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Thehistory of the Jews in 19th-century Poland covers the period ofJewish-Polish history from the dismemberment of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (see also:Partitions of Poland), until the beginning of the 20th century.

Official Russian policy would eventually prove to be substantially harsher to the Jews than that under independent Polish rule. The lands that had once been Poland were to remain the home of many Jews, as, in 1772,Catherine II, thetzarina of Russia, instituted thePale of Settlement, restricting Jews to the western parts of the empire, which would eventually include much Poland although it excluded some areas in which Jews had previously lived. By the late 19th century, over four million Jews would live in the Pale.

Initially, Russian policy towards the Jews of Poland was confused, alternating between harsh rules and somewhat more enlightened policies. In 1802, the Tsar established theCommittee on the Improvement of the Jews in an attempt to develop a coherent approach to the Empire's new Jewish population. The Committee in 1804 suggested a number of steps that were designed to encourage Jews to assimilate, though it did not force them to do so. It proposed that Jews be allowed to attend school and even to own land, but it restricted them from entering Russia, banned them from the brewing industry, and included a number of other prohibitions. The more enlightened parts of this policy were never fully implemented, and the conditions of the Jews in the Pale gradually worsened. In the 1820s, theCantonist Laws passed byTsar Nicolas kept the traditional double taxation on Jews in lieu of army service, while actually requiring all Jewish communities to produce boys to serve in the military, where they were often forced to convert.

One of the most important events of that period was the establishment of theRabbinical School, aJunior High School for Jewish male youth founded in 1826 on the basis of the Tsar's decree of July 1, 1825 and existed until the school year 1860/1861.^[1]

In four school years the following subjects were taught:Old Testament,Midrash (commentaries on the Holy Scriptures),Talmud, general history,history of Poland,mathematics,geography,Hebrew,Polish,German andFrench. The graduates from the School were members of the Jewishintelligentsia related with theassimilation movement.^[1]

Only a few graduates dedicated themselves to the profession ofrabbi. Supplementary classes were planned for them. Most of the graduates formed Warsaw'sprogressive Jewish elite: entrepreneurs, merchants, scientists, journalists, artists and patrons of the arts.

The founding committee appointed by the government ofCongress Poland consisted of three Poles, includingStefan Witwicki. The rabbinical school was headed byAntoni Eisenbaum from its founding until his death in 1852, then byJakub Tugendhold until its closure in 1862. Jews and Christians worked as teachers. Altogether about one thousand Jews graduated from the rabbinical school. The school inspiredpatriotic attitudes. Some students, likeStanislas Hernisz, took part in theNovember Uprising of 1831.

The Warsaw Rabbinical School was bitterly criticized by theOrthodox Jews’ circles.^[1] Throughout Eisenbaum's tenure at the school, rumors abounded that boys attending the school were fedtreyf meals and were generally pressed to abandon their religion. It did not help matters that the school inspector was a catholic priest, theChristian HebraistLuigi Chiarini, a notorious critic of theTalmud.^[2] Worse yet, the school's instructor of Hebrew and Bible was Abraham Buchner, like Eisenbaum aradical enlightener, who taught Hebrew using Chiarini's grammar and usedMendelssohn's Biblical commentaries.^[2]

Though the Jews were accorded slightly more rights with theemancipation reform of 1861, they were still restricted to the Pale of Settlement and subject to restrictions on ownership and profession. In 1881, however, the status-quo was shattered with the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, which was falsely blamed on the Jews.

The assassination prompted a large-scale wave of anti-Jewish riots, calledpogroms throughout 1881–1884. In the 1881 outbreak, pogroms also occurred in Russia, ina riot in Warsaw twelve Jews were killed, many others were wounded, and women were raped while over two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.^[3] The new czar,Alexander III, blamed the Jews for the riots and issued a series of harsh restrictions on Jewish movements, but large numbers of pogroms continued until 1884, with at least tacit government approval. The pogroms proved a turning point in the history of the Jews in Poland, and throughout the world. They prompted a great flood of Jewish immigration to the United States, with almost two million Jews leaving the Pale by the late 1920s, and the pogroms set the stage forZionism.

An even bloodier wave of pogroms broke out from 1903 to 1906, including theKishinev pogrom (April 1903), theOdessa pogrom (October 1905), theKiev pogrom (October 1905), and theBiałystok pogrom (April 1906). Hundreds of Jews were killed and many more wounded.

The Jewish Enlightenment,Haskalah, began to take hold in Poland during the 19th century, stressing secular ideas and values. Champions of Haskalah, theMaskilim, pushed for assimilation and integration into Russian culture. At the same time, there was another school of Jewish thought that emphasized traditional study and a Jewish response to the ethical problems ofanti-semitism and persecution, one form of which was theMusar movement. Though the Jews in the Pale were generally poorer and less educated than in other areas, they were still part of thedebate over the future of Judaism in the 19th century.

By the late 19th century, Haskalah and the debates it caused created a growing number of political movements within the Jewish community itself, covering a wide range of views and vying for votes in local and regional elections.Zionism became very popular with the advent of thePoale Zion party as well as the religiousPolish Mizrahi, and the increasingly popularGeneral Zionists. Jews also took upsocialism, formingGeneral Jewish Labour Bund and theFolksists (People's Party) which supported assimilation and therights of labor. Many Jews took part in theRevolutionary Movement of 1905.

Jews joined also Polish struggles for an independent Poland. Many Jews participated in a number of Polish insurrections against theRussian Empire, including theKościuszko Uprising (1794), and theJanuary Insurrection (1863). Jewish studentMichał Landy was killed by Russian soldiers during a Polish demonstration in Warsaw, 1861.^[4] Although Christians weren't allowed by the police to participate in his burial, Michał Landy became soon a powerful symbol of Polish Jewish brotherhood.^[5]

• History of the Jews in Poland
  • History of the Jews in Poland before the 18th century
  • History of the Jews in 18th-century Poland
  • History of the Jews in 19th-century Poland
  • History of the Jews in 20th-century Poland
  • Jewish-Polish history (1989–present)
  • Hasidic Judaism in Poland
  • Timeline of Jewish-Polish history

• History of the Jews in Poland by period
• 19th century in Poland
• 19th-century Judaism

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