After a severe fight between the local police and the leader of the bandits which have recently been busy kidnapping wealthy persons in this neighborhood, the head of the band was killed.
Kidnapping, which had, in the past year, become a serious threat to the life of residents in Harbin, is supposed to have been mainly in the hands of Ataman Woliewski, who has now met his death at the hands of the police. Among his victims were a number of Jews, including Ezekiel Alter, whose mangled body was found some time ago. He had also made several unsuccessful attempts to seize prominent members of the Jewish community. It now appears, also, that Woliewski, before he was surprised by the police, was planning the kidnapping of Rabbi Kissilov of Harbin, with the object of imposing a large ransom on the community.
Woliewski was the son of a wealthy land-owner in the neighborhood of Wilna. His father left Wilna some thirty years ago and settled in Irkutsk, where he served as a judge. On the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, Woliewski joined the roving band of the notorious Semenov, who was responsible for one of the blackest and most murderous chapters in the history of Siberia. During the Civil War, Woliewski took part in many of the depradations on the general population for which Semenov, with his White Battalions, was responsible.
Following the killing of Woliewski, numerous arrests have been made among his followers. There is now every reason to believe that his band has been broken up, and that the kidnappings which had terrorized the population will now cease.
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.
