Les massacres de Kichinef

FIRST CAHIER OF THE FIFTH SERIES

HENRI DAGAN

The Oppression of Jews in Eastern Europe

THE KISHINEV MASSACRES

AND THE SITUATION OF THE JEWISH PROLETARIAT IN RUSSIA

Foreword

While Orthodox Christians were celebrating their Easter last April, a bloody riot erupted in the city of Kishinev, in Bessarabia. Savage scenes rivaling in horror the slaughters of the Middle Ages and barbarous times unfolded in broad daylight, under the indifferent eye of the Russian authorities.

The gravity of these events, their repercussions throughout all of Europe, and their social significance have determined us to write this cahier. It provides information on recent and earlier events; it illuminates the general situation of the Russian proletariat; it explains the pretexts for the conflicts and their deeper causes; it suggests, or may suggest, ideas — more precise than the common ones — about the nature of social upheavals, present or future.

Henri Dagan

The Kishinev Massacres and the Situation of the Jewish Proletariat in Russia

I. Earlier Persecutions and Massacres, 1881—1882

At the accession of Alexander III, the Old Russian party intensified the policy of reaction it had undertaken under Alexander II, who had been inclined to grant some reforms. No doubt it would be inaccurate to say that this party was the sole author of the persecutions that marked the end of 1881 and the beginning of 1882. But one can affirm that it encouraged them, directly, through its attitude and its legislative system.

A great number of Jews were slaughtered, several hundred thousand were ruined. And from Ekaterinoslav to Vilna, terror and panic seized the populations, who fled en masse beyond the borders. When people asked the rioters why they were thus attacking the Jews, they replied: “They say our little father the Tsar wills it so.” (1) The administrative incitement was manifest.

The sufferings they had endured brought upon the Jews the calamities of the exceptional laws.

(1) The Russian Jews, by Leo Errera, professor at the University of Brussels; Falk, publisher, Brussels.

These were the famous May Laws of 1882, of which General Ignatiev was the author. Here is their official text:

The Council of Ministers, having reviewed the report of the Minister of the Interior on the execution of temporary regulations concerning the Israelites,

Decrees:

1. — As a temporary measure and until the general revision of the laws governing the situation of the Israelites, Israelites are forbidden from settling henceforth outside cities and towns. Exception is made in favor of already existing Israelite colonies where Israelites are engaged in agriculture;

2. — Until further notice, no action shall be taken on contracts made in the name of an Israelite involving the purchase, mortgage, or lease of rural property situated outside cities and towns; likewise null is any power of attorney given to an Israelite to administer or dispose of property of the nature indicated above;

3. — Israelites are forbidden to engage in commerce on Sundays and Christian holidays; the laws requiring Christians to close their business establishments on those days shall be applied to Israelite business establishments;

4. — The above measures are applicable only to the governments within the extent of the Jewish Pale.

“As Mr. Errera rightly observes, to fully understand the scope of these laws, one must remember that, thanks to the relative tolerance of Alexander II’s time, thousands of Jewish artisans had settled in small centers within the Pale, where they had even been invited to establish themselves. And since no Russian law had ever defined what was meant by a ‘town,’ the field was open to arbitrary enforcement, and we shall see its consequences in another chapter.”

In June 1882, a rather favorable change occurred in Russia; the famous Count Ignatiev, Minister of the Interior, who more often than the Tsar directed policy, resigned and was replaced by Count Tolstoy. The persecutions almost ceased; two ukases issued by the Senate enjoined all authorities to ensure the safety of Jews, and a circular of June 23 made those authorities responsible for any disorders. It should be noted that a ukase of May 22 had already denied the rumor, widely believed among Russian peasants, that the Emperor wanted the extermination of the Jews.

Nevertheless, the riots were not immediately halted. Here is the record of persecutions that took place from December 1881 to June 1882:

• December 27: Warsaw — disturbances, looting
• January 10: Radomysl — looting
• January 18: Vinnitsa — looting of a tavern
• March 23: Saint Petersburg — closure of Jewish pharmacies
• March: Kiev — expulsions
• March: Moscow — expulsions
• March: Odessa — expulsions
• April 2—3: Mordarovka — disturbances
• April: Valegozulovo — looting, fires
• April 6: Kherson — fires
• April 15: Latichevo — looting
• April 10—12: Balta — massacres, fires, 40 killed, 220 wounded, rapes
• April 13, Easter: Warsaw — serious disturbances, looting, injuries
• Various April dates: Beresnegovatiye, Dubassary (6 wounded, 1 dead), Nowa Praga, Smolensk, Tchasnik, and many other towns — disturbances and looting
• May: Gombine — fighting, assaults, looting, many wounded
• May: Kovno — considerable fire
• May: Elisabethgrad — renewed troubles
• May: Alexandrovsk — disturbances, looting
• May: Buda — assassination of a Jew
• May 8—10: Talne — fire
• Late May: Kaynary — massacre of a family
• Late May: Jalibine, Ekaterinoslav, and various other towns — fires, disturbances

