Talk:Battle of Lemberg (1918)

From wikisource, Morganthau report:

2. Lemberg, Nov. 21-23, 1918.

On Oct. 30, 1918, when the Austrian Empire collapsed, the Ukrainian troops, formerly in the Austrian service, assumed control of the town. A few hundred Polish boys, combined with numerous volunteers of doubtful character, recaptured about half the city and held it until the arrival of Polish re-enforcement on Nov. 21. The Jewish population declared themselves neutral, but the facts that the Jewish quarter lay within the section occupied by the Ukrainians and that the Jews had organized their own militia, and further, the rumor that some of the Jewish population had fired upon the soldiery, stimulated among the Polish volunteers an anti-Semitic bias that readily communicated itself to the relieving troops. The situation was further complicated by the presence of some 15,000 uniformed deserters and numerous criminals released by the Ukrainians from local jails, who were ready to join in any disorder particularly if, as in the case of wholesale pillage, they might profit thereby.

Upon the final departure of the Ukrainians, these disreputable elements plundered to the extent of many millions of crowns the dwellings and stores in the Jewish quarter, and did not hesitate to murder when they met with resistance. During the ensuing disorders, which prevailed on Nov. 21, 22 and 23, sixty four Jews were killed and a large amount of property destroyed. Thirty eight houses were set on fire, and owing to the paralysis of the Fire Department, were completely gutted. The synagogue was also burned and a large number of the sacred scrolls of the law were destroyed. The repression of the disorders was rendered more difficult by the prevailing lack of discipline among the junior officers to apply stern punitive measures. When officers’ patrols under experienced leaders were finally organized on Nov. 23, robbery and violence ceased.

On December 24, 1918, the Polish Government, through the Ministry of Justice, began a strict investigation of the events of Nov. 21 to 23. A special commission headed by a Justice of the Supreme Court, met in Lemberg for about two months, and rendered an extensively formal report which has been furnished the Mission. In spite of the crowded dockets of the local courts, where over 7,000 cases are now pending, 164 persons, ten of them Jews, have been tried for complicity in the November disorders, and numerous similar cases await disposal. Forty-four persons are under sentence ranging from ten days to eighteen months. Aside from the civil courts the local court-martial has sentenced military persons to confinement for as long as three years for lawlessness during the period in question. This Mission is advised that on the basis of official investigations the Government has begun the payment of claims for damages resulting from these events.