Isaac Babel , a war correspondent embedded with the Red Army , in his 1920 diary wrote down many first-hand accounts of atrocities committed by both sides against Jews ( Most of them were retreating Red Army in Ukrainian Front ) . On 5 April 1919 in Pinsk , a Polish officer , after hearing reports that Jewish inhabitants of the city were preparing to riot , panicked and ordered the execution of thirty-five Jews ( Pinsk massacre ) . Similar hostilities , resulting in fewer casualties , took place in other towns . In Lida soldiers stopped several elderly Jews and cut off their beards with sabres and knives . During the pillage of Lida , Jewish homes were looted and 30 Jews were killed . Violence against Jews caused a major uproar and condemnation in the Polish Parliament . Ignacy Daszyński , leader of the Polish Socialist Party called all soldiers that committed acts of violence against the Jewish population " hooligans in uniform " . However , Minister of War General Józef Leśniewski , in his written reply to the speaker of Parliament , defended anti-Jewish violence by Polish units in Lida , referring to Jews as a Communist-minded community and stating that the Polish Army had the right to kill their adversaries
Pinsk massacre
Pinsk massacre
Controversies of the Polish–Soviet War