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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c11e721 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62816 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62816) diff --git a/old/62816-0.txt b/old/62816-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c8a7c0d..0000000 --- a/old/62816-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4269 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Jews in the Eastern War Zone, by American -Jewish Committee - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Jews in the Eastern War Zone - - -Author: American Jewish Committee - - - -Release Date: August 1, 2020 [eBook #62816] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JEWS IN THE EASTERN WAR ZONE*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Hulse, Quentin Campbell, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/jewsineasternwar00amer - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - - Small capitals in the original text have been transcribed - as ALL CAPITALS. - - See the end of this document for details of corrections - and changes. - - - - - -THE JEWS IN THE EASTERN WAR ZONE - - -[Illustration: Emblem of the American Jewish Committee] - - - - - - -The American Jewish Committee -New York -1916 - - - - - THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE - - - _Officers_ - - LOUIS MARSHALL, _President_ - JULIAN W. MACK, } - JACOB H. HOLLANDER, } _Vice-Presidents_ - ISAAC W. BERNHEIM, _Treasurer_ - - - _Executive Committee_ - - CYRUS ADLER, _Chairman_, PHILADELPHIA, PA. - ISAAC W. BERNHEIM, LOUISVILLE, KY. - HARRY CUTLER, PROVIDENCE, R. I. - SAMUEL DORF, NEW YORK, N. Y. - JACOB H. HOLLANDER, BALTIMORE, MD. - JULIAN W. MACK, CHICAGO, ILL. - JUDAH L. MAGNES, NEW YORK, N. Y. - LOUIS MARSHALL, NEW YORK, N. Y. - JULIUS ROSENWALD, CHICAGO, ILL. - JACOB H. SCHIFF, NEW YORK, N. Y. - ISADOR SOBEL, ERIE, PA. - OSCAR S. STRAUS, NEW YORK, N. Y. - CYRUS L. SULZBERGER, NEW YORK, N. Y. - MAYER SULZBERGER, PHILADELPHIA, PA. - A. LEO WEIL, PITTSBURGH, PA. - - - OFFICE: - 356 Second Avenue, New York City - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTION 7 - - RUSSIA - - JEWISH DISABILITIES IN NORMAL TIMES 19 - - THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT 20 - Recent “abolition” act a half-way measure, - dictated by military necessity. - - OTHER RESTRICTIONS 31 - 1. Residence restrictions.—2. Occupational - restrictions.—3. Property restrictions.—4. Fiscal - burdens.—5. Educational restrictions.—6. Military - burdens. - - THE WAR AND THE JEWS 36 - - OUTBREAK OF WAR 36 - Manifestations of loyalty.—Jewish patriotism. - - THE WAR IN POLAND 41 - Renaissance of Polish hopes.—Polish anti-Semitism. - —Spy stories instigated by Poles, accepted and - circulated by Russian military authorities. - - MILITARY REPRESSIONS 66 - Extraordinary conduct of military censor. - —Stifling of Jewish press and speech.—Expulsions. - —Demand for hostages.—Widespread misery.—Unfair - administration of relief. - - THE PEOPLE VS. THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT 70 - Anti-Jewish policy of the Government not approved - by the people.—DUMA protests.—Resolutions of - CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY.—Protests of - MUNICIPALITIES, PUBLIC OFFICIALS, ETC.—Protests of - TRADE AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.—Protests of - WRITERS and PUBLICISTS. - - OTHER COUNTRIES - - AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 84 - Russian atrocities in Galicia. - - ROUMANIA 89 - - PALESTINE 93 - - APPENDIX - 1. Report of Russian Jewish Relief Committee 98 - 2. Speech of Deputy Friedman in the Duma 111 - 3. Speech of Baron Rosen in Imperial Council 117 - - - - - THE JEWS IN THE EASTERN WAR ZONE - - - INTRODUCTION - -Of all the people that have suffered deeply from the present war, none -have borne a greater burden than the Jews—in physical and economic -loss, in moral and spiritual torment. - -Jews are today fighting each other in all the armies of Europe. Russia -alone has over 350,000 Jewish soldiers; Austria has over 50,000; -altogether there are probably one-half million Jews in the ranks of the -fighting armies. - -The Jews are bearing the brunt of the war’s burdens, not only on the -field of battle, where they suffer with the rest of the world, but also -in their homes, where they have been singled out, by their peculiar -geographic, political and economic position, for disaster surpassing -that of all others. - -When the war broke out, one-half of the Jewish population of the world -was trapped in a corner of Eastern Europe that is absolutely shut off -from all neutral lands and from the sea. Russian Poland, where over -two million Jews lived, is in a salient. South of it is Galicia, the -frontier province of Austria. Here lived another million Jews. Behind -Russian Poland are the fifteen Russian provinces, which, together with -Poland, constitute the Pale of Jewish Settlement. Here lived another -four million Jews. - -Thus seven million Jews—a population exceeding that of Belgium by -one million—have borne the brunt of the war. Behind them was Holy -Russia, closed to them by the May Laws of 1881. In front were hostile -Germany and Austria. To the south was unfriendly Roumania. They were -overwhelmed where they stood; and over their bodies crossed and -recrossed the German armies from the west, the Russian armies from the -east and the Austrian armies from the south. True, all the peoples of -this area suffered ravage and pillage by the war, but their sufferings -were in no degree comparable to those of the Jews. The contending -armies found it politic, in a measure, to court the good will of the -Poles, Ruthenians and other races in this area. These sustained only -the necessary and unavoidable hardships of war. But the Jews were -friendless, their religion proscribed. In this medieval region all the -religious fanaticism of the Russians, the chauvinism of the Poles, -combined with the blood lusts liberated in all men by the war—all -these fierce hatreds were sluiced into one torrent of passion which -overwhelmed the Jews. - -Hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes on a day’s notice, -the more fortunate being packed and shipped as freight—the old, the -sick and insane, men, women and children, shuttled from one province -to another, side-tracked for days without food or help of any kind—the -less fortunate driven into the woods and swamps to die of starvation. -Jewish towns were sacked and burned wantonly. Hundreds of Jews were -carried off as hostages into Germany, Austria and Russia. Orgies of -lust and torture took place in public in the light of day. There are -scores of villages where not a single woman was left inviolate. Women, -old and young, were stripped and knouted in the public squares. Jews -were burned alive in synagogues where they had fled for shelter. -Thousands were executed on the flimsiest pretext or from sheer -purposeless cruelty. - -These Jews, unlike the Belgians, have no England to fly to. The -sympathy of the outside world is shut off from them. They have not the -consolation of knowing that they are fighting for their own hearths, -or even for military glory or in the hope of a possible reward or -indemnity. The only thought they cherish is that after the struggle -shall be over they may at last achieve those elementary rights denied -to no other people, the right to live and move about freely in the -land of their birth or adoption, to educate their children, to earn -a livelihood, to worship God according to the dictates of their -conscience. - - - RUSSIA - -Nearly half of the Jewish population of the world lives in Russia, in -the immediate area of active hostilities, congested in cities, which -are the first point of attack. The dreadful position of the Jews of -Russia in normal times is well known. Forbidden to live outside of -the enlarged Ghetto, known as the Pale of Settlement; burdened with -special taxes; denied even the scant educational privileges enjoyed -by the rest of the population; harried by a corrupt police, a hostile -Government and an unfriendly populace—in brief, economically degraded -and politically outlawed—their condition represented the extreme of -misery. It was the openly expressed policy of the reactionaries who -ruled Russia to solve the Jewish question by ridding the country of its -Jews. “One-third will accept the Greek Church; one-third will emigrate -to America; and one-third will die of starvation in Russia”—so ran the -cynical saying. Some did abjure their faith, tens of thousands did -starve in Russia and hundreds of thousands did emigrate to America. - - - Loyalty of Russian Jews - -Then came the war. The Jews saw therein an opportunity to show the -Christian population that in spite of all the persecutions of the -past they were ready to forget their tragic history and to begin life -anew in a united and regenerated Russia. Thousands of Jewish young -men who had been forced to leave Russia to secure the education which -their own country denied them returned voluntarily to the colors even -though they knew that all hope of preferment and promotion was closed -to them. On the field of battle the Jewish soldiers displayed courage -and intelligence which won the respect of their fighting comrades and -gained for hundreds of them the much desired cross of St. George, -granted for distinguished valor in the face of the enemy; while those -who remained at home opened and equipped hospitals for wounded soldiers -without distinction of race or creed, contributed generously to all -public funds, and, in brief, gave themselves and their possessions -unsparingly to the Russian cause. - -It appeared at first as though the long desired union with the Russian -people was about to be realized. But it soon developed that the chains -which bound the Jews of Russia to their past could not be broken. -Forces which they could not possibly control doomed them to the -greatest tragedy in their history. The Pale in which they lived was -Polish in origin and population. Poles and Jews were fellow victims of -the Russian oppressor; but instead of being united by the common bond -of suffering, they were separated by religious and racial differences -and above all by dissension deliberately fostered among them by the -Russian rulers until it developed into uncontrollable hate. - - - Russian Atrocities - -Immediately before the war the struggle had assumed its bitterest -form—that of an unrelenting boycott waged against the Jews. When the -war broke out the political status of the Poles changed overnight. Both -the Russian and the German armies found it politic to cultivate the -good will of the Polish population. Many Poles seized the opportunity -to gratify personal animosity, religious bigotry or chauvinistic -mania by denouncing the Jews, now to the one invader and now to the -other, as spies and traitors. In Germany the animus of the attacks -was to some extent uncovered and the lies refuted. But in Russia they -found fertile soil. The Russian military machine had met with defeat -at the hands of the Germans. To exonerate themselves in the eyes of -their own people the military camarilla eagerly seized the pretext so -readily furnished them by the Poles and unloaded the burden of their -ill-fortune upon the helpless shoulders of the Jew. Men, women, even -children were executed without the shadow of evidence or the formality -of a trial. Circumstantial stories of Jewish treachery, invented by the -Poles, were accepted as the truth and circulated freely through the -Russian press and on the local government bulletin boards; but when -official investigation proved these stories false in every particular, -the publication of the refutation was discouraged by the censorship. -The authorities gave the troops a free hand to loot and ravage, -even encouraging them by the publication of orders which officially -denounced all Jews as spies and traitors. The result was a series of -outrages unprecedented even in Russia. A million Jews were driven from -their homes in a state of absolute destitution. - - - Protest of Liberal Russia - -All of the liberal elements of Russia protested against this campaign -of extermination, but were powerless in the face of the military -Government. Hundreds of municipal bodies, trade and professional -organizations, writers, publicists and priests, petitioned the civil -government to admit the Jews to human equality or at least to suspend -its policy of persecution. These memorials, together with the speeches -delivered in the Duma, constitute a body of evidence from non-Jewish -sources, which must condemn the Russian Government in the eyes of the -world. (See pages 70–83; 117–120.) - - - GALICIA - -During the ten months of the Russian occupation of Galicia the Jews of -that section suffered even more severely than did the Jews who dwelt -in the Russian Pale. For here the Jews were the subjects of the enemy -and no pretext was needed for their maltreatment. The Ruthenians and -Poles who occupied the land were friendly to Russia, which promised -them independence and power. But Russia could expect nothing from the -Jews of Galicia, for they were already in the possession of rights and -liberties not enjoyed by the Jews of Russia, and the weight of the -Russian invasion fell upon them mercilessly. Here thousands of Russian -Jewish soldiers were forced to give up their lives in an attempt to -impose upon the free Jews of Galicia the servitude from which they -themselves so ardently longed to escape in Russia. They were forced -to witness the desecration by their Russian companions-in-arms of -synagogues, the outrage of Jewish women and the massacre of innocent -and helpless civilians of their own faith. - - - ROUMANIA - -Though Roumania is not yet a belligerent, some of the Jews of that -country have been vitally affected by the war. In July of 1915, the -Ministry of the Interior issued a general order expelling the Jews of -the towns near the Austro-Hungarian frontier into the interior. Though -this order was later alleged to have been designed to prevent the -operations of Jewish grain speculators from Bukowina, many Jews who had -resided in the border towns for generations were summarily expelled. - -This action of the Government was bitterly criticized by the liberal -press and in a memorial addressed to the King by the League of -Native-born Jews, and the order was finally revoked. - -Whether the present Balkan situation may or may not result in the -entrance of Roumania among the belligerent nations there is no doubt -that upon the termination of hostilities the question of Roumania’s -treatment of the Jews should be reopened. - - - PALESTINE - -At the outbreak of the war Palestine contained, according to reliable -estimates, about 100,000 Jews, some of whom were economically -independent agriculturists, but the great majority of whom were aged -pilgrims dependent upon their relatives and the good-will offerings of -their pious co-religionists in Europe. The war cut them off completely -both from the markets of Europe and from their relatives and friends; -nearly the entire Jewish population was thus left destitute. Their -position was further aggravated by the severity with which Turkey, upon -her entrance into the war as an ally of the Central Powers, treated -the nationals of hostile countries. About 8,000 Jews who declined to -become Turkish subjects were either expelled or departed voluntarily. - - - JEWS IN OTHER BELLIGERENT COUNTRIES - -In all the countries where the Jews have heretofore enjoyed freedom -there has been no special Jewish problem during this war. The Jews -have identified themselves completely with the lands of their birth or -adoption, and have shared the trials and glories of the peoples among -whom their lot was cast. - -In England, the Jewish population, according to estimates prepared -by Lord Rothschild, furnished more than its share of recruits to the -British army, its quota of 17,000 comprising about eight and a half per -cent. of the total Jewish population as compared with the six per cent. -furnished by the non-Jewish population. The Lord Chief Justice, Baron -Reading, a Jew, mobilized the financial resources of the country and -was called upon to head the Anglo-French commission which negotiated -the $500,000,000 credit secured in the United States. Lord Rothschild -is treasurer of the Red Cross organization. Hon. Herbert Samuels is -a member of the Coalition cabinet. A Jewish battalion organized by -Palestinian fugitives rendered exceptional service to the allies in the -Gallipoli Peninsula. Many rewards, including the bestowal of Victoria -Crosses and promotions, are listed in the Anglo-Jewish press every week. - -In Germany the Jews, although without complete social privileges, have -borne their full share of the burdens of war. To Herr Ballin, the -head of the mercantile marine, was given the task of organizing the -national food supply, and other Jews have been prominently identified -with every department of the industrial mobilization of the country. -In France and Italy, Austria-Hungary and Turkey, Jews are to be found -in the ministerial cabinets, in command of troops in the field, and -prominent in charge of the medical service of the armies. - - * * * * * - -Thus the present war has again demonstrated the great truth that, in -times of struggle as in times of peace, the Jews constitute a most -valuable asset to those nations that accept them as an integral part -of their population and permit them to develop freely, but wherever an -autocratic government demoralizes its people by confronting them with -the spectacle of an unprotected minority denied all human rights, the -government itself feels the reaction and the moral tone of the nation -is thereby impaired. - - - RUSSIA - - - NOTE ON SOURCES OF INFORMATION - -For the purposes of this report it has been deemed advisable to select, -from the mass of material available upon the present status of the Jews -in Russia, only evidence based upon: - - 1. Official and semi-official reports of the Russian government - published in its official daily newspaper, “Pravitelstvenny Viestnik,” - in its semi-official organ, “Novoe Vremya,” or in its several military - organs. - - 2. Debates and Proceedings in the Imperial Duma and in the Council of - the Empire, particularly evidence furnished by non-Jewish deputies or - evidence of Jewish deputies that has passed unchallenged or has been - challenged unsuccessfully by the Right benches. - - 3. Statements in the Liberal Russian press and the Jewish press - published in Russia, all of which have been rigorously censored. - - 4. Protests and manifestoes of non-Jewish organizations, parties - and leaders against the anti-Jewish policy of the government. These - protests have been made publicly and have passed unchallenged by the - Russian Government. - -In brief, the present report is based exclusively upon evidence -furnished by the Russian government itself, officially in its own -press, or countenanced by reason of the revision applied, through its -military and civil censorship, to the opposition press, or in public -speeches and declarations that have passed the government benches in -the imperial legislative chambers unchallenged. - - - RUSSIA - - INTRODUCTION - -Russia acquired the great bulk of her Jewish population through the -partitions of Poland, from 1773 to 1795. Strongly medieval in outlook -and organization as Russia was at that time, she treated the Jews with -the exceptional harshness which the medieval principle and policy -sanctioned and required. By confining them to those provinces where -they happened to live at the time of the partitions, she created a -Ghetto greater than any known to the Middle Ages; and by imposing -restrictions upon the right to live and travel even within this Ghetto, -she has virtually converted it into a penal settlement, where six -million human beings guilty only of adherence to the Jewish faith are -compelled to live out their lives in squalor and misery, in constant -terror of massacre, subject to the caprice of police officials and a -corrupt administration—in short, without legal right or social status. - -Only twice within the last century have efforts been made to improve -the condition of the Jews in Russia; and each interval of relief was -followed by a period of greater and more cruel repression. The first -was during the reign of Alexander II; but his assassination in 1881 -resulted in the complete domination of Russia by the elements of -reaction, which immediately renewed the persecution policy. The “May -laws” of Ignatieff (1882) which enmesh the Jews to this day, were the -immediate product of this régime. The second period, a concomitant of -the abortive revolution of 1904–5, was followed by a “pogrom policy” of -unprecedented severity which lasted until the outbreak of the present -war. - - - THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT - -At the beginning of the war the number of Jews in the Russian Empire -was estimated at six million or more, comprising fully half of the -total Jewish population of the world. =Ninety-five per cent. of these -six million people were confined by law to a limited area of Russia, -known as the Pale of Settlement,= consisting of the fifteen Governments -of Western and Southwestern Russia, and the ten Governments of Poland, -much of which territory is now under the German occupation. In reality, -however, residence within the Pale was further restricted to such an -extent that territorially the =Jews were permitted to live in only one -two-thousandth part of the Russian Empire.=[1] No Jew was permitted to -step outside this Pale unless he belonged to one of a few privileged -classes. Some half-privileged Jews might, with effort, obtain special -passports for a limited period of residence beyond the Pale; but the -great majority could not even secure this privilege for any period -whatsoever. A tremendous mass of special, restrictive legislation -converted the Pale into a kind of prison with six million inmates, -guarded by an army of corrupt and brutal jailers. - - - The Recent “Abolition” of the Pale - -In August, 1915, the Council of Ministers issued a decree permitting -the Jews of the area affected by the war to move into the interior -of Russia. This act has been supposed in some quarters to constitute -the virtual abolition of the Pale, this interpretation being chiefly -attributable to the extensive publicity given the measure by the -Russian government; but the evidence, official and otherwise, clearly -indicates that far from being a generous act of a liberal Government -toward an oppressed people, it is in reality only a temporary -expedient, dictated mainly by military necessity and partly by the need -of a foreign loan; it is evident that it was granted grudgingly, with -galling limitations which served to emphasize the servile state of the -Jews; that it is in practice ignored or evaded at the convenience of -the local authorities; and that it has been utilized, if not designed, -to mislead the public opinion of the world. - -Evidence in support of this view will now be considered: - -=1. It is a temporary measure dictated by military necessity. It does -not remove any of the disabilities to which the Jews in Russia are -legally subject.= - -This is admitted officially in the Minute of the Council of Ministers -for August 4 (17), 1915, at which session the abolition decree was -promulgated. This Minute reads as follows: - - “It has been observed, of late, in connection with the military - situation, that Jews are migrating _en masse_ from the theatre of - war and are gathering in certain interior governments of the Empire. - This is explained, on the one hand, by the endeavor, on the part of - the Jewish population, to depart in good time from the localities - threatened by the enemy, and, on the other hand, =by the order, - issued by our military authorities, to clear certain localities in - the line of the enemy’s advance.= The further concentration of these - refugees, whose number has been growing ever greater, in the limited - area now available to them, is causing unrest among the local native - population and may lead to alarming consequences in the form of - wholesale disorders. This excessive accumulation of Jewish refugees - also impedes the Government seriously in its efforts to provide - food, work and medical attention for them. Under these circumstances, - deeming it urgently necessary to take prompt measures to avert - undesirable possibilities, the Acting Minister of the Interior has - made a representation with respect to this matter before the Council - of Ministers. - - “Taking up this immediate subject for deliberation and =without - touching upon the question of the general revision of laws now in - force concerning Jews,= the Council of Ministers has found that the - most advisable way out of the situation created would be to grant the - Jews the right of residence in cities and towns beyond the Pale of - Settlement. This privilege, =established because of the exigencies - of the military situation,= must not, however, affect the capital - cities,[2] and the localities under the jurisdiction of the Ministries - of the Imperial Court and the Minister of War.” - -The appalling facts back of this dry official statement were already -known to all Russia. =Hundreds of thousands of Jews had been expelled -from their homes overnight by act of the military authorities.= At a -previous session of the Council of Ministers, Prince Shcherbatoff, -himself a Conservative, had presented the terrible condition of these -refugees. He pointed out that they were perforce driven into forbidden -territory, that it was difficult to direct them anywhere, each one -naturally seeking some place where he had friends or relatives in the -hope of finding some means of livelihood, and that because of the -residence restrictions they found themselves outlaws against their -will, and poured in petitions and telegrams in tremendous numbers, -begging for official permission to reside legally in their new homes. -These people, he pointed out, cannot be turned away from places beyond -the Pale, because they cannot possibly go back to their old homes.[3] - -As was shown by Duma Deputy Skobelev, “the question of the Pale was -brought up in the Council of Ministers =only when the wave of Jewish -refugees had already swept away this medieval dam!”=[4] Another deputy, -an Octobrist, Rostovtzev, declared in the Duma: =“What Pale is this you -are speaking of? There is no Pale; Kaiser Wilhelm has abolished it!”= - -If any further evidence were needed to demonstrate that the abolition -decree was not a voluntary act of emancipation but was forced upon the -government by conditions beyond its control, the inspired editorial -in the semi-official government organ, the “Novoe Vremya,” of August -9 (22), 1915, supplies this evidence. It declares flatly that the -reception of the measure by the general press as “the first rays of -a new dawn” is entirely unwarranted; that =the question of removing -all Jewish disabilities was never discussed; it is not particularly -important anyway; it was not even worked out for presentation to the -Duma.[5] Certain conditions, created by a state of affairs already -existing, had made it necessary to modify some of the regulations with -respect to the Pale. That is all. No permanent statute will be enacted=. - -=2. The decree was issued in the hope of facilitating a foreign loan.= - -Count A. Bobrinski, a Conservative member of the Imperial Council, -declared, in a statement to the editor of the “Dehn”:[6] - -“The conservative members of the Imperial Council raised no objection -whatsoever against the recent Government measure granting permission -to the Jews to reside outside of the Pale. I believe that we shall -have to become accustomed to the idea of seeing the Jews dwell in all -parts of Russia after this war is over. There can be no return to the -old conditions. - -“The necessities of the war must lead us also to sanction future -concessions toward the Jews whenever the need thereof will be -recognized by the Government =in order to be able to place a -Government loan in America.”= - -The attitude of “Kolokol,” the organ of the Holy Synod, reflects this -with perfect frankness: - -“Power has gradually passed from the mailèd knights, from heroes of -the battlefield to the counting house, because in gold there is more -power than in fearless argonauts. If Germany excels us in armament -and was better prepared in every other way it is because her nation -is older than ours, older in its culture by several hundred years. -Herein lies our weakness. But the Jews are the oldest people on earth. -Their cult is the cult of gold and of brains. It does not matter -that they have forgotten their glorious epoch of military heroism, -have forgotten how they defended their Jerusalem. It does not matter -that they are no longer accustomed to bear arms and to decide with -the sword their differences and quarrels. This people has learned -to draw to itself the gold of the world. It is like a sponge.... It -has learned caution and foresight and is organized into a powerful -international force. Under the conditions of the present war the Jews -are a power not to reckon with which is to be politically blind. -Would it not be advantageous to Russia to throw into its scales these -nuggets of gold, these billions of the international bankers?...”