The Commission of Inquiry into the illegal acts of Government officials has received the report of the members of the Duma, M. P. Arakantzeff, 1. G. Schtchepkin, and V. R. Jacobsohn, who were delegated by the Duma to go to Bialystok to inquire on the spot into the causes of and the evidence relating to the riots. After an examination of the report, the Commission makes the following statement of facts:-

On June 1st (14th), a pogrom broke out in Bialystok which lasted until the 3d (16th). During the pogrom many were killed, many wounded, and Jewish property was destroyed. Up to this moment it is not exactly known how many were killed and how many were wounded because some of the killed were carried out of the town and were not brought into the Jewish hospital; and many of the wounded were treated at their own homes. Eighty­two wounded Jews were brought into the Jewish hospital, among whom were three burnt bodies and seventeen wounded. To the Christian hospital six killed and twelve wounded Christians were brought. The pogrom took place in the following circumstances: A few days before June 1, rumors were circulated in Bialystok about the preparation of a pogrom. The master of the police, Derkatcheff, was murdered on the 28th of May. The murder of Derkatcheff was a very dark and mysterious affair. Derkatcheff had enjoyed much popularity among the Jews, to such an extent that he used to be called "the Jewish master of the police." Derkatcheff was opposed to any outrages or riots; so he was, on the 21st of May, delegated by General Bogaiewski to the Surash Street, where a conflict arose between soldiers and local residents. When Derkatcheff appeared on the spot he immediately succeeded in ending the disturbance, but a sharp counter-dispute arose between him and the police-officer Sheremetieff, who was a striking contrast to Derkatcheff. In consequence of this occurrence the latter not only asked the Governor to dismiss Sheremetieff, but he insisted on the prominent citizens of Bialystok supporting him in this application. The residents of Bialystok, however, looked on Sheremetieff with suspicion. The murders of police officials which had previously occurred in Bialystok excited the anger of the police against all Bialystok Jews, whom they used to accuse of being the cause of these murders. Besides this, the Organization of the so-called Genuine Russian Men was continually propagating the idea that the Jews are the enemies of Czardom, and that all the evils and the whole confusion in the country emanate from Jews or from the Jewish agitation: that therefore the struggle with the Jews was a struggle with the conspiracy which was ruining the country, and that in conquering the Jews the conspiracy would be combated, and then there would be peace and quietness. These opinions were very deeply rooted among the police officials, and from them they passed to the obscure masses, who were influenced by the police. Shortly before the pogrom two camps were formed, one consisting of the police with the Black Hundred, and the other of Jews and those who are taking part in the movement for freedom. The latter were considered as enemies to Russia and of the established order, and the police, as well as their agents, were excited against and opposed to them and the Jews. The fact that besides the Bund there existed in Bialystok an anarchist party (the Surash Street was particularly unpopular among the police, who did not venture to appear there) was not unknown to the police, who accused all the Jews of being anarchists. The word "Jew" and the word "conspirator" were synonyms to the police and they used the word "revolutionary" to designate a Jew or a conspirator. It was a duty of course to fight revolutionaries and to annihilate them. For this purpose fighting material was prepared in the army by the agitation of the Black Hundred. Proclamations began to circulate among the soldiers stating that one must kill the conspirators, that the Imperial Duma was Jewish, that the revolutionaries were opposed to the Czar, and so on. After May 3, the sergeants in one of the regimental barracks were commanded to communicate to the soldiers that on the 1st of the following June a Catholic procession would take place, among which the Jews would throw a bomb, and there would be a pogrom. At the same time rumors were circulated by the police­sergeants about the expected pogrom. In consequence, the people of the town began to talk about it, and some of them were so sure that there would be a pogrom that they sent their families away from the town.

It is noteworthy that the officers and the hooligans, who are not usually well disposed towards each other, fraternized during the disturbances. For instance, two officers approached a company of hooligans who were rioting on the market-place, and conversed with them in a friendly manner. One company of hooligans were running in the direction of the Lipova Street, but one of the officers called them to return from there and directed them to go to the Nikolaieva Street, whither they went. A policeman who subsequently noticed some other hooligans, sent them also to that street, and afterwards a company of soldiers were sent there, too. The company fired, but the hooligans quietly proceeded with their nefarious work, knowing that the firing did not concern them. Similar facts were noted in many places. Hooligans, aided by policemen, wrecked shops and pillaged goods whilst the soldiers stood by and shot every Jew who appeared in the street. The hooligans were never injured by the firing, nor were they prevented from committing outrages. Not only policemen and hooligans, but even the military, joined In the pillaging. One soldier who had plundered so many wares that he could not carry them away, asked one of his comrades to assist him.

During all this time the secret agents of the police were endeavoring to provoke fresh disturbances and supply a pretext for further attacks upon the Jews. The police fired and attributed the firing to the Jews. They called upon the military to fire upon the Jews. All Jews, even quite old men, were named as revolutionaries, and immediately killed. The result was always the same, whether the charge was made by a policeman, a soldier, or a hooligan. Afterwards it became superfluous to charge the Jews with being revolutionaries. It was quite sufficient to cry out "Jew!" and to call the attention of a soldier to an individual who was running through the street. or was in hiding, for the soldier immediately to shoot him. During these days, namely, Friday and Saturday, pillage was not the leading feature of the pogrom. It was murder, committed by the police and the military. All the bodies of the killed during these two days bore bullet and bayonet wounds, and very seldom injuries caused by sticks or stones. Some of the killed had wounds of both kinds.