Driven from their burned homes, their property destroyed or confiscated, thousands of Jews took refuge in Galicia, principally at Brody. It is estimated that twenty-four thousand came to seek asylum on Austrian territory. (1)

There was in Europe a fairly large protest movement.

On February 1, 1882, a great meeting convened by the Lord Mayor of London gathered at the Mansion House. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Oxford, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, the Bishop of Manchester, and Cardinal Manning attended the meeting or associated themselves with it.

(1) The Alliance Israelite Universelle sent a delegate charged with caring for this destitute mass without shelter or bread. But the numbers were too large to hope for serious relief. The Alliance made arrangements in New York to receive the emigrants, create committees in cities, distribute the destitute population among the various States, find them work, etc.

In Paris, a committee was created under the presidency of Victor Hugo. It published the following appeal:

To Our Fellow Citizens

Each day brings us from Russia the account of new atrocities committed against the Jewish population.

These are not merely scenes of looting, as in the previous year.

Thousands of inoffensive Jews are cruelly mistreated and expelled; homes are sacked and burned; women are subjected to the worst outrages.

Before such facts, which are a disgrace to civilization, the public conscience protests.

Everywhere sympathies have been aroused in favor of the victims.

It is necessary, in a high sentiment of humanity, to come to the aid of such great misfortunes, and if need be to facilitate for so many unfortunate people the means of reaching countries where they may live under the protection of the law.

We count on the generosity of the French nation which, in all circumstances and without distinction of country or creed, knows how to aid those who suffer.

Paris, May 31, 1882.

The Members of the Relief Committee for the Israelites of Russia: VICTOR HUGO, President

Among the signatories of this appeal we note: Mr. Bapst, director of the Journal des Debats; Michel Breal, of the Institut; Carnot, Senator; Cyon, director of the Gaulois; Emile Deschanel, Senator; Ernest Desjardins, of the Institut; Leon Gambetta, Deputy; de Heredia, Deputy; Clovis Hugues, Deputy; Henri de Lacretelle, Deputy; de Lanessan, Deputy; Ferdinand de Lesseps, of the Institut; de Molinari; Alfred Naquet; Gaston Paris; Camille Pelletan; Eugene Pelletan; Arthur Ranc; Ernest Renan; Albert Reville; Scheurer-Kestner; Jules Simon; Waldeck-Rousseau; etc.

In addition, the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris wrote a letter to Victor Hugo, on June 4, to associate himself with the protests.

This general movement of sympathy or indignation, accompanied moreover by some relief, always insufficient in such cases, had no other result than to draw public attention to these iniquities. The same events were to recur with intensity ten years later — and twenty years after.

II. The Persecutions of 1890, 1891, 1892, and 1893

At the end of 1890, bills were in preparation at the Russian Ministry of the Interior with the purpose of extending the famous May Laws of 1882 throughout all of Russia and enforcing them more strictly. Toward February it was learned that these new bills would not be submitted for the Emperor’s sanction. It was a feint.

On April 22, the Official Messenger published the following ordinance:

Superior order concerning the prohibition made to Jewish mechanics, distillers, brewers, all employers and all Jewish workers from establishing themselves either in the city or in the government of Moscow.

The Minister of the Interior has obtained imperial approval to take the following measures:

1. — From this day forward and until the measures prescribed by article 157 and observation 3 of the passport law (edict of 1890) are revised, it shall be forbidden for Jewish mechanics, distillers, brewers, as well as all Jewish employers and workers, to come from the territory of the legal Jewish domicile or from other parts of Russia to settle in the city or government of Moscow.

2. — The Minister of the Interior, in agreement with the Governor General of Moscow, may take such measures as he deems appropriate to expel from Moscow all Jewish mechanics, distillers, brewers, and all Jewish employers and workers currently in the city and to return them to the territory of legal domicile.

Upon the report presented by the Minister of the Interior, His Imperial Majesty has deigned to approve the execution of this order.