[7] - -The naïveté of these statements is ridiculed by the liberal press, led -by the Petrograd “Retch,” with the comment that “It is difficult for -the anti-Semites of yesterday to pour new wine into old flasks. The -scare-crows of ‘Jewish freemasonry,’ the ‘universal Kehillah’ and other -myths still terrify the editors of ‘Kolokol’; but instead of screaming: -‘The Jews are strong; crush them!’ the cry now is ‘The Jews are strong; -yield to them!’ =It does not seem to occur to these new converts that -the Jewish question is merely one of elementary civic decency.”=[8] - -The significance of this will be appreciated when it is recalled that -the liberal press reflects the ideals of the Russian masses just as -“Kolokol” reflects the hopes and fears of the Russian government. - -=3. The measure was granted grudgingly, with galling limitations which -emphasize the humiliating position of the Jews.= - -The Jews are even under the provisions of the new decree still debarred -from all villages, from the two capitals Petrograd and Moscow, from -the vicinities where royal residences happen to be located and from -the districts of the Don and Turkestan which happen to be under the -jurisdiction of the ministry of war. These restrictions were denounced -as senseless by all the liberal elements of the Empire. “Russkoe -Slovo,” August 13 (26), 1915, declares: - -“Hereafter a Jew may live in Kaluga, but is excluded from Tashkent; -in Yekaterinodar he may not live; in Nizhni he may. It is very hard -to find any sense in such distinctions, even from the point of view -of the Black Hundreds. If you should ask Markov 2d [the leader of the -Black Hundreds.—Tr.] into what cities we ought to admit Jews—whether -into Nizhni, or into Tashkent, he would answer at first, of course, -that we ought not to admit them into either; but confronted with ‘dire -necessity’ he would hardly give preference to Tashkent, already full -of alien nationalities. - -“And yet to whom, except Markov 2d and his kind, would all these -exceptions and limitations give any aid or comfort? Suppose we do -allow the Jews perfect freedom of travel within the country; suppose -we do find villages where so much as a whole Jew—and not a fractional -Jew—exists statistically per hundred of peasant population; suppose -we do find a Jewish tailor, a blacksmith or a merchant in a Russian -village—would that be such a calamity?” - -=4. In practice the act is often ignored or evaded by local officials.= - -The Governor of Smolensk has continued to expel Jews entering his -province, entirely regardless of the law. The government of Kiev -even refused to permit the publication of the ministerial decree -until the middle of September, some six weeks after its official -promulgation, and has consistently ignored it since. In practically -all the other governments of the Empire the administration of the act -is entirely dependent upon the whims of the local governors. Late -advices bring reports of the expulsions of Jews from the Caucasus, -Tomsk, Vladivostok, Siberia, and many other cities and provinces in -which, under the terms of the abolition decree, Jews are permitted to -reside.[9] - -In many places the local authorities have even taken advantage of the -new decree to deprive the Jews of rights possessed by them under older -statutes. In Saratov, for example, a small number of Jewish merchants, -professional men and artisans have been permitted to live and engage -in gainful occupations since 1893, under the terms of a special Ukase -issued in that year, although the city, being outside the Pale, is -closed to Jews in general. The regulations, however, required that the -Jews obtain special passports from the police department certifying -to their right of residence in Saratov, and special permits from the -local license boards, based upon the police certificates, authorizing -them to engage in their several occupations. But now that the Pale has -been “abolished” the police officials have discontinued the issuing of -special certificates, claiming that since all Jews have been granted -the right of residence throughout the Empire the need for issuing such -certificates to individual Jews no longer exists. Yet the license -boards persist in their demand for such certificates from the Jews and -have, to date, absolutely refused to grant them the necessary licenses -without which they cannot continue in their occupations. In other -words, the Jews of Saratov now have the legal =right to live= in that -city, but are denied the legal =right to secure the wherewithal to -live.=[10] - -=5. The promulgation of the abolition act, designed to mislead the -public opinion, and thereby to win the sympathy, of the civilized -world, has not misled the people of Russia.= - -This is clearly indicated by the typical expressions of editorial -opinion which follow; and at this point it may be well to remind the -American reader again that in Russia, more than in any other country, -the press must weigh its words carefully, since editorial missteps have -serious consequences. - -The “Russkoe Slovo,” August 13 (26), 1915, condemns the measure as a -half-way measure, as a substitution of one Pale for another, “even -though it be granted that the new Pale is larger than the old.” It -demands =the full abolition of the Pale—“that greatest misfortune of -Russian life.”= - -“Unfortunately,” it continues, “we tend to repeat our mistakes only -too often. When we do ‘submit’ to the demands of life we do so either -too late or with such indecision and so grudgingly that in the end, -instead of evoking real satisfaction, we not infrequently evoke a -feeling of misunderstanding or produce an effect which is the very -opposite of the one intended. Yet an act can be valid and precious and -achieve its highest aim only when it is done in good time, cheerfully, -frankly, straightforwardly and with decision—as befits a government -that is strong and sure of itself.” - -The Petrograd “Retch,” the great liberal daily, August 20 (September -2), 1915, points out that the measure is merely tentative and must be -legalized by statutory enactment within six months. It hopes that this -enactment will not preserve the absurd limitations of the original -decree. - -“If it has at last been recognized as expedient to remove that -shameful blot, the Pale, we ought to leave not even a small speck of -it. From a moral point of view,—and even an empire must have a point -of view—it matters little whether a man is held by a long chain or a -short one. =There should be no chains at all=....” - -This is echoed by the Petrograd “Courier”: - -“If there is only one corner of Russia left to which Jews may not be -admitted, the Pale still remains, no matter what arguments may be -used, and no matter what promises of future ‘privileges’ may be made. -A principle cannot be measured quantitatively. The step taken so far -is merely a beginning, and life demands that it should be completed. -Besides the ‘right to live’ there are other rights derived from it:—the -right to attend school, to do business, to own property, to choose -one’s occupation freely.”[11] - -Even the extreme reactionary organ, “Kolokol,” which has hitherto been -most insistent in its demand that “True Russians” be protected from -Jewish competition by the confinement of Jews to the Pale, now declares: - -“Abolish the Pale entirely. Even now it is, in fact, nothing but a -sieve. All of real ability in Jewry, every Jewish faculty sharpened -for the struggle for existence, easily escapes the Pale. But this -constant necessity for circumvention of the law only corrupts the Jews -and exasperates them.”[12] - -The persons most affected, the six million Jews of Russia, received -the “Emancipation Act” with deep mistrust. They were chiefly concerned -lest the news of this act should deceive their co-religionists abroad. -At a national conference of Jewish publicists and relief workers at -Petrograd these resolutions were adopted: - -=“We are unwilling that our brethren in other lands shall gain a false -impression from our attitude toward the abolition measure.... The -permission to reside in cities outside of the Pale in no way remedies -the evil, nor does it relieve the pressing needs of our times, nor -does it affect in any way the legal restrictions in force against -Jews.... In expressing our profound indignation at the humiliation and -persecution to which the Jews have been subjected since the beginning -of the war, we declare that the State can do justice to the Jews and -prevent further persecutions only by the total and unconditional -repeal of all special restrictions.”= - -The leading Russian Jewish Weekly, “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” of August 23 -(September 5), 1915, declared editorially: - -“If this measure had been passed in July or August of 1914 we would -have met it with faith and joy. Then the Jewish people were ready to -appreciate any political measure of relief and looked upon everything -as the beginning of a new era. That new era came, but, alas! of what -a different nature! Periods of accusations and horrors, of Kovno -expulsions and Kuzhi[13] slanders came and the people grew desperate. -This half measure of the Ministers, in spite of its practical -importance, cannot vitalize the Jewish people, and the main reason -lies in the fact that this measure does not carry with it any new view -upon the real subject matter of the Jewish question. This measure is -only a slight relief in the condition of citizens who have no rights -and who remain without rights.... The Jews are considered, in the new -order, as citizens of the second class. We remain the same pariahs, -from whom something has to be kept back, to whom the villages must be -closed with fear, and to whom the chosen centers must be closed with -a feeling of loathing.... The element of distinction between Jews and -other citizens remains and is even more emphasized. =The principle -of equality of rights for Jews has not been realized and without it -no material benefits promised by the new act will find their way to -the soul of the people. Only acknowledgment of the right of Jews to -all rights of Russian citizenship will melt the ice of that cold -disappointment which has seized all Russian Jews.”= - -Finally, the eminent Jewish historian, Simeon Dubnov, in an impassioned -article in “Evreyskaya Nedelya” (September, 1915), denounced the -hypocrisy of the government and demanded the immediate abolition of all -Jewish restrictions: - -“It is fully a year since the terrified faces of the ‘prisoners’ -appeared through the bars of that gigantic prison known as ‘the Jewish -Pale.’ Part of the prison was already enveloped in the flames of war, -and the entire structure was threatened. The prisoners, in deathly -terror, clamored that the doors be thrown open. They were driven from -one part of the prison to another part that seemed in less danger, -but the prison doors remained shut. The warden’s answer to their -prayer was that it was impossible to ‘release them,’ even in war time, -because later it would be difficult to ‘recapture’ them! - -“Ultimately the keepers were compelled to open the doors slightly -and to let out a part of the dazed and half-asphyxiated inmates; but -even then they were quarantined within three governments, which were -immediately congested with refugees; and only now, when the largest -section of the Pale, with a Jewish population of two million, has -become foreign country—only now are the gates of the overcrowded -prison thrown wide open and the prisoners cautiously permitted to -leave.... - -“=Should our further emancipation proceed at the same pace, we shall -attain full freedom only after our complete annihilation.=... The -sop is thrown to us under conditions internal and external which -sharply emphasize its enforced character. This measure is not one of -restoration; rather it is like a rag thrown to the victim after his -last shirt has been taken from him. This belated, partial, privilege -must remind the Jew that of all nationalities in Russia—not excepting -the semi-savage tribes—he alone needed _such_ a favor. - -“At this time of profound mourning, upon the graves of thousands of -our brothers who have fallen victims not only to the sword of the -enemy, but because of outrage within our own borders, amidst the ruins -of our cities, our weary hearts cannot rejoice over the beggarly dole -tossed out to us. In silence shall our people accept the miserly gift -from those from whom it is accustomed to receive only blows; but, as -ever, it will demand aloud that those rights of which it has been -deprived should be restored to it.” - -It is apparent, therefore, that the legal status of the Jews in Russia -has remained substantially unchanged by the war. - -The restrictions normally imposed upon the Jews of Russia (with -the exception of certain specially designated—and numerically -negligible—fractions) subject them to the following principal -disabilities: - - - 1. Other Residence Restrictions - -(a) WITHIN THE PALE. Although originally granted the right to live -anywhere within the Pale, the privilege was gradually restricted until -the Jews were, in effect, confined to the cities and larger towns. -By the law of May 3 (15), 1882, the Jews were forbidden to settle in -the villages of the Pale. By the law of December 29, 1887 (January -10, 1888), they were forbidden to move from one town to another. -By judicial and administrative interpretation “towns” were often -designated as villages and the Jews expelled from them overnight. The -net result has been the congestion of the Jewish population in the -cities and larger towns. Although they constitute only 12 per cent. -of the _total_ population of the Pale, they form 41 per cent. of the -_urban_ population. As this congestion tended to create a ferocity in -competition which reduced incomes and standards to the lowest limits, -many Jews of necessity attempted to escape into the interior of Russia. -But their illegal stay was possible only with the connivance of a -corrupt police. Even then the numerous police raids at midnight or -early dawn (_oblavy_—literally “hunts”), accompanied by an excess of -brutality, made the life of these illegal residents one of fear and -torment. - -(b) OUTSIDE THE PALE. The privileged five per cent. that was granted -the theoretical right of free travel and residence throughout the -Empire, was also continually harassed by arbitrary police and judicial -measures which practically nullified their privilege. This class -comprises: - -_Artisans_, permitted free residence by the law of 1865; but constant -restrictions and new interpretations of the term have reduced the -number of Jews enjoying this status to a bare fraction of the Jewish -population. - -_Merchants of the First Guild_, allowed to leave the Pale after five -years’ membership in their guild, and on condition of the payment of an -annual tax of 800 roubles ($400) for ten years, after removal from the -Pale. Numerically insignificant to begin with, this class was further -reduced by police blackmail until it became almost negligible. - -_Jewish graduates of Russian institutions of higher education._ The -operation of the “percentage” rule, however, reduces these to a -minimum. (See pp. 33–34.) - -_Prostitutes._ Jewish women who have become prostitutes are permitted -to live outside the Pale. - - - 2. Occupational Restrictions - -The public service of the Empire, or of any of its political -subdivisions, is practically closed to Jews. Jews may not be teachers -(except in Jewish schools), or, as a rule, farmers. These artificial -restrictions operate to drive the Jews into the occupations permitted -to them, chiefly trade and commerce, thus overcrowding the ranks of -tradesmen and artisans. - - - 3. Property Restrictions - -Jews may not buy or sell, rent, lease or even manage land or real -estate outside the Pale or outside of the city limits within the Pale. -The artisans privileged to practise their handicraft outside the Pale -may under no circumstances _own_ their homes. The ownership, direct or -indirect, of property in mines or oil fields is also forbidden to Jews. - - - 4. Fiscal Burdens - -The Jews pay, in addition to the normal taxes, a candle tax, designed -for the support of Jewish schools, and a meat tax, originally destined -for Jewish religious purposes; but in practice these funds are diverted -to general, non-Jewish, purposes, and even used, in part, for the -enforcement of police measures against the Jews. - - - 5. Educational Restrictions - -Jews are not admitted to the secondary or higher educational -institutions and universities, except in proportions varying from 3 -to 15 per cent. of the entire number of non-Jewish pupils. (For high -schools: 10 per cent. within the Pale and 5 per cent. outside the -Pale, except in the two capitals St. Petersburg and Moscow, where it is -only 3 per cent.; and for universities all over the Empire, about 3 per -cent.) - -=A ministerial decree issued in August, 1915, permits the children -of all Jews actively connected with the war to enter any educational -institution in the country regardless of the percentage norm; but in -practice this decree, like the decree abolishing the Pale, is entirely -subject to interpretation and modification by the local authorities, -who have, so far, virtually ignored it.= - -The result of the percentage norm applied to the admission of Jews -to secondary schools and universities is that in the towns to which -the Jews are restricted by the domiciliary regulations and where they -constitute in many cases a very large proportion of the population, -=the great majority of the Jewish youth are denied the means of a -higher education.= In Warsaw, the Jews constitute 36.30 per cent. of -the population; in Lodz, 47.59 per cent.; in Lomza, 39.42 per cent.; -in Kovno, 54.60 per cent.; in Vilna, 40 per cent.; in Grodno, 52.45 -per cent.; in Bialostock, 65.62 per cent.; in Brest Litovsk, 78.81 per -cent.; in Pinsk, 80.10 per cent.; in Berditcheff, 87.52 per cent., -etc., yet in all these towns only the stipulated percentage of Jewish -students may be admitted. - -In addition to this restriction, many secondary schools (School of -Military Medical Hygiene, School of Railroad Engineering, School of -Electricity, etc.), are entirely closed to Jews. Even commercial -schools, maintained by Merchants’ Guilds, admit Jews only in proportion -to the Jewish membership of the Guilds. - -=The Government also restricts the establishment of higher schools -under Jewish auspices.= In 1884, it closed the Technical Institute of -Zhitomir (founded in 1862), on the ground that, in the southwestern -Pale provinces, the Jews contributed a majority of the artisans, and -a special Jewish technical school would increase this disproportion. -In 1885 it closed the Teachers’ Institute (a noted center of Jewish -learning) because “there was no further need for it.” - -As a consequence of these limitations and restrictions there has been -a scramble among Jews to gain admission to these institutions. Parents -have employed every expedient to have their children enrolled. Another -consequence is that many Jewish young men emigrated to Switzerland, -Germany and France, to obtain a higher education, and thereafter to -return to Russia to enter professional life. A recent calculation shows -that about 3,000 Jewish students from Russia annually exile themselves -in order to attend foreign universities. - - - 6. Military Service - -The Jews constitute only 4.05 per cent. of the population of the -Empire, but the proportion of Jews in the annual army contingent was -estimated, at the outbreak of the Japanese war, at 5.7 per cent. This -is due to the fact that a great many exemptions which the law provides -for non-Jews are made inapplicable to Jews. =In the army the Jews can -achieve no rank higher than that of corporal.= A penalty of 300 rubles -($150) is placed upon each Jewish defection, and the whole family, -including parents and relatives by marriage of the person accused, is -held responsible therefor. - -The results of these repressions and persecutions are known. -Politically outlawed, socially and economically degraded, the -Jewish population imprisoned in the Pale has festered in misery. -The merchants have been obliged to resort to fearful competition. -Workingmen, overcrowding their industries, have been compelled to work -for starvation wages. Most of the Jewish homes in Russia are miserable -hovels, with little air or light. In the great cities, the proportion -of paupers approximates a fifth of the Jewish population. In Odessa -in 1900, of a population of 150,000 Jews no less than 48,500 were -supported by charity; 63 per cent. of the dead had pauper burials, -and a further 20 per cent. were buried at the lowest possible rate. -In the Governments of Ekaterinoslav, Bessarabia, Pietrikov, Chernigov -and Siedlets, the number of charity cases at the Passover festival -increased from 41.9 per cent. to 46.8 per cent. in four years. - - - THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR - -It was against this background of ever-spreading persecution and misery -that the great war broke upon the Jews. They accepted it as loyal -Russian citizens, and not without hope that it might lead to some -improvement in their own conditions. - -The Kehillas (communities) of Petrograd, Odessa and other cities -officially sent large sums in gold for the reservists, established -hospitals for the use of the wounded without distinction of race or -creed, held great patriotic demonstrations in the synagogues, at -which the Rabbis urged the Jewish youth to render their full share of -military service, and in other ways, presented, as the Mayor of Odessa -said, “an example of readiness to sacrifice everything for the army.” - -The spirit of the Jews of Russia at the outbreak of the war is well -expressed in the appeal which the Jewish community of Vilna, the -oldest in Russia, at the very heart of the Pale, issued in connection -with the establishment of a military hospital: - -“Our beloved Fatherland—the great Russian Empire—has been provoked -to bloody, terrible conflict. It is a struggle for the integrity and -greatness of Russia. All true sons of Russia have risen as one man to -shield their country, with their own breasts, against the onslaught -of the enemy. Our brothers of the Jewish faith, all over the Russian -Empire, have also responded to the call of duty ... and many have -voluntarily joined the army which has gone forth to the field of -battle. But circumstances now demand that those of us who have not -been fortunate enough to be called forward to fight for our country -with weapons in our hands should also make whatever sacrifices we -can. We owe a sacred obligation to those who have left their families -behind, those who are defending our country, and us, with their -blood and their lives. It is our duty to assume all responsibility -for the families of the reservists. It is our duty to take care of -those who will fall wounded or ill in the war. No doubt this sacred -duty will be assumed by the entire Jewish population of the Empire, -by individuals no less than by entire communities. The history of -all past wars, especially those of the nineteenth century, beginning -with the war of 1812, shows that the Jews have honestly and sacredly -fulfilled their duty as citizens and were ever ready to sacrifice upon -the altar of their country their wealth, their blood and even their -lives.... In like manner, at this great crisis in the life of our -country, we, the representatives of the Jewish community of Vilna, the -oldest in Russia and at the very heart of the present conflict, take -the liberty of appealing to our co-religionists to begin at once the -work of organizing relief for the wounded and for the families of the -reservists. =We must care equally for all the soldiers of our glorious -army, without distinction of race or creed, for all are brothers, sons -in common of our great Fatherland....”= - -The Jewish press also gave resonant voice to this spirit of loyalty and -devotion. The “Novy Voskhod,”[14] one of the leading Jewish organs in -Russia, issued this call: - -=“We were born and brought up in Russia. Our ancestors are buried -here. We Russian Jews are bound to Russia by ties which cannot be -broken, and our brothers who have been driven beyond the ocean -by cruel fate cherish their memories of Russia all through life. -Custodians of the commandments of our forefathers, nucleus of the -entire Jewish nation, we, the Jews of Russia, are nevertheless united -inseparably with the country in which we have dwelt for hundreds of -years, and from which neither persecution nor oppression can tear us -away. At this historical moment, when our country is threatened by -foreign invasion, when brute force has taken up arms against the great -ideals of humanity, the Jews of Russia will bravely go forth to battle -and will fulfil their sacred duty....”= - -The Jewish contingent in the Russian army numbered from 350,000 (an -estimate made by the Mayor of Petrograd before the Conference of -Russian Mayors in August, 1914), to 400,000 (the estimate made by the -Jewish Colonization Association, Petrograd). The thousands of Jewish -students who have matriculated at foreign universities because the -“percentage rule” had closed the Russian universities to them, returned -to enroll under the colors, even though they knew that there was no -hope of preferment for them. - -On the field of battle the Jewish soldiers distinguished themselves for -valor. Over one thousand received the Medal or Cross of St. George. -From the many letters of appreciation and affection written by Russian -officers to the relatives of Jewish soldiers under their command who -had been disabled or killed, it was evident that the Jews had won -the affection and respect of the fighting men in the field. But it -was their eternal misfortune that the war, by the logic of military -geography, had to be fought out, on the Eastern side, in Poland; for -between the Poles and the Jews there had long been a state of open -conflict—and the developments of the campaign in Poland foredoomed the -Jews to disaster appalling and almost irretrievable. - - - POLES AND JEWS - -The conflict between the Poles and Jews dates back to the earliest -period of Jewish life in Poland. - -In its early stages it was purely religious. The Church Synod of 1542 -declared that: =“Whereas the Church tolerates the Jews for the sole -purpose of reminding us of the torments of the Savior, their number -must not increase under any circumstances.”=[15] - -The Synod of 1733 reiterated this gospel of hate by declaring that the -reason for the existence of the Jews is: - -=“That they might remind us of the tortures of the Savior, and by their -abject and miserable condition might serve as an example of the first -chastisement of God inflicted upon the infidels.”=[16] - -In its later stages the struggle was chiefly political and economic. -When Russia acquired Poland, through the several partitions in the -eighteenth century, it frankly adopted the old Roman principle of -DIVIDE ET IMPERA. It persistently fomented hostilities between the -Polish and Jewish population by crowding them together in a restricted -area where neither could make a decent livelihood, by pitting them -against each other in an economic struggle conducted on the lowest -possible plane and on the most hopeless terms, by playing off -religious and racial prejudices and by every other device possible to -a government with unlimited power and an unprincipled policy. And the -Poles, politically undeveloped, instead of combining with the other -victims of Russia against the common oppressor, turned upon their -fellows with a ferocity truly unparalleled in European history. - -Several years before the war broke out this struggle came to a climax -over the election of a deputy to the Duma. The Jews of Poland felt -that they were entitled to at least one member to represent them in -the Duma, particularly in the city of Warsaw, where they constitute -nearly half of the population. It happened, however, that in the city -of Lodz they unexpectedly elected one Jewish deputy, Bomash. The Jews, -therefore, seeking to conciliate the Poles and not to wound their -national pride by insisting upon the election of a Jewish deputy from -Warsaw, the ancient Polish capital, offered to compromise, stipulating -only that the Polish candidate be not an avowed anti-Semite. The Poles, -however, insisted upon putting up a notorious anti-Semite. The Jews, -equally unable to support such a candidate in self-respect or to elect -one of their own, united on a Polish Socialist candidate, electing him -to the Duma. This led to retaliation in the form of a boycott directed -not only at Jewish tradesmen, but even at Jewish physicians, artisans -and other workingmen, which soon spread destitution throughout Poland, -affecting, as it did, Jews and Poles alike. So ugly and bitter a form -did the boycott assume that at times even the Russian government was -compelled to take the part of the Jews as against the Poles. - - - Anti-Semitism in Poland - -A significant observation upon the economic character of the -Polish-Jewish struggle was made by the well known Russian journalist, -Madam A. E. Kuskova. - -“I found red-hot anti-Semitism everywhere in Poland. We have -anti-Semitism in Russia, but of a different kind.... Anti-Semitic -papers like ‘Dva Grosha’ accused all Jews of all sorts of crimes, -without protest from the Progressive press, and succeeded in arousing -the Polish people. In Pyasechna, a ruined place near Warsaw, where -ten-day battles took place, I spoke to many peasants who accused the -Jews of many of their troubles, but could never explain what they -really blamed them for. We Russians held a meeting to try to find the -causes of this feeling.... =We came to the conclusion that ... the -Polish-Jewish question is really a Russian-Polish-Jewish question, and -touches us as much as the Poles. They have not room enough to live,= -and more and more Jews are coming there. Even democratic organizations -are compelled to take cognizance of this. One peasant organization -expresses through its organ the idea that it is true that the Jews are -a burden to Poland, but it warns the peasants against anti-Semitism -nevertheless.”