Pogrom – History of Sorts

The Kishinev Pogrom was a violent anti-Semitic riot that occurred in Kishinev (now Chișinău), the capital of Bessarabia, in the Russian Empire (present-day Moldova), on April 19-20, 1903. The pogrom resulted in the massacre and persecution of the city’s Jewish population.

The violence began on Easter Sunday, April 19, 1903, when false rumors spread accusing the Jewish community of murdering a Christian boy for ritual purposes. These entirely unfounded allegations incited a wave of violence and anti-Semitic hysteria among the non-Jewish population.

Mobs of Russian Orthodox Christians, including peasants, soldiers, and members of the Black Hundreds, a far-right nationalist organization, attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues throughout the city. The perpetrators engaged in widespread looting, arson, and acts of violence against Jews, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.

The pogrom continued for several days, with local authorities doing little to intervene or protect the Jewish population. Reports of the violence quickly spread internationally, sparking outrage and condemnation from Jewish communities and human rights advocates around the world.

The Kishinev pogrom had far-reaching consequences, both within the Russian Empire and internationally. It highlighted the pervasive anti-Semitism that existed in tsarist Russia and contributed to growing Jewish emigration from the region. The pogrom also galvanized Jewish activism and solidarity, leading to increased efforts to combat anti-Semitism and advocate for Jewish rights.

Until the Holocaust, the Kishinev pogrom of 1903 was the archetype for anti-Jewish persecution, according to Steven J. Zipperstein in his book “Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History,”

As a result, the pogrom ended up having international ramifications. For example, the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization that became the core of the Israeli army, was created largely in reaction to the Kishinev pogrom.

In the US, it was not only Jews who drew conclusions from Kishinev. Black leaders spoke about the “twin evils” of European pogroms and lynchings in the American South, where thousands of blacks were murdered in a decades-long campaign of racial terrorism. In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed to combat this violence, and Kishinev was mentioned in the group’s founding documents.

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