THE SACK OF ODESSA

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 121, 16 February 1920, Page 7

THE SACK OF ODESSA

TERRIBLE CHAPTER IN HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM WELTER OP CHAOS AND INEFFICIENCY DREGS OF POPULATION RISE | (By Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright (Rec. February IG, 1.30 a.m.) London, February 14. Tho Constantinople correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" sends a story of the reenpturo and sack of Odessa which is ono of the most terrible chapters in the history of Bolshevism. Eye-witnesses state ihat Odessa was taken not by the war operations of the Bolsheviks, but by an unprovoked rising of the dregs of tho populalion, in which thousands of persons were massnnred. These armed looters and murderers knew that the spirit of the volunteer forces in tho city was utterly broken. Tho insurrection could have been crushed in a few hours by refoluto action, but: resolution was the last thing that could be expected from tho volunteer officers. There had been such enormous losses in tho volunteer rank and file, chiefly duo to typhus, that a continuous stream of superfluous officers flowed to Odessa, which was the one city of luxury behind Denikin's front. ... Twenty thousand of Denikms officers were in the city when the havoc began on February s,'but not even a handful could be found to organise the defence.Shilin, the general commanding, was amongst the first to quit the citv. The remaining officers looked on helplessly, while looting of the defencel<Sss city proceeded day and night. The so-called fighting was nothing moro than coldblooded murder which made the streets reek. Refugees believe that large numbers of officers paid for their lack of initiative with their lives. The insurgents had neither the desire nor the ability to keep prisoners. A Ukrainian detachment for a while attempted to maintain order and then started to fight its way out to the Bessarabian frentier. . Meanwhile the quays were more and moro crowded with unending streams of miserable fugitives demanding help from tho British warships Cores, Sportive, and Ajax, whose behaviour in ■ rescuing the refugees was beyond praise. The seamen forthwith requisitioned every ship in the harbour and manned an ice-breaker, without "which probably "nobody "would havo escaped. Tho British embarked 12,000 people, sadly leaving many times more still crowding the quays and falling under the fire of the Bolshevik maxims. There were one or two incidents worthy I of record amid the welter of chaos and . inefficiency. When not even a platoon of professional, troops was willing to defend the quays, a body of cadets, aged ten. and upwards, maintained a defence despite continuous casualties. The British rescued all tho survivors. Another gallant action was the salving cf two nearly completed Russian torpedo boats, which necessitated' cutting a passage through the ice. The arsenals and workshops ere row

in Bolshevik hands, constituting a constant menace to the Allies. Bed' cavalry, by a forced march from Perekop, entered the city on February 9. The correspondent adds that the utter collapse of Denikin's left wing changes the whole aspect in the Near East, and the problem is now one of fho gravest emergency. No settlement of the Turkish question can now pretend' to be honest unless it provides against dangers a month aeo seemed well-nigh impos-sible.—Atis.-N.Z. Cable Assn. THE REFUGEES' FLIGHT DISASTERS TO TRANSPORTS. (Rec. February 35, 5.5 p.m.) Constantinople, February 13. Two further disasters to ships carryin? refugees from Odessa are reported. The steamer Gresor grounded -at "Kylios. One hundred and fifty refugees were taken off by the use of rocket apparatus fis the steamer was breaking up. The Russian liner Emperor Peter the Great, with 700 refugees aboard, struck a mine. Most of tho passengers were saved — Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. THOUSANDS WAITING TO LEAVE.

Constantinople, February 9. Ten thousand refugees are on ships at Odessa, waiting to escape from the city. Russian officers and other refugees aTO marching in small bands to Tiraspol, on the Rumanian border. The British 'battleship Ajax, three British destroyers, an American destroyer, and a French gunboat are standing by. Tho British cruiser Ceres is towing a steamer loaded with refugees to Varna—Reuter.