After a few months’ pause the war between the Cossacks and the Poles broke out anew, and it was now transferred to Polish territory. Again the first victims were Jews, but the slaughter was necessarily limited by the comparatively small number of people left to slay. ♦1651 Nov.♦ This second rebellion ended in the defeat of the Cossacks, and one of the terms of peace was that the Jews should be allowed to settle again, and resume their financial oppression, in the Ukraine. However, the Cossacks felt bound by the treaty only so long as they felt unable to break it. As soon as the opportunity offered, they once more raised the standard of revolt, and Chmielnicki, aided by the Russians, carried victory and devastation far and wide. ♦1654–1655♦ The Jews who were beyond the reach of the Cossacks succumbed to the fury of their Russian allies, and thus the community of Wilna was completely wiped out. Then to the enemies of Poland was added Charles X. of Sweden, Charles XII.’s grandfather; “a great and mighty man, lion of the North in his time.” ♦1656♦ The battle of Warsaw, which lasted three days, resulted in a splendid victory for this “imperious, stern-browed, swift-striking man, who had dreamed of a new Goth empire.” In that battle the chivalry of Poland was broken, and John Casimir, the most brilliant cavalier of all, was nearly ruined. The Jewish communities which had been spared by Cossack and Russian were impoverished by the Swede. But even this fresh calamity did not exhaust the measure of their woes. Those who had escaped slaughter at the hands of Cossacks, Russians, and Swedes were now exposed to the hatred of the Polish general, Czarnicki, who attacked them on the ground that they had acted in collusion with the Swedish invaders. And while Poland was turned into a vast battlefield, whereon the nations cut each other’s throat, the Jews were treated as common foes by all. During these ten years of international manslaughter, no fewer than a quarter of a million of Polish Jews were massacred. The humiliation of Poland brought lasting ruin to the Jews. Fugitives, reduced to the verge of starvation, were scattered over Europe seeking shelter--from Amsterdam and the Rhine in the north and west, to Italy, Hungary, and Turkey in the south and east. Everywhere they were welcomed by their brethren, who fed and clothed them, and many of the funds intended for the maintenance of the Jews in Palestine were diverted to the relief of these helpless wanderers.