paper
reports, four hundred and fifty Jews were murdered, among these
some Jewish soldiers who had been rewarded with "St. George"
medals for bravery. Long lists of victims--such as could be
identified--were at that time published in the newspapers. _The
pogrom was directed exclusively against the Jews, and the
Christian population of the city did not suffer in the least._

Concerning the pogroms in Poliesiye, Kossovsky quotes from the
official organ of the Menshevist party, the _Novaia Zaria_, of Moscow,
June 10, 1918, the following:

The large Jewish population of this region (Poliesiye) finds
itself in a particularly tragic situation. The "activity" of the
Red Army in Novogorod-Sieversk, Seredina-Buda, and Glukhov,
where the Soviet detachments massacred the Jewish populations,
has found an echo in other cities, and the sword of Damocles
hangs at present over the unfortunate Jewish people. In the city
of Potchep the Jews saved themselves from a pogrom by collecting
in time fifteen thousand rubles, which they handed over to the
pogrom-mad Red Army detachment upon its entrance into the city,
in addition to giving it a splendid reception and a sumptuous
feast. As reward for this reception the bashi-bazouks of the
Soviet decided to spare the city.

Pogroms and other manifestations of anti-Semitism have been so common
in Bolshevist Russia as to make the "Jewish question" one of extreme
difficulty and importance. In numerous Soviets, notably Yaroslavl,
Vitebsk, and Smolensk, Jewish members were openly insulted by the
Bolsheviki; such epithets as "_szhid!_" ("sheeny!") were hurled at the
Jewish members. Once more I quote from the article by Kossovsky:

In the provinces the pogrom mania invaded even the Soviets, not
mentioning the Red Army which became more and more infected with
it. According to the Kiev _Naiye Zait_, in the Vitebsk Soviet
shouts were heard, "Chase the Jews out of the Soviets and its
institutions!" In the Yaroslavl Soviet, according to information
printed in the Moscow Social-Democratic newspaper, _Vperiod_,
there were often heard insulting and shameful cries directed
against the Jews. In Smolensk, according to _Svobodnaya Rossia_,
members of the Red Army would come to the Soviet and demand that
Jews be barred from holding posts as war commissaries and
commanders. A lively anti-Semitic pro