Germans in the area were busily working for the Einsatzgruppe. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of
the European Jews, 1961, p. 202 - in this case, I am quoting from the 1961 edition)
The Slavic population stood estranged and even aghast before the unfolding spectacle of the
"final solution." There was on the whole no impelling desire to cooperate in a process of such
utter ruthlessness. The fact that the Soviet regime, fighting off the Germans a few hundred
miles to the east, was still threatening to return, undoubtedly acted as a powerful restraint
upon many a potential collaborator. (Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, 1985,
p. 308)
First, truly spontaneous pogroms, free from Einsatzgruppen influence, did not take place; all
outbreaks were either organized or inspired by the Einsatzgruppen. Second, all pogroms were
implemented within a short time after the arrival of the killing units. They were not
self-perpetuating, nor could new ones be started after things had settled down. (Raul Hilberg,
The Destruction of the European Jews, 1985, p. 312)
It would seem, Mr. Wiesenthal, that you were an eyewitness - the only eyewitness - to the largest pogrom of the
war, and that at the same time, at least two of the foremost chroniclers of the Jewish Holocaust have quite overlooked
this program, and in the case of Raul Hilberg, flatly deny that any such pogrom ever took place. According to
Hilberg, all Ukrainian pogroms took place after the arrival of the Germans, were instigated by the Germans, were small
in scale, and had no momentum of their own.
In view of this oversight on the part of the historians, Mr. Wiesenthal, shouldn't you get in touch with them and
recount your experiences to them so that the story of the Lviv pogrom is not lost to future generations, and so that
Jewish hatred of Ukrainians is not diminished by the loss?
Sincerely yours,
Lubomyr Prytulak
HOME DISINFORMATION PEOPLE WIESENTHAL 906 hits since 18Jan98
Wiesenthal Letter 16 Sep 9/97 Shifting date for the Lviv pogrom
September 9, 1997
Simon Wiesenthal
Jewish Documentation Center
Salztorgasse 6
1010 Vienna
Austria
Dear Mr. Wiesenthal:
In my letter to you of September 8, I demonstrated that two prominent historians seem to be unaware of the
pre-German Lviv pogrom which killed 5 to 6 thousand Jews, at least as claimed by Morley Safer and yourself on the 60
Minutes broadcast, The Ugly Face of Freedom of October 23, 1994. I will remind you that in that 60 Minutes broadcast,
Morley Safer twice asserts - once seemingly in your hearing - that the Lviv pogrom antedated the arrival of the
Germans, thus placing culpability squarely at the feet of the Ukrainian perpetrators.
In a continuing effort to learn more about this Lviv pogrom, I turned to your biographical Justice Not Vengeance,
only to discover you claiming that this pogrom postdated the arrival of the Germans:
Thousands of detainees were shot dead in their cells by the retreating Soviets. This gave rise
to one of the craziest accusations of that period: among the strongly anti-Semitic population
the rumour was spread by the Ukrainian nationalists that all Jews were Bolsheviks and all
Bolsheviks were Jews. Hence it was the Jews who were really to blame for the atrocities
committed by the Soviets.
All the Germans needed to do was to exploit this climate of opinion. It is said that after
their arrival they gave the Ukrainians free rein, for three days, to 'deal' with the Jews.
(Simon Wiesenthal, Justice Not Vengeance, 1989, p. 36, emphasis added)
As the timing of the Lviv pogrom is critical to assigning blame, I would have expected this timing to have been
verified with care and to be either consistent between the two reports, or else with an explanation offered for any