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The story of the Proskurov/Felshtin/Yarmolintsky pogrom based on documents by Zusya Vohl (1865-1955). Until the year 1919, Proskurov was a calm and secure town. But then everything changed suddenly. With the retreat of Ukrainian troops before the Red Army in February 1919, Proskurov suffered one of the most vicious pogroms of the civil war period. Units of local Communist forces, both Ukrainians and Jews, rebelled and attempted to gain control of the railroad station. On the failure of the attempt, Semosenko, hetman of the Ukrainian troops stationed in the city, gave orders to slaughter all the Jews. On February 15th Semosenko's forces marched into the city, methodically killing every Jew they could find. A local priest who begged the soldiers to stop was killed at the door of his own church. Three and a half hours after the soldiers had entered the city, a telegraphed order came from headquarters, calling a halt to the slaughter, but by then 1,500 people had been murdered and thousands injured.
To celebrate their victory, the regiment of Gaidamacs with their Ataman Semosenko decided to take revenge on the enemies. Semosenko declared the main enemies of Ukraine are Jews; thus all the rage of the Cossacks was directed against peaceful townspeople only because they were Jewish.
Semosenko acted advisedly and cold-bloodedly. The Gaidamacs, divided in groups of five or 10 men, entered into the homes and killed everyone irregardless of gender, age and state. The massacre lasted four hours, and 1,600 people were killed. It was not customary in Russia pogroms for the Cossacks to take any belongings; they only killed. The swashers [boastful soldiers] kept silent; even next-door neighbors did not know what took place nearby. Thus, nobody was prepared to run away or hide anywhere. Only after four hours of the massacre, Commissar Taranovich was informed about the bloody actions. He appealed to the commandant of the main military body, and after that the massacre was stopped. It was February 15, 1919. The massacre was undertaken by Ataman Semosenko combined with Liverchuk, the Commandant of Proskurov.
Then swashers went to the next cities, Felshtin and Yarmolintsky. In Felshtin the Cossacks under the leadership of Semosenko during a few hours killed about 600 people. One of the main “heros” of the massacre was doctor Sorokin, who killed everyone with distinctive barbarity. That doctor-bandit shamelessly bragged that he on his own killed the young Jewish beauty to whom other swashers had been merciful.
By contrast, both Acting Commissar Taranovich and Verchola, a member of the Proskurov Duma, publicly denounced the bloody actions of the Petluras. They saw to it that Semosenko was publicly informed about the massacre which was very important for the safety of those who still alive. Despite the demands made by representatives of the Jewish community to the Petlyura government, Semosenko was never punished. |
