Pogroms in the Russian Empire facts for kids
Pogroms in the Russian Empire were terrible, large-scale attacks against Jewish people. These attacks happened many times, starting in the 1800s. Before this, the Russian Empire had very few Jewish people. But then, Russia took over lands from Poland and the Ottoman Empire between 1772 and 1815. These new lands had many Jewish communities.
The Russian government called these areas the "Pale of Settlement". Jewish people were mostly allowed to live only in this region. The Pale included parts of modern-day Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, and Crimea. Jewish people were usually not allowed to move to other parts of European Russia unless they changed their religion or got a special university degree or merchant status. However, they could move to places like the Caucasus or Siberia.
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Early Attacks: The 1821 Odessa Pogroms
Some people consider the 1821 Odessa pogroms to be the first of these attacks. After a Greek Orthodox leader was killed in Constantinople, 14 Jewish people were killed in Odessa as a response. Local Greek people, who lived in port cities like Odessa, started these attacks.
Big Attacks: 1881–1882
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The word "pogrom" became well-known after a huge wave of anti-Jewish attacks swept through southwestern Russia from 1881 to 1882. More than 200 such events happened. The worst ones were in Kiev, Warsaw, and Odessa. These events deeply changed how Jewish people in Russia saw their lives. They also helped start the early Zionist movement, which supported a Jewish homeland.
To avoid government censorship, Jewish newspapers called these attacks "Storms in the South" or "Storms in the Negev". "Negev" means "South" in an old form of Hebrew. These names referred to the attacks happening in the southern parts of the Russian Empire.
Why the 1881 Attacks Started
The attacks began after Tsar Alexander II was killed on March 13, 1881. Some people unfairly blamed "foreign agents," suggesting Jewish people were responsible. One person involved in the plot had Jewish roots, and her role was greatly exaggerated during the attacks that followed.
Local money problems also played a big part. Some people owed money to Jewish moneylenders. Business rivals of Jewish people and even railroad workers joined in the violence. As Russia became more industrial, people moved in and out of big cities. Those leaving cities sometimes carried their anti-Jewish ideas with them, spreading the violence to new areas.
Thousands of Jewish homes were destroyed during these attacks. Many families became very poor, and many men, women, and children were hurt in 166 towns, especially in Ukraine.
Attacks Spread and Self-Defense Forms
A large attack happened on April 15–16, 1881, in Yelizavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi). The army was sent to stop it and had to use guns. This only made the situation worse in the region. A week later, more attacks happened in the Kherson Governorate.
On April 26, 1881, an even bigger riot hit Kiev. The Kiev attack of 1881 is considered the worst that year. The attacks continued through the summer, spreading across a large part of modern-day Ukraine. During these events, the first local Jewish self-defense groups began to form. The most famous one was in Odessa, started by Jewish university students.
Government Reaction and New Laws
For many years after the 1881 attacks, some government officials wrongly believed that Jewish people in villages were more dangerous than those in towns. The Minister of the Interior, Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev, thought the attacks were a protest by rural people against Jewish "exploitation." He believed the attacks spread from villages to towns. However, historians now know that while rural people did join the violence, the attacks actually started in towns and then spread to villages.
The new Tsar, Alexander III, first blamed revolutionaries and Jewish people themselves for the riots. In May 1882, he issued the May Laws, which were a series of very strict rules against Jewish people.
The attacks went on for more than three years. Many believed the authorities quietly supported them, even though the Russian government also tried to stop the riots at times.
Impact and Emigration
These attacks and the government's response made many Russian Jewish people rethink their place in the Russian Empire. This led to many Jewish people leaving Russia, mostly moving to the United States.
Number of Victims
At least 40 Jewish people were killed during the attacks between April and December 1881.
British Response
Jewish leaders in London were slow to speak out at first. But after some public support, action was taken in 1881. Public meetings were held across Britain, and both Jewish and Christian leaders spoke out against the terrible events.
More Attacks: 1903–1906
A much deadlier wave of attacks happened from 1903 to 1906. About 2,000 Jewish people died, and many more were hurt. Jewish people began to arm themselves to protect their families and property. The 1905 attacks were among the worst, causing a lot of damage and deaths. For example, in Odessa, at least 400 Jewish people and 100 non-Jewish people died. About 300 people, mostly Jewish, were injured. Over 1,600 Jewish homes and businesses were damaged.