[17] - - - THE WAR IN POLAND - -When the fighting armies overran Poland, the Poles saw their chance and -seized it. The dream of a free Poland had never been absent from their -minds. When the world catastrophe came the Poles saw in it not only an -opportunity to regain their land, that had been dismembered more than -a century before, but also an opportunity to avenge themselves on the -hated Jews. Just as the Russians had always played the Poles against -the Jews, so now the Poles hoped to play Russian, German, Austrian and -Jew against each other. It was indeed to the interest of both Russia -and Austria to court the sympathy of Poland. And the Poles seized the -occasion to denounce the Jews, now to the Russians, now to the Germans, -as spies and traitors. - -The position of the Jews under this cross-fire became unbearable. Here -are several cases, selected at random, showing its effect upon the -Jewish population: - -One of the first towns in Russian Poland captured by the Austrians was -Zamosti, near the Hungarian frontier, taken by a detachment of Sokol -troops in September, 1914. They were soon driven out by the Russians; -and at once the Poles of the town denounced the Jews to the Russian -commander, accusing the Jews of having given aid to the enemy during -the Austrian occupation of the town. Twelve Jews were arrested. They -denied their guilt but were sentenced to death. Five of them had -already been hanged, when, in the midst of the execution, a Russian -priest, carrying an image of the Virgin, appeared and with his hand on -the image took oath that the Jews were innocent and that the accusation -was merely a product of Polish vindictiveness. He proved that the Poles -of the town themselves had supported the Austrians and that even a -telephone connection with Lemberg could be found. The seven remaining -Jews were then set free. But five had already been hanged.[18] - -At Lemberg, in September, 1914, the Poles accused the Jews of firing on -Russian troops; as a consequence a great many Jews were arrested, and -nearly seventy were attacked and wounded; but an investigation proved -them all innocent, and Drs. Rabner and Diamond, the Jews who had been -taken as hostages, were released.[19] - -At Kieltse and Radom the Poles plundered many Jewish shops and when -the Russians returned after the German retreat the Poles denounced the -Jews as German sympathizers. Here also those Jews who were arrested -were found to be innocent and released after investigation.[20] - -At Mariampol, near the East Prussia frontier, because of a similar -accusation, the entire Jewish male population, with their Rabbi, -Krovchinski, at their head, were compelled to work the roads for three -days—September 22–24 (October 5–7), 1914 (the first two of these days -falling on the Sukkoth holiday.)[21] - -In this town, also, one Gershenovitz was sentenced to penal servitude -for six years =because he acted as Mayor during the German occupation,= -although the inquiry held by the Russians showed that =he had been -forced by the Germans to accept the office.=[20] - -At Jusefow the Jews were accused of poisoning the wells. Seventy-eight -were killed outright, many Jewish women were violated and all the -houses and shops plundered.[22] - -In Drsukenihi a mill owner, Chekhofski, was accused of having given -a signal for the German bombardment of the town by blowing his mill -whistle. When the Russians reoccupied the town he was brought to -trial before the Military Tribunal and the charge was proven to be -groundless.[23] - -These are only a few instances, taken at random, of Polish slanders. -=In not a single known case were the charges justified; on the -contrary, their gross absurdity was demonstrated on numerous occasions -before military tribunals that could not possibly be charged with -prejudice in favor of the Jewish side of the issue.= A perfect -illustration of this is furnished by the story of the villages of -Groitsi and Nove-Miasto, near Warsaw. - - - The Case of Nove-Miasto - -The Germans, in their first advance on Warsaw, in September–October, -1914, occupied these villages for a few days. When the Russian troops -recaptured the towns the Poles at once denounced the Jews as having -welcomed the German troops and having aided them in every possible -way—whereas the Poles, according to their own account, had accepted -the German rule passively, doing only whatever they were forced to do -by the military authorities. They pointed out seven persons, five Jews -and two Germans, who had demonstrated such devotion to the invaders as -to merit trial for treason and the death penalty. One Jew, Goldberg, -it was charged, had revealed to the Germans the hiding place of ten -Russian soldiers, resulting in their capture; another Jew had shown -them where they might requisition horses and food, and had acted as -guide. - -The case was brought to trial before the military guard, and there, -under strict examination, it assumed an entirely different aspect. A -priest, Zemberzhusky, testified that Jews and Poles had acted precisely -alike toward the Germans; that their reception of the Germans expressed -no joy, that all alike had complained of the invaders’ requisition -and pillage, and that it was only due to the tactful conduct of the -citizens that the town of Nove-Miasto was not entirely demolished. It -was shown that not a single Russian soldier had been captured by the -Germans and that the Goldberg charge was entirely false. All the other -charges were similarly disproved. It developed that they were based on -two facts. In the preliminary investigation the trial officers, being -ignorant of Polish, were compelled to employ interpreters. One of these -interpreted the statement of a Polish witness to the effect that he had -seen a certain Zilberberg walk the streets arm in arm with a German -officer. The fact brought out in the new trial was that =the witness -had actually seen the German officer seize Zilberberg by the neck!= In -the second place, the story had been started in sheer malice by two -notorious gangsters, whose evidence was unworthy of any consideration. -All of the accused were therefore acquitted.[24] - -The significance of this episode lies in the fact that the Colonel -in command in this particular case happened to be a kindly man, who, -being unwilling to see injustice done, went to the trouble to have the -case carefully investigated. Hundreds of other cases based on equally -groundless accusations came to court without the possibility of such a -fair investigation. - -Another case of this sort is reported from Suvalki. It was charged -by the Poles that the Jews of Suvalki had met the Germans with bread -and salt (the national Russian custom in welcoming guests). The facts -were that practically the entire population of Suvalki had fled at -the approach of the Germans. The Germans, however, had, with their -usual thoroughness, made out in advance a list of the leading citizens -of Suvalki who were to be appointed to the deputation that was “to -welcome” the Germans. Only one Jew was on this list. - -Not all the Poles were bitterly hostile to the Jews, as may be seen -from the following story, reprinted from the Polish paper, “Novo -Gazeta,” in “Rasviet,” February 8 (21), 1915, p. 36: - -“An army officer, a Pole, reports this: Where our detachment was -stationed, I found a group of soldiers surrounding a muzhik, who was -telling them that the Jews had cut the telegraph wires. The soldiers -were furious and ready to take revenge on the miserable Jews. I -approached the group and said to the muzhik: ‘I am glad to see that -your patriotic impulses urge you to expose these Jew traitors. You -must take me to them at once. You say you know the guilty ones. Show -us how we can capture them and dispose of them.’ - -“The muzhik became confused at once. He stammered: ‘I didn’t—say -anything about them. I didn’t see them myself. I didn’t see anything -myself. People say so. Everybody says so.’ - -“I assumed a severe attitude and said to him: ‘You know these people -perfectly well, but you don’t want to expose them. You are trying to -shelter these traitors. You must take me to them at once!’ After more -evasions, the muzhik broke down completely. Thereupon the soldiers -turned upon him, and wanted to beat him, but I took him under my -protection. He confessed completely to me and I sent him off and told -him to beg his priest to preach on the following Sunday on the text -‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’ - -“Another instance was this. In a Warsaw street car filled with -passengers, I saw a Polish woman physician looking out at a Jewish -automobile ambulance. ‘Look here,’ she cried, ‘These Jews also have -motor ambulances. I think they must be stolen.’ I took it upon myself -to ask her for an explanation of this. She was decent enough to admit -that she knew nothing at all about it and that she had said these -words without thinking. - -“In these two cases it happened that I came out as a Pole defending -the honor of Poland, because I believe that Poland does not require -such outrageous falsifications and slanders for its regeneration. If -they were not so painful to relate, I could give you a whole series of -such incidents.” - -Even the Polish clergy, usually anti-Semitic, felt compelled to protest -against the excesses of their followers. Thus in January, 1915, the -priests of Plotsk, headed by Archbishop Kovalsky, interceded on behalf -of the Jews with the Russian authorities who had made numerous arrests -upon the denunciations of Polish agitators. - -So outrageous was the attitude of the Poles that at a Conference of -Progressive Deputies of the Duma held at Petrograd in January, 1915, -resolutions were passed to extend no help whatever to the Polish -Deputies in any of their nationalist projects in the Duma because of -their attitude toward the Jews. - -The Polish weekly, “Glos Polsky,” published in Petrograd, contains an -interview with Professor Milyukov on the Polish question: - -“Our point of view is that along the River Vistula live not only -Poles, but that there also lives another people, the Jewish people, -which has a right to be recognized.... - -“When the Polish question will be taken up in the legislative -chambers, we shall demand that the fundamental act should guarantee -the rights of the Jewish minority as well....”[25] - -At several conferences of Russian, Polish and Jewish communal workers -which took place in Petrograd and Moscow in January, 1915, =the -majority of the Russians expressed their solidarity with the Jews in -this matter.=[26] - -Even the most reactionary Russians foresaw danger to Russia in the -Polish campaign of vilification against the Jews. Thus the “True -Russian” (anti-Semitic) leader, Orloff, after a visit to Poland, -declared: “I have seen nothing bad on the part of the Jews, although -the Poles made up all sorts of accusations against them. But in these -Polish reports you feel prejudice, vindictiveness, hatred, nothing -else.... =The Jews are loyal and brave, and it is most inadvisable -to pursue a policy which might convert six million subjects into -enemies.”=[27] - - - The Kuzhi Case - -But the Russian military authorities, seeking a scapegoat for their -own failures, eagerly seized upon the Polish stories, and gave them -official standing and wide circulation. The notorious Kuzhi incident -illustrates the methods used. The story, as first published in the -military paper “Nash Viestnik,” the official organ of the northwestern -army, on May 5 (18), 1915, in the official daily newspaper issued by -the Russian government, the “Pravitelstvenny Viestnik,” May 6 (19), -1915, and elsewhere, ran as follows: - -“On the night of April 28th, in Kuzhi, northwest of Shavli, the -Germans attacked a detachment of one of our infantry regiments resting -there. This disclosed the shockingly treacherous conduct of a part -of the population—especially the Jewish part—towards our troops. -The Jews had concealed German soldiers in their cellars before our -troops arrived, and at a signal they set fire to Kuzhi on all sides. -The Germans, leaping out of the cellars, rushed to the house which -our regimental commander was occupying. At the same time two of the -battalions, supported by cavalry, attacked our outposts and captured -the village. The house in which the commander had his headquarters -soon fell in. Colonel Vavilov ordered that the regimental colors be -burned, and, refusing to surrender to the Germans, was killed. Our -reinforcements then arrived, drove the Germans out of Kuzhi at the -point of the bayonet, and saved the remnants of the burning standard. -All the local inhabitants who had taken part in this terrible affair -were brought before a court-martial and the ringleaders will be sent -to Siberia. This sad incident again demonstrates the need of keeping -constant guard, particularly over all those Jewish towns which have at -any time been held by the enemy.” - -This story, in all its circumstantial details, was spread broadcast -throughout the Empire, in all the official and semi-official organs of -the government, on the bulletin boards, wherever the Russian populace -congregates. By military order it was brought to the attention of -every man in the army, down to the last private. Country editors were -ordered to reprint the story under threat of prosecution. Not a hamlet -in all Russia but shuddered at the monstrous treachery of the Jews. In -Tashkent the clergy offered a prayer in the Cathedral, petitioning God -to deliver the Russian army from the machinations of Jewish traitors. -Even the Liberals, usually sympathetic toward the Jews, were silent, as -no defense was possible in so black a case. - -Then it occurred to someone to make an investigation. Three deputies of -the Duma went to the spot in person and discovered that =in the entire -village of Kuzhi there were only six Jewish families—all but one living -in miserable huts without cellar space; that the one cellar in a Jewish -house was only nine by seven and too low for a man to stand upright in; -that it could not possibly hide enough German soldiers to attack, much -less annihilate, a Russian detachment; that the few Jews of the town -had left it, with the permission of the military authorities, on April -27th, the day before the town had been attacked by the Germans, and -were known to have spent the night of April 27–28 at another village, -Minstok; and, finally, that no Jews had been tried, convicted or -executed at Kuzhi; in brief, that the story was, from beginning to end, -an absolute fabrication.= - -This Kuzhi story was branded as a lie by the Jewish Deputy Friedman -in the Duma on July 19 (August 1), 1915. He was supported by the -non-Jewish Deputy Kerensky, who denounced the fabrication in these -words: - -=“I declare now from this rostrum that I personally went to the town -of Kuzhi to verify the accusation that the Jewish population of Kuzhi -had committed a treacherous assault on the Russian army, and I feel it -my duty to reiterate that this is but an ignominious slander. There -was no such case, and under local conditions there could be none.”= - -But the refutation of the lie was not spread throughout Russia. It has -been consistently suppressed by the military censor, and to this day -the great majority of the Russian people, in the absence of disproof, -fully believe the story. - - - The Shavli Case - -Another spy story widely circulated in the anti-Semitic press was that -the Jews of Shavli had been expelled from Kurland because they were -detected in the act of leading the German troops on to Shavli. This -also was printed in all the military and semi-official newspapers of -Russia and from there reprinted in the general press. The newspaper -“Dehn” pointed out the absurdity of this and similar charges:[28] - -“Accepting the story as it stands, without demanding the names of the -Jews found guilty, or any other details, let us simply examine the -map. Shavli is not in Kurland at all. It is in the province of Kovno, -and is 50 versts from the nearest point in Kurland, and more than 50 -versts from the nearest point inhabitated by Jews. The Germans, we -know, moved to Shavli, not through Kurland, but from the opposite -direction. =The charge, if true, would therefore mean that the Jews -of Kurland went 100 versts out of their way in an entirely strange -territory in order to commit treason by communicating with Germans. -This is obvious nonsense. Nor is it less obvious that this fiction -has been manufactured out of whole cloth.= And this is how it was -manufactured: Reports reached the newspapers that the Jews of Kurland -were being expelled. The anti-Semitic papers at once argued that if -the Jews were being expelled they must have committed some treason, -and since the line of the German advance was known to be in the -general direction of Shavli, =and since these people were too lazy to -consult the map, they promptly decided that the expulsion must have -been due to the fact that the Jews of Kurland had guided the Germans -to Shavli.”= - -And so this preposterous story was started on its way. - - - Other Spy Stories - -No story was too absurd to be given credibility and systematic -circulation. It was reported, and seriously believed, that at a place -unnamed and a time unknown some Jew had enclosed a million and half -roubles in a coffin and shipped the coffin to Germany. The chief Rabbi -and the Jewish community of Warsaw telegraphed to the “Novoe Vremya” -and several other leading papers, protesting against this monstrous -slander against the Jews at a time when their sons were shedding their -blood freely on the battlefields. The “Novoe Vremya” declined to -publish the telegram.[29] - -The Jewish community of Petrograd appealed to the Grand Duke Nicholas, -then Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armies, in these words: - - “The entire Jewish people would cast out, with scorn and indignation, - those base criminals who, forgetting duty and conscience, would, in - this year of universal sacrifice, break their sacred vows of loyalty - to the fatherland. Such treachery is alien to our faith and was never - known to exist among Jews to any greater extent than among other - peoples. =And never yet, in the course of the centuries, no matter - to what persecutions the Jews, under the influence of prejudice - created by their devotion to their ancient faith and customs, may - have been subjected, has any government denounced ALL of its subjects - as traitors to their country. This is the first time in all history - that such an attitude has been assumed by any government toward the - Jews. At the very time that our sons are fighting in the ranks of the - Russian army for the honor and glory of Russia, we, their fathers, - are held responsible for the acts of a few criminals and are being - persecuted for their vile deeds, aimed at the betrayal of our own - sons. Never has any man or any people been subjected to torment - greater than this, to humiliation less bearable or more offensive to - honor or self-respect....= Your Imperial Highness! In this sad hour of - trial we long to implant in our people faith in a brighter future, we - long to preserve that tie of loyalty towards our common country which - is so essential for the welfare of all the peoples inhabiting Russia, - and which was demonstrated so powerfully when the insolent enemy first - threw down the gauntlet to Russia. We do not wish to admit discord, - despair and sorrow where should reign only unity, harmony, hope. =And - we dare to appeal to your Imperial Highness in the hope that measures - insulting to us will cease to be applied, that the stamp of outcast be - removed from our faces and that we may be permitted, as loyal sons of - our country, freed from all suspicion, to use our whole strength in - the struggle with the common enemy.”= - -No reply was received to this appeal; on the contrary, the policy of -fastening upon the Jews all the blame for Russian defeats was carried -out consistently by the military machine. The “Russki Invalid,” -the official journal of the War Department, in the spring of 1915, -definitely accused the Jews of disloyalty to the State and of sympathy -for Germany, and openly attributed Russian disaster to this cause.[30] - -Military orders like the following were common: - - ORDER No. 89. - - ISSUED TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE FORTIFIED REGION, FORTRESS - NOVOGEORGIEVSK, NOV. 27, 1914. - - “The German newspapers print articles declaring that among the Russian - Jews the Germans find reliable allies who, besides supplying them with - food, are often the best and unpaid spies, ready to enter any service - injurious to the cause of Russia, and that in German victory the Jews - see their salvation from Imperial oppression and Polish persecution. - Similar information continues to come in from the army. - - In order to protect the army from the harmful activities of the Jewish - population, the Commander-in-Chief has ordered that the forces of - occupation take hostages from among the Jewish population, warning - the inhabitants that in case of treacherous activities on the part of - any one of the local inhabitants not only during the period of our - occupation of a given inhabited point, but also after our leaving it, - the hostages will be executed, which order is to be carried out in - case of necessity. - - Upon occupation of inhabited points, careful searches are to be - made to find out whether there are any arrangements for wireless - telegraphy, signaling, pigeon stations, underground telegraphs, and so - forth, and the full penalty of the law is to be meted out to anyone - connected with this. - - Reference: Telegram by General Oranovsky of this year under No. 3432. - Signed, Chief of the Fortified Region. - - General of the Cavalry, BOBYR.” - -This order was issued from the press at six o’clock in the evening, -December 2, 1914, and immediately proved profitable to the dregs of the -Russian soldiery, as was demonstrated at a court martial held in Lomza, -where it was proven that three members of a signal corps had “planted” -a telephone in the motion picture theater of a Jew named Eisenbiegel, -and had then arrested him and demanded 5,000 roubles blackmail. In the -course of the trial it developed that =one of the men was responsible -for the hanging of no less than seventeen innocent Jews as spies solely -because they were unable or unwilling to pay the blackmail demanded by -him.=[31] - -Even the loyalty of Jewish soldiers was officially questioned. Order -No. 1193 of the General Staff, dated April 27–May 10, 1915, commands -all the troops “To watch the Jewish soldiers—especially their readiness -to surrender as prisoners—and in general, their entire conduct.” - -But the publication and circulation of orders like these reacted -disastrously upon the Russian arms. By branding the entire Jewish -population as traitorous the military authorities encouraged the Poles -to fabricate new slanders, the spread of which only served to heighten -the distrust of the populations and to make the fighting area of Poland -a quagmire for the Russian armies. The troops did not know whom to -trust or distrust. Instead of fighting on friendly ground, welcomed -and supported by the moral and economic resources of the civilian -population, the Russians fought on ground undermined by hatred, -dissension and distrust. - -When they began to realize this state of affairs some of the Russian -commanders made desperate efforts to check the spy mania. - -General P. Kurlov issued the following order in the Baltic provinces on -February 25, 1915: - - ORDER No. 27 - - “Of late, more and more anonymous denunciations and reports concerning - crimes and actions closely connected with the peculiar conditions - of war times are coming in in the provinces given over to my - supervision. Such reports not only lack confirmation in most cases, - but investigations prove that they are caused in the majority of cases - not by a patriotic desire to help the military authorities, but by - personal reasons of revenge, not only not admissible in war time, but - also particularly criminal. By distracting the attention of officials - from their necessary duties, these reports promote disorder and - excitement among the local population. - - “I have asked the various Governors to order the police officials - under their supervision not to institute any investigations on the - basis of anonymous denunciations except in extraordinary cases - (Article 300 of the Criminal Code), but to forward these denunciations - to me and wait for orders. - - “In the case of signed denunciations and reports, the police officials - must first of all question the denunciator, warning him of the - consequence of a false denunciation, and if any signs of crime should - be established in the courses of the examination, he should be dealt - with according to Articles 250 to 261 of the Criminal Code, or the - Governors should impose penalties in their administrative capacity. I - order the police officials to strictly follow Article 254 of the Code - when making an investigation. Witnesses found to bear false reports - shall be subjected to criminal prosecution according to Article 940 of - the Code. - - “In view of the particularly criminal character of false denunciations - in war time, I shall apply the most rigorous measures to those found - guilty of this offense. - - “I have asked the Governors to make this order public to all.”[32] - - - SUPPRESSION OF YIDDISH PRESS AND SPEECH - -It appears also that the similarity of the Yiddish and German languages -further laid the Jews open to distrust. The use of Yiddish, in -conversation, in correspondence, over the telephone, in the theatre, -etc., was prohibited by legal, military and civil authorities under -penalty of heavy fine and imprisonment. In Lodz, Vilna, Riga, Warsaw, -and other Jewish centers, the performance of plays in Yiddish was -prohibited and theatres closed. - -Letters from foreign countries to Russia, in any language except -Yiddish were generally passed by the censor after scrutiny, but letters -in Yiddish were as a rule not delivered at all. - -In July, 1915, the commander of the Russian forces issued the following -absolute order: - -“On the basis of the power entrusted to me according to Paragraph 6, -Article 415, Section 6, I prohibit postal and telegraph communications -within the district occupied by the army entrusted to me, in the -Jewish, German, and Hungarian languages.”[33] - -By this order the Russian government not only branded the entire -Jewish people as spies and traitors, but also prevented hundreds of -thousands of Jewish soldiers at the front from communicating with -relatives and friends, because many of the soldiers had been prevented -by educational restrictions from learning to read and write Russian. -To the Jewish soldier unable to read or write was thus denied even -that scant comfort which his Russian comrades might derive from the -stereotyped communications checked on the regulation postal card and -mailed by field-post. - -At the beginning of the war the military censors assumed command of -the entire press of Russia. That they used their power with the utmost -unfairness against the Jewish press was charged without contradiction -in the Duma by Professor Milyukov, Deputies Bomash, Suchanov and -others, who pointed out that if the aim of the censor was to suppress -every truth and encourage every lie against the Jews, they could not -possibly have pursued a more consistent policy. Deputy Bomash furnished -the following concrete instances of perversion of facts by the -censorship. - - 1. It systematically expunged or mutilated the names of Jews to whom - the cross of St. George had been awarded.