Pogroms in the Russian Empire (Russian:Еврейские погромы в Российской империи,romanized: Evreyskie pogromy v Rossiyskoy imperii) were large-scale, targeted, and repeatedanti-Jewish riots that began in the 19th century.Pogroms began to occur afterImperial Russia, which previously had very fewJews,acquired territories with large Jewish populations from thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and theOttoman Empire from 1772 to 1815. These territories were designated "thePale of Settlement" by the Imperial Russian government, within which Jews were reluctantly permitted to live. The Pale of Settlement primarily included the territories ofPoland,Ukraine,Belarus,Bessarabia (modernMoldova),Lithuania andCrimea. Jews were forbidden from moving to other parts ofEuropean Russia (includingFinland), unless they converted fromJudaism or obtained a university diploma orfirst guild merchant status. Migration to theCaucasus,Siberia, theFar East orCentral Asia was not restricted.
Early pogroms took place in the city ofOdessa,Russian Empire (now in Ukraine) during the 19th and early 20th centuries. They occurred in 1821, 1859, 1871, 1881 and 1905.[1]
.jpg)
The use of the term "pogrom" became common in the English language after a large-scale wave of anti-Jewish riots swept through south-western Imperial Russia (present-dayUkraine andPoland) from 1881 to 1882; when more than 200 anti-Jewish events occurred in theRussian Empire, the most notable of them were pogroms which occurred inKiev,Warsaw andOdessa.[2] They changed perceptions among Russian Jews and indirectly gave a significant boost to the earlyZionist movement.[3][4]
To circumvent censorship, these pogroms were referred to in the Jewish press as the "Storms in the South" or "Storms in the Negev" (Hebrew:הסופות בנגב,Sufot BaNegev).[5] The names are a reference to the prophecy inIsaiah 21:1.[6] Variants of the translation of the prophecy: "...As storms in the South pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land." or: "Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror", and so on,[7] with "Negev" meaning "South" inBiblical Hebrew and the pogroms in question happening in the south (south-west) of the European part of the Russian Empire.
The event which triggered the pogroms was theassassination of Tsar Alexander II on 13 March [1 March, Old Style], 1881, for which some blamed "agents of foreign influence," implying that Jews committed it.[8][9] One of the conspirators was of Jewish origins, and the importance of her role in the assassination was greatly exaggerated during the pogroms that followed. Another conspirator was baselessly rumored to be Jewish.[10] The right-wing Russian press engaged in an anti-Jewish campaign and spread rumors of an impending pogrom.[11] An antisemiticblood libel was spread that Jews had been responsible for the tsar's murder.[12][13]
Local economic conditions, such as debt owed to Jewishmoneylenders, are thought to have contributed significantly to the rioting, especially with regard to the participation of the business competitors of local Jews and the participation ofrailroad workers. Russia's industrialization caused Russians to be moving into and out of major cities.[14] People trying to escape the big cities carried their antisemitic values with them, spread the ideas throughout Russia, and caused more pogroms in different regions of Russia.[15] That has been argued to have been actually more important than rumors of Jewish responsibility for the death of the Tsar.[16] Those rumors, however, were clearly of some importance, if only as a trigger, and they drew upon a small kernel of truth: one of the close associates of the assassins,Hesya Helfman, was born into a Jewish home. The fact that the other assassins were all atheists and that the wider Jewish community had nothing to do with the assassination had little impact on the spread of such antisemitic rumors, and the assassination inspired retaliatory attacks on Jewish communities. During these pogroms, thousands of Jewish homes were destroyed; many families were reduced to poverty and large numbers of men, women and children were injured in 166 towns in the south-western provinces of the Empire, such asUkraine.[17]
There also was a large pogrom on the night of 15–16 April 1881 (the day ofEastern Orthodox Easter) in the city ofYelizavetgrad (nowKropyvnytskyi). On 17 April, the Army units were dispatched and were forced to use firearms to extinguish the riot. However, that only incited the whole situation in the region and between April 15 and April 28, 48 anti-Jewish disturbances occurred inKherson Governorate.[18]
On 26 April 1881, an even bigger disorder engulfed the city ofKiev. TheKiev pogrom of 1881 is considered the worst one that took place in 1881.[19] The pogroms of 1881 continued on through the summer, spreading across the territory of modern-day Ukraine: (Podolia Governorate,Volyn Governorate,Chernigov Governorate,Yekaterinoslav Governorate, and others). During these pogroms the first local Jewish self-defense organizations started to form—the most prominent one in Odessa, which was organized by the Jewish students of theNovorossiysk University.[20]
