Kielce Pogrom (1918)

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The Kielce pogrom took place on November 11, 1918 in the Polish city ​​of Kielce ( Świętokrzyskie ). It killed four and wounded a large number of the city's Jews .

Jews had been resident in Kielce since 1833. They were expelled in 1847 but returned to the city soon after. In 1909 their number had risen to 11,206, mainly due to immigration from neighboring smaller towns.

According to the report by Henry Morgenthau, Sr. , who headed the Mission of The United States to Poland , after the withdrawal of the Austrian troops , the city authorities allowed a gathering of the Jews in the city theater, in which the political and cultural autonomy of the Jews in itself forming Polish nation-state should be discussed. In the course of the meeting there were anti-Polish speeches, which were recorded by a crowd of people outside the building.

After Morgenthau, the meeting in the crowded theater broke up around 6:30 p.m. When there were about 300 people in the auditorium, militiamen entered the theater and began a search for weapons and pushed the Jews out of the stairs. A group of Polish anti-Semites had gathered there and attacked the Jews armed with clubs and bayonets . Jews were also attacked outside the theater, and shops and workshops were devastated. Four Jews were killed and large numbers wounded. Several civilians were linked to the acts, but no charges had been brought up to the conclusion of the Morgenthau Report.

The Jewish population of Kielce continued to grow despite the pogrom and in 1921 reached the number of 15,530 or 37.6% of the total population.

See also

Web links

Wikisource: Mission of The United States to Poland: Henry Morgenthau, Sr. report  - sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b William Glicksman: Kielce . In: Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.): Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. tape 12 . Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit 2007, pp. 146-147 ( online: Gale Virtual Reference Library ).
  2. ^ A b c Mission of The United States to Poland, Henry Morgenthau, Sr. Report
  3. ^ A Record of Pogroms in Poland. (PDF - based on information from Russian author MJ Olgin , a Jewish communist who represented the Bolsheviks in Poland.) In: The New York Times . June 1, 1919, pp. 1–3 , accessed February 26, 2013 .
  4. ↑ Województwo Świętokrzyskie - Kielce (including Kielce Synagogue / Synagoga w Kielcach) (PL). ( Memento of May 17, 2006 in the Internet Archive ).

Coordinates: 50 ° 52 ′ 15.6 "  N , 20 ° 37 ′ 43.7"  E