Independent Ukraine and Jewish National Autonomy

The period from March 1917 to August 1920 constitutes a special chapter in the history of the Jews of Ukraine.  The Ukrainians established a National Council (the Rada) which in January 1918 proclaimed the separation of the Ukraine from Russia; this episode came to an end in August 1920, when the Red Army completed the conquest of the Ukraine.  During this time the leaders of the Ukrainian nationalist movement attempted to reach an agreement with the Jews. They established relations with the leaders of Zionism in eastern Galicia, and jointly waged a struggle against Polish aims in the Ukraine.  During this period the Jews were represented in the Rada (with 50 delegates), a secretariat for Jewish affairs was established (July 1917), ana law was passed on "personal national autonomy" for the national minorities, among which the Jews were included.  The Jewish ministry passed a law providing for democratic elections to the administrative bodies of the communities (December 1918), a Jewish National Council was formed, and the Provisional National Council of the Jews of the Ukraine was convened (November 1918).  These institutions were short lived.  In July 1918 the autonomy was abolished, the Jewish ministry was dissolved and the pogroms which then took place - without the Ukrainian government taking any effective measures to assure the security of the Jewish population - proved that the whole of this projectt had been directed more at securing the assistance of the Jewish parties in order to achieve complete separation from Russia than at really developing a new positive attitude toward the Jews.