June 10

Jews martyred by the Cossack militia
(d. 1648)
In 1648, Cossack rebels led by Bogdan Chmielnicki burst into Poland.

Jews martyred by the Cossack militia

(d. 1648)

In 1648, Cossack rebels led by Bogdan Chmielnicki burst into Poland. Chmielnicki, the son of a small landowner of the Ukrainian low aristocracy, was the leader of the Cossack revolt against the rule of the Poles, which led to the unification of Russia and the Ukraine after his death. To strengthen the people's ranks, Chmielnicki and his men resorted to a strong dose of nationalism, a tactic which made them forerunners of modern ethnic cleansing. As soon as they had identified several elements that made the Jews of the Ukraine "extraneous" to the nation, Chmielnicki began to favor their systematic elimination.
On June 10, 1648, six thousand Jews went into hiding in the fortified city of Nemirov, Poland in an attempt to escape the fury of the Cossack militia. But the Cossacks, under their commander Ganya, invaded the city and destroyed the entire Jewish population. Today, there are some who still celebrate Bogdan Chmielnicki as a Ukrainian national hero.

A READING 

Implore grace for me, O heavens,
if within you there is a God!
A path to lead me to him
I have not found:
pray for me, O heavens!
My heart has died,
prayer fades from my lips,
my hand is lifeless,
there is no hope for me.
How long? Until where and until when?
If there is justice, let it show itself!
But if it appears only after I have passed
above the firmament,
may its throne be shattered for all eternity,
and may heaven in its cruelty burst!

(Bialik, from his Poems).