The escalation of the Ukrainian-Polish conflict to fierce fighting in the streets could not but cause lots of killed and wounded not just among the military, but also among civilians. Considerable damage and plunder was brought upon the city infrastructure, administration buildings, private homes — partly due to their strategic importance and partly because of their location near the frontline. According to approximate calculations, the 21-day-long war costed 5 million crowns of material loss to the city.

Already at the beginning of the conflict, Roman Catholic priest Szukalski of the St. Nicholas church called the Polish population to fight the Ukrainians by all possible means, "blessing" thus the faithful patriots for a holy war. The participation of children, teenagers, and civilians in the armed conflict on the Polish side led to the brutalization of war blurring the distinction between peaceful residents and soldiers. It was for the first time that the right of violence was granted not only to soldiers authorized by the state, but also to people not bound by any rules and statutes.

Immediately after the conflict broke out, deserters and representatives of lower social classes appeared on the streets and in trams and started looting. The Jewish militia was able to deter them from attacking shops in the Jewish district for some time, but Ukrainian forces leaving Lviv was a catastrophe for them. On November 22 Poles disarmed the militia without resistance. However, this did not save the Jewish population from the accusations of being unloyal to the Poles.

A bloody pogrom of the Jewish district was going on for three days. It was committed by prison escapees, Polish militarymen, and commom Lvivians. About 78 people aged 11 to 80 died during the time, 453 persons were seriously injured. In all, 3 620 families became victim (13 375 persons). The pogrom consisted in robberies, murders, rape, arson, and plunder. The specially formed Jewish Rescue Committee strived to meticulously document the consequences of the crimes. According to its account, over 150 persons were murdered, over 50 buildings were burned down, including the Great Suburban Synagogue, the Chasidic Synagogue, and the Tempel. About 500 shops and workshops were looted.