Donzov and Shveika, the right-hand men of the pogromist Attaman Klimenko, who carried out many pogroms against the Jewish population in Ukrainia during the civil war period, have been shot by order of the Soviet court at Kiev. Three other members of the Klimenko bands who were tried at the same time have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from three to eight years.
In Uman alone, over 3,000 Jewish families were massacred by the Klimenko bands. Donzov and Shveika, Klimenko’s adjutants, were also the chiefs of his cheka which tortured all persons arrested on suspicion of Communism or sympathy with the Soviet regime. When the Soviet authority was established in Ukrainia, Donzov and Shveika were among those members of the Klimenko bands who covered up their traces and obtained Soviet posts. Donzov was connected with the commissariat of agriculture where he was responsible for considerable sabotage in the early years of Jewish land settlement in Ukrainia.
When the Soviet government began to “cleanse” its personnel their anti-Semitism was revealed and inquiries were made which led to the disclosure of their previous activities. They were thereupon tried, found guilty and ordered executed.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
