Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/395

347 THE

347

.IHWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

youths took an active part in the revohiof the seventies. Alexander knew and always appreciated the loyalty of the jrreat majority of ills Jewi.sli subjects, and on many occasions rewarded them for their services to the country. When the assjissination of Alexander by nihilist conspirators became known, the Jews of Russia

and

otiier

tionary

movement

deeply mourned the loss of the benevolent czar

and

liberator.

Bnii.iOdRAPnv



ncrnldov San-Donato,

YerriUtihi

Vnprns v

Juliua Eckard, Vnu yicnUnw IV'lt'rsburK. Iss;t oreliunskl, liiiiIII. id cd., Uipsit, IKSl itkiif y.a^i^^wnl/lt^•Mrl^n IVrrcj/d/f/i, pp. 3(iU-;Ci.'i. St. IVttrsbuor, IS77; SMi'watU-hcski Ukazatef LiU'i-alurti it YevriItitsnii, I.

St.



ZH Atixaiiilir



jinhUiiaUiii'kiiin Ydzulsiie f

I7l^^i

di} ISsfi.nt. IVtcrsliurR. isitl.

II

ALEXANDER Emperor of Russia

III.,

K

ALEXANDROVICH.

liornatSt. I'lliisburir, .Marili lleasccMcli'd 10, l.s.),-,; dirfhit IJvadia, Nov, 1, ls!ll. the throne March 14. IHHl. the day after the assassina tion of his father, Alexander II, The terrible fate of the latter produced an awful impression upon Alexander, l>ut instead of continuing the reforms of the "Czar-Emancipatcpr. "as wasexpecleil, heal once gave proof of his reaclioiiary tendencies by discharging the liberal minister Loris Melikov. and by his lirsl manifesto, wherein he made it evident that he was determined to maintain his autocratic jxnver against all



attacks.

In internal politics

lie fol-

His Reac-

lowed the advice of his former teacher I'obiedunoslzev, and ruled with rigor tionary Tendencies, ousabsdlutism, favoringihe principles of the I'anslavists, lie |iermitled. and even cneouragi'd, the oppression of the various foreign re.sicution of the Jews. some Jewish youths in the revolutionary movement of the Nihilists was iiiade use of to lead the Russian people to believe that the Jews were connected with the conspiracy w hicli had resulted in the nuirder of Alexander II. Hostility against the Jews was fostered in order to divert the attention of the discontenti-il Iay !l). WasilkoV (May 10), Konoto'p (May Hh. and, during the following six months, in one hundred and sixty other places of southern Russia. In these riots thouPopular Outbreaks sjuids of Jewish homes were destroyed. Against many families reduced to extremes of poverty; women outm.geil. ami large Jews. numbers of men, women, and children killi'd or injuiicl. It was clear that the riots were 1.S81, p. 7."i). iirc'inedilate'd (" Voskhoil." May 'U. I'd give liut oni' example a week before thv jxii/r"iii of Kiev broki- out, 'oii llubbcnet, chief of police of Kiev, warniil some (jf his Jewish fripi'iival " To a ilelegation of the Jews of Kiev, (lovernor (Jeiii'iid Mreiilileii said (hat he could do nothing for them: "for liie .sjike of a few Jews he would not enilanger Ihe lives of

his soldiel's" ("Zeitung des Jmli'iilhums." May 111, 18M1). On .May 18. liaroii Horace ile CUn/.burg was

received in audleni'e by (!nmd Duke Vlailhnir. who declared that thi' motive of the anti-Jewisliiigitulion

Alexander I., Pavlovich Alexander m., Alexandrovich

much resentment against the Jews as a ireneml tendencv to create disturbances (" London Times." May 19,"l881), On May 23, o deputation of the Jews of St. Petersburg waited upon the czar at (lachina. It consisted of Baron Gi'inzburg, Sack. wa.s not so

Bank, and Berlin. The emperor assured that the Jewish question would receive his atlenlion, thai the disturbances were the work of anar( liisis, and he advised them to address a memorandum on the subjeel to Ihe minister of the interior. Both the emperor and the grand duke Vladimir expressed their belief that race-hatred was not the real cause, but only the pretext, of the recent disorders. In accordance with the inomise of the czar, an edict was issued Sept. 3, 1881, ordering the appoinlmeni of local commissions from all the goverimients to be undir the direction of the governors, fortlK' solution of the Jewish (lueslion. 15ut on the sjune day. General Ignatiev by order of the czar issued a circidar to the governors, in w hich he pointed out that Ihe Jews had been exploiting the Slav inI'asover. its

members

habitants of the empire, and that this was Ihe real causi! of the riots. This contradiction may ex])laiu the conduct of .Vttorney-t^leneral Stryelnikov. who of Ihe rioters before the court marl ial incriminating the guilty iiarties, turned U|)on the Jews and endeavored to cast the whole blame upon them. These persecutions, added to the distressing economic conditions then i)revailing, gave rise to the emigration movement, which soon a.ssumed extensive proportions. The intelligent cla.sses of Russia condennied the medieval barbarities a.gainst the Jews, but the anti-Semitic propaganda of Ihe " Novoe Vremya." " Kievlyanin," and other organs hostile to the Jews, did not cease even after Ihe riots. The constant Jew-bailing of Aksakov, Suvorin, and Pichno hiul its effect on that cla.ss of the Russian jieople which was entirely unfamiliar with Jewish life, an<l therefore believed all the charges brought a.gainst the Jews liy the agitators. Tliat Ihe South Russians especially had no cause forcoml)lainls against the Jews may be seen from the following slatemeni made by the Russian economist Chicherin: "Those who have lived in Little Russia, w hich is densely iidiabiled by .lews, and have compared Ihe conditions of the peasant there with those existing in Ihe provinces of (treat Russia, know how exaggerated are the accusations against the Jews. If there is a difference in the condition of these peasants, it is in favor of the Little Russians." The sc'cond series of persecutions began w ith the riots of Warsaw on Christmas, 1881. and lasted for Twelve Jews were killed, many women three davs. outniged. and two million rubles' worth of property ih'Stroyed, In the neighboring Lllhuaiian provinces the disturbances were slight, owing to Ihe precautions taki'ii by Count Todlelx'ii, governor genenil of Wilna, who was not one of Ignatiev's disei|iles. Order was also maintained by (ii'iientl (iurko. governor general of 0<lessji, Further Persecu- and thus the riots in Ode.s,sa and vieiiiily were prevented from assuming tions. In Nyezhin the gn-at jiroiiorlions. soldiers, who were called out to (|Uell the riots, Other killed anil |iillaged a wealthy Jewish family. riots (K-curred in Kuzmintzy. I'litovich. Kliinov, Okhrimotzy. and. on March 23. in Luhny, where ISalta three soldiers killed a .lewisli family of six. was Ihe seem- of another serii'sof riots East iT. 18.S2) resulting in thi' death of eight and the wounding of more than twolnindred persons. Over a thousaiul houses were demolished and property to the value These of over one million dollars was ch-stroved. disgraceful acts aroused the public iiiilignation of

during the

trial

at Kiiv. instead of

(