
. However, when the forces of
Danylo Terpylo Danylo Ilkovych Terpylo, widely known as the Green Ataman ( – October 1919) was one of the commanders of the Green armies during the Russian Civil War. The Green armies under Terpylo's leadership fought the White Army, Red Army, and Ukrainian ...
captured the town on 18 August, the Jewish resistance collapsed. Armed groups stormed Pohrebyshche and killed 350-400 of its Jewish inhabitants within a few hours. In the same month, in the town of Justingrad- Sokolivka, Terpylo's forces kidnapped 150 Jews, demanding the release of a high ransom. The requested amount could not be collected and almost all hostages were murdered.


White pogroms (September - December 1919)

Many Jews opposed
collectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
and pinned their hopes on the advancing
White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...
. Experienced with Ukrainian pogroms, they were willing to give up their autonomy in favor of a livable life and a return to the
rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...
. In September 1919, Cossack units of the Volunteer Army captured Fastov. Between 23 and 26 September, they carried out a massacre, during which 1,300-1,800 Jewish people died. Many families were burned alive in their own homes. Children and those hiding in synagogues were also killed. There were also gang rapes and looting. The military authorities ordered the pogrom to be stopped, but the Jewish quarter of the city was ruined. Three weeks later, the forces of the Volunteer Army pushed the Bolsheviks out of
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
. After the army entered the city on 16 October, a pogrom broke out. The attackers broke into houses, plundered property and murdered Jewish people. At the height of the riots, the newspapers of the
Black Hundreds The Black Hundreds were reactionary, monarchist, and ultra-nationalist groups in Russia in the early 20th century. They were staunch supporters of the House of Romanov, and opposed any retreat from the autocracy of the reigning monarch. Their na ...
published an article accusing Jews of shooting at soldiers during the takeover of the city, listing their personal details. The commission set up to investigate these allegations soon found that they had been fabricated. In the five-day wave of violence, 500-600 people were killed. Some towns experienced pogroms from several sides.
Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( ; , ) is a city in central Ukraine. It is situated on the Ros (river), Ros River in the historical region of right-bank Ukraine. It is the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (which does not include the city of Kyiv) and serves as the ...
was such a city, where Jews were the target of violence, successively by the Ukrainian People's Army, then by Terpylo's forces, and finally by Cossack troops in the White Army. The total number of victims of pogroms in Bila Tserkva between 1919 and 1920 is given at 300-850 people.


Later pogroms (1920)

The greatest escalation of anti-Jewish violence took place in Tetiyev in the spring of 1920. Following a pogrom by the Whites the previous year, the town became a site of another massacre, this time perpetrated by Ukrainian anti-Bolshevik insurgents. On 26 March 1920, Cossack troops scattered around the city and began killing Jewish residents. The synagogue complex, where about 1,500 people were hiding in the attic, was set on fire. Most of them were asphyxiated by smoke, and those who escaped through the windows were killed. Some local peasants participated in the pogrom, killing Jews or handing them over to their attackers and loading the stolen property onto carts. Out of the 7,000 Jewish inhabitants of Tetiyev, 4,000-5,000 died, and almost the entire town was ruined.


