panic. But right there, among the crowd which was assembled in front of
the church, gazing in horror at the bodies of the victims, some unknown
persons spread the rumor--which, it may be parenthetically remarked,
proved subsequently unfounded--that two Jewish pickpockets had been
caught in the church.

At that moment whistles were suddenly heard--nobody knew whence they
came--which served as the signal for a pogrom. The street mob began to
assault the Jews who happened to pass by, and then started, according to
the established procedure, to attack the Jewish stores, saloons, and
residences in the streets adjoining the church. The hordes were under
the command of thieves, well known to the police, and of some unknown
strangers who from time to time gave signals by whistling, and directed
the mob into this or that street. As in all other cases in which the
danger did not threaten the authorities directly, there were but few
policemen and soldiers on hand--which circumstance stimulated the
rioters in their further activity.

On the following day the rioters were "busy" on many other streets, both
in the center of the town and in its outskirts, except for the streets
which were densely populated by Jews, where they were afraid of meeting
with serious resistance. [1]

[Footnote 1: In some places the Jews defended themselves energetically,
and in the ensuing fight there were wounded on both sides.]

The police and the troops arrested many rioters, and carried them off to
the police stations. But for some unknown reason they did not summon
enough courage to disperse the crowd, so that the mob frequently engaged
in its criminal work in the very presence of the guardians of public