[34] - - 2. When the Mayor of Petrograd congratulated the Jewish community - upon the heroic conduct of a lad of 13, named Kaufman, the censor - suppressed the fact that Kaufman was a Jew, and that the community - referred to was the Jewish community. - - 3. Stories in the Russian press of the valor of Jews in the French - armies are either suppressed or the Jewish names cut out. - - 4. A news item referring to the fact that General Semenov, whom Jewish - soldiers had saved from capture by the Germans, was treating Jews - kindly was suppressed by the censor. - - 5. Letters of regimental commanders to the parents of Jewish hussars - congratulating them on the valor of their sons, or notifying them of - medals of honor bestowed upon them, were suppressed by the censor. - - 6. The military censorship also suppressed news of an absolutely - non-military nature, whenever it might in any manner have been - construed as friendly to Jews. Thus, a news item referring to the - non-sectarian activities of the National Relief Committee, headed - by the Princess Tatyana, daughter of the Czar, was suppressed. A - news item regarding the disapproval of the Council of Ministers of - the policy of expelling Jews _en masse_ and of wholesale charges of - treachery was also suppressed. - - 7. Even the official declaration of Count Bobrinski, Military-Governor - of Galicia, referring to the correctness of the conduct of the Jews of - Galicia, was suppressed. - - 8. But—outrageously false items published in the notoriously - anti-Semitic papers were generally passed by the censor without - hesitation. The “Novoe Vremya,” the “Russkoe Znamya,” and other - anti-Semitic organs, systematically published reports of wholesale - Jewish desertions, treachery, spying, etc., without at any time - producing an iota of evidence. Thus, “Russkoe Znamya,” declared that - the loyalty of not a single Jewish soldier could be depended upon. - The “Novoe Vremya” declared that the Jews were without exception - embittered enemies of the Russian army, and that during the Japanese - war 18,000 out of 27,000 soldiers voluntarily surrendered as prisoners - to the Japanese. Stories without name, date or place to the effect - that small Polish boys warned the Russian soldiers to take nothing - from Jews because everything they would furnish was poisoned were - passed by the censor, and made much of by the press. The notorious - Kuzhi canard was not only passed by the censor and printed in the - official and semi-official press of Russia, but the censors even - hinted to that section of the press which hesitated to publish a tale - so manifestly absurd that future relations with the censorship might - be imperilled if the story were not given proper publicity. Editors - received a continuous stream of circulars forbidding the touching of - questions which had absolutely no relation to the war. - - 9. When the great writers and publicists of Russia decided that it - would be desirable, for the honor of Russia, to speak a good word - for the Jews and thereby indirectly deprecate before the world the - merciless governmental policy, the pamphlet containing their symposium - was suppressed by the military censor. Even the preliminary letter of - inquiry sent out by these eminent Russians, soliciting information as - to the participation of Jews in the war, was suppressed. The Jewish - weekly, the “Novy Voskhod,” was fined 2,000 roubles and ultimately - suppressed because of the publication of this letter. - -In spite of these suspensions, however, the six million Jews of Russia -still continued, in a measure, to inform themselves as to the conduct -of their sons in the field, and as to matters of Jewish interest in -general, through the half dozen, or more, Jewish newspapers, which -managed to struggle on in spite of the repeated fines and suspensions -imposed by the censor. But on July 5, 1915, the entire Jewish press -was suppressed. Lately several papers have been revived in new form, -but today the Jews of Russia are practically in the dark. They have no -effective means of communicating with one another or with the Russian -public. They can neither prevent the instigation of calumnies nor -refute them when spread abroad. They live in a constant state of terror -lest some new Kuzhi slander set the country aflame against them. - - - WHOLESALE EXPULSIONS - -This public official distrust of the Jewish population of Russia -increased with the Russian reverses, and the assumption by the -authorities that the loyalty of all the Jews was open to suspicion -gave added impetus to the spy mania, set the Jews apart as a dangerous -people and delivered them helpless into the hands of the Cossack -soldiery and the hostile Poles. The atrocities committed upon the -Jews in Poland and Galicia have already been referred to. But a more -disastrous, though less spectacular, consequence of the governmental -attitude towards the Jews was the systematic expulsion of the entire -Jewish population from the war zone, an act which assumed the character -of a merciless war by Russia upon its own population. - -From the very beginning of the war there were individual cases of -Jews, who, being suspected of bad faith, were ordered to leave a -given locality. There were also sporadic expulsions, or rather a -forced exodus, of the entire civilian population of localities which -the authorities desired to clear for military operations. But it was -in March, 1915, that the authorities began systematically =to expel -Jews from all the Polish provinces, even those not occupied by German -troops,= and from the governments of Kovno and Kurland, thus affecting -about 30 per cent. of the entire Jewish population of the Empire. Even -the Jewish deputy from the Kovno district, Friedman, was expelled, in -spite of his constitutional privileges as a member of the Duma. - -The first sufferers were the Jewish inhabitants of the smaller towns, -because these were readily segregated. In a very brief space of -time the region where the Jews constitute over eighty per cent. of -the population of the small towns was absolutely denuded of Jewish -inhabitants.[35] It was only the rapid invasion of this territory by -the Germans which prevented the complete expulsion of every one of -the two million or more Jews who inhabited this area. And those who -have remained in this territory for the present have been promised, -by decree of the supreme military authorities of Russia, immediate -expulsion as soon as the Russian troops regain a foothold here.[36] - -The enforcement of the expulsion orders was carried out ruthlessly. The -time generally allowed was twenty-four hours, rarely forty-eight hours. -The Jewish inhabitants of the governments of Kurland and Kovno were -given from five to twenty-four hours’ notice.[37] - -The Jews of the city of Kovno were notified on the evening of May 3 -(16) to leave not later than midnight of May 5 (18), 1915. - - - Cruelty of Officials - -In a speech delivered in the Duma the non-Jewish deputy Dzubinsky -declared: - -“As a representative of our 5th Siberian division I was myself on the -scene and can testify with what incredible cruelty the expulsion of -the Jews from the Province of Radom took place. =The whole population -was driven out within a few hours during the night. At 11 o’clock the -people were informed that they had to leave, with a threat that any -one found at daybreak would be hanged. And so in the darkness of the -night began the exodus of the Jews to the nearest town, Ilzha, thirty -versts away. Old men, invalids and paralytics had to be carried on -people’s arms because there were no vehicles.= - -=“The police and the gendarmes treat the Jewish refugees precisely -like criminals. At one station, for instance, the Jewish Commission -of Homel was not even allowed to approach the trains to render aid -to the refugees or to give them food and water. In one case a train -which was conveying the victims was completely sealed and when finally -opened most of the inmates were found half dead, sixteen down with -scarlet fever and one with typhus....= - -=“In some places the Governors simply made sport of the innocent -victims;= among those who particularly distinguished themselves were -the governors of Poltava, Minsk, and Ekaterinoslav ... who illegally -took away the passports of the victims and substituted provisional -certificates instructing them to appear at given places in one of five -provinces at a given date. When they presented themselves at these -designated places they =were shuttled back and forth from point to -point at the whim or caprice of local officials.= - -=“In Poltava the Jewish Relief Committee was officially reprimanded by -the governor for assuming the name ‘Committee for the Aid of Jewish -Sufferers from the War,’ and ordered to rename itself ‘Committee -to Aid the Expelled’ on the ground, as stated explicitly in the -order, that the Jews had been expelled because they were politically -unreliable—and, therefore, presumably, deserved no help.”=[38] - -No distinction of age, sex or physical condition was made. As most of -the able-bodied young men were at the front, those affected by the -expulsions were the persons least able to bear up under the suffering -and privation entailed—old men and women, children, the sick from the -hospitals, the insane from the asylums, even wounded and crippled -Jewish soldiers—all were driven out en masse, without the slightest -regard for human comfort or decency. Women in labor were given no -consideration and many births occurred along the route. Mothers were -separated from their children, entire families were broken up and -dispersed all over Russia. The Jewish and liberal Russian press is -filled with long lists of victims seeking their lost relatives. Where -transportation was provided, the exiles were packed in cattle-cars and -forwarded to their destination on a way-bill, like so much freight. -In many places thousands of them were forced for weeks at a time to -stay in congested villages which were absolutely unable to afford them -a roof and shelter, or to sleep in the freight cars or in the open -fields. And tens of thousands were forced to tramp weary distances -along the open road, or, in the fear of the soldiery, to take to the -back roads, the woods and swamps, there to die of hunger and exposure. - -The total number of Jews who have been expelled to date is unknown. -Expulsions are still going on. At the beginning of June, 1915, at the -deliberation of the Petrograd Central Committee for the Relief of -Jewish War Sufferers, which was participated in by the most prominent -provincial committees, it was calculated that the total number of -homeless Jews ruined by the expulsion—in Poland and the northwestern -district—is 600,000 at the least.[39] After the Kovno-Kurland -expulsions there collected in the Vilna government alone some 200,000 -exiles.[40] In Riga there gathered, by May 18 (31), some 9,600 families -or 42,000 persons.[41] Up to August 6, 1915, there collected in the -government of Volhynia upwards of 250,000 refugees.[42] - - - Hostages - -There is evidence to indicate that the Russian government, overwhelmed -by the consequences of the expulsion policy, has suggested to the -military authorities the advisability of repatriating the exiles; -but these authorities have refused to consider the suggestion except -on condition that the Jews voluntarily give hostages from among their -own ranks, these hostages to include the Rabbi and other leading -Jews. This proposal has been universally rejected by the Jews through -their representative in the Duma, Deputy Friedman, in a letter to the -President of the Council of Ministers: - -“As a deputy from the province of Kovno, from which I, together with -all other Jews, have now been expelled, I consider it my duty to call -the attention of your excellency to the following:— - -“According to the latest decrees of the authorities the Jews who -have been expelled from their homes are to be allowed to return on -condition that they give hostages. =This monstrous condition, which -the government aims to impose upon its own subjects, the Jewish people -will never accept. They prefer to wander about homeless and to die -of starvation rather than to submit to demands which insult their -self-respect as citizens and Jews. They have honestly performed their -duty toward their country and will continue to do so to the very end. -No sacrifices frighten them and no persecutions will make them swerve -from the path of honor. But neither will any persecutions force them -to accept a lie, to give testimony, through base submission, that -the monstrous accusations against them are true.= When the insolent -enemy threw down the gauntlet to Russia the Jews arose to shield their -country with their breasts, and I had the honor to appear at the -historic session of the Duma as their spokesman in the expression of -this spontaneous, inspiring enthusiasm. =The Jews gladly assumed all -the sacrifices demanded of them by their country because of a feeling -of duty to the land to which they are bound by century old, historic -bonds, and also because of a sincere hope for a brighter future. And -I may say with deep conviction that even now, after all that we have -gone through, this sense of duty is as strong as ever.= But with -the very same deep conviction I consider it my right and my duty to -declare that =no privations will shake our firm conviction that as -Russian subjects we cannot be made the victims of measures applicable -only to enemies and traitors; that we consider ourselves and shall -never cease to consider ourselves above all suspicion of treason to -our duty and our vows.= If the authorities really desire to return -the Jewish people to the places from which they were driven away by -order of the authorities they must take cognizance of this feeling -which I can testify under oath, on the basis of many conversations and -observations, is universal among us. =This permission to return under -shameful conditions is only a new and senseless insult. So the entire -Jewish population feels, and this feeling is shared by me, their -representative.”= - - - Misery of Refugees - -This sudden uprooting of an entire people from the land in which it has -dwelt for centuries has brought irretrievable disaster to the Jews of -Poland and Russia. It has been estimated that nearly three of the six -million Jews of Russia and Poland are now without means of support. - -Overwhelming and incalculable as the economic loss may be, the moral -losses far exceed them in intensity. Jewish communal life is disrupted. -Many of the cities and towns from which the expulsions took place were -centers of Jewish culture. Most of the Jewish colleges and schools -have been closed and many of the buildings and synagogues have been -destroyed. It is safe to say that these losses cannot be repaired for -generations to come. - -The demoralization and pauperization of the individual refugees is -painfully noticeable everywhere. Beggary, which was practically unknown -among the Jews, is now only too frequent. - -The appalling misery of the refugees is fully described in the -appended report of the Russian Jewish Committee for the Relief of War -Sufferers (see p. 98). The Jews of the Empire living outside of the war -zone, have assumed a system of self-taxation which, added to their -normal—or rather normally excessive—burden of taxation is practically -impoverishing them. The small Jewish community of Moscow alone gives -about 85,000 roubles a month, ranging from an average of 200 roubles -per month imposed upon 265 manufacturers down to the 10 roubles per -month imposed upon their poorest clerks. Other cities are contributing -in proportion but they cannot possibly keep pace with the ever-growing -need. - - - Unfair Administration of Relief - -And in the midst of this catastrophe the old struggle between the -Poles and Jews has continued with unabated ferocity. The local relief -committees refused to accept Jews as representatives, denied Jews any -help whatsoever and even drove them away, by intimidation and force, -from the relief stations supported by their own people. Of seventy-one -relief committees operating in Poland, fifty-two contained no Jewish -members, although the Jews constituted nearly one-half of the urban -population and thirteen to fourteen per cent. of the rural population -in these places. In the other nineteen committees the Jewish membership -constituted scarcely ten per cent. of the total, although the Jewish -population ran from thirty-five to sixty-eight per cent. of the total -population in the cities and from ten to fifteen per cent. in the rural -districts.[43] And =in most of these places the Jews had contributed -the major part of the relief funds.= Even institutions supported solely -by Jewish contributions were expropriated by the Poles. - -Thus “the magnificently equipped Hospital for the Wounded, in Warsaw, -created at the expense of the Jewish Kehillah, which had refitted -the Roman Hotel for the purpose, has been running until now under -the official name of the Warsaw Local Relief Committee. But this has -turned out to be an anti-Semite organization without a single Jewish -representative, its board being made up of rabid Judeophobes, who feel -no scruples in the methods and means of their anti-Jewish policy. -Private donations, the personal labor of Jews—all this has gone into -Polish institutions, all this has disappeared in the Polish river-bed,” -declares “Novy Voskhod,” Sept. 11 (24), 1914. - -The present attitude of the Jews of Russia toward this problem is well -reflected in a letter, published in a recent issue of “Evreyskaya -Zhizn,”[44] from a Jew, the owner of a salt mine, who had been invited, -among others, to contribute salt for the poorer people of Warsaw, -without distinction of race or creed. He replied, in effect, that the -proposal met with his deepest sympathy, but he took the liberty of -inquiring as to who would have charge of the distribution of the salt. -“Everybody knows,” he wrote, “the intolerant attitude of the Polish -Relief Committee toward the Jews. This makes us doubt whether your -high principle would be carried out conscientiously if administered -by Polish hands. The Warsaw Committee is particularly distrusted, and -it would be extremely unpleasant for me to feel that the necessaries -that we contributed should be withheld from our own fellow Jews. On the -other hand, we would welcome gladly every effort on the part of Russian -organizations to undertake to cooperate with Poles and Jews in this -matter to insure an equitable distribution.” - -When the Central Citizens’ Committee of Warsaw was dissolved by the -German governor of Poland, in September, 1915, its accounts showed -that it had distributed over eleven million roubles ($5,500,000) -since the outbreak of the war, =of which the Jews received scarcely -100,000, although they constitute one-sixth of the population and -the funds had been gathered with the express understanding that the -distribution be absolutely without discrimination between Poles and -Jews.= The Liquidation Commission which disposed of the balance on hand -at the time of the dissolution of the Central Committee—some 1,290,000 -roubles—allotted it all to Polish institutions. =Although there are -300,000 Jews in Warsaw, the majority of them in dire need, not a rouble -was offered for their relief.= - -Finally it must be noted that the occupation of Poland by the German -forces has afforded little relief to the Jews, as the scarcity of food -in Germany precludes the shipment of any considerable quantities of -provisions to ameliorate the distress of the starving Jews of Poland. - - - PROTESTS OF LIBERAL RUSSIA - -The cruelty of the government’s policy toward the Jews has not received -the support of the Russian people, as the numerous protests uttered in -the Duma, in public assemblies and in the press clearly indicate. When -it is remembered that those non-Jews who, in Russia, dare to utter a -word in favor of the despised Jews, risk their position and prestige -to a degree unparalleled in any other country, the following calendar -of protests and manifestoes constitutes a body of evidence against the -Russian government which must compel conviction. - -These protests have been grouped, for convenience, into four classes: - - - THE VOICE OF THE DUMA - -Early in the session of the Duma the Left groups proposed an -interpellation of the Government with respect to its illegal acts -against the Jews. After some debate the proposed questions were -referred to the Committee on Interpellations, which reported them out, -on August 30, 1915, in this form: - - I. Do the president of the Council of Ministers and the Ministers - of the Interior and Justice know of the illegal conduct of their - administrative officers with respect to the following: - - =1. That officers of the prison administration received persons - taken by the military authorities as hostages from the local Jewish - population of Riga, Prushkov ... etc.?= - - =2. That the prosecuting attorneys took no steps to obtain the - immediate release of these persons, accused of no crime and illegally - imprisoned?= - - =3. That the expelled were driven by agents of the police in - Vilikomir, Zhagory and Shadov into freight cars inadequate for the - accommodation of one-tenth of them, and that the remainder, including - children, aged men and women, and invalids were compelled to follow - afoot?= - - =4. That the officers of the local governments took no steps to check - the repeated robberies by the local population of the property left by - the exiles?= - - =5. That the officers of the Gendarmerie of Homel prohibited the - supplying of food to the exiles, even though they were at the point of - exhaustion from hunger and thirst?= - - =6. That in Novozybkov individuals who sent telegrams appealing for - help were arrested?= - - =7. That the officers of the Gendarmerie, with armed threats, refused - to admit to sealed cars persons who brought food to the expelled at - the station of Bielitsa, on the Poliess railroad?= - - =8. That the police officers locked the exiles in sealed cars for - several days at a time?= - - =9. That in the shipment of these exiles from Zolotonosh to Kovno and - back some of them were kept in the cars ten days?= - - =10. That the local government administration of the cities of Minsk, - Samara and Rostov required the reprinting in the local paper of the - story of Jewish treason in the village of Kuzhi, first published in - “Nash Viestnik”?= - - =11. That the local administration of Tashkent ordered prayer for the - delivery of the army from the treachery of the Jews?= - - II. If the illegal acts of the authorities are known to the indicated - individuals what steps were taken by them towards the punishment of - the guilty and the prevention of similar breaches of law in the - future? - -The significance of this interpellation cannot be overestimated, -insofar as the facts implied in these questions are officially accepted -by the great standing committee of the Duma as worthy of cognizance. -Had the questions originally proposed by the Left groups been without -foundation they would have been rejected without reference to the -Committee on Interpellations; and had the Committee on Interpellations -found, upon examination of the evidence underlying each question by -both the Right and Left deputies on the Committee, that the evidence -was defective or inadequate, the interpellation would never have been -reported out in this form. =The fact that it was so reported indicates -that the evidence was incontrovertible, and was so accepted by the -Liberals and reactionaries alike.= The report of the Committee is dated -August 30, 1915, but as the Duma was prorogued immediately afterwards, -the Government’s answer to the interpellation is not known. - -In the course of the debates on these and other questions affecting the -Jews the expressed attitude of the representatives of the great bulk of -the Russian population left no doubt of their absolute opposition to -the Government on the Jewish question.[45] - -Professor Milyukov, the leader of the Constitutional Democrats, -declared on July 19 (August 1), 1915: - -“The strongest factor in the disruption of our national unity was -the government’s policy toward our alien subjects. =The foul play -upon the obscure racial prejudices of the masses, with the customary -weapon of this kind of strife—anti-Semitism and the persecution of -all dissenting nationalities or religions—has been exercised with -unparalleled effrontery. Under the mask of military precaution, -measures worse than credible are taken against crimes that are -imaginary.... At a time when nations are struggling for the liberties -and rights of small peoples, such terrible deeds embitter our friends -and evoke joy among our enemies.”= (Loud applause from the left.) - -=Deputy Kerensky.= “We are fighting this war in a territory occupied -by non-Russian nationalities. But =did not our government, this very -year, cause these peoples to doubt the wisdom of the path they took a -year ago, when they linked their destiny with ours?”= - -=Deputy Tchkheidze.= Aug. 3 (16), 1915: “It is well known to you that -the Government régime has been based on Jewish oppression and that at -all critical moments =it aimed its blows first of all at the Jews, -because they were in the line of least resistance....= - -“A year ago the war began and at once accusations of treachery against -the Jews were started by the Government. To-day Russia and the whole -world knows who is to blame for the condition in which Russia found -herself. The guilty ones were not at all the Jews, as the whole -country will confirm, but those who stuffed their pockets with the -money which they made on Government orders for army supplies (shouts -from the left: “That’s true!”) The guilty ones were those who, with -the aid of men like Myasoyodyeff, Grotgus and other traitors, betrayed -Russia.... - -“This is supposed to be a war for liberty, fraternity, and equality, -but what justice is there in making a whole nation answer for the -crimes of individuals, granting that there are any? - -=“In the name of what truth is the Kuzhi slander being published in -the ‘Pravitelstvenny Viestnik?’= - -=“In the name of what truth are the various periodical publications -ordered to reprint this communication under penalty of a fine?= - -=“What justice demands that a Jewish volunteer who has several times -been wounded be expelled within twenty-four hours when he tries to -find a place in Russia to recover from his wounds?= - -=“In the name of what humanity is it forbidden to hand food to -starving Jewish refugees cooped up in freight trains? In the name of -what brotherhood is one part of the army aroused against the Jewish -soldiers who are in the trenches side by side with our own soldiers?= - -=“We accuse the Germans of breaking the laws of warfare, of using -poison gases and mutilating prisoners. Such acts can call forth only -indignation and protest. Let these acts be a stain upon the ruling -classes of Germany. But, gentlemen, in the name of what laws of -humanity are orders issued to the Russian army to drive peaceful Jews -ahead of the troops and to expose them to fire?= - -=“In the name of what laws of humanity are Jewish-Russian subjects -taken as hostages and put into prisons and tortured and shot?= - -=“We denounced the Germans for having destroyed Louvain and the -Cathedral of Rheims; but I ask you in the name of what ethical -or esthetic principles is a Jewish woman who seeks refuge in the -synagogue violated?”= - -=Baron Rosen, former Russian Ambassador to the United States,= also -protested outspokenly against the continuation of the anti-Jewish -policy of the Government in a speech before the Council of the Empire, -Aug. 22 (Sept. 4), 1915. (See Appendix, p. 117.) - - - RESOLUTIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY - -The leading political party of Russia—the Constitutional Democratic -Party—officially voiced its sentiments on the Jewish question at a -national convention of the Party, held at Petrograd on June 19–21 -(O. S. June 6–8), 1915, at which the Central Committee of the Party -submitted a comprehensive report which was adopted unanimously, and -which, summarized in the form of a resolution, was ordered published. -This resolution, after citing the loyalty and patriotism of the Jews at -the outbreak of the war, continues: - - “This intense spirit of patriotism manifested by the Jews in the hour - of Russia’s danger seemed for a time to have broken down the rooted - prejudices of the Government and to have cleared the way for the - recognition in Russia, of that civic equality which is accorded the - Jews throughout the civilized world. But this would have deprived - our reactionaries, those champions of an outlived past, of their old - and well-tested weapon of black demagoguery—anti-Semitism. And so we - see that under the direct influence of these notorious Jew-baiters - measures were early adopted by the Government to set the army and the - people against the Jews. Every advantage was taken of the exigencies - of war. Isolated cases of espionage, likely to occur among the border - populations of all nations, were seized upon as a basis for universal - accusations and furnished the occasion for the invention of incredible - myths and rumors circulated exclusively to the injury of the Jews.... - The Jews have been held collectively responsible for the acts of - individuals among them—a policy which outrages the most elementary - sense of justice, a policy which is no longer sanctioned by the laws - of any civilized land, a monstrous survival of the remote past.... - Needless to mention the spread of discord and hatred, the growth of - mutual suspicion and distrust among the races inhabitating Russia - which must of necessity follow such a policy.... - - =“Not only in the name of brotherhood; not only in the name of that - harmony so necessary where different nationalities are fated to live - under the shelter of a common government; not only for the sake of - keeping alive among the Jewish people, now being driven to despair, - some hope of a brighter future, and some faith in that progress - of which they have ever been the valiant champions, but also for - the sake of the attainment of that ideal of the Russian people—the - elevation of our beloved Fatherland to the status of a truly - enlightened empire—must we offer united opposition against the forces - of reaction.... Our adversaries hope to continue, even after the war, - to use the poisoned weapon of primitive race hatred which they have - used until now. It is our task to demonstrate to the masses of the - people that they are again being duped, that their base passions are - now being aroused in order to distract their attention from their own - vital interests. We must continue, as before, to point out, firmly - and persistently, that there is only one path to a brighter future - for Russia, the same path along which the entire civilized world has - traveled, and that along this road there is only one solution of the - Jewish question—a solution demanded by the most elementary principles - of civilized government—and that is to grant them, as individuals, - full civic rights, and as a people, the right to free racial and - cultural self-development.”