For decades after the 1881 pogroms, many government officials held the antisemitic belief that Jews in villages were more dangerous than Jews who lived in towns. The Minister of the InteriorNikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev rejected the theory that pogroms were caused by revolutionary socialists, and instead he adopted the idea that they were a protest by the rural population against Jewish exploitation. With this idea in mind, he promulgated the notion that pogroms had spread from villages to towns. Historians today recognize that although rural peasantry did largely participate in the pogrom violence, pogroms began in the towns and spread to the villages.[21]
The new TsarAlexander III initially blamed revolutionaries for the riots and in May 1882 issued theMay Laws, a series of harsh restrictions on Jews.[22]
The pogroms continued for more than three years and were thought to have benefited from at least the tacit support of the authorities, although there were also attempts by the Russian government to end the rioting.[16]
The pogroms and the official reaction to them led many Russian Jews to reassess their perceptions of their status within the Russian Empire, and so led to significant Jewishemigration, mostly to theUnited States.[23][24][25][26]
At least 40 Jews were killed during pogroms between April and December 1881.[27] 25 Jews and 25 rioters were killed in 259 pogroms from 1881-1883 in Imperial Russia.[28]
British responses to pogroms in the Russian Empire varied. The leaders of the Jewish community in London were slow to speak out. It was only afterLouisa Goldsmid's support following leadership from an anonymous writer named "Juriscontalus" and the editor ofThe Jewish Chronicle that action was taken in 1881. Public meetings were held across the country and Jewish and Christian leaders in Britain spoke out against the atrocities.[29]
A much bloodier wave of pogroms broke out from 1903 to 1906, leaving an estimated 2,000 Jews dead and many more wounded, as the Jews took to arms to defend their families and property from the attackers. Particularly, the 1905 pogrom stands as one of the most severe incidents of anti-Jewish violence in Russia at the time, both in terms of property damage and human casualties. In comparison, the pogrom wave that occurred between 1881 and 1882 resulted in fewer fatalities. According to police records in Odessa, a minimum of 400 Jews and 100 non-Jews lost their lives, while around 300 individuals, predominantly Jewish, were injured. Additionally, an estimated 1,632 residential and commercial properties owned by Jews sustained damage. These numbers are considered by some to be conservative estimates, particularly regarding the number of injured individuals. The violence against the Jewish community was extreme, and involved acts such as physical assault and other forms of harm against men, women, and children who were not engaged in opposition to the government at the time. Reports also indicate instances of individuals being thrown from windows, sexual assault against women across age groups, and fatal violence against infants witnessed by their parents.[30][31]
The New York Times reprinted a story from the Jewish Daily News who reprinted a cable dispatch from St. Petersburg which described theKishinev pogrom ofEaster, 1903:
The anti-Jewish riots inKishinev,Bessarabia [modernMoldova], are worse than the censor will permit to publish. There was a well laid-out plan for the general massacre of Jews on the day following the Orthodox Easter. The mob was led by priests, and the general cry, "Kill the Jews", was taken up all over the city. The Jews were taken wholly unaware and were slaughtered like sheep. The dead number 120 [Note: the actual number of dead was 47–48[32]] and the injured about 500. The scenes of horror attending this massacre are beyond description. Babies were literally torn to pieces by the frenzied and bloodthirsty mob. The local police made no attempt to check the reign of terror. At sunset the streets were piled with corpses and wounded. Those who could make their escape fled in terror, and the city is now practically deserted of Jews.[33]
This series of pogroms affected 64 towns (includingOdessa,Yekaterinoslav,Kiev,Kishinev,Simferopol,Romny,Kremenchug,Nikolayev,Chernigov,Kamenets-Podolski,Yelizavetgrad), and 626 small towns (Russian: городок) and villages, mostly inUkraine andBessarabia.
Historians such asEdward Radzinsky suggest that many pogroms were incited by authorities and supported by theTsarist Russiansecret police (theOkhrana), even if some happened spontaneously.[34][35] The perpetrators who were prosecuted usually received clemency by Tsar's decree.[36]
Even outside of these main outbreaks, pogroms remained common; there was an anti-Jewish riot in Odessa in 1905 in which thousands of Jews were killed.[37]
The 1903Kishinev pogrom, also known as the Kishinev Massacre, in present-day Moldova killed 47–49 persons. It provoked an international outcry after it was publicized byThe Times andThe New York Times. There was a second, smaller Kishinev pogrom in 1905.
