The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-06-10
HORRORS OF THE
MASSACRE OF JEWS
ACCOUNT GIVEN OF SOME or THE
ATROCITIES BY ONE WHO WAS
AN EYE WITNESS.

NEW YORK, May 27.-Mendel
Schumester. a Jewish refugee. lust ar
rived from Kishineff. told his story Of
the atrocities before Deputy Com
mssiouers Of Immigra ton Murray and
Robinson today. He witnessed the
massacre and counted the bodies of
fifty dead victims in the street many
OF them mutilated and helped to dig
some of the graves.
Schumeister is a medium sized mild
hammered young man. He left his
father. mother, brother and two sisters
in Klshineff, where they were all born.
He does not know whether they are
still alive, but he has appealed to his
uncle at Odessa to find out and If pos
sible to send them to his country
SChumeister arrived on the North Ger
man Lloyd liner Grosser Kurfuerst,
which sailed from Bremen May 18th.
The refugee said: The first disturb
ance occurred on Sunday. when bands
of young men began smashing the win
dows of Jewish shops and synagogues.
There was no killing that day, and if
the police had desired to stop the riot
| ing they could have done so. Monday
morning the second day of the Pass
over. Jewish people returning from
the synagogues We're assaulted by ruff
! fans. My home was in Podulsky
street. Next door to me lived a shoe
maker who was the first victim of the
rioters. The shoemaker was killed
and his body horribly mutilated. We
heard the cries in our yard, and my
family and l bolted all the doors and
windows and hid in the cellar The
fact that there was a Christian living
in the same house with US saved our
lives that day, for this Gentle stood at
the door and the rioters supposed there
were no Jews in the house. The mob
swept through Podulsky street like an
awful storm, it's noise being mingled
with the cries of those who were be-
ing butchered.
When we heard no further noise "
made our way from our hiding place
and the sight that met our gaze was
awful. l saw a number of women lying
dead in the street some with large
holes in their faces. Later l found that
these holes were made by spikes which
were driven through their heads by the
murderous mob.
Some men, still alive. were without
their lips, while others had been nailed
to the walks by their ears. In most
cases the mutilation was about the
head and shoulders.
Il saw over fifty dead. The mob
consisted of both men and women.
| The men did the killing with huge
| stones and bars, While the women fol-
! lowed the men and robbed the dead
and wounded. There were policemen
in the mob and on Tuesday following
the riots l saw four policemen in full
uniform locked up in the general po-
| lice station By order of the police
! commissary.
The ST. Petersburg Government
/ telegraphed the Governor of Bess-
arabia Monday evening. The tele-
gram reached him at 8 o'clock. 1t
commanded him to stop the rioting and
protect the Jews. This telegram
was withheld by the Governor until
after midnight, the fiercest rioting, evil
IDENTIFY inspired, taking place between
these hours. The general hospital was
filled with victims, and on Tuesday
morning shortly after daylight. the
Jewish cemetery was placed under
heavy military guard and We survi-
! vors all volunteered as grave diggers
I for the victims.
Women suffered far worse than men
4 in the attacks by the mob. There was
no class distinction. Rich Jews were
made the victims of the mob as readily
as the poor. Most of the Jews in Kishi-
neff are small storekeepers while some
are prominent merchants. They all
suffered alike. however.
Il left Kishineff on the Sunday fol-
| lowing the riots. We had no passports,
! but l met an agent of the steamship
line, who volunteered to see me across
the border My local passport, that is
the paper that l required in business
between the cities, was confiscated by
/ the Kishineff police, and if it had not
been for the steamship agent 1 could
| never have made my way to Bremen"