= - -A striking incident occurred during the debate upon this resolution. -One of the leaders of the party, Maklakov, a brother of the former -Minister of the Interior, advanced a plea in extenuation of the alleged -Jewish treacheries. - -“The Jews have suffered such cruel persecutions in Russia,” he -remarked, “that they might well be excused even if these spy stories -were found to be true.” - -=“We spurn this right to baseness,” cried out former deputy Vinaver, -a Jew. “Our loyalty is not for sale. We are not newcomers here. Our -ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years. We are patriots -because we feel ourselves bound to Russia. We believe in Russia even -more than you do.”= - - - PROTESTS OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS, CITIES, ETC. - -Various municipalities outside the Pale have petitioned the government -to give equal rights to the Jews. - -The Municipal Council of Smolensk, at its session of December 19, 1914 -(January 1, 1915), passed a resolution, with only two dissenting votes, -petitioning the government “to abolish all measures which restrict the -rights of Russian subjects of the Jewish faith, and, in particular, -to abolish the Pale of Settlement.” At this session Councillor P. V. -Mikhailoff said: - -“We are referring not only to those families of Jewish soldiers at the -front, to families fleeing from devastated Poland, but even to the -soldiers themselves who are placed _hors de combat_ because of their -wounds, after having valiantly served in our ranks. Thus, for example, -a Jewish soldier wounded in the hand and in the breast, having parents -in this city, obtained permission _only with the utmost difficulty_ -to stay here three months. At the end of this period he must go -back to the Pale and live there without means or medical attention, -although he is threatened with tuberculosis.... This is merely one -case in thousands which prove to us the horrors of the situation in -which Jewish soldiers and their families are placed because of their -deprivation of civic rights. Those families whose members have shed -their blood for Russia are ruined by the invasion of the enemy. They -arrive here to find a refuge from starvation and death, from ruin -and violation. We must remember that nearly a half million Jews are -fighting side by side with our brave warriors against the common -enemy. As to the civilian Jews, they have no less patriotism or -enthusiasm than the other inhabitants.... His Majesty, the Emperor, -in passing through Lublin, Grodno, and Tiflis, has deigned to express -his thanks to the Jews for their faithfulness to our common country. -The conclusion from this is clear: =There is no serious reason to -maintain any longer those measures of restriction so futile and so -pernicious and so malevolent.... But the Jewish question is not merely -a question of abstract justice. The economic and moral development of -our city life is seriously retarded by the restrictions placed upon - one part of the population....”=[46] - -In August, 1914, a meeting of municipality, Zemstvo, Stock Exchange, -and University officials and merchants, at Odessa, resolved that the -country would benefit by the abolition of all repressive laws and the -opening of educational institutions to all citizens.[47] - -In August, 1914, the Moscow Conference of Mayors also forcibly -condemned the expulsion policy of some governors and resolved to use -its influence to ameliorate the position of the Jews.[48] - -So also the Congress of Delegates from cities of Western Siberia -petitioned for the abolition of all Jewish disabilities.[49] - -Within the past few months the municipalities of Samara, Saratov, -Ekaterinoslav and other important centers; the Siberian Municipal -Conference, and the Conference of twenty Zemstvos held at Yaroslavl, -all petitioned the government and the Duma to remove the disabilities -affecting the Jews of Russia. - - - PROTESTS OF TRADE AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS - -The Military-Industrial Committee, organized in May, 1915, to integrate -the economic resources of the country on a war basis, met on August -25, 1915, and condemned the incompetence of the government openly. In -his presidential address P. P. Riabushinski deplored the tardiness of -the government in calling upon the social forces of the country. “This -leadership of the country has been attempted by persons incapable of -leadership, and it is now evident to everybody that a =new personnel -is needed within the government....= We have observed the workings of -the government departments from the very beginning of the war, and have -come to the conclusion that these departments are unable to cope with -the situation. The supply of war material is altogether unorganized, as -the army well knows.... The government will from now on transfer to us -more and more of its functions. =But the longer this is deferred the -less benefit will result....= This work cannot be done through a poorly -organized government.... The State is a huge business enterprise, -whose parts must work harmoniously.... The war has now changed from a -struggle of will and spirit into a struggle of machinery. =Therefore, -the persons entrusted with the defense of the country must know -the country....= It cannot be denied that Russia is at the present -moment facing a great danger, and we fear that the time may come -when our courage will sink.... (_censored_). Our army is suffering -heroically.... (_censored_). We know that after a while, with the war -continuing in the same poor fashion as at present, the government will -be ready to meet us half-way, but we also know by experience =that -it will then be too late and even the very best man called by the -government will be unable to accomplish anything.”= - -This address was met with thunderous applause. Another speaker, Prof. -E. L. Zubashov, referring to the Jews, declared that: =“The sons of -the Jewish nation are now fighting side by side with the Russians for -their country. Unfortunately this country has until now been only a -step-mother to them. Let us express the hope that it may now become -a mother to them.”= He therefore proposed a resolution favoring the -abolition of all restrictive laws against the Jews. His proposal was -met with prolonged applause and was accepted by the convention.[50] - -At a meeting of the Free Economic Society—the foremost economic -organization of Russia—on January 16, 1915, the following resolution -was adopted unanimously: - -“The Commission ... has taken into account the exceptionally difficult -position in which the Jewish population finds itself, in view of the -residence restrictions to which they are subject. - -“While they are suffering all the terrors of war together with the -rest of the population, the Jewish population, being mainly urban, has -suffered particularly from the general disorganization of economic -relations not only within the immediate region of military activities, -but far beyond. - -“Under these conditions it would be a great relief to the suffering -population if measures were adopted which would make it easier -for them to move about in search of work. In view of the size of -our country and the unlimited economic resources of its regions, -especially those of the interior, have hardly been touched by the -miseries of war. There are regions in the interior of Russia where -economic conditions have even improved somewhat, since they have -assumed many of the industries abandoned in Poland, and since the -commissary department placed large orders here. - -“At the same time the Jewish population is even at this exceptional -time artificially confined to the cities of Poland and the western -provinces by force of existing legal limitations which increases the -hardships of war for them. =If in time of peace these restrictions,= -which are economically harmful and morally degrading, =are recognized -as a relic of barbarism that must be abolished, it is all the more -difficult to reconcile ourselves with them at the present time, when -hundreds and thousands of Jews serve under the Russian banners on the -battlefield.= - -“In view of these facts the Commission has decided to request -the Council of the Free Economic Society to communicate with the -government and members of the society who are members of the -legislative bodies:— - -=“To immediately stop the functioning of all restrictive laws relating -to the Settlement rights of Jews,= and - -=“To abolish them immediately and permanently by legislative -enactment.”=[51] - -Numerous commercial and technical associations have passed resolutions -declaring that the main cause of Russia’s economic backwardness lay in -the restrictions placed upon Jews, and that the sole means of combating -German predominance over Russian industry and trade is through the -abolition of these restrictions. Among these organizations are the -national grain, lumber, fur and gold trades; the Chambers of Commerce -of Moscow, Petrograd and the leading cities of Russia and Siberia, -and the national Congress of Bourses; the Russo-American Chamber of -Commerce, etc. Practically every national convention of every industry -has petitioned the government to liberate the economic talents of the -Jews by the removal of all legal restrictions. - - - PROTESTS OF RUSSIAN WRITERS AND PUBLICISTS - -Just as the commercial and industrial elements of Russia demand -equality for the Jews on economic grounds, so the intellectual elements -of Russia demand it on broad human grounds. - -The great manifesto issued at the beginning of the war by 225 of the -leading publicists and writers of Russia, declares: - -“Russia, in the present great war, is straining all her physical -and intellectual forces to an extraordinary degree. All the peoples -of Russia are taking part in the war, sharing equally in all the -labors. We believe that the blood of the fighters is not being shed in -vain. We believe that after having borne the horrors of the war, the -population will return with increased energy to the work of building -for a better and brighter future. This we believe, and we hope that -the relations between the different peoples that inhabit Russia will -be built up in the future on the eternal foundations of wisdom and -justice. - -“But at this moment, so important in history, we see with sorrow and -consternation that to the sufferings of one of the nationalities -inhabiting Russia new distress and new vexations are added. The -limitation of the right of education is now felt with particular pain -by the Jewish youth. As the Western frontiers are closed the usual -exodus to the foreign schools is checked, while in Russia itself the -percentage limitations against the Jews in the schools are maintained -in force. The Jews of the destroyed towns have no right to leave the -Pale of Settlement, a measure which often leads to a disintegration -and a division of members of families, wives and children of wounded -soldiers not being allowed to visit their husbands and fathers, -and being at the same time exposed to all sorts of chicanery. =The -sorely-tried Jewish nation which has given to the world such precious -contributions in the domain of religion, of philosophy, of poetry; -which has always shared the travails and trials of Russian life; which -has been hurt so often by prejudice and insult; which more than once -has proven its love for Russia, and its devotion to her cause, is now -again exposed to unjust accusations and persecutions.= - -“The Russian Jews, who are industriously working with us in all -spheres of labor and activity that are accessible to them, have -given so many convincing proofs of their sincere desire to be with -us, to render service to our cause ... that the limitation of their -right of citizenship is not only a crying injustice, but also reacts -injuriously upon the very interests of the State. The Russian Empire -can, and must, draw its strength from the complete union of all -the nationalities inhabiting Russia, and only by the placing of -all citizens upon an equal footing will the power of Russia become -indestructible. - -=“Russians, let us remember that the Russian Jew has no other country -than Russia, and that nothing is dearer to a man than the soil on -which he is born. Let us understand that the prosperity and power of -Russia are inseparable from the well-being and the liberty of all the -nationalities which constitute its vast Empire. Let us understand -this truth, act according to our intelligence and our conscience, and -we may be certain that the ultimate disappearance of persecutions -against the Jews and their complete emancipation will form one of the -conditions of a truly constructive imperial régime.”= - - - AUSTRIA-HUNGARY - -The total estimated Jewish population of Austria-Hungary is about -2,250,000, of which nearly one million were, at the beginning of the -war, in the border province of Galicia, in the immediate area of -hostilities. - -Here, as elsewhere, the Jews manifested their keen loyalty by trooping -to the colors even when they were normally exempt, as in the case -of the students of the Budapest Rabbinical Seminary, many of whom -volunteered, although not required to do so. The Government recognized -this loyalty in many ways, particularly in the granting of special -privileges with respect to the observances required by the Jewish -religious ritual. Thus the Emperor, in his own name, sent 20,000 -Tallithim (prayer shawls) for the soldiers in the field during the -holidays. When, at Passover, it was discovered that the matzoths for -the Jewish troops had been improperly prepared, the Government, at -the instance of the Chief Rabbi of Vienna, authorized the wholesale -distribution of potatoes to Orthodox Jews. - -Hundreds of Jewish soldiers have been decorated on the field of battle, -and many were given officers’ commissions. - - - GALICIA - -It was the million Jews of Galicia who were made to feel the full -burden of the war. Although their economic condition before the war was -greatly inferior to that of the general population, their political -condition was one of equality. But the Russian invasion of Galicia, -in September, 1914, changed their status overnight. The Russian -Governor-General, Count Bobrinski, a notorious anti-Semite, found the -political status of the Jews in Galicia most abhorrent to him. He at -once proceeded to degrade them to the status of the Russian Jews, and, -if possible, still lower. He proposed to his home Government that -all Jewish landed property in Galicia be confiscated and the Jews -be forbidden to own, lease or rent land; and this, he added, was an -immediately imperative step, to be carried out even before the formal -annexation of Galicia was announced! - -On February 13, 1915, the Grand Duke Nicholas issued an order declaring -that “in view of the increase of spying on the part of the Jews, it is -decreed that: - - =1. No person of Jewish nationality may enter Galicia.= - - =2. No persons of Jewish nationality may pass from one district of - Galicia into another.= - - =3. Infractions of this decree will be punished by a fine of three - thousand roubles ($1,500) or by three months’ imprisonment.”=[52] - -The spirit of these documents, communicated to the troops, produced -a series of outrages against the Jewish population more horrible -even than any perpetrated in Russia. As each town was invaded by the -Russians the troops first sought the Jewish quarters, and here they let -themselves loose in an orgy of pillage, sack and rapine. - -In the town of Bohorodczany there appeared, in January, 1915, a -detachment of Austro-Polish troops. They demanded food and quarters and -were, of course, supplied. After a brief stay they departed. But the -act of the Jews was reported to the Russian commander in Stanislau. -He immediately sent a “punitive” expedition of four hundred Cossacks -to the town. They set the town on fire, routed out the Jewish women -and girls from their places of concealment, assembled them in the -square and there held an orgy under the open sky. After their lusts -were satisfied they drove the victims under the crack of the whip, -half naked and starving, along the roads to Stanislau. One woman, who -had risen from childbirth only a few days before, died on the way. One -of the physicians of Stanislau, Dr. B., testifies that he alone treated -ten cases of women and girls who had been violated.[53] - -In Szczerzec, Galicia, the Russian soldiers caught one Jacob Mischel, a -town councillor, poured oil over him and burned him alive.[54] - -In Dembica, Cossacks raided a synagogue to which the Jews had fled for -refuge and prayer, robbed and imprisoned the men, and outraged the -women. Those who escaped through the windows were caught by the guards -below and men and women were knouted to death. Then the troops set fire -to the synagogue.[55] - -These are typical cases of outrages perpetrated against the Jewish -population of Galicia. Scarcely a town in the line of invasion escaped. -The Jewish population fled before the invaders in vast numbers. - -There are about 175,000 Jewish refugees in Vienna; 70,000 of these -are destitute. There are about 70,000 living in barracks in Bohemia; -8,000 of these are in Prague. There were about 52,000 in Budapest. All -fugitives who have settled in Hungary, however, have been removed to -Austria proper. Dr. J. Bloch of Vienna, estimates that the total number -of Jewish refugees from Galicia is about half a million. The situation -of these refugees is somewhat better than that of the Jewish refugees -in Russia, inasmuch as the Government has placed them in concentration -camps, attends to their minimum wants and gives each one an allowance -of 70 heller (14 cents) daily. With the rise in the prices of food, the -daily allowance has risen to about 90 heller (18 cents) per capita. -They are treated well by the population, and in many cases are provided -with some work. - - - ROUMANIA - -The future of Roumania is of interest to the Jews for two especial -reasons: first, because the Jews of Roumania are deprived of their -rights as citizens in contravention of a solemn promise made by -Roumania to the Great Powers at the Berlin Congress in 1878; -secondly, because it will no doubt be Roumania’s aim to win back from -Austria-Hungary certain large territories, including Transylvania and -Bukowina, in which the bulk of the population is of Roumanian descent, -thus, if successful, incidentally, increasing the number of Jews under -Roumanian rule from about 250,000 to more than one million. - -During the present war Roumania has given evidence of its hostile -attitude towards the Jews. Thousands of Jewish refugees who fled before -the savagery of the Russian army which invaded Bukowina, sought refuge -in Roumania. These were treated with great brutality by Roumanian -officials in the border towns. At the beginning of July, 1915, the -Government issued an order to the administrative authorities of all -the districts bordering on Austria-Hungary to expel all the Jews from -the localities near the frontier, and to send them to the interior of -the country. The officials took advantage of this edict to expel not -only the refugees, but also hundreds of Jewish citizens of Roumania -who had been living in the border towns for generations. The order -of expulsion was executed summarily, and the Jews were forced to -leave within forty-eight and in some cases with all their goods in -twenty-four hours. As a rule, they were not permitted to take their -belongings with them, and even under the most favorable circumstances -they had perforce to leave them behind because they knew neither their -destination nor their fate. - -This action of the Government caused a great deal of adverse comment in -the press. “Vitorul” the official organ of the Liberal Party, now in -power, met these attacks, in its issue of July 12, 1915, as follows: - -“Some of the newspapers pretend that the Ministry of Internal Affairs -has given orders that the native-born Jews established in the towns -bordering upon the northern frontier of Moldavia be sent into the -interior of the country. This news is inexact. The Minister of -Internal Affairs was not aiming at the Jews established in the towns -near the frontier or in any other place when he issued his order -of expulsion. The order given by the Minister of Internal Affairs -concerns only the alien subjects of a foreign country, and the -native-born Jews who, though not living in frontier towns go there on -business, acting as cereal brokers. And the purpose of the order is to -prevent such people from committing acts dangerous to the interests -of the population of the state. The peaceful Jewish population -living near the frontier is not the object of any hounding, as the -irresponsible newspapers would have it.” - -The Bucharest “Adeverul” (Truth), an independent organ, and one of the -two newspapers in Bucharest which sympathize with the Jews, replied: - -“In answer to the attacks of the Government organ upon the -‘irresponsible’ newspapers, we are in a position to publish a list of -the ‘peaceful Jewish population’ which has been the subject of the -most terrible persecutions by the authorities. =We can give the names -of the reserves, mobilized at the very moment, whose children have -been driven from their homes.= It is possible that the Minister of -Internal Affairs did not mean to ‘aim,’ as the official organ says, -at the Jews. If the Minister is innocent of the charge, we would like -to know what punishment to inflict upon his subordinates who wilfully -misrepresented his order. - -“But it is not we who are irresponsible. It is the Government that -tries to mislead the public with ambiguous statements. It says that -the order referred only to the brokers, who may commit dangerous -acts. We know that the law punishes crimes and delinquencies which -_have_ been committed, but does not anticipate crimes that _may_ be -committed. Then again, the law provides strict punishment for each -delinquency and not a general and preventive punishment, such as -deportation. Why is it that those who have committed the infraction -have not been arrested and peaceful people are being punished instead? - -“Even the Government recognizes that this preventive punishment is -applied to the alien and such Jews as are only doing business though -not living in those places. It means that the suspicion rests equally -upon the alien and the Roumanian Jew, because the Jew, although not -an alien, is of another religion. The suspicion then falls upon all -the native-born Jews. Thus we see, that even if the official organ’s -public interpretation of the law be correct, it is still the Jews who -will suffer. But we cannot accept the explanation. It is false. - -“It is an absolute fact that not transient traders but people who are -innocent, who are paying taxes in those localities have been expelled.” - -It is idle to speculate as to what Roumania may do if she becomes -involved in the war. But it is well to consider whether, if she does -not become involved, it will be possible to bring to the attention of -the belligerent powers at a future peace conference the question of the -status of the Jews of Roumania. These are in the anomolous position of -people virtually without a country. They are subjects of Roumania, pay -taxes and support the Government. But even the native-born and those -whose parents and grandparents were native-born subjects of Roumania, -cannot become citizens, and are also discriminated against by the -Government. In this respect, Roumania may be called “Little Russia.” - -The situation of Roumania as a nation is exceptional. She was made an -independent country by the European Powers, meeting at the Congress of -Berlin, after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–8. In a treaty which was -then signed by all the great Powers of Europe, the following articles -were inserted: - -XLIII. The High contracting parties recognize the independence of -Roumania, subject to the conditions set forth in the two following -articles. - -XLIV. In Roumania the difference of religious creeds and confessions -shall not be alleged against any person as a ground for exclusion or -incapacity in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil and political -rights, admission to public employments, functions and honors, or the -exercise of the various professions and industries in any locality -whatsoever. - -“The freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship shall be -assured to all persons belonging to the Roumanian State, as well -as to foreigners, and no hindrance shall be offered either to the -hierarchical organizations of the different communions, or to their -relations with their spiritual chiefs. The subjects and citizens of -all the Powers, traders or others, shall be treated in Roumania, -without distinction of creed, on a footing of perfect equality.” - -Roumania having become an independent nation upon its recognition -by these Powers, and upon the conditions set forth in the treaty of -Berlin, it may be possible at the conclusion of the war that the -violations of this treaty on the part of the Roumanian Government may -be considered by the Powers whose honor is thus flaunted by an open -violation of a treaty to which they solemnly became parties. - - - PALESTINE - -The Jews of Palestine were among the earliest victims of the war. The -greater part of them are dependent, wholly or in part, upon their -co-religionists in Europe and America. With the outbreak of the war -all the normal channels of communication were temporarily interrupted. -Even had this not occurred the complete stagnation of trade in Europe -would have made it impossible for the Jews, who were themselves in -difficulties, to continue to afford material assistance. - -The difficulties of the situation before Turkey became a belligerent -are briefly set forth in the following extracts from a report, dated -October 21, 1914, made by Mr. Maurice Wertheim, who was entrusted -by Ambassador Morgenthau with the distribution of a fund of $50,000 -contributed by American Jews. - -The colonists themselves did not stand in actual need of assistance, -as they are largely men of certain means and can help themselves. -Furthermore, they are able to obtain their bank deposits in the -following manner: the Anglo-Palestine Bank, with which most of the -Jews in Palestine do business through their various branches in -Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, Safed, and Tiberias, etc., are registering -or certifying for their depositors checks down to the smallest -denominations. These checks are made payable to the drawer, endorsed -by him, and the registration stamp of the bank is equivalent to a -notice that the check will be cashed by the bank after the moratorium. -With these checks the colonists are able to supply their immediate -needs and harvest their crops. - -The only pressing requirement of the colonists was to exchange some -of these checks for gold in order to pay Government taxes and military -exoneration fees, and this was arranged. - -Further than this, the two great needs of the Jewish colonies, -generally speaking, were: (a) to take care of Jewish laborers thrown -out of employment by existing conditions, and (b) to secure new -markets for their products to take the place of those that had been -affected by the war. - -There are about 2,500 Jewish laborers in the colonies. It is -impossible to determine the exact percentage of unemployed amongst -them, but even if we assume that only half of them are out of -employment, it is easily seen that the amount of money we were able -to divert to this purpose will not go very far. I might say here that -in dividing the fund amongst the various districts in Palestine, we -allotted to the colonies a somewhat larger proportion than their -population justified. - -The opening up of new markets for Palestinian agricultural products -(oranges, wine and almonds, are the chief articles of export), is -probably the most pressing need of the colonist movement in Palestine. -Colonists feel that the chief market for the oranges which in the past -has been England, will be greatly interfered with, and if they are not -able to dispose successfully of their products, their entire future -and very existence will be threatened. - -The situation in the larger centers of population is very bad. -Almost no currency enters the country and foreign checks that do find -their way there are not realizable. This naturally places in great -want those who depend on the “Chaluka” contributions and also the -large class who depend on money sent by relatives. Furthermore, the -industries of manufacture of antiques and souvenirs are completely -stopped, owing to want of customers, and there is no money to conduct -industries such as building, carpentering, tailoring and shoemaking, -in which large numbers of Jews are employed. I found that the better -class of Jews had themselves organized temporary relief, but their -possibilities of assistance are rapidly drawing to a close. People who -had, a few weeks before my visit, contributed to the maintenance of -soup kitchens, stood in need themselves upon my arrival. One Jewish -hospital had already closed. - -The food situation in Palestine was precarious, for while prices had -not risen to any large extent, yet the source of supply was limited. -The introduction of wheat from the East of the Jordan had been -prohibited by the Government (which restriction through the efforts -of the Ambassador we have endeavored to have lifted). In order to -guard against