Pinsk massacre
| Pinsk massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of pogroms during the Russian Civil War and the Polish–Soviet War | |
Photographs of those executed | |
| Location | Pinsk |
| Date | April 5, 1919 |
| Target | Jewish "Bolshevik infiltrators" |
Attack type | Summary executions |
| Deaths | 35 Jews |
| Perpetrators | General Antoni Listowski Major Aleksander Narbutt-Łuczyński of the Polish Army |
The Pinsk massacre was the mass execution of thirty-five Jewish residents of Pinsk on April 5, 1919, by the Polish Army. The Polish commander, reportedly acting on warnings from two Jewish soldiers about a possible Bolshevik uprising, sought to instill terror among the Jewish population. The event occurred during the opening stages of the Polish–Soviet War, after the Polish Army had captured Pinsk. The Jews who were executed had been arrested while meeting in a Zionist center to discuss the distribution of American relief aid; the meeting was described by the Poles as an "illegal gathering". The Polish officer-in-charge ordered the summary execution of the meeting participants without trial, and based on the information about the gathering's purpose that was founded on hearsay. The officer's decision was defended by high-ranking Polish military officers, but was widely criticized by international public opinion.