<<A>> Ukrainian chapter a Jewish aid worker's memoir of sorrow (Podolia, 1918-20)

"Eli Gumener's 1921 Yiddish memoir, A Ukrainian Chapter, is a rare historical source about relief work spanning the two most devastating years of the pogroms during the Russian Civil War. He concentrates on the collapse of Jewish communities in Podolia, a region in southwest Ukraine. Trained as a lawyer in St. Petersburg, Gumener (1886 - 1941) worked for the Committee to Aid Jewish Pogrom Victims, the Russian Red Cross, and the socialist party Fareynikte. Thus, he brings a unique perspective on the leaders, parties, and organizations struggling to respond to the suffering and dislocation that came with wild episodes of violence. This annotated translation serves as a roadmap for the reader by clarifying the memoir's institutional, intellectual, and cultural history within its social and political contexts. A Ukrainian Chapter is a contribution to the history of pogroms in a local region, through the day-to-day experiences of an aid worker "in the trenches.""