Massacre of Uman

The Massacre of Humań, or massacre of Uman (Polish: rzeź humańska; Ukrainian: уманська різня or взяття Умані) was the 1768 massacre of the Jews, Poles and Ukrainian Uniates by haidamaks at the town of Humań (now Uman) in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.

Uman was a well-fortified town that held a large garrison part of Polish troops. This fact made Uman one of the primary targets of Koliyivschyna movement, and it is likely the siege of Uman was planned well in advance. Ivan Gonta, an officer in the private militia of Count (made up of Registered Cossacks) was accused of connections with haidamaka by the local Jewish community three months before the siege. However, due to the lack of hard evidence and the sudden death of a star witness no formal charges were made. Although Ivan Gonta was de facto the commander of Uman cossacks he was not the most senior in their ranks.

In early June 1768 the Ukrainian rebels under the command of Maksym Zalizniak marched on Uman after capturing Cherkasy, Korsun and Kaniv. As Zalizniak openly encouraged the slaughter of Jews and Poles, the town was filled with refugees. A large camp filled with Polish nobility and their private militia, regular soldiers and Jewish refugees was positioned outside the city walls. Polish troops outnumbered the forces of rebels, and therefore it was decided that some of the forces should guard the ramparts while Gonta and his cossack unit would meet the Haidamakas in open battle. However, when Gonta met Zalizniak's units Gonta openly declared that he was going to join Koliyivschyna. Some sources claim that the formal commanders of the unit were sent back to Uman, although the authenticity of the story is highly disputed.

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