possible shortage of food and also to offer food at the -cheapest possible price, our Committee will purchase from time to time -as large quantities of food as it can, have bread baked itself, and -will sell same at cost, or possibly a little less. - -When Turkey entered the war as an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary -the situation of the 50,000 Russian Jews, who constituted half of the -Jewish population of Palestine, became precarious. As nationals of an -enemy country, they became liable to any restrictions or deprivation -of rights which military necessity or international animosity might -dictate. Thus these thousands of Jews were to suffer because they -technically bore the nationality of a country which had virtually -exiled them. - -Upon the intervention of the German and American Embassies, however, -the Ottoman Government made special concessions to these Jews. Several -weeks’ time was allowed for those who so desired to become Turkish -subjects by naturalization. Upon the expiration of this period, -those who had not availed themselves of this offer were ordered to -leave. About 600 were forcibly expelled and about 7,000 others left -voluntarily. Most of the fugitives took refuge in Egypt, whence a -number emigrated to the United States. In the spring of 1915, however, -the Council of Ministers decided that the deportations be discontinued. - -The difficulties of the economic situation of the Jewish population -were further increased by Turkey’s entrance in the war. The Government -confiscated most of the crops, and a great many of the settlers were -either drafted into the army or compelled to buy immunity. - -In March, 1915, the American Jewish Relief Committee and the -Provisional Zionist Committee were enabled, through the courtesy of the -United States Government, to send a food ship to Palestine. Although -considerable portions of these supplies were diverted by the Turkish -Government into non-Jewish channels, the food question was to a great -extent solved, and conditions have been steadily improving. The -present situation is briefly described in the following extracts from -a report of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist -Affairs, dated August 10, 1915: - -The _economic_ situation has also shown some improvement. The arrival -of the relief food ship “Vulcan” has been partly responsible for this -result. After considerable discussion with the government authorities, -the following ratio of distribution has been agreed upon; 55 per cent. -for the Jews, 26 per cent. for the Mohammedans, and 19 per cent. for -the Christians. - -The sending of the relief ship has had the important effect of -lowering considerably the prices of food. The gathering of the harvest -is now in full swing. The crops are satisfactory, especially in -Galilee, which is principally a corn growing country. Our farms, in -particular, have proved an important factor in the present crisis by -supplying the colonies and cities with grain at reasonable prices. -There is reason to believe that Palestine will now be able to hold its -own in the matter of food, without depending on further shipments from -America. There is still some shortage felt in sugar and in some less -important groceries, of which small quantities may still be procured -from Egypt. - -The economic prospects would be considerably brighter were it not -for the _locust_ which has swept over Palestine in large numbers. -In corn-growing Galilee the danger is less palpable than elsewhere -where plantations are the principal feature of agriculture. The fight -against the plague has been taken up energetically and systematically. - -The danger of a shortage in grain was another problem that needed -careful consideration. While in normal times Palestine is in a -position to export grain abroad, the outbreak of the war, owing to the -heavy requisitions of the Government and the difficult communications -with the North of Palestine and the Hauran, the granaries of the -country, brought an alarming situation. To deal with it, a special -committee was organized. A number of well-to-do Jews bought up -quantities of grain and had them milled, offering the flour to the -public at cheap prices. In this way the danger threatening the -population from unscrupulous speculators was averted and the prices -were kept down. Thus, when, shortly before Passover, the price of -flour had soared up as high as 65 francs, the action of the committee -had the effect of reducing it to 48. The committee also supplied -public institutions with cheap flour. - -As another means of relief, public stores were opened by the committee -for the sale of provisions. In spite of the fact that some of the -goods were requisitioned by the government, the stores served a good -purpose, helping, among other things, to circulate the checks of the -Anglo-Palestine Company. - -From the very beginning of the crisis, the Palestina Amt made it a -rule that no workingmen were to be dismissed, as such action might -subject them to the danger of starvation. To supply all the workingmen -with employment, public works were undertaken, such as road building, -canalization and water supply. Several builders who had been forced -to discontinue their building operations were assisted with loans to -resume them. - -Finally, a Public Loan Association was organized to meet the needs of -those who had formerly received remittances from abroad, and, owing to -the discontinuation of these remittances consequent upon the outbreak -of the war, found themselves in pitiable circumstances. Some 900 -persons took advantage of the facilities offered by the Association. - -According to the statistics compiled by the Palestina Amt and embodied -in a separate report, some 8,000 Jews left the country during the -crisis. Of these, 4,000 were from Jaffa, 2,000 from Jerusalem, 1,500 -from the Judean colonies and 500 from the colonies in Galilee. The -estimated number of Jews at present in Palestine is 88,100, of whom -13,500 are to be found in the colonies. - -The requisitions and the war contributions levied upon the Jews during -the war, amount to 152,805 francs. - - - APPENDIX - - I. - - REPORT OF THE RUSSIAN-JEWISH RELIEF COMMITTEE - - _NOTE.—The following report was issued by the (Russian) Jewish - Committee for the Relief of Sufferers from the War, to its members - in Russia, in May, 1915, since when conditions in Russia and Poland - have steadily grown worse. The authoritativeness of the report is - guaranteed by the personnel of the committee, numbering among its - membership the foremost Jews of Russia, among whom may be named: Baron - A. de Gunzberg, H. Sliosberg, M. Ginsburg and B. Kamenka, chairman of - the Executive Committee; M. A. Warschavsky, chairman of the Organizing - Committee; and D. Feinberg, L. Bramson and M. Kreinin, Secretaries._ - - -=Terrible disaster has befallen the Jewish population of the Pale of -Settlement and of Poland. Hunger and thirst and disease and death, and -moral sufferings beyond the power of human pen to describe are the lot -of hundred thousands of Jewish men, women and children whom the war has -driven from their homes, whose houses and hearths have been plundered -and destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of our unfortunate brethren are -staring in hopeless despair into a future that seems to spell nothing -but new tears and sufferings....= - -According to the data collected by the General Polish Relief Committee, -=in Poland, alone there are at least 200 towns and about 9,000 -townlets and villages that have suffered from the war, the material -damage amounting to the gigantic figure of over a milliard roubles -($500,000,000).= Besides the terrible losses sustained by the rural -population, the whole industrial production, amounting to nearly -800 million roubles a year, has been ruined. About three million -townspeople are destitute, and of these three million at least half, -i. e., 1,500,000, are Jews. To this number of unfortunate victims we -have to add the population of the provinces of Kovno and Grodno in the -northwestern region of the Pale, the provinces of Bessarabia, Podolia -and Volynia in the southern and southwestern regions. These provinces, -bordering upon Germany and Austria, have a Jewish population of at -least 500,000 people. =Thus the total number of Jews that have, in one -way or another, suffered immediately from the conditions of warfare -equals over two million people, representing one-third, of the total -Jewish population of Russia.= - -Besides, there are hundred thousands of destitute Jews in Galicia -(within Russian occupation) looking forward to relief from this country. - -To the utter ruin of their material welfare there are added the -unspeakable sufferings that the population of the war area has to -endure. In the most favorable of cases the inhabitants of the border -places escape from the zone of fire, taking refuge in the inner parts -of the country; while a large proportion of those unfortunate Jewish -families have remained in the ruined places, facing the phantoms of -starvation and disease that gather a rich harvest among them. - -Such is the devotion and love of the Jews to their native places, to -their own corner, that they prefer to stay in the devastated towns -and townlets and villages, if only permitted to do so. And those who -have fled from their homes take the first opportunity of returning, -heedless of the terrible disasters lying in store for them. A vivid -example, typical of many other instances, is given by the Jews in the -villages of Vissiltsy, District Busak, province Kielce. Our delegate -found the place razed by hostile shells. The population—mostly Jews—for -over three months had been huddling together in cellars, where they had -taken refuge. They were not to leave their shelter by day; no food was -to be cooked, no fire lighted at night—such were the stringent orders -from military quarters. A humane military chief permitted them to -crawl out of their dingy holes by night and feed out of the soldiers’ -cauldron. But soon another chief took his place and the unfortunate -Jews were left to starve in their cellars. =Those that succumbed were -buried in holes that the survivors dug for them in the very same -cellars....= - -Infinitely tragic too is the fate of those Jews who, by rigorous -orders of the military authorities at a notice of from three to -twenty-four hours are expelled from whole provinces of Poland, their -presence near the area of hostilities being considered “a danger to -the safety of the Russian arms.” Leaving their homes and belongings, -the fruit of years of hard toil, an open prey, the unfortunate exiles -by the thousands wend their weary way to towns and villages, thirty or -more miles distant, that have not yet come within the decrees of the -military authorities. Old men, sick women, clasping little children in -their arms, carrying bundles with some scanty belongings that they had -snatched up in haste, fill the silent roads with the sound of their -moans and sobs. Here an old man breaks down, breathing his last sigh in -the middle of the road. There a woman kneels by the roadside staring -in despair too deep for tears, at the child that lies dead in her -arms.... Many are those who succumb on their way; indescribable are the -sufferings of those who survive. Scarcely have they found shelter in a -hospitable town or townlet when—alas! too frequently—the prohibition -of the authorities is a few days later extended also to these places, -and again the Jewish population must start upon its weary pilgrimage.... - -The total number of refugees from the war zone and of exiles can -scarcely be calculated with precision because large numbers have -made their way to numerous small townlets throughout the Pale, thus -frustrating systematic registration, while, at the same time, the -progress of the war tends to swell the host of refugees daily. - -Some idea of their number is given by the following approximate figures: - - Warsaw 75,000 people Radom 2,000 people - Vilna 12,000 people Gussiatin 1,000 people - Kielce 3,000 people Shakvi (Suvalki) 1,500 people[56] - Konsk 4,000 people Lomzha 5,000 people - Minsk 2,000 people Khmelnik - Prassnysh 1,500 people (Prov. Kielce) 1,500 people - - -And yet these figures only show the number of refugees who have applied -for assistance; hundreds of thousands of others are meanwhile living -upon their savings and do not come under the registration. But they -also will be at the end of their scant resources one of these days and -will join the ranks of the destitute.... Thus, for the above-named -places and for many other dozens of towns and townlets the number of -refugees within their walls may be doubled without fear of exaggeration. - -While numerous towns and townlets have, in generous hospitality, opened -their gates to the unfortunate refugees and exiles from the war area, -the native Jewish population of these places is itself suffering a -severe economic crisis, an acute attack of unemployment, which as a -matter of fact, is further intensified by the influx of refugees eager -to offer their services, for the smallest remuneration. Thus poverty -and misery are growing in these places too, the burden of relief -becoming too heavy for the local community to bear. - -We have already stated that the industrial life of Poland and in a -large part of the Pale has been laid waste as a consequence of the -war. Hundreds of factories have been destroyed, hundreds others have -had to stop work for want of capital, raw material, fuel and—first and -foremost—for want of a market for their articles of production. Many -thousands of workmen who were formerly employed by these factories have -remained without bread. - -Whole branches of trade have been shattered, burying the welfare of the -artisans under their ruins. The tailors, weavers, bootmakers, builders, -trades, normally sustaining a large percentage of Jews in Poland and in -the Pale, are dead; the artisans are left to starve, unless something -can be done to save them. - -Commercial life also has been laid waste. The merchants—great and -small—are ruined; hundreds of merchant’s clerks are thrown out of work -and have to apply to public charity. - -There is yet another class of sufferers whose wants and needs have -to be attended to. About 300,000 Jews are fighting in the ranks of -the Russian army. Their mothers, wives and children are receiving but -scanty support (about 2 roubles a head) from the Government. About -half of them, however, are not getting any Government aid at all, -their marriages, although legally solemnized, not having been entered -in the official marriage registers. (It is a well known fact that the -uneducated Jews of Poland and in the Pale frequently omit to have -their marriages registered, failing to realize the full importance -of this formality.) Rent and food having become considerably dearer -with the outbreak of the war, the soldiers’ families often suffer -acute want, which necessitates immediate help lest these people become -charges on their community. Many of the soldiers will never return from -the battlefields; others will come back as cripples, unfit to support -themselves or their families. They will all want support of some kind -or another.... - -It is a boundless sea of troubles that has to be coped with and the -full weight of the task is falling upon Jewish shoulders. The gulf -dividing the bulk of Russian society from Jewish life and needs and -sorrows has not been bridged over by the horrors of war. Though now -and again a voice of sympathy is heard from Russian quarters, here -and there a Russian hand is extended to feed a starving Jewish child, -both moral and material assistance offered by non-Jews to our stricken -people is but infinitesimal as compared with the magnitude of the -distress. - -Nor do we now wish to dwell specifically on Polish-Jewish relations, -it being too well known to what extent they have become pointed during -the recent months, bearing in their train infinite, yea, unbearable -sufferings for our Jewish brethren. - -In order to unite the efforts of Jewish society towards the relief of -the Jewish sufferers from the war, at the very outbreak of the European -conflagration there was formed at Petrograd a General Jewish Relief -Committee, with the sanction of the Russian authorities, to act as a -center for the collection and distribution of funds to the destitute -and needy Jews. At the very beginning of its activity the General -Committee issued an appeal to the Jewish public calling it to its duty -to the unfortunate sufferers, just as the Jewish soldiers fighting and -distinguishing themselves in the ranks of the Russian army are doing -their duty by their mother country. - -Jewish society at large has shown its usual responsiveness and material -support has been forthcoming in as large a measure as individual means -and circumstances would permit. - -Committees, similar to the General Committee, working on the same lines -and in close unity with it have since been organized in prominent -centers of the stricken area and outside of it—e. g., in Warsaw, -Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov, and in addition the existing Jewish -organizations, such as the Central Committee of the Jewish Colonization -Association, the Society for the Promotion of Education in Russia, -the Jewish Health Society, the Society for the Promotion of Trade and -Industry among Russian Jews, etc., etc., are taking active part in the -relief work. Representatives of the various committees and societies -working in the war zone and outside it meet periodically in order to -discuss new measures and schemes for the alleviation of the terrible -distress. - -The conditions and extent of distress in towns, townlets and villages -of Poland and of the Pale are being ascertained through delegates of -the General Relief Committee working actively and energetically towards -the organization of various forms of relief in the several districts. -In a number of places the local Jewish community has readily joined in -the relief work, doing its utmost to meet the demand for food, shelter, -clothing; the local philanthropic and communal Jewish institutions -thus becoming valuable agencies of the General Relief Committee. On -the whole, however—particularly as far as Poland is concerned:—=the -organization of assistance to the war sufferers is meeting with endless -difficulties, due largely to the fact that the suffering population is -in such a state of frantic terror, that many Jews do not even dream of -applying to anyone for assistance. In many instances the first terror -has given way to complete apathy.= - -Often our representatives have to seek these people out in their hiding -places, to rouse them from their lethargy, to exercise moral pressure -on the more prominent members of the community, before anything -can be done for the sufferers. This attitude of the people becomes -intelligible when we consider the conditions that they live in under -ordinary circumstances—their poverty, their lack of education, the -contempt they are accustomed to meet with on the part of the non-Jewish -population. - -Similar conditions prevail in the Galician Provinces within Russian -occupation: - -=“I found them huddling together in damp and dark cellars, half-naked, -sick and starving”=—these are the words of one of our representatives -who visited some of the places that had witnessed all the horrors of -the war. =“They showed complete apathy, appeared to be in a trance -of terror. Only a madman—he had become insane because of superhuman -suffering—followed me into the street, shrieking for bread. I handed -him a coin, but he threw it down and clamored for bread....”= - -The ever changing conditions of war, that open up new regions for -relief work today, and close other districts tomorrow, that throw ever -new crowds of sufferers upon public charity—these, to a large extent -baffle all our efforts towards relief, destroying today what was -organized yesterday. Add to this the peculiar circumstances of Jewish -life in Russia, the unfavorable attitude of the authorities towards -the Jewish population in the war area—and the difficulties that the -organization of relief has to cope with will stand out in their full -significance. - -Owing to these and other conditions the General Relief Committee up -till now has had to concentrate largely on extending “first aid,” -this term being here used to comprise feeding and sheltering of the -sufferers. Distribution of food (at low rates or free of charge), of -fuel, clothes, foot-wear; organization of feeding centres, amelioration -of sheltering and housing conditions, of sanitation and hygiene among -the war sufferers—are the chief forms relief has taken so far. - -At the present moment there are being equipped by the General Relief -Committee two so-called “sanitary and feeding expeditions” whose -object it will be to offer medical assistance and provide free food -to the sufferers in the war area of Poland, irrespective of religious -denomination. (The money for this purpose has been received from London -with the express condition that no distinction be made between Jews and -non-Jews). - -Moreover, insofar as this has been possible, efforts have been made -to secure work for the refugees and for those who have lost their -employment as a result of the war. Thus in Warsaw there has been -opened a workshop where refugees are employed in manufacturing various -articles of underclothing for distribution among the war sufferers. -In Vilna there has been established a workshop for bootmakers who are -filling Government orders for army boots. Similar workshops have been -organized at Dvinsk, Fastov, etc. Further, there has been opened at -Warsaw a labor-bureau which is obtaining work for a considerable number -of artisans. - -A large number of small merchants and artisans being in urgent need -of credit to enable them to re-establish and operate their business -and to prevent them from lapsing into utter destitution, credit is -being afforded them through the medium of the Jewish cooperative -credit societies that are working throughout the Pale of Settlement -and Poland. So far, by way of experiment, about 23,000 roubles have -been invested in this operation; however, should this useful form of -assistance be enlarged, considerable means will be required for the -purpose. - -At the present moment the General Relief Committee, working in close -cooperation with the committees in Moscow, Kiev and Odessa, is -extending relief to over 300 centres of population situated in the -following provinces: - - Approximate Number - =Poland—= of Populated Centers - Province Warsaw (including city of - Warsaw where a large number of - refugees are concentrated) 46 - Province Vilna 18 - Province Kovno 40 - Province Suvalki 20 - Province Liublin (only part of it - being accessible to relief work) 25 - Province Kielce (only part of it - being accessible to relief work) 12 - Province Radom 15 - Province Grodno (now included in - sphere of activity of Moscow - Committee) 5 - Province Lomzha (now included in - sphere of activity of Moscow - Committee) 10 - Province Plotsk (now included in - sphere of activity of Moscow - Committee) 8 - Province Kholm (now within activity - of Kiev and Odessa Committee) 10 - - =Southwestern Province—= - Province: Podolia, Bessarabia and - Volynia (Border districts) 10 - - =Galicia—= - Petrograd Committee (cooperating - with Kiev and Odessa Committee) 75 - - =Outside War Area= 10 - ——— - =Total= 304 - -Some idea of the expenditures of the General Relief Committee in -Petrograd is given by the following figures: - - - FOR GENERAL RELIEF - - =Poland—= Roubles - Warsaw 350,000 - Province Warsaw 10,000 - Lodz 1,500 - Province Lomsha 12,000 - Province Suvalki 7,000 - Province Liublin 75,000 - Province Radom 45,000 - Province Cholm 4,400 - Province Kielce 40,000 - —————— 545,000 - - =Southwestern Province—= - (Border Places) 14,000 - Radzivilov 14,000 - Chtin 5,000 - Volotchisk 5,000 - Gorokov 1,000 - Novosselitsy 500 - Various small places 5,000 - —————— 31,000 - - =Northwestern Province—= - Province Kovno 55,000 - Province Vilna 30,000 - Province Bialystock, Minsk, etc. 10,000 - —————— 95,000 - - =Galicia= 112,000 - =Assistance to Jews in Palestine and Syria= - (through representative in Alexandria) 10,000 - =Assistance to Russian-Jewish Refugees from - Abroad= (when passing Petrograd) 1,500 - =Assistance to Wounded and Recovered Soldiers - returning to the Front= 15,000 - =Purchase of Matzoth for Soldiers at the Front= - (subsidy to the Rabbinical Committee) 15,000 - =Subsidy to Various Educational Institutions= - (Yeshiboth, Jewish teachers, etc.) 16,000 - =Organization of cheap credit to Jewish artisans, - workmen and merchants= (through Jewish Cooperative - Credit Societies) 22,000[57] - =Assistance to clerks of Jewish Cooperative - Societies= (affected by the war) 1,000 - =Organization and support of sanitary and feeding - expeditions= (two expeditions) 50,000 - ——————— - =Total= 914,000 - - Expenditure of the Moscow, Odessa, Kiev Committees 350,000 - ————————— - 1,204,000[58] - -According to approximate estimates within the next months the -General Jewish Relief Committee, working conjointly with the Jewish -Committees in Moscow, Kiev and Odessa, =will require the following -sums to satisfy the most urgent needs of the organizations now in -full operation and yet to be started:= - - =Poland and Northwestern Provinces—= Roubles - Warsaw From 150,000 to 200,000 - Province Warsaw From 15,000 to 20,000 - Province Liublin From 20,000 to 25,000 - Province Suvalki From 12,000 to 15,000 - Province Radom From 20,000 to 25,000 - Province Kielce From 20,000 to 25,000 - Province Kovno From 25,000 to 30,000 - Province Vilna From 10,000 to 15,000 - Province Grodno From 8,000 to 10,000 - Province Lomzha From 15,000 to 20,000 - Province Plotzk From 6,000 to 8,000 - Province Cholm From 10,000 to 12,000 - - =Southwestern Provinces—= - Province Volynia From 20,000 to 25,000 - Province Podolia ... ... - Province Bessarabia From 40,000 to 50,000 - - =Galicia—= - =Outside war area= From 10,000 to 15,000 - =Restoration of trade and industry - among war sufferers= From 100,000 to 150,000 - =Extraordinary expenditure= From 10,000 to 15,000 - ——————————————————————— - =Thus= =From 484,000 to 650,000= - -=[Expressed in United States currency, the sum of $242,000 to $325,000 -per month will be required, according to this early estimate, to -satisfy the most urgent needs of the sufferers.]= - -As already pointed out, the sphere and extent of distress are -ever increasing with the progress of the war. The Jewish relief -organizations in Russia thus stand before the alarming problem: whence -to obtain adequate funds to satisfy the ever growing demand. This -problem becomes the more urgent as new forms of relief must be devised -as the time goes on. It will not do merely to feed and shelter the -stricken population. Many of the sufferers are able and willing to -work, if they but had the possibility of doing so. - -The attention of the Jewish public will therefore have to be -concentrated on a new problem: to help the ruined artisans to -rehabilitate themselves, to rebuild their shattered homes and to -restore their ruined business by means of cheap credit provided for -them. The solution of this problem will, however, require infinitely -larger means, which Russian Jewry is unable to raise.... - - - II. - - SPEECH OF DEPUTY FRIEDMAN IN THE DUMA - - (August 2, 1915) - - (Translated from Petrograd “Retch,” of August 3, 1915, and - published in the New York “Times,” September 23, 1915) - -In spite of their oppressed condition, in spite of their status of -outlawry, the Jews have risen to the exalted mood of the nation -and in the course of the last year have participated in the war in -a noteworthy manner. They fell short of the others in no respect. -They mobilized their entire enrollment, but, indeed, with this -difference, that =they have also sent their only sons into the war.= -The newspapers at the beginning of the war had a remarkable number of -Jewish volunteers to record. =Gentlemen, those were volunteers who -were entitled through their educational qualifications to the rank -of officers. They knew that they would not receive this rank; and -nevertheless they entered the war.= - -The Jewish youth, which, as a result of the restrictions as to -admission to the high schools of the country, had been forced to study -abroad, returned home when war was declared, or entered the armies -of the allied nations. A large number of Jewish students fell at the -defense of Liege and also at other points on the western front. - -The Zionist youths, when they were confronted with the dilemma of -accepting Turkish sovereignty or being compelled to emigrate from -Palestine, preferred to go to Alexandria and there to join the English -army. - -The Jews built hospitals, contributed money, and participated in the -war in every respect just as did the other citizens. Many Jews received -marks of distinction for their conduct at the front. - -Before me lies the letter of a Jew who returned from the United States -of America: - -“I risked my life,” he writes, “and if, nevertheless, I came as far -as Archangel, it was only because I loved my fatherland more than my -life or that American freedom which I was permitted to enjoy. I became -a soldier, and lost my left arm almost to the shoulder. I was brought -into the governmental district of Courland. =Scarcely had I reached -Riga when I met at the station my mother and my relatives, who had -just arrived there, and who on that same day were compelled to leave -their hearth and home at the order of the military authorities. Tell -the gentlemen who sit on the benches of the Right that I do not mourn -my lost arm, but that I do mourn deeply the self-respect that was not -denied to me in alien lands but is now lost to me.”