Balance and aftermath


Number of pogroms

The
Armed Forces of South Russia The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920. On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Ar ...
displayed entrenched antisemitic prejudices and they had already stood against the equal rights of minorities established in 1917. In their view, the Jews were responsible for the fall of Tsarism and supported Bolshevism as a whole, and the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...
were widely distributed among the White forces. The South Russian propaganda agency, under the command of , spread rumors about Jews shooting from the windows of buildings at retreating soldiers and about alleged Jewish regiments. The antisemitism of the Whites was supported by a significant part of the clergy of the
Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
, who saw Jews as a godless people who wanted to take power over the "
Holy Rus Holy Rus' or Holy Russia () - is an important religious and philosophical concept which appeared from the 9th century and developed gradually from the 16th century to the 21st century by people in Grand Duchy of Moscow, East Europe, Central Eur ...
". However,
Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow Tikhon of Moscow (, – ), born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin (), was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). On 5 November 1917 ( OS) he was selected the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, after a period of about 200 years of the S ...
unequivocally condemned the pogroms. In a pastoral letter of 21 July 1919, he wrote that rapes of Jews were "a disgrace to their perpetrators, a disgrace to the Holy Church." White Cossack units, especially
Terek Cossacks The Terek Cossack Host was a Cossack host created in 1577 from free Cossacks who resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. The local aboriginal Terek Cossacks joined this Cossack host later. In 1792 it was included in the Caucasus Line Co ...
, had the greatest share in the massacres at the hands of the
Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...
. Pogroms were carried out mainly for the purpose of plunder and under the influence of collectively blaming the Jews for their failure in battle. The Volunteer Army controlled the Ukrainian lands between the summer of 1919 and the spring of 1920. After almost every seizure of a city by White troops, there was a pogrom against its Jewish inhabitants. The violence particularly intensified in the autumn and winter, during the retreat of the White Army. According to estimates by historian J.L. Dekel-Chena, in the years 1917–1918 there were 90 pogroms. Researcher Oleg Budnitskii reports that between 1918 and 1920 there were a total of 1,500 pogroms in Ukraine, in over 1,300 localities. In turn, according to Milton Kleg, in 1919 alone, the number of pogroms in Ukraine was 1,326.


Estimates of the number of victims and their geographical distribution

According to Peter Kenez, the pogroms of Jewish civilians in Ukraine in 1918–1920 were the largest case of mass murder against Jews before the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. It was the first time in the history of modern Europe that uniformed armed forces murdered civilians on such a massive scale. According to various sources, between 35,000 and 250,000 people died. The number of 50-60 thousand victims is given as the lower bound. Eli Heifetz, chairman of the All-Ukrainian Committee for Aid to Victims of the Pogrom, in 1921, on the basis of the data available to him, estimated the number of deaths at 120,000. The same conclusions were reached in 1999 by David Vital. Ronald Suny reports a lower bound average at 50,000 deaths, though reports a range of 35,000 to 150,000 total. According to Manus Midlarsky and Yitzhak Arad's 2005 and 2009 estimates, the death toll was 150,000. These estimates included those who died as a result of wounds, as well as victims of hunger and epidemics of infectious diseases following pogroms. Lidia Miliakova wrote that 125,000 Jews were killed in Ukraine and 25,000 in Belorussia. Oleg Budnitskii in his monograph mentions 200,000 victims as an upper estimate. In turn, according to Peter Kenez, the death toll amounted to a quarter of a million people. The 1985 Whitaker Report of the United Nations cites an estimated range of 100,000 to 250,000 deaths. According to Lidia Miliakova the majority (78%) of pogroms occurred in Ukraine, while 14% and 8% happened in Belorussia and Russia respectively.


Estimates of other losses

Based on the partial reports of the Red Cross, Eli Heifetz estimated that more than one million people suffered material losses. About 50,000-300,000 children were left orphans and half a million inhabitants were driven out of their homes or left. According to Z. Gitelman, in the years 1918–1921, 70–80% of the Jewish population was without regular income, although the Soviet ban on private trade was a partial cause of unemployment.


