Language:
English
Year of publication:
2008
Titel der Quelle:
East European Jewish Affairs
Angaben zur Quelle:
38,3 (2008) 303-320
Keywords:
Petliura, Symon Vasyl'ovych,
;
Abramson, Henry.
;
Jews Historiography
;
Antisemitism History 1800-2000
;
Pogroms
Abstract:
Deplores historiographical attempts to whitewash Petlyura and the Ukrainian Directory of any responsibility or accountability for the pogroms perpetrated by Petlyura's army in 1919. Responds to criticism of Fishcer's views made by Henry Abramson, the author of "A Prayer for the Government", in which Abramson claimed that he succeeded in synthesizing the "Ukrainian" and "Jewish" historiographies of the pogroms. Fischer notes that he never claimed that Petlyura instigated or organized the pogroms, but Petlyura's accountability for the pogroms goes far beyond his failure to stop them. Moreover, the thesis of the Directory's inability to influence events in the territory under its control defies the historiographical model regarding the Ukrainian Republic of 1919 as a precedent in nation-building. Addressing the question of Petlyura's antisemitism, calls to define the latter term while applying it to the Ukrainian situation of 1919. The Directory's readiness to grant the Jews national autonomy does not necessarily attest to a lack of antisemitic attitudes on its part; the Directory might have had more complex motives.
DOI:
10.1080/13501670802450939
URL:
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