News Report of pogrom of 1905 in the Guardian-UK
Days of terror
Barbarous massacre in Odessa Jews wiped out
Monday November 6, 1905
The events in the suburbs of Moldavanka, Slobodka, and Bugaieoka last night were of a most terrible nature. Immense bands of ruffians, accompanied by policemen, invaded all the Jewish houses and mercilessly slaughtered the occupants.
Men and women were barbarously felled and decapitated with axes. Children were torn limb from limb and their brains dashed out against the walls. The streets were littered with the corpses which were hurled out of the windows. The houses of the murdered Jews were then systematically destroyed, not the smallest piece of furniture being left intact. In this way the Jewish population of the district was wiped out.
In the poorest quarter of the town the inhabitants began to massacre the students. The newly formed citizen militia offered some resistance and saved the lives of many of the students. The police, however, appeared on the scene, and after disarming the militia shot them all with their own revolvers, thereby leaving a free field to the hooligans, who behaved more like wild beats than men.
It is impossible to estimate the number of those killed in the rioting, but the total must be enormous. The number of wounded can, however, he ascertained from the number of patients in the various hospitals. In the Jewish Hospital this morning 3,715 cases, most of them serious, were under treatment; in the Municipal Hospital 1,140, and at the different ambulance stations 682.
The number of hooligans killed is roughly 120. A visit to the Jewish quarters of Moldavanka and Slobodka shows how completely the work of destruction has been done. All the Jewish houses there have been destroyed. Yesterday four waggons full of killed, each containing 30 corpses, were driven to the cemeteries, and 189 bodies have been removed to-day.
The magnitude of the outbreak is unprecedented, and a citizens' committee has been organised to relieve the distress. Temporary refuges have been formed for the survivors, and homes are being sought for the orphans.
Days of terror
Barbarous massacre in Odessa Jews wiped out
Monday November 6, 1905
The events in the suburbs of Moldavanka, Slobodka, and Bugaieoka last night were of a most terrible nature. Immense bands of ruffians, accompanied by policemen, invaded all the Jewish houses and mercilessly slaughtered the occupants.
Men and women were barbarously felled and decapitated with axes. Children were torn limb from limb and their brains dashed out against the walls. The streets were littered with the corpses which were hurled out of the windows. The houses of the murdered Jews were then systematically destroyed, not the smallest piece of furniture being left intact. In this way the Jewish population of the district was wiped out.
In the poorest quarter of the town the inhabitants began to massacre the students. The newly formed citizen militia offered some resistance and saved the lives of many of the students. The police, however, appeared on the scene, and after disarming the militia shot them all with their own revolvers, thereby leaving a free field to the hooligans, who behaved more like wild beats than men.
It is impossible to estimate the number of those killed in the rioting, but the total must be enormous. The number of wounded can, however, he ascertained from the number of patients in the various hospitals. In the Jewish Hospital this morning 3,715 cases, most of them serious, were under treatment; in the Municipal Hospital 1,140, and at the different ambulance stations 682.
The number of hooligans killed is roughly 120. A visit to the Jewish quarters of Moldavanka and Slobodka shows how completely the work of destruction has been done. All the Jewish houses there have been destroyed. Yesterday four waggons full of killed, each containing 30 corpses, were driven to the cemeteries, and 189 bodies have been removed to-day.
The magnitude of the outbreak is unprecedented, and a citizens' committee has been organised to relieve the distress. Temporary refuges have been formed for the survivors, and homes are being sought for the orphans.
Comments
Today the Guardia would say the Jews had it coming to them.