Symon Vasylyovych Petliura (Ukrainian: Си́мон Васи́льович Петлю́ра; 22 May [O.S. 10 May] 1879 – May 25, 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He became the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army and the President of the Ukrainian People's Republic during Ukraine's short-lived sovereignty in 1918–1921
Petliura is considered a controversial figure connected with the pogroms of Jews during his rule of the Ukrainian National Republic. According to Peter Kenez, "before the advent of Hitler, the greatest mass murder of Jews occurs in the Ukraine in the course of the Civil War. All participants in the conflict were guilty of murdering Jews, even the Bolsheviks; however the Volunteer Army had the largest number of victims." The number of Jews killed during the period is estimated to be between 35,000 and 50,000. A total of 1,236 violent attacks on Jews had been recorded between 1918 and 1921 in Ukraine. Among them, 493 were carried out by Ukrainian People's Republic soldiers under the command of Symon Petliura, 307 by independent Ukrainian warlords, 213 by Denikin's army, 106 by the Red Army, and 32 by the Polish Army.
However, it has been documented that Petliura actively sought to halt anti-Jewish violence on numerous occasions, introducing capital punishment for the crime of pogroming. Conversely, he is also accused of not having done enough to stop the pogroms and being afraid to punish officers and soldiers engaged in crimes against Jews for fear of losing their support.
It is time to realize that the world Jewish population—their children, their women—was enslaved and deprived of its national freedom, just like we were.
It should not go anywhere away from us; it has been living with us since time immemorial, sharing our fate and misfortune with us.
Chief Otaman Petliura
Isaac Wisniowecski (husband of our Perl Kafton) was murdered by soldiers of the White Army while trying to protect his sons Jack and Moe. He was buried in secret that night by his son-in-law Samuel Zelig Kleiman, aided by his father David Kleiman, in the local Jewish cemetery “up the hill“. There is no grave marker. He was buried “just inside the gates”.
The story below (taken from Wikipedia) tells of the commander of these forces, Anton Ivanovich Denikin. It is tragically significant that this man was honored by the Russian Orthodox Church and was "honored" by having his grave moved in 2005 from New Jersey to Donskoy Monastery in Moscow, at the order of Vladimir Putin.