Murder Story of Lwów Jews in the City of Lwów (Petliura Days)

On this grim Thursday, at dawn, the army surrounded the Jewish quarter. Escape was almost impossible. A starting sign was given to the gangs waiting for the signal. Today it is difficult for me to describe and even harder to believe, because the things that happened there completely went beyond the human imagination. I do not know what I could compare it to. Gladiators' fights were mere child's play compared to this mass slaughter. At the beginning they looted and burned almost all the Jewish shops. In particular, an attractive object for those destroyers were the Jewish synagogues. The first victims were those unfortunates who, after the news spread, tried to survive by escaping. They were caught like food taken out with a fork from a cooking pot. They died surrounded by a group of murderers. This was only the introduction to [the murderers'] "heroic fighting." Organized gangs with axes, crowbars, and basically anything that could serve as a tool for crime, rushed to take revenge - no matter on whom or for what. They rushed in a murderous ecstasy, breaking into apartments, smashing, destroying anything they laid their hands on. They threw children out of windows onto the pavement. Others were dragged wounded down the stairs and handed over to cutthroats waiting in the street. Above the whole district one heard the great cry of a wild animal in a murderous frenzy, mixed with that of its victims. Those who were still able to move, mad with pain and fear, were taken to the synagogue. Driven in this way, blood-covered groups of half alive people, were locked into synagogues under vigilant guards, leaving behind those fortunate ones who succeeded in dying on the way. Women, especially young ones, were stripped naked, knocked down, beaten, and humiliated in the most bestial manner that a man could mistreat a woman. Driven by fear and the desire to remain alive, old men who under normal conditions would not have been able to cross the road without the help of a passer-by, ascended the steepest roofs and jumped from one to the other, performing acrobatic feats to flee from the grips of the criminals. Such desperate exploits did not entail a risk since, if the person did not manage to jump or escape, at least he would avoid a painful death! Trapped in the synagogues, the ... remaining ones were burned to death. The murderers, still not satisfied with the lives they had taken, stood around like hunters waiting to finish off outside any people who tried to get out to escape the fire. Despite everything, a number of people survived, some by claiming that they were not Jews, some because their homes were passed over by accident, and some because they were not discovered in hiding. Our good fortune during this terrible misfortune was due to the fact that at that time our living quarters were outside the Jewish quarter. The part of our family that was in that quarter miraculously survived. Two cousins managed to come to us early in the morning. They were believed when they said they were not Jews. My aunt (their mother) and grandmother managed to hide. Unfortunately, their father was taken away and their grandfather was murdered in their apartment. They dragged him [their father] covered with blood, down the stairs of the house. "Take me away," he pleaded, "do not let me die on the pavement. Two hidden women heard his pleas, from hiding - but what could they do? There were no rescuers - they were only murderers. And there were many of them.

...The imposition and collection of contributions were preceded by the deplorable incidents of the so-called Petlura Day, the anniversary of Sholom Schwartzbard's heroic assassination in Paris of Hetman Petlura, whose armed forces had slaughtered thousands of Jews in the Ukraine. The Ukrainian clergy and bourgeoisie utilized this anniversary to again incite the masses against the defenseless Jewish community. Under the supervision by the German Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police) and the Ukrainian militia, criminal elements rushed in to kill and rob the Jews, thousands of whom were severely beaten and their dwellings ransacked. Lastly, to crown this affair, about 2,000 persons were detained, mostly members of the rich Jewish bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia. On that memorable day most of the Jewish intelligentsia were murdered. From the windows one could see horrible sights: Groups of teenagers armed with cudgels, knives, and shovels rampaged through the half-deserted streets, hitting indiscriminately any passerby who looked Jewish. Thousands of dwellings in the Jewish quarter were plundered and destroyed. That was an unforgettable day of bloodshed for the Jewish population. In addition to the killed and wounded, some 2,000 persons were taken to an unknown destination....

...Then the so-called Petlyura days came. The anniversary of the death of Simon Petlyura, hetman of a popular Ukrainian army, falls on July 28.... [O]n the morning of July 29, Ukrainian policemen swooped down on Jewish houses, removing young Jewish men and women, and marched them to Lecki Street. The operation was repeated throughout that day and the next until the prison was packed with people. Even the prison courtyard swarmed with Jews; only a handful succeeded in getting away. Hair-raising scenes unfolded. No food was brought in. From time to time gangs of Ukrainian policemen burst into the place, dealt blows with rifle butts, and screamed "This is for our hetman Simon Petlyura. Each visit resulted in broken heads, ribs, and bones. This, however, turned out to be a minor trouble. Petlyura's blood could only be avenged with blood. And this is, in fact, what happened. Several thousand Jews, mostly intelligentsia, did not return home after the Petlyura days. The sites of their shooting and burial remain a secret which they took with them....

… First of all, I think a week after [the Germans occupied Lwow], I do not remember for sure, there was Petliura Day. He [Petliura] was a Ukrainian who was assassinated by a Jew. The Germans gave the Ukrainians 24 hours to run amuck. The prisons were filled with political prisoners from the time of Russian rule whom they [the Russians] apparently murdered when they left Lwow. QUESTION: Who murdered them? Answer: The Russians. However, after the Germans entered Lwow -- despite the fact that there were Jews among the political prisoners- the Ukrainians accused the Jews of perpetrating this murder. Therefore, they [the Ukrainians] were granted [by the Germans] license to run wild. They simply entered [Jewish] homes in order to take the men to prison and beat them up there. My father was among those taken. We remained for a whole day in hiding, waiting. We were fortunate: father returned, although he was totally covered with blood. It was Germans soldiers who brought him back as they were ordered to. After the rioting was over, the Germans brought home those who had survived the beatings. I remember my father entering and saying: "Since I survived this day, we will survive"….