= - -Such was the sentiment of the Jews that found expression in numerous -appeals and manifestations in the press, and finally also in this -House. Surely these sentiments should have been taken into account. One -should have a right to assume that the Government would adopt measures -for the amelioration of the fate of the Jews who found themselves in -the very centre of the war-like occurrences. Likewise, one should have -taken into account the sentiments of hundreds of thousands of Jews who -shed their blood on the field of battle. - -Instead of that, however, we see that from the beginning of the war -the measures of reprisals against the Jewish populace were not only -not weakened but, on the contrary, made much stronger. =Banished were -Jewish men and women whose husbands, children, and brothers, were -shedding their blood for the fatherland.= A wounded soldier named -Alexander Roskhov, who had been shot in the eye, came to Charkof for -further treatment. On his passport were the words, “To be sent to a -settlement.” The private soldier Godlewski, one of whose legs had been -amputated, and who found himself at Rostof on the Don for recuperation, -they tried to send to his native village in the Government of Kalisch, -already under German occupation; and it was only due to the activities -of the Rural League that he was permitted to stay. An apothecary’s -helper, who likewise had been wounded on the battlefield, was not -allowed to remain in Petrograd for his cure, and it was only by virtue -of special intercession that he was later allowed to sojourn two months -more at Petrograd, with the notice, however, that at the expiration of -this period no further extension of his sojourn would be granted. - -In a long war lucky events alternate with unlucky ones, and in any case -it is naturally useful to have scapegoats in reserve. For this purpose -there exists the old firm; the Jew. Scarcely has the enemy reached our -frontiers when the rumor is spread that Jewish gold is flowing over -to the Germans, and that, too, in aeroplanes, in coffins, and—in the -entrails of geese! - -Scarcely had the enemy pressed further, than there appeared again -beyond dispute the eternal Jew “on the white horse,” perhaps the same -one who once rode on the white horse through the city in order to -provoke a pogrom. The Jews have set up telephones, have destroyed the -telegraph lines. The legend grew, and with the eager support of the -powers of Government and the agitation in official circles, assumed -ever greater proportions. A series of unprecedented, unheard of, cruel -measures was adopted against the Jews. These measures, which were -carried out before the eyes of the entire population, suggested to the -people and to the army the recognition of the fact that the Jews were -treated as enemies by the Government, and that the Jewish population -was outside the law. - -In the first place these measures consisted of the complete -transplanting of the Jewish population from many districts, to the very -last man. These compulsory migrations took place in the Kingdom of -Poland and in many other territories. =All told, about a half million -persons have been doomed to a state of beggary and vagabondage. Anyone -who has seen with his own eyes how these expulsions take place, will -never forget them as long as he lives. The exiling took place within -twenty-four hours, sometimes within two days. Women, old men, and -children, and sometimes invalids, were banished. Even the feebleminded -were taken from the lunatic asylums and the Jews were forced to take -these with them.= In Mohilnitse, 5,000 persons were expelled within -twenty-four hours. Their way led to Warsaw through Kalwayra. Meantime -they were forced to travel across fields through the Government of -Lublin, and were deprived of the possibility of taking along their -inventories. Many were obliged to travel on foot. When they reached -Lublin, the Jewish Committee there had provided bread and food for -them; but they were not allowed to tarry, and they had to travel on at -once. - -On the way an accident occurred; a six-year-old child was killed by a -fall. The parents were not permitted to bury the child. - -I saw also the refugees of the Government of Kovno. Persons who only -yesterday were still accounted wealthy were beggars the next day. Among -the refugees I met Jewish women and girls, who had worked together with -Russian women, had sewed garments with them and collected contributions -with them, and who were now forced to encamp on the railway embankment. -=I saw families of reservists. I saw among the exiles wounded soldiers -wearing the Cross of St. George. It is said that Jewish soldiers in -marching through the Polish cities were forced to witness the expulsion -of their wives and children. The Jews were loaded in freight cars like -cattle. The bills of lading were worded as follows: “Four hundred and -fifty Jews, en route to ——.”= - -There were cases in which the Governors refused outright to take in -the Jews at all. I myself was in Vilna at the very time when a whole -trainload of Jews was stalled for four days in Novo-Wilejsk station. -Those were Jews who had been sent from the Government of Kovno to -the Government of Poltawa, but the Governor there would not receive -them and sent them back to Kovno, whence they were again reshipped to -Poltawa. Imagine, at a time when every railway car is needed for the -transportation of munitions, when from all sides are heard complaints -about the lack of means of transportation, the Government permits -itself to do such a thing! At one station there stood 110 freight cars -containing Jewish exiles. - -Another measure which likewise is unprecedented in the entire history -of the civilized world, is the introduction of the so-called system of -“Hostages,” and, indeed, hostages were taken not from the enemy, but -from the country’s own subjects, its own citizens. Hostages were taken -in Radom, Kieltse, Lomscha, Kovno, Riga, Lublin, etc. The hostages were -held under the most rigorous régime, and at present there are still -under arrest in Poltava Jewish hostages from the Governments of Kieltse -and Radom. - -Some time ago, in commenting upon the procedure against the Jews, the -leader of the Opposition, even before the outbreak of the war, used -the expression that we were approaching the times of Ferdinand and -Isabella. I now assert that we have already surpassed that era. No -Jewish blood was shed in defence of Spain, but ours flowed the moment -the Jews helped defend the Fatherland. - -Yes, we are beyond the pale of the laws, we are oppressed, we have a -hard life, but we know the source of that evil; it comes from those -benches (pointing to the boxes of the Ministers). =We are being -oppressed by the Russian Government, not by the Russian people.= Why, -then, is it surprising if we wish to unite our destinies, not with that -of the Russian Government, but with that of the Russian people? When -three years ago there was pending here the Cholm law proposal, did the -thought ever occur at the time to the sponsors of the bill that in a -short time they would have to scrape and bow before free autonomous -Poland? We likewise hope that the time is not distant when we can be -citizens of the Russian State with full equality of privileges with the -free Russian people. - -Before the face of the entire country, before the entire civilized -world, I declare that the calumnies against the Jews are the most -repulsive lies and chimeras of persons who will have to be responsible -for their crimes. [Applause on Left.] - -It depends upon you, gentlemen of the Imperial Duma, to speak the word -of encouragement, to perform the action that can deliver the Jewish -people from the terrible plight in which it is at present, and that can -lead them back into the ranks of the Russian citizens who are defending -their Fatherland. [Cries of “Right.”] - -I do not know if the Imperial Duma will so act, but if it does so -act it will be fulfilling an obligation of honor and an act of wise -statesmanship that is necessary for the profit and for the greatness of -the Fatherland. [Applause on the Left.] - - - III. - - ABSTRACT OF SPEECH OF BARON R. R. ROSEN - IN THE COUNCIL OF THE EMPIRE[59] - - August 22 (September 4), 1915 - - (Translation from “Retch,” No. 231, August 23 - (September 5), 1915) - -Baron Rosen began with the statement that while the question of -supplies for the army and navy was paramount, there was nevertheless -another side to it, and that was the question of the domestic policy -of the Empire. He reminded his hearers that in May, 1913, he had -warned the Council of the Empire of the catastrophe imminent in Europe, -but that his statement had been met with ridicule and skepticism. -The result of such an attitude is now obvious to all. In this great -conflict, it has become clear that neither side will be able to -crush the other, as was expected at the outset of this war. But even -as it is, this war of extermination of the white race must, in the -end, be decided in favor of one of the two parties at conflict. He -thought that certain intangible elements entering into the question -would be of great importance in the settlement of this war. Putting -aside the political, economic and psychological questions that led to -this conflict, he thought that the ultimate issue was the decision -of the world to battle against the dictum of Germany that “might is -greater than right and right is created only by might.” Under the -circumstances, it would seem that the sympathies of the entire world -should be on the side of the allies. But in reality this is not the -case; and for this there are several reasons. - -“It is undoubtedly within our power to do away with one of the factors -militating against us in the public opinion of neutral countries. -In the struggle that we, together with the most civilized nations -of Europe, are waging against the Pan-Germanism, imperialism and -absolutism, and for right and justice, for the liberty and independence -of the weaker nations, =we shall achieve the full sympathy of the -civilized world only when we shall have put our inner front—if I may -use that expression—on a level with the political ideology of our -valiant allies;= for instance, in the conduct of our polity with -reference to the borderlands, and the so-called alien races composing -its population.” - -After stating that there were two diametrically opposed political -systems, one current among the Allies and the other among the Germans, -Baron Rosen continued: - -“To the maximum injury of the true interests of Russia, we have adopted -and have carried out unswervingly the true German system of politics -with reference to our borderlands and the so-called foreign races and -foreign faiths, a policy which has been made even more perfect by the -admixture of medieval religious intolerance. - -“It may be retorted that the fate of a campaign is decided by military -power and not by the greater or lesser sympathy of neutral countries -for the policy of a given state. The German Government does not think -so; for otherwise it would not spend countless millions for pan-German -propaganda in all the countries of the world, even the most remote. -But we, on the other hand, not only fail to oppose anything to this -propaganda, but by the course of our domestic policies we place in the -hands of this propaganda powerful arguments for arousing against us -public opinion of such countries as the United States, the only great -neutral power, and of Sweden, our neighbor. - -=“It is inconceivable that the framers of our policy should fail to -realize that the propaganda directed against us, conducted under -official auspices and equipped with the amplest resources, will -scarcely cause our own interests and the interests of our Allies -one-tenth of the harm which is caused to these interests by our -attitude towards the Jewish population of Russia and our systematic -violation of the legal conscience of the Finnish population—an attitude -which smacks of the dark times of medievalism.= - -“The question now is, why did not the Government find it possible to -put an end to this problem decisively and forever, as it has finally, -and, alas, with such delay, settled the question of the autonomy of -Poland? This may be explained only by the fact that the Government -hesitated to break with the traditional policy so dear to the militant -nationalism. - -“Accordingly the Duma and the Council are in duty bound to come to -the aid of the Government in this regard and take upon themselves -the initiative of introducing a bill for the abolition of all laws -restricting the rights of the Jews and for the abrogation of the law of -July 17 (30) concerning Finland. The passage of these measures would -undoubtedly lighten the heavy task now confronting the Government -in the sphere of international relations and it would be met by our -valiant allies with the liveliest satisfaction. - -=“We must remember that this great European war is not only a struggle -of interests, but is also a struggle of ideas and principles. In the -battle against German militarism, Russia has placed herself on the side -of right and freedom, and for the triumph of the idea for which we are -now fighting, it is necessary that in Russia, too, there should be -no longer any people without rights or any people oppressed.”= - - - FOOTNOTES - -[1] “Legal Sufferings of the Jews in Russia”; edited by Lucien Wolf. -London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1912. - -[2] Petrograd and Moscow.—Ed. - -[3] Petrograd “Retch,” Aug. 8 (21), 1915. - -[4] Petrograd “Retch,” Aug. 14 (27), 1915. - -[5] This has reference to that section of the “Constitution” of 1905, -which empowers the government to issue ministerial decrees while the -Duma is not in session, but requires it to introduce corresponding -legislation in the Duma within six months after the ministerial decree -has been published. - -[6] “Reform Advocate,” Nov. 13, 1915. (Tr. from the French). - -[7] Quoted from “Retch,” Aug. 9 (22), 1915. - -[8] “Retch,” Aug. 9 (22), 1915. - -[9] “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Oct. 25 (Nov. 7), 1915, Nov. 8 (21), 1915, etc. - -[10] “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Nov. 8 (21), 1915. - -[11] Quoted from “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Aug. 23 (Sept. 5), 1915, pp. 10–12. - -[12] Quoted from “Retch,” Aug. 9 (22), 1915. - -[13] See page 48. - -[14] September 24 (Oct. 7), 1914. - -[15] Friedlaender, “The Jews of Russia and Poland,” p. 38. - -[16] _Ibid._, p. 57. - -[17] “Rasviet,” December 5 (18), 1914, p. 12. - -[18] George Brandes in “Politiken,” Nov., 1914. - -[19] “Russkaya Viedomosti,” Oct. 2 (15), 1914, p. 20. “Novy Voskhod,” -Oct. 2 (15), 1914, p. 21. - -[20] “Novy Voskhod,” Sept. 22 (Oct. 8), 1914, p. 20. - -[21] “Rasviet,” Dec. 5 (18), 1914, p. 18. - -[22] “Rasviet,” March 29 (April 11), 1914, p. 20. - -[23] “Politiken,” Nov. 1, 1914. - -[24] “Rasviet,” April 12 (25), 1915, pp. 18–19; “Novy Voskhod,” April -10 (23), 1915, pp. 29–30. - -[25] “Rasviet,” Jan. 25 (Feb. 7), 1915, p. 27. - -[26] “Rasviet,” Feb. 1 (14), 1915, p. 39. - -[27] “Rasviet,” Apr. 26 (May 9), 1915, p. 24. - -[28] Quoted from “Retch,” May 10 (23), 1915. - -[29] “Novy Voskhod,” Aug. 28 (Sept. 10), 1914, p. 22. - -[30] “Novy Voskhod,” April 24 (May 7), 1915. - -[31] “Nasha Slovo,” June 24, 1915. - -[32] “Retch,” May 8 (21), 1915. - -[33] “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” July 19 (Aug. 2), 1915, p. 42. - -[34] Here is a list taken at random from an issue of “Rasviet,” April 5 -(18), 1915, p. 34: - -For saving a wounded Russian officer, presumably under fire, private B. -M. O., of the village of Strumin, of Mohilef Government, was rewarded -with the cross of St. George, fourth class. - -Private S. Y. R. awarded cross of St. George, fourth class. - -Private A. Kh. L., inhabitant of the village of Saxagan, of the -Government of Ekaterinoslav, was awarded third and fourth grade crosses -of St. George, and promoted to be sub-officer. - -For delivering despatches from the Staff to his battalion under the -enemy’s strong fire, private B. S. G. was awarded a medal of St. George -and made a corporal. - -Severely wounded and now in a hospital at Moscow, Abr. B. was awarded -a silver medal which was handed to him by Orloff, Adjutant to his -Imperial Majesty. - -A long list of similar items is published in every issue of this paper. - -[35] “Ziemia Lubelska,” April 23 (May 6), 1915. - -[36] “Retch.” May 10 (23), 1915. - -[37] “Evreyskaya Nedelya,” June 14 (27), 1915. - -[38] “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Aug. 9, 1915, p. 19–20. - -[39] “Hajnt,” May 21 (June 3), 1915. - -[40] “Evreyskaya Nedelya,” May 31 (June 13), 1915. - -[41] “Evreyskaya Nedelya,” June 14 (27), 1915. - -[42] “Retch,” Aug. 6 (19), 1915. - -[43] “Rasviet,” January 4 (17), 1915, p. 31–2. - -[44] July 5 (18), 1915, pp. 30–31. - -[45] Stenographic report of the Proceedings of the Duma. - -[46] “Novy Voskhod,” Dec. 30, 1914 (Jan. 12, 1915), p. 22–24. - -[47] “Novy Voskhod,” Sept. 4, 1914, p. 15. - -[48] “Novy Voskhod,” Aug. 14 (27), 1914, p. 24–25. - -[49] “Novy Voskhod,” April 24 (May 7), 1915, p. 30. - -[50] “Retch,” July 28 (Aug. 10), 1915; “Birzhevyia Viedomosti,” Aug. 26 -(Sept. 8), 1915. - -[51] “Rasviet”, Jan. 25 (Feb. 7), 1915. - -[52] “Prikarpatskia Russ”. - -[53] “Judisches Archiv,” p. 5. - -[54] “Judisches Archiv,” p. 6. - -[55] “Judisches Archiv,” p. 10. - -[56] At moment of investigation. - -[57] Besides the sums granted to the cooperative credit societies by -the Jewish Colonization Association. - -[58] Towards these expenses Russian Jewry has contributed a little over -a million roubles. - -[59] Baron Rosen was formerly Russian Ambassador to the United States. - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - -Obvious punctuation errors in the transcribed text have been corrected. - -Other errors have been corrected as follows: - - Page 3 – “Pittsburg” changed to “Pittsburgh” - - Page 31 – “is it” changed to “it is” (rather it is like a rag thrown - to the victim) - - Page 43 – 3rd and 4th footnotes swapped to correspond with anchor - ordering in text. - - Page 57 – “Miliukov” changed to “Milyukov” (in the Duma by Professor - Milyukov) - - Page 59 – “Japenese” changed to “Japanese” (during the Japanese war) - - Page 62 – “Evreiskaya Nedelya” changed to “Evreyskaya Nedelya” in - footnote 37 - - Page 72 – “Miliukov” changed to “Milyukov” (Professor Milyukov, the - leader of the Constitutional Democrats) - - Page 98 – “lossses” changed to “losses” (terrible losses sustained) - -Source material used in this book has been translated from a number -of languages including Polish, Russian and Yiddish. Hence there are -variations in the spelling of words and this is particularly apparent -in the rendering of place names. The following variations in the -spelling of words and place names have been left unchanged: - - “Bialystock”, “Bialostock” - - “Cholm”, “Kholm” - - “Kehillas”, “Kehillah” - - “Kielce”, “Kieltse” - - “Liublin”, “Lublin” - - “Lomza”, “Lomzha”, “Lomsha”, “Lomscha” - - “Plotsk”, “Plotzk” - - “Poltava”, “Poltawa” - - “Rostov”, “Rostof” - - “Volhynia”, “Volynia” - -Archaic usage, unusual/inconsistent hyphenation, other variations -that have been left unchanged: - - “amid”, “amidst”, “among”, “amongst”, “anomolous” - - “corn growing”, “corn-growing” - - “court martial”, “court-martial” - - “despatches”, “esthetic”, “feebleminded” - - “ever growing”, “ever-growing” - - “half naked”, “half-naked” - - “inhabitated”, “inhabitating” - - “manifestoes” (as the plural of “manifesto”) - - “RUSSIAN-JEWISH RELIEF COMMITTEE”, “Russian Jewish Relief Committee”, - “Russian Jewish Committee”, “Russian-Jewish Refugees”, - “Russian Jewish soldiers”, “Russian Jewish Weekly” - - “scare-crow” - - “today”, “To-day”, “toward”, “towards” - -A redundant column header in a table starting on page 107 and -continuing on to page 108 has been removed. The two pages over which -the table was spread no longer have a physical page break in this -transcribed text. Thus there is no need to repeat the column header, -which was at the top of the second (physical) page. - -Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together at -the end of the book. - -The cover image is a restored version using elements from the original -cover and is placed in the public domain. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JEWS IN THE EASTERN WAR ZONE*** - - -******* This file should be named 62816-0.txt or 62816-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/8/1/62816 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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- line-height: 1; } - h2.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 135%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - page-break-before: avoid; - line-height: 1; } - h3.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h4.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 100%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - hr.pgx { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Jews in the Eastern War Zone, by American -Jewish Committee</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Jews in the Eastern War Zone</p> -<p>Author: American Jewish Committee</p> -<p>Release Date: August 1, 2020 [eBook #62816]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JEWS IN THE EASTERN WAR ZONE***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by<br /> - Richard Hulse, Quentin Campbell,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/jewsineasternwar00amer"> - https://archive.org/details/jewsineasternwar00amer</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<div class="transnote"> -<a id="top" name="top"></a> -<p class="noindent center bold small">Transcriber’s Note</p> - -<p class="TN-style-1 center">See the <a class="underline" href="#TN">end - of this document</a> for details of corrections and changes.</p> -</div> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class="coverimg figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="coverpagee" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> -<h1>THE JEWS IN THE<br /> -EASTERN WAR ZONE</h1> - - -<div class="center-emblem" id="image_emblem"> - <img src="images/emblem_retouched_132x200_white_02.jpg" alt="title page emblem" /> -</div> - - -<p class="noindent large bold center"> -THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE<br /> -NEW YORK<br /> -1916<br /> -</p> - -<hr class="r65" /> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent x-large bold center">THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE</p> - -<p class="noindent center p2"><i>Officers</i></p> - -<table class="officers table-invisible-in-epub" summary="Officers"> -<tr> - <td class="officers-col-1" colspan="3" style="text-align: center"> - <span class="smcap">Louis Marshall</span>, <i>President</i> - </td> -</tr><tr> - <td> - <span class="smcap">Julian W. Mack</span>,<br /> - <span class="smcap">Jacob H. Hollander</span>, - </td><td class="officers-col-2"> - <img src="images/right_brace_height_70px.png" alt="big left bracket" class="big-bracket" /> - </td><td class="officers-col-3" valign="middle"> - <i>Vice-Presidents</i> - </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="officers-col-1" colspan="3" style="text-align: center"> - <span class="smcap">Isaac W. Bernheim</span>, <i>Treasurer</i> - </td> -</tr> -</table> - -<table class="officers table-invisible-in-browser" summary="Officers"> -<tr> - <td class="officers-col-1" colspan="3" style="text-align: center"> - <span class="smcap">Louis Marshall</span>, <i>President</i> - </td> -</tr><tr> - <td> - <span class="smcap">Julian W. Mack</span>,<br /> - <span class="smcap">Jacob H. Hollander</span>, - </td><td class="officers-col-2"> - }<br /> - } - </td><td class="officers-col-3" valign="middle"> - <i>Vice-Presidents</i> - </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="officers-col-1" colspan="3" style="text-align: center"> - <span class="smcap">Isaac W. Bernheim</span>, <i>Treasurer</i> - </td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="noindent center p2"><i>Executive Committee</i></p> - -<table class="committee" summary="Committee"> -<tr> - <td class="name">CYRUS ADLER, <i>Chairman</i>,</td> - <td class="city">Philadelphia, Pa.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">ISAAC W. BERNHEIM,</td> - <td class="city">Louisville, Ky.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">HARRY CUTLER,</td> - <td class="city">Providence, R. I.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">SAMUEL DORF,</td> - <td class="city">New York, N. Y.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">JACOB H. HOLLANDER,</td> - <td class="city">Baltimore, Md.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">JULIAN W. MACK,</td> - <td class="city">Chicago, Ill.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">JUDAH L. MAGNES,</td> - <td class="city">New York, N. Y.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">LOUIS MARSHALL,</td> - <td class="city">New York, N. Y.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">JULIUS ROSENWALD,</td> - <td class="city">Chicago, Ill.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">JACOB H. SCHIFF,</td> - <td class="city">New York, N. Y.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">ISADOR SOBEL,</td> - <td class="city">Erie, Pa.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">OSCAR S. STRAUS,</td> - <td class="city">New York, N. Y.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">CYRUS L. SULZBERGER,</td> - <td class="city">New York, N. Y.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">MAYER SULZBERGER,</td> - <td class="city">Philadelphia, Pa.</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="name">A. LEO WEIL,</td> - <td class="city">Pittsburgh, Pa.</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p class="noindent center p2"> -OFFICE:<br /> -356 Second Avenue, New York City<br /> -</p> - -<hr class="r65" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> -<h2><a id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> - - -<table class="toc" summary="ToC"> -<tr> - <td colspan = "2" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: right;">PAGE</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht1">INTRODUCTION</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht1A">RUSSIA</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_19"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht2"><span class="smcap">Jewish Disabilities in Normal Times</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht4">Recent “abolition” act a half-way measure, - dictated by military necessity.</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_20"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">OTHER RESTRICTIONS</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht4">1. Residence restrictions.—2. Occupational - restrictions.—3. Property restrictions.—4. Fiscal - burdens.—5. Educational restrictions.—6. Military - burdens.</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_20"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht2"><span class="smcap">The War and the Jews</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">OUTBREAK OF WAR</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht4">Manifestations of loyalty.—Jewish patriotism.</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_36"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">THE WAR IN POLAND</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht4">Renaissance of Polish hopes.—Polish anti-Semitism.—Spy - stories instigated by Poles, accepted and circulated by Russian - military authorities.</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_41"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">MILITARY REPRESSIONS</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht4">Extraordinary conduct of military censor.—Stifling - of Jewish press and speech.—Expulsions.—Demand - for hostages.—Widespread misery.—Unfair - administration of relief.</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_66"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht2"><span class="smcap">The People vs. The Russian Government</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht4">Anti-Jewish policy of the Government not approved - by the people.—<span class="smcap">Duma</span> protests.—Resolutions - of <span class="smcap">Constitutional Democratic Party</span>.—Protests - of <span class="smcap">Municipalities</span>, <span class="smcap">Public Officials</span>, - <span class="smcap">Etc.</span>—Protests - of <span class="smcap">Trade and Professional Organizations</span>.—Protests - of <span class="smcap">Writers</span> and <span class="smcap">Publicists</span>.</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_70"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht1A"><a href="#Page_84"></a>OTHER COUNTRIES</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_84"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">AUSTRIA-HUNGARY</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht4">Russian atrocities in Galicia.