35 JEWISH LEADERS OF PINSK DIE IN MASS EXECUTION
Pinsk, Belarus (JFK+50) On April 5, 1919, 35 Jewish leaders of Pinsk* were executed by the Polish army at the beginning of the Polish-Soviet War and after the town was captured by the Poles.
About 75 Jews had met together in a Zionist center to discuss distribution of American relief supplies. Major Aleksander Narbut-Luczynski learned of the meeting but was told by Jewish soldiers these leaders were Bolshevik subversives. The Major ordered 35 of the Jews to be taken to the city's cathedral where they were lined up against a wall and shot.
An American mission sent to Pinsk by President Woodrow Wilson and led by Henry Morgenthau, Sr.** found that 300 Jews were killed in this and related incidents. As far as the executions at Pinsk, the Morgenthau Report described Major Luczynski as "incredibly stupid."
*Pinsk is a city in Belarus at the confluence of the Pina and Pripyat Rivers.
**Henry Morgenthau, Sr. (1891-1967) was born in New York City & educated at Cornell University. HMS was Secretary of the Treasury under FDR.
SOURCE
"This Day in Jewish History//1919: 'Incredibly Stupid' Polish Major Has 35 Jewish Leaders Killed in Pinsk," by David B. Green, April 5, 2016. www.haaretz.com/
Pinsk Martyrs
www.zchor.org/pinsk/pinsk.htm
{{PD-US-expired}}