A pogrom on July 20, 1905, inYekaterinoslav (present-dayDnipro, Ukraine), was stopped by the Jewish self-defense group. One man in the group was killed.
On July 31, 1905, there was the first pogrom outside thePale of Settlement, in the town of Makariev (nearNizhni Novgorod), where a patriotic procession led by the mayor turned violent.
At a pogrom inKerch inCrimea on 31 July 1905,[38][better source needed] the mayor ordered the police to fire at the self-defence group, and two fighters were killed (one of them, P. Kirilenko, was a Ukrainian who joined the Jewish defence group). The pogrom was conducted by the port workers apparently brought in for the purpose.
After the publication of theTsar's Manifesto of October 17, 1905, pogroms erupted in 660 towns mainly in the present-day Ukraine, in the Southern and Southeastern areas of the Pale of Settlement. In contrast, there were no pogroms in present-day Lithuania. There were also very few incidents in Belarus or Russia proper. There were 24 pogroms outside of thePale of Settlement, but those were directed at the revolutionaries rather than Jews.
Eyewitness account from local milkmen described the 1905Odessa pogrom as follows:
The three previous days they [Jewish family] had been in hiding. By Friday afternoon the pogrom was wrapping up. Friday night their neighbors, who were Russian, assured them that they could go home. They went and sat down for tea. And those same neighbors, it would seem, quietly let the killers in, since they never heard them knocking in the hallway. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and strangers’ footsteps. The tea drinkers all hid: the servant by himself, the father by himself, the mother and daughter together. The killers found the mother and daughter first. They hit the mother in the head with an axe and cut the daughter’s arm. Their screams brought the father running, and he was taken down on the spot. The wounded mother was later taken to the hospital, while the daughter got off lightly.[39]
The greatest number of pogroms were registered in theChernigovgubernia in northern Ukraine. The pogroms there in October 1905 took 800 Jewish lives, the material damages estimated at 70,000,000 rubles. 400 were killed inOdessa, over 150 inRostov-on-Don, 67 inYekaterinoslav, 54 inMinsk, 30 inSimferopol—over 40, inOrsha—over 30.
In 1906, the pogroms continued: January — inGomel, June — inBialystok (ca. 80 dead), and August — inSiedlce (ca. 30 dead). The Russian secret police and the military personnel organized the massacres.
In many of these incidents the most prominent non-soldier/police participants were railway workers, industrial workers, and small shopkeepers and craftsmen, and (if the town was a river port (e.g.Yekaterinoslav) or a seaport (e.g.Kerch)),waterfront workmen; peasants joined in mainly to loot.[40][better source needed]
Historian Bob Weinberg traces the roots of the pogrom to the complex social and political setting of Russia during that period. He contends that part of the explanation for the brutality lies in the realm of identity politics. For some individuals involved, their actions were not just acts of violence but also expressions of theirOrthodox Christian beliefs and loyalty to the Russian monarch. The sense of eroding authority and changes in political structures seemed to amplify this sentiment, as exemplified by events like the vandalization ofTsar Nicholas II's portraits, which stirred animosity and rallied those resistant to change.[42][verification needed]
Contributing to the climate of political polarization, pro-tsarist, right-wing organizations, such as theBlack Hundreds, consolidated their ranks to counter revolutionary and liberal movements. These groups viewed the anti-government opposition as a threat to the autocracy and Russian national identity. Their newspapers and leaflets blamed minorities such as Poles, Armenians, Georgians, but especially Jews for the social and political unrest, calling on Russians to "beat the Jews, students and wicked people who seek to harm our Fatherland".[43][44]: 61
The Black Hundreds explicitly linked their support for the tsar with antisemitism. Their rallies and patriotic marches, like the one that preceded the main pogrom on October 19, enjoyed the tacit blessing of the local authorities, and were used by advocates of the autocracy to support the government and undermine theconcessions made as a result of the October revolution.[43][44] This ideology framed anti-Jewish violence as a way to "strengthen the foundation of tsarist rule" and punish what they perceived as "treasonable behavior" such as desecrating portraits of the tsar or forcing bystanders to pay tribute to revolutionary flags.[46] Despite official denials, the presence of these groups raised the level of violence considerably.[47]
Antisemitism was common in the nobility and socially acceptable, and the tsar was said to make antisemitic statements, such as "Nine-tenths of the troublemakers are Jews, the people’s whole anger turned against them. That is how the pogroms happened." though there was a distinction between official and unofficial participation in right-wing movements. The tsar exhibited leniency toward organizations like the Black Hundreds and encouraged "patriots," often granting clemency to pogromists; he supported 1,713 petitions while only refusing 78, and 147 unknown.[41]