Gatchina, March 28—April 9, 1891

This anti-popular measure affected, according to the most moderate estimates, fourteen thousand artisans. The despair and misery that ensued were expressed in a letter that the Times of May 5 published on the subject:

“Twenty-six years ago, Alexander II authorized ‘skilled’ Jewish artisans to settle throughout the Empire; this was a great benefit for thousands of workers who could not exercise their trade within the restricted limits of the Jewish Pale; but their passport contained a clause stating that it is valid only for the cities where they are specifically authorized to reside. It is on this clause that the administration relied to drive Jewish workers from the city and government of Moscow. It is this same clause that served as a pretext for expulsions in other cities, like Saint Petersburg and Kiev. It must be said that the tolerance granted to these artisans was always relative; they had the right to sell only objects made by themselves and to manufacture only objects pertaining to the trade inscribed in their passport. Thus a watchmaker could do nothing other than repair watches. If the authorities caught him selling watches, his merchandise was confiscated and he was expelled from Moscow, even though, legally, an artisan can only be expelled from the city if he has been previously removed from the rolls of the guild to which he belongs. The administration chose a singular moment to act against the Jews: it was for Easter that the expulsion was to take place. The first day of Passover was a day of mourning for the Russian Jews of Moscow. In the middle of the night, the police and the gendarmes had already begun their house-to-house searches to examine passports; some were given three days to leave the city; others were ordered to depart within twenty-four hours. All those who had the means to leave departed; those who lacked resources and those who had not left within the prescribed deadlines were thrown into prison to be sent back to the Pale by stages, chained together with thieves and murderers. In a great number of cases, children were torn from their parents’ arms because their names did not appear on their parents’ passports. I know numerous very respectable Jewish families who spent the night in disreputable houses to escape the police searches. At Madina Roshtcha, a suburb almost entirely inhabited by Jews, the panic was indescribable; there were heartrending scenes there; the police were merciless; a great number of Israelites fled into the neighboring forests, where they wander in despair; those who obtained a three-day delay tried to liquidate their assets; one can understand that under such conditions they received only a derisory price; these poor people were exploited in every way; some preferred to destroy their furniture rather than sell it for the price offered. To crown their misfortune, the Christians who were debtors of the expelled did not pay them, and many workers who were well-off yesterday are absolutely ruined today and do not even have enough to pay for a train ticket to return to the Pale. They will be escorted there by stages. I saw a convoy of these last being led to the station; one would think them a herd of criminals guilty of the worst crimes. The most hardened could not watch without compassion as these poor people suffered the most humiliating and cruel treatment for their quality of being Jews.”

The Moscow authorities were not moved by public opinion: on May 10, the chief of police, Mr. Jurkovski, sent his subordinates the following circular:

“Referring to the superior orders of March 28—April 9 concerning Jewish mechanics and workers, I order that all Jews of the above-named categories coming from the legal Jewish Pale or from another part of the Empire must be expelled from Moscow on the very day of their arrival by the first train and that they may not remain in Moscow under any pretext. Hotel owners, boarding house and restaurant operators must undertake in writing to report to the nearest police station the arrival of any Jew. Foreign Jews whose passport has been visaed by Russian consuls may stay in Moscow for six months.”

Since it became materially impossible to expel all Israelite workers at the same time, the chief of police sent new instructions to the various police commissioners of the city on July 21:

“After consultation with the Minister of the Interior regarding the execution of the imperial ukase concerning the expulsion of Jewish workers from the city and government of Moscow, the following deadlines have been set for the three following categories: first category, single Jewish workers who have not resided in Moscow or the government of Moscow for more than three years, or married but childless, employing only one worker; second category, Jewish workers residing in the Moscow department for at least four years, whose family consists of four members and who employ four workers; third category, Jewish workers who have large families and employ more than four workers and who have been established in the government of Moscow for several years. For the voluntary departure of Jews of the first category, a deadline of three to six months is granted; for those of the second category, six to nine months; and for those of the third category, nine to twelve months.”

All workers subject to expulsion must be notified in writing of the measure affecting them at least three months before the deadline for their departure. Jewish workers who own real property (houses, factories) must sell their property within two years and leave Moscow. As for other Jews, who are not workers, and who are established in Moscow or the government of Moscow by virtue of circulars from the Minister of the Interior of the years 1881, 1882, and 1886, number 30, the above measures are applicable to them, and only two deadlines are granted, namely: six months for those who are representatives of Jewish first-guild trading houses and for those who own small businesses; twelve months for those who own large houses or who have dealings with large Christian manufacturers.

These instructions were strictly carried out. The workers in the first category had almost all left Moscow before the expiration of the prescribed deadline or had been expelled by force.