Massacre of Uman

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The Masscre of Uman was the 1768 massacre of the Jews and Poles of Uman, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, together with the Jews and Poles from other places who had sought refuge there, by the Ukrainian Haidamacks (Haidamaka).

Uman was a well-fortified city that garrisoned a major part of Polish troops that were in control of Ukraine. This fact made Uman one of the primary targets of Koliyivschyna movement, and, probably, the siege of Uman was planned well in advance. It is known for a fact that Ivan Gonta was accused of connections with haidamaka by local Jewish community three months before the siege; however, due to the lack of hard evidence and the sudden death of a star witness on his road to Uman no formal charges were made. It also should be noted that although Ivan Gonta was de-facto the commander of Uman cossacks he was not the most senior in their ranks.

In early June of 1768 the leader of the Ukrainian rebels Maksym Zalizniak marched on Uman after he razed a number of Jewish cities. As Zalizniak openly encouraged the slaughter of Jews and Poles, the city was filled with refugees. A large camp filled with Polish nobility and their private militia, regular soldiers and Jewish refugees was stationed outside the city walls. However, the city was filled with troops that outnumbered the forces of rebels, and, therefore it was decided that some of the forces should guard the city while Gonta with “cossack” units (largely being the private mercenary militia of Potocky family) would meet the Haidamakas in open battle. However, when Gonta met Zalizniak's units he openly declared that he is going to join Koliivschyna. Some sources claim that the formal commanders of the unit were sent back to Uman, although the authenticity of the story is highly disputed.

The united troops razed the encampment on June 14th and tried to take the city by surprise by hiding the rebels behind the backs of the regular forces. However, the attempt failed, and so the siege started on June 17th. The very first day large number of Ukrainians deserted the ranks of Polish forces and joined the rebels when the city was surrounded.

After three days of the siege the city fell to Zalizniak in spite of a courageous defense in which the Jews also played an active role. The tragic point occurred during the peace negotiation on the third day of the siege that concluded in a combat and subsequent takeover of the city. It is unclear whether the resulting fight was initiated by Ukrainian or Polish side as the accounts of the event differ. The Jews then gathered in the synagogues, where they were led by Leib Shargorodski and Moses Menaker in an attempt to defend themselves, but they were destroyed by cannon fire. Most of the remaining Jews in the city were subsequently killed.

Most historians[who?] give an estimate of number of Poles and Jews who were killed in the “massacre of Uman” as to be between 12,000 and 20,000 (it includes Polish army units and private militia). The most conservative estimate is given by Gonta during his trial (2,000) while some of the Jewish historians[who?] put the number close to 50,000. The anniversary of the commencement of the massacre, Tammuz 5, henceforth known as the “Evil Decree of Uman,” was observed as a fast and by a special prayer. Nachman of Breslov settled in Uman, and before his death there, he said, “the souls of the martyrs (slaughtered by Gonta) await me”. After his death in 1811, the Hasidim of Breslov used to come to Uman in large numbers to prostrate themselves at his grave.

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