The tsar and his ministers contributed to an attitude of antisemitism and of tolerance of, or the perception that they unofficially condoned, actions against Jews. Some ministers advocated restraint, but many supported a trend of repression over emancipation. Discriminatory legislation, e.g. theMay Laws, that restricted Jews also contributed to their image as not to be trusted. While the tsar's government did not actually sponsor pogroms, they encouraged and subsidized antisemitism, increased conflict between Jews and gentiles, and worsened the conditions of Jews while blaming them for their misfortunes. Lower level officials explicitly encouraged and participated in antisemitic activities, believing they were accomplishing the tsar's wishes.[49]
Vyacheslav von Plehve, Minister of the Interior, may have harbored antisemitic attitudes, which is the subject of debate, but certainly expressed some negative sentiments toward the Russian Jews. A diary entry fromAleksey Kuropatkin in 1903 states, "I heard from Plehve as well as from the tsar that the Jews needed to be given a lesson, that they had become arrogant, and that they were leading the revolutionary movement."Prince Urusov was told by Plehve to be "less Judeophilic." In 1903, Plehve received a delegation from Odessa concerned about the news of thepogrom in Kishinev.[41]
Tell the Jewish youth, your sons and your daughters, tell your entire intelligentsia, they should not think that Russia is an old, decaying and disintegrating body; young and developing Russia will overcome the revolutionary movement. The fear of the Jews is much talked about, but this is not true. The Jews are the most courageous of people. In Western Russia some 90 percent of the revolutionaries are Jews, and in Russia generally – some 40 percent. I shall not conceal from you that the revolutionary movement in Russia worries us ... but you should know that if you do not deter your youth from the revolutionary movement, we shall make your position untenable to such an extent that you will have to leave Russia, to the very last man![41]
The pogroms, while stemming from deep-rooted anti-Jewish religious hatred, also coincided with economic factors. Economic downturn at the turn of the 20th century played a part in creating the condition for the pogroms. Restricted trading, reduced industrial production, and the Russo-Japanese War resulted in high unemployment. Many workers blamed Jews for lay-offs during the economic recession. Hatred for Jews heightened when a number of Jews did not support the war with Japan. Patriotic Russians called Jews unpatriotic and disloyal.[50]
Modern academics have theorized that the traditional explanation of Jews as scapegoats for all the problems of non-Jews does not adequately explain the extent and mechanism of the pogroms. According to this theory, Jewish economic roles asmiddlemen such as moneylenders, made them a form of insurance for non-Jews, and economic shocks which coincided with political turmoil, stopped that insurance and exacerbated ethnic violence. In times of economic crisis, middlemen were unable to forgive debts or extend new credit, leading to debtors being unable to repay, and damaging economic relationships due to political uncertainty. "Middlemen minorities" can be in a precarious position and become targets of both elites and lower-class groups in times of economic distress and instability. However, this theory does not negate the prevalence of antisemitism,blood libels, and religious and ethnic animosity that created the conditions for outbursts of violence.[13]
The pogroms increasingly angered American opinion.[51] The well-established German Jews in the United States, although they were not directly affected by the Russian pogroms, were well organized and convinced Washington to support the cause of Jews in Russia.[52][53] Led byOscar Straus,Jacob Schiff,Mayer Sulzberger, and RabbiStephen Samuel Wise, they organized protest meetings, issued publicity, and met withPresident Theodore Roosevelt and Secretary of StateJohn Hay. Stuart E. Knee reports that in April, 1903, Roosevelt received 363 addresses, 107 letters and 24 petitions signed by thousands of Christians, public and church leaders alike—all calling on the Tsar to stop the persecution of Jews. Public rallies were held in scores of cities, topped off atCarnegie Hall in New York in May. The Tsar retreated a bit and fired one local official after theKishinev pogrom, which Roosevelt had explicitly denounced. But Roosevelt was mediating thewar between Russia and Japan at that time and could not publicly take sides. Therefore, Secretary Hay took the initiative in Washington. Finally, Roosevelt forwarded a petition to the Tsar, who rejected it claiming that the Jews themselves were at fault. Roosevelt won Jewish support in his1904 landslide reelection. The pogroms continued, as hundreds of thousands of Jews fled Russia, most heading for London or New York. With American public opinion turning against Russia, Congress officially denounced its policies in 1906. Roosevelt kept a low profile, as did his new Secretary of StateElihu Root. However, in late 1906 Roosevelt did appoint the first Jew to the cabinet, namingOscar Straus as his Secretary of Commerce and Labor.[54][55]
Other prominent Americans who condemned Russia's actions included CardinalJames Gibbons.[56]
The pogroms were traditionally believed to have been organized by the tsarist central government.[57][58][59][60] However, that view is no longer accepted by historians due in part to work done by Hans Rogger, I. Michael Aronson andJohn Klier, who were unable to find the evidence for this.[61][62]
However, theantisemitic policy that was carried out from 1881 to 1917 made them possible. Official persecution and harassment of Jews influenced numerous antisemites to presume that their violence was legitimate. That sentiment was reinforced by the active participation of a few major and many minor officials in fomenting attacks and by the reluctance of the government to stop the pogroms and to punish those responsible for them.
