Polish Government Bars Memorial for Thirty-six Jewish Martyrs of Pinsk

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The erection of a monument to the thirty-six Jewish young men who were shot in 1919 without court proceedings, shortly after the occupation of Pinsk by Polish troops, was finally prohibited by the Polish Ministry of the Interior.

The decision to erect a monument in the Jewish cemetery of Pinsk where they are buried, was taken by the Pinsk City Council. The Wojewoda, district governor, of Pinsk vetoed the decision. The council then appealed to the Minister of the Interior, who confirmed the veto of the Wojewoda. It was declared today that the Pinsk city council will appeal to the supreme tribunal.

The memory of the thirty-six Pinsk Jews is held in great reverence by the Jewish population of Pinsk and surounding towns, for their martyrdom in the cause of Jewish relief work. Their death was the result of their desire to assure relief for the war stricken Jewish population. They were arrested while attending a meeting shortly before Passover in 1919, to arrange for the distribution of Passover aid. While the meeting was in session, a Polish officer entered the hall and declaring that they were Bolsheviks “conspiring against the Polish army,” ordered his men to line them up against the wall of a monastery situated in the center of the town and shoot them.

The “Pinsk affair” was the subject of several investigations as a result of the outcry of Polish Jews against the severe anti-Jewish excesses which occurred in Poland in 1919. The city was visited shortly after the occurrence by the American Investigation Committee, headed by former Ambassador Henry Morgenthau and General Jadvin. It was also the object of an investigation by the Commission of His Britannic Majesty’s Government, headed by the late Sir Stuart Samuel. The occurrence was also investigated by a special commission sent to Pinsk by the first Polish Sejm.