Еврейские погромы 1918–1921 – The Pogroms Against the Jews 1918–1921 – by Z. Ostrovsky, the Committee for Aid to Victims of Pogroms. Published by Школа и книга (School and Book), Moscow, 1926 – limited edition of only 5,000 copies. A rare publication documenting the bloody pogroms against Jews in Ukraine and Russia during and after World War I, particularly during the Russian Civil War (1917–1921), when various forces – Denikin’s army, the Red Army, Petliura’s Ukrainian army, local gangs, and others – massacred thousands of Jews. A unique work featuring 219 photographs, based on an exhibition of documents and photographs organized by the Jewish Committee for Victims of Pogroms and held in Moscow in the summer of 1923. According to the introduction, due to technical reasons, the album’s publication was delayed and it was only released three years later. Harsh photos. In Russian.
Photographic documentation of the third wave of pogroms in Russia and Ukraine between 1918–1921 – a period marked by unprecedented violence against Jews, which surpassed in both scale and brutality the previous pogroms of the 1880s and 1903–1906. The pogroms occurred in the wake of the October Revolution, the collapse of the Tsarist regime, and the civil war. As early as the end of 1917, acts of looting and violence were committed by soldiers from the disintegrating Tsarist army, particularly in areas near the front lines. The wave of pogroms intensified following the short-lived declaration of Ukrainian independence (1918), and severely affected Jewish communities such as Novgorod-Seversky and Hlukhiv. The first pogroms were also carried out by Red Army units retreating from Ukraine in the spring of 1918, under the slogan “strike at the bourgeoisie and the Jews.” The Soviets responded with harsh punishments and executions, and launched an extensive propaganda campaign that led to a partial suppression of the phenomenon. Nonetheless, further pogroms occurred, especially during the Red Army’s retreat from Poland in 1920. For most Jews, the Red Army remained the only force perceived as a potential protector.
This publication documents how the Ukrainian nationalist army carried out a series of pogroms in the spring of 1919 during its retreat from Kyiv, including the massacre in Proskurov (February 15), in which 1,700 Jews were murdered in a single day, followed the next day by the slaughter of another 600 in Felshtin. In these pogroms, the perpetrators and those responsible were not punished, reinforcing among the attackers a sense that violence against Jews would go unchecked. The Jews viewed Symon Petliura – the head of the Ukrainian government – as directly responsible for the violence.
Amid this governmental chaos, peasant gangs led by local “atamans” emerged, carrying out acts of robbery, extortion, and murder in dozens of communities. Ataman Hryhoriv, who defected from the Red Army in May 1919, was responsible for pogroms in over 40 communities and for the deaths of approximately 6,000 Jews. He was eliminated by Ataman Makhno, who sought to prevent harm to Jews. One of the most severe pogroms of this period, documented in the present publication, took place in Trostyanets, where over 400 Jews were murdered. In the autumn of 1919, the White Army (led by General Denikin) joined the wave of pogroms under the slogan “Strike the Jews and save Russia.” One of the major massacres occurred in Fastov (September 1919), where approximately 1,500 Jews were killed. Pogroms were also carried out by other anti-Soviet forces in Siberia (led by Kolchak) and in Belarus (by Bulak-Balakhovich). In the years 1920–1921, as the Red Army took control of Ukraine, anti-Soviet gangs continued to strike Jewish communities. The massacre in Tetiev, in which approximately 4,000 Jews were murdered and the entire town was set ablaze, marked an escalation characterized by an attempt at systematic extermination. Only the military inferiority of the attackers prevented the complete annihilation of Ukrainian Jewry.
In response, Jewish self-defense organizations were established, most notably the “Jewish Militia for the Fight Against Pogroms” in Odessa, which successfully prevented pogroms in the city. Similar units were also formed in smaller towns, though their ability to withstand military forces was limited. After the consolidation of Soviet rule, these groups received official protection and played a significant role in suppressing armed resistance. The organization of resistance and its successes in repelling attackers are also documented in this publication.
The scale of Jewish casualties in these pogroms reached unprecedented numbers – approximately 887 major pogroms and 349 smaller ones in 530 communities, with at least 60,000 killed and tens of thousands more wounded and otherwise affected. These events shook Eastern European Jewry and the entire Jewish world. They led many Jews to join the Soviet regime and the Red Army, while at the same time strengthening the desire for an independent Jewish force and a national homeland – a goal clearly expressed in the Zionist movement, the HeHalutz movement, and the Haganah in the Land of Israel.
134, [2] pages. 36 cm. Detached cover. Tears along cover edges. Spine lacking, some pages detached. Good–moderate condition.
