During the ten months of the Russian occupation of Galicia the Jews of
that section suffered even more severely than did the Jews who dwelt
in the Russian Pale. For here the Jews were the subjects of the enemy
and no pretext was needed for their maltreatment. The Ruthenians and
Poles who occupied the land were friendly to Russia, which promised
them independence and power. But Russia could expect nothing from the
Jews of Galicia, for they were already in the possession of rights and
liberties not enjoyed by the Jews of Russia, and the weight of the
Russian invasion fell upon them mercilessly. Here thousands of Russian
Jewish soldiers were forced to give up their lives in an attempt to
impose upon the free Jews of Galicia the servitude from which they
themselves so ardently longed to escape in Russia. They were forced
to witness the desecration by their Russian companions-in-arms of
synagogues, the outrage of Jewish women and the massacre of innocent
and helpless civilians of their own faith.