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Lwów pogrom (1918)

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Lwów pogrom of Jewish population of Lwów (now Lviv) took place on November 21 - November 23 1918 during Polish-Ukrainian War and resulted in several dozen victims.

Chaos

The chaos during Polish take-over of the city was accompanied by unrest in which dozens of civilians - Poles, Jews and Ukrainians - perished.

The Jews of Lwów formed a militia and attempted to remain neutral in the Polish-Ukrainian conflict over the city. Poles resented the Jewish neutrality, and there were reports, leading to exaggerated rumors, that some Jews collaborated with the Ukrainians and shot at the Polish forces. On November 22, after taking the city in the night of November 21 to November 22, Polish forces interned and disarmed the Jewish militia.

Before withdrawing from the town, Ukrainian forces let the criminals out of the prisons. The town was also full of Austrian army deserters. Poles also armed a number of volunteers (including some former criminals) who promised to fight the Ukrainains. The pogrom broke out after Polish forces managed to get control over all parts of the city, including the Jewish ghetto. The criminals, bands of Polish militia volunteers, and even drunken soldiers started robbing and pillaging parts of the city.

Polish forces were able to bring order to the city after one or two days (reports vary), on November 23 or November 24. Ad hoc courts handed severe verdicts during the riots. About one thousand people well jailed for participating in the riots.

Aftermath

The individuals accused of participation in the riot were punished by Polish authorities after they established themselves in the city. Eventually, the events also resulted in Polish government awarding liberal minority rights for Polish Jewish population (Little Treaty of Versailles).

The events were widely reported by European and American press, including The New York Times. Figures for the death toll vary; according to William W. Hagen, approximately 150 Jews were murdered and 500 Jewish shops and their businesses were ransacked, while the 1919 Morgenthau report counted 64 Jewish deaths. Jewish contemporary sources reported 73 deaths; Polish officer and amateur historian Czesław Mączyński noted in his memoirs that official city documents support only 41 deaths. In the chaotic events, more Poles than Jews have died, and some dispute whether the label pogrom it technically correct. News reports of the massacre, claimed by some to have been greatly exaggerated, were later used as a means of pressure on Polish delegation during Paris peace conference into signing the Minority Protection Treaty (the Little Treaty of Versailles).

Polish and Jewish historians differently interpret the events of the Lwów 1918 riots. Jewish historians write about the unwillingness of Polish army to suppress the riots, or even the army support for them, and point out that Polish sources exaggerate the Jewish support for the Ukrainians. Polish historians, on the other hand, write about army attempts to suppress the riots, stress the Jewish-Ukrainian collaboration, and argue that the exaggerated news reports of that era blew this event out of proportions.

Notes

  1. ^ Robert Blobaum, Antisemitism and Its Opponents in Modern Poland, Cornell University Press, 2005, ISBN 0801489695, Print, p.127-129
  2. ^ Joshua D. Zimmerman, Contested Memories: Poles and Jews During the Holocaust and Its Aftermath, Rutgers University Press, 2003, ISBN 0813531586, Google Print, p.33-34
  3. Andrzej Kapiszewski
  4. Blobaum, Robert. Antisemitism and Its Opponents in Modern Poland.
  5. Template:Pl icon Czesław Mączyński, Boje Lwowskie, 1921
  6. Template:En icon Tadeusz Piotrowski (1997). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... McFarland & Company. pp. p. 41-42. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |chapterurl= and |coauthors= (help)

See also

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