These attacks affected 64 towns and 626 smaller towns and villages, mostly in Ukraine and Moldova.
Who Was Involved?
Historians like Edward Radzinsky suggest that many of these attacks were encouraged by the authorities and even supported by the Russian secret police (the Okhrana). Even if some attacks happened on their own, those who were caught usually received forgiveness from the Tsar.
Even outside these main waves, attacks were common. For example, in 1905, thousands of Jewish people were killed in Odessa.
The 1903 Kishinev pogrom in modern-day Moldova killed 47–49 people. This event caused an international outcry after newspapers like The Times and The New York Times reported on it. A second, smaller attack happened in Kishinev in 1905.
On July 20, 1905, an attack in Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) was stopped by a Jewish self-defense group. One person in the group was killed.
On July 31, 1905, the first attack outside the Pale of Settlement happened in Makariev. A patriotic parade led by the mayor turned violent.
In Kerch, Crimea, on July 31, 1905, the mayor ordered police to shoot at a self-defense group, killing two fighters. One of them was a Ukrainian who had joined the Jewish defense group. Port workers, seemingly brought in for this purpose, carried out the attack.
After the Tsar's October Manifesto was published on October 17, 1905, attacks broke out in 660 towns, mainly in southern Ukraine. In contrast, there were no attacks in modern-day Lithuania, and very few in Belarus or Russia itself. There were 24 attacks outside the Pale of Settlement, but these were aimed at revolutionaries, not Jewish people.
The most attacks were in the Chernigov region of northern Ukraine. The attacks there in October 1905 killed 800 Jewish people. The damage was estimated at 70 million rubles. 400 people were killed in Odessa, over 150 in Rostov-on-Don, 67 in Yekaterinoslav, 54 in Minsk, and over 40 in Simferopol.
The attacks continued in 1906: in January in Gomel, in June in Białystok (about 80 dead), and in August in Siedlce (about 30 dead). The Russian secret police and military sometimes organized these massacres.
In many of these events, railway workers, factory workers, small shopkeepers, and port workers were the main participants. Farmers often joined in mainly to steal goods.
Why the 1903-1906 Attacks Happened
Historians like Bob Weinberg explain that these attacks were linked to the complex social and political situation in Russia. He suggests that the violence was partly an expression of people's Christian beliefs and their loyalty to the Russian ruler. A feeling that authority was weakening and political changes were happening seemed to make these feelings stronger.
Weinberg also argues that the attacks served as a way to release growing public anger. This anger might have otherwise turned against the government. By targeting the Jewish community, the government could redirect people's frustrations away from itself and towards a group that was already treated differently. This tactic had been used before, like in the 1881 attacks.
How the Attacks Were Organized
It is generally thought that the authorities either organized or at least allowed the attacks to happen. However, some historians, like Hans Rogger and John Klier, have not found clear documents in state archives to prove this.
Still, the anti-Jewish policies that were in place from 1881 to 1917 made these attacks possible. Official unfair treatment and harassment of Jewish people made many anti-Jewish individuals believe their violence was acceptable. This feeling was made stronger by some officials actively encouraging attacks and by the government being slow to stop them or punish those responsible.
Long-Term Effects
The attacks of the 1880s caused a worldwide outcry. Along with harsh laws, they led to many Jewish people leaving Russia. The 1882 May Laws were among these anti-Jewish laws. They stopped Jewish people from moving into villages, supposedly to fix the cause of the attacks. However, the attacks actually started for different reasons. Most of a special government commission (1883–1888) even noted that almost all attacks began in towns and tried to get rid of these laws. But a minority of the commission ignored these facts and supported the laws.
Between 1880 and 1920, two million Jewish people fled the Russian Empire. Many went to the United Kingdom and the United States. In response, the United Kingdom passed the Aliens Act 1905, which put immigration controls in place for the first time. A main goal was to reduce the number of Jewish people coming from Eastern Europe.
Because of the attacks and other unfair treatment during the Tsar's rule, Jewish people became more involved in politics. Their participation in groups like The General Jewish Labor Bund and the Bolshevik movements was directly influenced by the attacks. Also, the creation of Jewish self-defense groups, which stopped attackers in some areas during the second Kishinev pogrom, led to a strong support for Zionism, especially among Russian Jewish people.
Images for kids
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1881 pogrom in Kiev
See also
- History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union