Estimates of the contribution of the forces carrying out the pogroms

Anglo-Jewish writer
Israel Zangwill Israel Zangwill (21 January 18641 August 1926) was a British author at the forefront of Zionism during the 19th century, and was a close associate of Theodor Herzl. He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the ...
wrote that:
It is as Bolsheviks that the Jews of South Russia have been massacred by the armies of Petlyura, though the armies of Sokolow have massacred them as partisans of Petlyura, the armies of
Makhno Makhno is a Ukrainian surname. Notable people with the name include: * Savelii Makhno (1872–1920), Ukrainian anarchist military commander * Hryhorii Makhno (1886–1920), Ukrainian anarchist military commander *Nestor Makhno (1888–1934), Ukrain ...
as bourgeois capitalists, the armies of Hryhoriv as Communists, and the armies of
Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of South Russia during the Ru ...
at once as Bolsheviks, capitalists and Ukrainian nationalists.
Manus Midlarsky and Oleg Budnitskii reported that, according to earlier estimates, the Ukrainian People's Army caused 54% of the casualties, the White Army caused 17%, and the Red Army caused 2%. According to recent analyses carried out after the opening of the Russian archives, the percentage of homicides at the hands of the White Volunteer Army may even reach 50%.
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe ''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' is a two-volume, English-language reference work on the history and culture of Eastern Europe Jewry in this region, prepared by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and published by Yale Univ ...
said that remaining pogroms (25%) were committed by independent groups, followed by the White Army at 17%, and the Soviets at 9%. YIVO also gives an estimate of 38 people killed in the average pogrom by Ukrainian forces, 25 in the average White pogrom, and 7 in the average Red pogrom. The involvement in the pogroms of the anarchist
Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (; RIAU), also known as ''Makhnovtsi'' (), named after their founder Nestor Makhno, was an Anarchism, anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainians, Ukrainian peasants and workers during the Russian C ...
movement, led by
Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno (, ; 7 November 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ( , ), was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian War o ...
, is still unclear. The Makhnovists themselves confirmed their complicity in one pogrom by anarchists that killed 22 Jews in Gorkaya, for which the culprits were arrested, convicted, and executed. However, Boris D. Bogen reported that anarchists had killed a number of Jews in Kazanka. Whether or not they were responsible for the 1918 massacre of 175 to 1,000 residents of the Jewish localities of Trudoliubovka and Nechaevka,
Yekaterinoslav Governorate Yekaterinoslav Governorate} was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yekaterinoslav. Covering an area of , and being composed of a inhabitant of 2,113,674 by the census of 1897, it bordere ...
, is under dispute. Many residents of the town said that the massacre had been committed by the Anarchists, and in a 1964 letter a survivor wrote that "many Jewish settlements were massacred by bandits called Machnovtsi including ours. My father, husband, brothers Shmilik, Pinchas and Velvl were murdered."


See also

*
Antisemitism in Russia Antisemitism in Russia is expressed in acts of hostility against Jews in Russia and the promotion of antisemitic views in the Russian Federation. This article covers the events since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Previous time periods a ...
*
History of the Jews in Russia The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...
*
Pogroms in the Russian Empire Pogroms in the Russian Empire () were large-scale, targeted, and repeated Antisemitism, anti-Jewish riots that began in the 19th century. Pogroms began to occur after Russian Empire, Imperial Russia, which previously had very few Jews, acquired te ...
* The
Cossack riots The Khmelnytsky pogroms were pogroms carried out against the Jews of modern Ukraine during the 1648 Khmelnytsky Uprising of the Cossacks and serfs led by Bogdan Khmelnytsky (or the "Hamil of Evil", as he was called by the Jews) against the Po ...
of 1648 in Ukraine, in which 40-50,000 Jews were primarily killed by the
Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...
forces of
Bohdan Khmelnytsky Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms (Ruthenian language, Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish language, Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobility, Ruthenian noble ...
. *
Antisemitism in Ukraine Antisemitism in Ukraine has been a historical issue in the country, particularly in the twentieth century. The history of the Jewish community of the region dates back to the era when ancient Greek colonies existed in it. A third of the ...
*
History of the Jews in Ukraine The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jews, Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Important Jewish religious and cultura ...
*


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Massacres or pogroms against Jews 1918 in Judaism 1919 in Judaism 1920 in Judaism 1918 riots 1919 riots 1920 riots Mass murder in 1918 Mass murder in 1919 Mass murder in 1920 20th-century mass murder in Europe 20th-century mass murder in Russia Ethnic cleansing in Europe Massacres in Ukraine Massacres in Belarus Massacres in Russia 1910s murders in Europe 1920s murders in Europe 1910s murders in the Russian Empire Anti-communist terrorism Genocides in Europe