Wilno, 19-21 kwietnia 1919 roku

In January 1919, Vilnius was seized by the Bolsheviks, but on April 19, Polish Army units entered the city. On April 21, Vilnius was fully under Polish control. This was when several tens of Jews were killed by firing squad without a trial. There was American involvement in the attempt to clarify the Vilnius developments, including envoy Hugh Gibson, President of the American Jewish Committee Louis Marshall and Henry Morgenthau, chairman of the U.S. mission in Poland. A Report on the Occurrences in Wilna, Presented to the Polish Government by the Jewish Community of Wilna was preserved among Morgenthau’s documents. The report indicates that Polish troops oppressed the Vilnius Jews. Additionally, the Morgenthau files contain a deposition by Leon Jaffe, a well known Jewish writer and Zionist. The files of the U.S. Department of State contain a report by Szalom Asz, an outstanding Jewish writer born in Polish lands.