In spite of the presence of the governor , the gendarmes, and the soldiers, the hooligans felt quite safe at the railway station. Nobody tried to prevent them from doing their "work." On the contrary, they were encouraged and assisted in every way. Upon the arrival of every train, whenever Jewish passengers appeared on the platform, the hooligans began to cry: "Shidi! Beat the Shidi," and they started attacking the Jews with canes, stones, and sticks. Some Jews ran away and fled along the bridge to the town. But on the other side of the bridge military pickets were posted, and policemen searched them to see whether they carried weapons. They were driven back into the hands of the murderers. Some Jews escaped to the railway-station, but brutal attacks were made on them by the hooligans, who were standing at the station-gate. The hooligans created scenes too terrible for description. They penetrated into the first-class refreshment room, where some Jews had hidden, and dragged them out to the gate, where they slaughtered them in cold blood. The commandant, the gendarmes, and the officers looked on indifferently at the butchery of these unarmed, helpless men lying wounded on the ground. The agonies which the poor martyrs suffered did not provoke the slightest emotion on the part of the officials. On the contrary, they seemed to be much amused and delighted, and they incited the hooligans to "work" more ardently. A few officers tried to interfere in favor of the Jews, but the hooligans were so self-confident and audacious that they paid no attention to the officers and continued their bestial work. It was a general carnage.

One of the Jews fought and struggled, bit and kicked for dear life, and succeeded in escaping from the hands of the mob and entering the station. He was covered with blood. and had one eye kicked out, but the hooligans standing at the entrance of the station-room surrounded him and began beating him mercilessly. They caught him by the legs and swung him on the stones. The witness C. (who was present) does not know what was the end of this shocking incident as he was compelled to hide himself.

A Jew, of the name of Mulovir, who was knocked down, and punched, and cut in numerous places, saw the mob beating the Jews in the first-class waiting room. He rushed up to the kitchen on the highest floor, but the hooligans seized him there and began cudgelling him. He succeeded in escaping. There was with him another Jew, Abramski, who jumped through the window to the ground and broke one of his legs.

While all these scenes of horror were taking place, the governor was present at the station.

On Friday, 15th June, the atrocities at the railway station increased in brutality. A Jew. of the name of Kurrekta. who gained two crosses of St. George for distinction during the war and was saved by an officer, states that several Jews arrived at the station along with himself. They were violently beaten, fell to the ground fainting, and were then killed. He witnessed the murdering of Shimon Salmen. who arrived from the little village of Trostiantzi, Mordvha Lew and Bruinski. His own escape was miraculous. As he lay hidden on the roof he saw most terrible scenes. The hooligans beat the dead bodies with stones in the presence of the gendarmes.

Another Jew, of the same name, was murdered by the hooligans. He had hidden himself behind the commandant begging for mercy, but the commandant pushed him away, and the hooligans attacked him like wild beasts, chewing his clothing and biting him--his body bearing several marks of external violence. This scene was witnessed also by a man named Arkin who was at the railway station.

When a lady who was present had almost gone out of her mind at the sight of the horrors, an officer tried to calm her just as if nothing out of the ordinary was taking place, saying: We must look quietly at all these scenes, because the Jews deserved much more for having thrown bombs at a procession and killed our priests; they deserve to be completely annihilated.

So it appears that the extravagant falsehood published by the police about the killing of priests was not the suggestion of sheer lunacy, but part of a deliberately manufactured intrigue.

When the train of the South-Western Railway arrived, ten Jews came out of the cars, eight of them were killed in atrocious fashion. Kronenberg, who succeeded in escaping, saw how these eight Jews were killed. Many soldiers, officers, and gendarmes were present. In the waiting-room was the inspector Rondkovski, with the assistant procurator of Bialystok. Rondkovskl and the assistant-procurator were standing at the window watching the murdering of these poor victims. When Kronenberg arrived at 6 o'clock in the evening at Grodno, he went to the Governor, where he met also the assistant-procurator. When he reported the carnage at the railway station, the Governor replied: "It is the Jews' fault, as they have fired and thrown many bombs."

On inquiry, it was stated by a man named Bibula that nine Jews and one Jewess arrived by the train, and on their journey they had been guarded by gendarmes and soldiers. The latter accompanied them to the terminus, but at the station left them. The poor people then fell into the hands of the hooligans, who knocked them down on the pavement and beat them to death. No official appeared on the scene of these horrible occurrences. It was heartrending to hear the cries and the groans of the victims. One of the Christian civilians did his utmost to intervene. but he was immediately killed. The engineer Isfirsvod states that a student was killed. The victims writhing with agony were knocked and pushed, thrown and flung and beaten with iron pegs and sticks. Their cries were heard at a considerable distance from the scene of the barbarities.

