Zlata Bychowski, a Jewish woman colonist, was killed and the houses of the rest of the Jewish colonists at the village Strugovo-Bude, in the region of Klynezy, were plundered on Sunday afternoon in an organized anti-Jewish attack by a group of the village peasants.
A report received here today states that the leader of the anti-Jewish attack, Afanasi Shkapa, who attempted to escape, was arrested by the police, together with two peasants of the village, who are held for trial on the charge of having organized an anti-Jewish pogrom.
Mrs. Bychowski, who was a widow, tried to save herself, when her house was attacked, by jumping from the window. She was followed by Shkapa, who smashed her head with an iron bar in the street while the villagers looked on. The peasants under Shkapa’s leadership surrounded every Jewish house, breaking open the doors and windows, beating the inhabitants, their wives and children, and pillaging. The village Soviet, as well as the Communists to whom the victims appealed for protection, did not interfere. After murdering Mrs. Bychowski, Shkapa left the village on horseback. He was caught the next day.
The village has 600 peasants, among whom there lived 9 Jewish colonist families, who settled on land granted to them in 1924. It is reported that since they first settled, the Jewish colonists were subjected to persecution by the neighboring peasants, who held that the Jews took away their soil. As the result of this feeling, the Jewish colonists were boycotted, their children (Continued on Page 4)
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.