The pogroms of the 1880s caused a worldwide outcry and, along with harsh laws, propelled massJewish emigration from Russia. Among the passed antisemitic laws were the 1882May Laws, which prohibited Jews from moving into villages, allegedly in an attempt to address the cause of the pogroms (when, in fact, the pogroms were caused by an entirely different reason). The majority of the Russian High Commission for the Review of Jewish Legislation (1883–1888) actually noted the fact that almost all of the pogroms had begun in the towns and attempted to abolish the laws. However, the minority of the High Commission ignored the facts and backed the laws.[63] Two million Jews fled theRussian Empire between 1880 and 1920, with many going to theUnited Kingdom andUnited States.[64] In response, the United Kingdom introduced theAliens Act 1905, which introduced immigration controls for the first time, a main objective being to reduce the influx of Eastern European Jews.[65]
In reaction to the pogroms and other oppressions of the Tsarist period, Jews increasingly became politically active. Jewish participation in TheGeneral Jewish Labor Bund, colloquially known as the Bund, and in theBolshevik movements, was directly influenced by the pogroms. Similarly, the organization of Jewish self-defense leagues, which stopped the pogromists in certain areas during thesecond Kishinev pogrom, such asHovevei Zion, led to a strong embrace ofZionism, especially byRussian Jews.
In 1903, Hebrew poetHayyim Nahman Bialik wrote the poemIn the City of Slaughter[66] in response to theKishinev pogrom.
Elie Wiesel'sThe Trial of God depicts Jews fleeing a pogrom and setting up a fictitious "trial of God" for his negligence in not assisting them against the bloodthirsty mobs. In the end, it turns out that the mysterious stranger who has argued as God's advocate is none other thanLucifer. The experience of a Russian Jew is also depicted inElie Wiesel'sThe Testament.
A pogrom is one of the central events in the musical playFiddler on the Roof, which is adapted from Russian authorSholem Aleichem'sTevye the Dairyman stories. Aleichem writes about the pogroms in a story called "Lekh-Lekho".[67] The famous Broadway musical and filmFiddler on the Roof showed the cruelty of the Russian pogroms on the Jews in the fictionalAnatevka in the early 20th century.
In the adult animated musical drama filmAmerican Pop, set during Imperial Russia during the late 1890s, a rabbi's wife and her young son Zalmie escape to America while the rabbi is killed by the Cossacks.
In the animated filmAn American Tail, set during and after the 1880s pogroms, Fievel and his family's village is destroyed by a pogrom. (Fievel and his family are mice, and their Cossack attackers are cats.)
The novelThe Sacrifice byAdele Wiseman also deals with a family that is displaced after a pogrom in their home country and who emigrate to Canada after losing two sons to the riot and barely surviving themselves. The loss and murder of the sons haunts the entire story.
Mark Twain gives graphic descriptions of the Russian pogroms in Reflections on Religion, Part 3, published in 1906.[68]
Joseph Joffo describes the early history of his mother, a Jew in the Russia ofTsar Nicholas II, in the biographical 'Anna and her Orchestra'. He describes the raids by Cossacks on Jewish quarters and the eventual retribution inflicted by Anna's father and brothers on the Cossacks who murdered and burnt homes at the behest of the tsar.
InBernard Malamud's novelThe Fixer, set in Tsarist Russia around 1911, a Russian-Jewish handyman, Yakov Bog, is wrongly imprisoned for a most unlikely crime. It was later made into afilm directed byJohn Frankenheimer with a screenplay byDalton Trumbo.
Isaac Babel recounts a pogrom he experienced as a child inMykolaiv, ca. 1905, inThe Story of My Dovecote. He describes another pogrom against travelers on a train in early 1918 in the short story "The Way".
To the tsar, the pogroms organized by the police seemed like a holy outburst of popular indignation against the revolutionaries
