Massacre of Uman

The Massacre of Humań, or massacre of Uman (Polish: rzeź humańska; Ukrainian: "уманська різня" or "взяття Умані") was a 1768 massacre of the Jews, Poles and Ukrainian Uniates by haidamaks. The murders were committed at the town of Uman in the far eastern part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Uman was a well-fortified town that held a large garrison of Bar confederation troops under the command of Rafał Mładanowicz, the governor of Uman who joined Bar Confederation. This fact made Uman one of the primary targets of Koliyivschyna movement, and it is likely that the siege of Uman was planned well in advance probably even by Russian officers. Ivan Gonta, an officer in the private militia of the owner of Uman Count Franciszek Salezy Potocki (made up of Household Cossacks) was accused of connections with haidamaka by some people from the local Jewish community three months before the siege and long before the uprising.

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 all Uman cossacks not only of his unit of about 100 and he was not the most senior in their ranks but just he was the representative of the owner of Uman who had not supported the Bar Confederation. His participation was needed to justify the orders of Mladanovich and others who had betrayed the owner by joining Bar confederation and giving up the city to it. The noblemen learnt from letters of the owner to Gonta captured by them that Gonta would become a Polish nobleman and the owner of villages if Gonta makes some important mission according to the order of the owner during the siege of Uman.

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 various national minorities irrespective of their faith with exception of Poles, Jews, and Romanians to be used for mixed marriages with Rusyns (as Ukrainians called themselves that time) after the conversion of Jews and Poles into the Orthodox faith and in fact Poles and Jews were killed as well, the town was filled with refugees.

A large camp filled with Polish nobility and their private militia, regular soldiers, and Jewish refugees were positioned outside the city walls. Bar Confederation troops outnumbered the forces of adult rebels, and therefore it was decided that some of the forces should guard the ramparts while Gonta and his cossack unit and all other Uman household Cossacks would meet the Haidamakas in an 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 two household Cossack regiments were sent by Gonta back to Uman, although the authenticity of the story is highly disputed.