On the same Friday (3/15 of June), several Jews living around a "liesopilnia" (saw-mill) which belongs to Zablondovski, at the Nikolaievskaia, gathered in Zablondovski's courtyard and hid themselves there. Some of them hid in the factory, some in the rooms of the caretaker Petkevitch and the master Nemiro. The caretaker and the master refused to allow the Jews to stay in their rooms, as the police had forbidden them to give refuge to any Jew. So they passed to the boiler-room where the heat was terrible, and the children were almost choked by the air in the narrow abode.

It is necessary to arrive at some conclusions about the facts which have been described. First of all, it is noteworthy to state the method of the pogrom. The pogrom was known beforehand. The pogrom was prepared. The rumors about the pogrom were used to frighten the people. Even the day was appointed. It is therefore clear that the pogrom was not an accidental occurrence provoked by national or religious hatred. Considering that the agents of the police circulated lies about murders committed by Jews, one arrives at the conclusion that these lies were deliberately and methodically manufactured according to a settled plan. The preparation of the pogrom on a day when Christian processions are held, and when the fanatical mob is usually very much excited, means that an appropriate moment was selected. It would be easy to understand that the mob, excited by the supposed firing by Jews, would make a pogrom and commit atrocities on the spot of the alleged offense; but it is impossible to imagine that without preparation a pogrom would have broken out so quickly and in many places simultaneously. Taking these circumstances into consideration, one arrives at the conclusion that the pogrom was previously prepared and organized; but by whom? We find that before the pogrom the leaders of the Jewish community communicated to M. Kister, the Governor, that they were in a state of panic concerning the preparations that were being made. They indicated Sheremetieff as a person who had appointed even the day for the pogrom, branding him as an open enemy of the Jewish population. The Governor replied that Sheremetieff was his most courageous and energetic official. The pogrom breaks out. The Governor arrives during the day at Bialystok and stays a long time at the railway station. Afterwards he drives to the police office to meet Bogaiewski, and at last he disappears from Bialystok altogether, and goes to Vilna to the Governor-General. Driving through the town the Governor sees with his own eyes the wounded and killed. At the station the hooligans are murdering the Jews, but the Governor makes no further attempt to stay the massacre than if he were a powerless civilian. One must suppose either that the Governor knew of the approaching pogrom, and, when it began, took no steps to quell it because the pogrom was ordered and necessary, or somebody had secretly taken away from the Governor the power to act in the matter.

One must also remark that when, on June 2, the members of the Imperial Duma, Jacobsohn and Sheftel, presented to the Minister of the Interior a petition to stop the pogrom, the Minister declared that he would wire immediately to order that vigorous measures should be taken. Nevertheless, many Jews were killed from June 2, at five o'clock in the afternoon, till June 3 in the morning. Where, then, were the so-called measures? Were orders given and not taken? This idea is too absurd. It was more likely that at Bialystok it was not considered necessary to pay any heed to the instructions of the Minister because of the existence of instructions emanating from a power higher than that of the Minister--a power which guaranteed immunity and which approved their criminal actions.

Considering both the conduct of the Governor and the futility of the Minister's measures, we are forced to the conviction that the pogrom was directed by some secret power--a power which may, or may not, be known to the authorities.

As to the local police, at no time did they take any measures to quell the pogrom. On the contrary, their agents excited the baser elements of the population by circulating various rumors of crimes committed by Jews during the Catholic procession. The police actually participated in the pogrom and in the pillaging. They indicated who were to be slain, and gave instructions for the slaughter. They led the bands of hooligans during the pillaging of the shops, and they allowed them to commit every cruelty. Notwithstanding that martial law had not been proclaimed, the military commanders who took control of local affairs, placed at the disposal of the police armed soldiers to kill the unarmed Jews. The Jews offered no resistance. In a state of panic they hid themselves in their houses, in cellars, in gardens, and other places.

Having considered all the facts, the Commission concludes: (1) That there was no hatred of a national, religious, or economic character between the Jews and Christians in Bialystok. (2) That hostility to the Jews existed only among the police, who exerted themselves to promote ill-feeling in the army, by accusing the Jews of taking part in the movement of freedom. ( 3) That the pogrom was previously planned and prepared by the administration and that the local population was quite cognizant of such preparation.

(4) That the circumstance by which the pogrom started was also previously arranged. The administrator predicted the circumstance, and therefore it could not be regarded as a spontaneous occurrence provoked by religious or national fanaticism.

(5) That the military and the civil authorities showed by their conduct during the pogrom a complete disregard of all laws as well as the special regulations promulgated on February 20, 1906. Quite systematically peaceful Jewish residents, women and children, were shot. The shooting was ostensibly directed against the revolutionaries, but it is not proved that any revolutionary act took place.

(6) That not alone did the civil and military authorities refrain from taking any steps to quell the pogrom, but, assisted by their agents, they themselves killed, outraged, and pillaged.  

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the people of the United States are horrified by the reports of the massacre of Hebrews In Russia, on account of their race and religion, and that those bereaved thereby have the hearty sympathy of the people of this country.