</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_84"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">ROUMANIA</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3"><span class="small smcap">PALESTINE</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht1A"><a href="#Page_98"></a>APPENDIX</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_98"> </a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3" style="font-size:medium;">1. Report of Russian Jewish Relief Committee</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3" style="font-size:medium;">2. Speech of Deputy Friedman in the Duma</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="cht3" style="font-size:medium;">3. Speech of Baron Rosen in Imperial Council</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="r65" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center x-large bold">THE JEWS IN THE EASTERN WAR ZONE</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> - -<p>Of all the people that have suffered deeply from the -present war, none have borne a greater burden than the -Jews—in physical and economic loss, in moral and spiritual -torment.</p> - -<p>Jews are today fighting each other in all the armies -of Europe. Russia alone has over 350,000 Jewish soldiers; -Austria has over 50,000; altogether there are probably -one-half million Jews in the ranks of the fighting armies.</p> - -<p>The Jews are bearing the brunt of the war’s burdens, -not only on the field of battle, where they suffer with -the rest of the world, but also in their homes, where -they have been singled out, by their peculiar geographic, -political and economic position, for disaster surpassing -that of all others.</p> - -<p>When the war broke out, one-half of the Jewish -population of the world was trapped in a corner of Eastern -Europe that is absolutely shut off from all neutral lands -and from the sea. Russian Poland, where over two -million Jews lived, is in a salient. South of it is Galicia, -the frontier province of Austria. Here lived another -million Jews. Behind Russian Poland are the fifteen -Russian provinces, which, together with Poland, constitute -the Pale of Jewish Settlement. Here lived another -four million Jews.</p> - -<p>Thus seven million Jews—a population exceeding -that of Belgium by one million—have borne the brunt -of the war. Behind them was Holy Russia, closed to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -them by the May Laws of 1881. In front were hostile -Germany and Austria. To the south was unfriendly -Roumania. They were overwhelmed where they stood; -and over their bodies crossed and recrossed the German -armies from the west, the Russian armies from the east -and the Austrian armies from the south. True, all the -peoples of this area suffered ravage and pillage by the -war, but their sufferings were in no degree comparable -to those of the Jews. The contending armies found it -politic, in a measure, to court the good will of the Poles, -Ruthenians and other races in this area. These sustained -only the necessary and unavoidable hardships of war. -But the Jews were friendless, their religion proscribed. -In this medieval region all the religious fanaticism -of the Russians, the chauvinism of the Poles, combined -with the blood lusts liberated in all men by the war—all -these fierce hatreds were sluiced into one torrent of -passion which overwhelmed the Jews.</p> - -<p>Hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes -on a day’s notice, the more fortunate being packed and -shipped as freight—the old, the sick and insane, men, -women and children, shuttled from one province to -another, side-tracked for days without food or help -of any kind—the less fortunate driven into the woods -and swamps to die of starvation. Jewish towns were -sacked and burned wantonly. Hundreds of Jews were -carried off as hostages into Germany, Austria and -Russia. Orgies of lust and torture took place in -public in the light of day. There are scores of villages -where not a single woman was left inviolate. Women, -old and young, were stripped and knouted in the public -squares. Jews were burned alive in synagogues where -they had fled for shelter. Thousands were executed on -the flimsiest pretext or from sheer purposeless cruelty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> -<p>These Jews, unlike the Belgians, have no England to -fly to. The sympathy of the outside world is shut off -from them. They have not the consolation of knowing -that they are fighting for their own hearths, or even for -military glory or in the hope of a possible reward or indemnity. -The only thought they cherish is that after -the struggle shall be over they may at last achieve those -elementary rights denied to no other people, the right -to live and move about freely in the land of their birth -or adoption, to educate their children, to earn a -livelihood, to worship God according to the dictates -of their conscience.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center bold">RUSSIA</p> - -<p>Nearly half of the Jewish population of the world -lives in Russia, in the immediate area of active hostilities, -congested in cities, which are the first point of attack. -The dreadful position of the Jews of Russia in normal -times is well known. Forbidden to live outside of the enlarged -Ghetto, known as the Pale of Settlement; burdened -with special taxes; denied even the scant educational -privileges enjoyed by the rest of the population; harried -by a corrupt police, a hostile Government and an unfriendly -populace—in brief, economically degraded and -politically outlawed—their condition represented the -extreme of misery. It was the openly expressed policy -of the reactionaries who ruled Russia to solve the Jewish -question by ridding the country of its Jews. “One-third -will accept the Greek Church; one-third will emigrate to -America; and one-third will die of starvation in Russia”—so -ran the cynical saying. Some did abjure their faith, -tens of thousands did starve in Russia and hundreds -of thousands did emigrate to America.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center bold">Loyalty of Russian Jews</p> - -<p>Then came the war. The Jews saw therein an opportunity -to show the Christian population that in spite -of all the persecutions of the past they were ready to -forget their tragic history and to begin life anew in a -united and regenerated Russia. Thousands of Jewish -young men who had been forced to leave Russia to -secure the education which their own country denied -them returned voluntarily to the colors even though -they knew that all hope of preferment and promotion -was closed to them. On the field of battle the Jewish -soldiers displayed courage and intelligence which won -the respect of their fighting comrades and gained for -hundreds of them the much desired cross of St. George, -granted for distinguished valor in the face of the -enemy; while those who remained at home opened and -equipped hospitals for wounded soldiers without distinction -of race or creed, contributed generously to all public -funds, and, in brief, gave themselves and their possessions -unsparingly to the Russian cause.</p> - -<p>It appeared at first as though the long desired union -with the Russian people was about to be realized. But -it soon developed that the chains which bound the Jews -of Russia to their past could not be broken. Forces -which they could not possibly control doomed them -to the greatest tragedy in their history. The Pale in -which they lived was Polish in origin and population. -Poles and Jews were fellow victims of the Russian oppressor; -but instead of being united by the common -bond of suffering, they were separated by religious and -racial differences and above all by dissension deliberately -fostered among them by the Russian rulers until it developed -into uncontrollable hate.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center bold">Russian Atrocities</p> - -<p>Immediately before the war the struggle had assumed -its bitterest form—that of an unrelenting boycott waged -against the Jews. When the war broke out the political -status of the Poles changed overnight. Both the Russian -and the German armies found it politic to cultivate -the good will of the Polish population. Many Poles -seized the opportunity to gratify personal animosity, -religious bigotry or chauvinistic mania by denouncing -the Jews, now to the one invader and now to the other, -as spies and traitors. In Germany the animus of the -attacks was to some extent uncovered and the lies -refuted. But in Russia they found fertile soil. The -Russian military machine had met with defeat at the -hands of the Germans. To exonerate themselves in the -eyes of their own people the military camarilla eagerly -seized the pretext so readily furnished them by the -Poles and unloaded the burden of their ill-fortune -upon the helpless shoulders of the Jew. Men, women, -even children were executed without the shadow of -evidence or the formality of a trial. Circumstantial -stories of Jewish treachery, invented by the Poles, were -accepted as the truth and circulated freely through the -Russian press and on the local government bulletin -boards; but when official investigation proved these -stories false in every particular, the publication of the -refutation was discouraged by the censorship. The -authorities gave the troops a free hand to loot and -ravage, even encouraging them by the publication of -orders which officially denounced all Jews as spies and -traitors. The result was a series of outrages unprecedented -even in Russia. A million Jews were driven from -their homes in a state of absolute destitution.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center bold">Protest of Liberal Russia</p> - -<p>All of the liberal elements of Russia protested against -this campaign of extermination, but were powerless in -the face of the military Government. Hundreds of -municipal bodies, trade and professional organizations, -writers, publicists and priests, petitioned the civil government -to admit the Jews to human equality or at least -to suspend its policy of persecution. These memorials, -together with the speeches delivered in the Duma, constitute -a body of evidence from non-Jewish sources, -which must condemn the Russian Government in the -eyes of the world. (See pages -<a href="#Page_70">70</a>–<a href="#Page_83">83</a>; <a href="#Page_117">117</a>–<a href="#Page_120">120</a>.)</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center bold">GALICIA</p> - -<p>During the ten months of the Russian occupation -of Galicia the Jews of that section suffered even more -severely than did the Jews who dwelt in the Russian -Pale. For here the Jews were the subjects of the enemy -and no pretext was needed for their maltreatment. The -Ruthenians and Poles who occupied the land were friendly -to Russia, which promised them independence and power. -But Russia could expect nothing from the Jews of -Galicia, for they were already in the possession of rights -and liberties not enjoyed by the Jews of Russia, and -the weight of the Russian invasion fell upon them -mercilessly. Here thousands of Russian Jewish soldiers -were forced to give up their lives in an attempt to impose -upon the free Jews of Galicia the servitude from which -they themselves so ardently longed to escape in Russia. -They were forced to witness the desecration by their -Russian companions-in-arms of synagogues, the outrage -of Jewish women and the massacre of innocent and -helpless civilians of their own faith.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center bold">ROUMANIA</p> - -<p>Though Roumania is not yet a belligerent, some of -the Jews of that country have been vitally affected by -the war. In July of 1915, the Ministry of the Interior -issued a general order expelling the Jews of the towns -near the Austro-Hungarian frontier into the interior. -Though this order was later alleged to have been designed -to prevent the operations of Jewish grain speculators -from Bukowina, many Jews who had resided in the -border towns for generations were summarily expelled.</p> - -<p>This action of the Government was bitterly criticized -by the liberal press and in a memorial addressed to the -King by the League of Native-born Jews, and the -order was finally revoked.</p> - -<p>Whether the present Balkan situation may or may -not result in the entrance of Roumania among the belligerent -nations there is no doubt that upon the termination -of hostilities the question of Roumania’s -treatment of the Jews should be reopened.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center bold">PALESTINE</p> - -<p>At the outbreak of the war Palestine contained, -according to reliable estimates, about 100,000 Jews, -some of whom were economically independent agriculturists, -but the great majority of whom were -aged pilgrims dependent upon their relatives and -the good-will offerings of their pious co-religionists in -Europe. The war cut them off completely both from -the markets of Europe and from their relatives and -friends; nearly the entire Jewish population was thus -left destitute. Their position was further aggravated by -the severity with which Turkey, upon her entrance into -the war as an ally of the Central Powers, treated the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -nationals of hostile countries. About 8,000 Jews who -declined to become Turkish subjects were either expelled -or departed voluntarily.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center bold">JEWS IN OTHER BELLIGERENT COUNTRIES</p> - -<p>In all the countries where the Jews have heretofore -enjoyed freedom there has been no special Jewish problem -during this war. The Jews have identified themselves completely -with the lands of their birth or adoption, and have -shared the trials and glories of the peoples among whom -their lot was cast.</p> - -<p>In England, the Jewish population, according to -estimates prepared by Lord Rothschild, furnished more -than its share of recruits to the British army, its quota -of 17,000 comprising about eight and a half per cent. -of the total Jewish population as compared with the six -per cent. furnished by the non-Jewish population. The -Lord Chief Justice, Baron Reading, a Jew, mobilized -the financial resources of the country and was called upon -to head the Anglo-French commission which negotiated -the $500,000,000 credit secured in the United States. -Lord Rothschild is treasurer of the Red Cross organization. -Hon. Herbert Samuels is a member of the Coalition -cabinet. A Jewish battalion organized by Palestinian -fugitives rendered exceptional service to the allies in the -Gallipoli Peninsula. Many rewards, including the bestowal -of Victoria Crosses and promotions, are listed in -the Anglo-Jewish press every week.</p> - -<p>In Germany the Jews, although without complete -social privileges, have borne their full share of the -burdens of war. To Herr Ballin, the head of the mercantile -marine, was given the task of organizing the national -food supply, and other Jews have been prominently -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -identified with every department of the industrial mobilization -of the country. In France and Italy, Austria-Hungary -and Turkey, Jews are to be found in the -ministerial cabinets, in command of troops in the field, -and prominent in charge of the medical service of the -armies.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thus the present war has again demonstrated the -great truth that, in times of struggle as in times of peace, -the Jews constitute a most valuable asset to those nations -that accept them as an integral part of their population -and permit them to develop freely, but wherever an autocratic -government demoralizes its people by confronting -them with the spectacle of an unprotected minority -denied all human rights, the government itself feels the -reaction and the moral tone of the nation is thereby -impaired.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="section"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="x-large">RUSSIA</h2> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> -<h3>NOTE ON SOURCES OF INFORMATION</h3> - -<p>For the purposes of this report it has been deemed advisable to -select, from the mass of material available upon the present status -of the Jews in Russia, only evidence based upon:</p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em">1. Official and semi-official reports of the Russian government -published in its official daily newspaper, “Pravitelstvenny -Viestnik,” in its semi-official organ, “Novoe -Vremya,” or in its several military organs.</p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em">2. Debates and Proceedings in the Imperial Duma and -in the Council of the Empire, particularly evidence furnished -by non-Jewish deputies or evidence of Jewish deputies -that has passed unchallenged or has been challenged -unsuccessfully by the Right benches.</p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em">3. Statements in the Liberal Russian press and the -Jewish press published in Russia, all of which have been -rigorously censored.</p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em">4. Protests and manifestoes of non-Jewish organizations, -parties and leaders against the anti-Jewish policy of the -government. These protests have been made publicly and -have passed unchallenged by the Russian Government.</p> - -<p>In brief, the present report is based exclusively upon evidence -furnished by the Russian government itself, officially in its own -press, or countenanced by reason of the revision applied, through -its military and civil censorship, to the opposition press, or in public -speeches and declarations that have passed the government benches -in the imperial legislative chambers unchallenged.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center x-large">RUSSIA</p> -<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3> - -<p>Russia acquired the great bulk of her Jewish population -through the partitions of Poland, from 1773 to 1795. -Strongly medieval in outlook and organization as Russia -was at that time, she treated the Jews with the exceptional -harshness which the medieval principle and policy -sanctioned and required. By confining them to those -provinces where they happened to live at the time of the -partitions, she created a Ghetto greater than any known -to the Middle Ages; and by imposing restrictions upon -the right to live and travel even within this Ghetto, she -has virtually converted it into a penal settlement, where -six million human beings guilty only of adherence to -the Jewish faith are compelled to live out their lives -in squalor and misery, in constant terror of massacre, -subject to the caprice of police officials and a corrupt administration—in -short, without legal right or social status.</p> - -<p>Only twice within the last century have efforts been -made to improve the condition of the Jews in Russia; and -each interval of relief was followed by a period of greater -and more cruel repression. The first was during the reign -of Alexander II; but his assassination in 1881 resulted -in the complete domination of Russia by the elements -of reaction, which immediately renewed the persecution -policy. The “May laws” of Ignatieff (1882) which -enmesh the Jews to this day, were the immediate product -of this régime. The second period, a concomitant of -the abortive revolution of 1904–5, was followed by a -“pogrom policy” of unprecedented severity which -lasted until the outbreak of the present war.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> -<h3>THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT</h3> - -<p>At the beginning of the war the number of Jews in -the Russian Empire was estimated at six million or more, -comprising fully half of the total Jewish population of -the world. <b>Ninety-five per cent. of these six million -people were confined by law to a limited area of Russia, -known as the Pale of Settlement,</b> consisting of the fifteen -Governments of Western and Southwestern Russia, and -the ten Governments of Poland, much of which territory -is now under the German occupation. In reality, however, -residence within the Pale was further restricted -to such an extent that territorially the <b>Jews were permitted -to live in only one two-thousandth part of the -Russian Empire.</b><a name="FNanchor_1_2" id="FNanchor_1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_2" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> -No Jew was permitted to step outside -this Pale unless he belonged to one of a few privileged -classes. Some half-privileged Jews might, with effort, -obtain special passports for a limited period of residence -beyond the Pale; but the great majority could not even -secure this privilege for any period whatsoever. A tremendous -mass of special, restrictive legislation converted -the Pale into a kind of prison with six million inmates, -guarded by an army of corrupt and brutal jailers.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">The Recent “Abolition” of the Pale</p> - -<p>In August, 1915, the Council of Ministers issued -a decree permitting the Jews of the area affected by the -war to move into the interior of Russia. This act has -been supposed in some quarters to constitute the virtual -abolition of the Pale, this interpretation being chiefly -attributable to the extensive publicity given the measure -by the Russian government; but the evidence, official -and otherwise, clearly indicates that far from being a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -generous act of a liberal Government toward an oppressed -people, it is in reality only a temporary expedient, dictated -mainly by military necessity and partly by the need of -a foreign loan; it is evident that it was granted grudgingly, -with galling limitations which served to emphasize -the servile state of the Jews; that it is in practice ignored -or evaded at the convenience of the local authorities; -and that it has been utilized, if not designed, to mislead -the public opinion of the world.</p> - -<p>Evidence in support of this view will now be considered:</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus"><b>1. It is a temporary measure dictated by military -necessity. It does not remove any of the disabilities -to which the Jews in Russia are legally subject.</b></p> - -<p>This is admitted officially in the Minute of the Council -of Ministers for August 4 (17), 1915, at which session -the abolition decree was promulgated. This Minute -reads as follows:</p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em">“It has been observed, of late, in connection with -the military situation, that Jews are migrating <i>en masse</i> -from the theatre of war and are gathering in certain -interior governments of the Empire. This is explained, -on the one hand, by the endeavor, on the -part of the Jewish population, to depart in good -time from the localities threatened by the enemy, -and, on the other hand, <b>by the order, issued by our -military authorities, to clear certain localities in the -line of the enemy’s advance.</b> The further concentration -of these refugees, whose number has been -growing ever greater, in the limited area now available -to them, is causing unrest among the local native -population and may lead to alarming consequences -in the form of wholesale disorders. This excessive -accumulation of Jewish refugees also impedes the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -Government seriously in its efforts to provide food, -work and medical attention for them. Under these -circumstances, deeming it urgently necessary to take -prompt measures to avert undesirable possibilities, -the Acting Minister of the Interior has made a representation -with respect to this matter before the -Council of Ministers.</p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em">“Taking up this immediate subject for deliberation -and <b>without touching upon the question of the general -revision of laws now in force concerning Jews,</b> the -Council of Ministers has found that the most advisable -way out of the situation created would be to grant -the Jews the right of residence in cities and towns -beyond the Pale of Settlement. This privilege, <b>established -because of the exigencies of the military -situation,</b> must not, however, affect the capital cities,<a name="FNanchor_2_3" id="FNanchor_2_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_3" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> -and the localities under the jurisdiction of the Ministries -of the Imperial Court and the Minister of War.”</p> - -<p>The appalling facts back of this dry official statement -were already known to all Russia. <b>Hundreds of thousands -of Jews had been expelled from their homes overnight -by act of the military authorities.</b> At a previous session -of the Council of Ministers, Prince Shcherbatoff, himself -a Conservative, had presented the terrible condition -of these refugees. He pointed out that they -were perforce driven into forbidden territory, that it -was difficult to direct them anywhere, each one naturally -seeking some place where he had friends or relatives -in the hope of finding some means of livelihood, and -that because of the residence restrictions they found -themselves outlaws against their will, and poured in -petitions and telegrams in tremendous numbers, begging -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -for official permission to reside legally in their new homes. -These people, he pointed out, cannot be turned away -from places beyond the Pale, because they cannot possibly -go back to their old homes.<a name="FNanchor_3_4" id="FNanchor_3_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_4" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p>As was shown by Duma Deputy Skobelev, “the -question of the Pale was brought up in the Council of -Ministers <b>only when the wave of Jewish refugees had -already swept away this medieval dam!”</b><a name="FNanchor_4_5" id="FNanchor_4_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_5" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Another -deputy, an Octobrist, Rostovtzev, declared in the Duma: -<b>“What Pale is this you are speaking of? There is -no Pale; Kaiser Wilhelm has abolished it!”</b></p> - -<p>If any further evidence were needed to demonstrate -that the abolition decree was not a voluntary act of -emancipation but was forced upon the government by -conditions beyond its control, the inspired editorial in -the semi-official government organ, the “Novoe Vremya,” -of August 9 (22), 1915, supplies this evidence. It declares -flatly that the reception of the measure by the general -press as “the first rays of a new dawn” is entirely unwarranted; -that <b>the question of removing all Jewish -disabilities was never discussed; it is not particularly -important anyway; it was not even worked out for -presentation to the Duma.<a name="FNanchor_5_6" id="FNanchor_5_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_6" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Certain conditions, created -by a state of affairs already existing, had made it necessary -to modify some of the regulations with respect to -the Pale. That is all. No permanent statute will be -enacted</b>.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus"><b>2. The decree was issued in the hope of facilitating -a foreign loan.</b></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> -<p>Count A. Bobrinski, a Conservative member of the -Imperial Council, declared, in a statement to the editor -of the “Dehn”:<a name="FNanchor_6_7" id="FNanchor_6_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_7" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“The conservative members of the Imperial Council raised no -objection whatsoever against the recent Government measure -granting permission to the Jews to reside outside of the Pale. I -believe that we shall have to become accustomed to the idea of -seeing the Jews dwell in all parts of Russia after this war is over. -There can be no return to the old conditions.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“The necessities of the war must lead us also to sanction future -concessions toward the Jews whenever the need thereof will be -recognized by the Government <b>in order to be able to place a -Government loan in America.”</b></p> - -<p>The attitude of “Kolokol,” the organ of the Holy -Synod, reflects this with perfect frankness:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“Power has gradually passed from the mailèd knights, from -heroes of the battlefield to the counting house, because in gold -there is more power than in fearless argonauts. If Germany excels -us in armament and was better prepared in every other way it is -because her nation is older than ours, older in its culture by several -hundred years. Herein lies our weakness. But the Jews are the oldest -people on earth. Their cult is the cult of gold and of brains. It -does not matter that they have forgotten their glorious epoch of -military heroism, have forgotten how they defended their Jerusalem. -It does not matter that they are no longer accustomed -to bear arms and to decide with the sword their differences and -quarrels. This people has learned to draw to itself the gold of the -world. It is like a sponge.... It has learned caution and -foresight and is organized into a powerful international force. -Under the conditions of the present war the Jews are a power not -to reckon with which is to be politically blind. Would it not be -advantageous to Russia to throw into its scales these nuggets of -gold, these billions of the international bankers?...”<a name="FNanchor_7_8" id="FNanchor_7_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_8" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> - -<p>The naïveté of these statements is ridiculed by the -liberal press, led by the Petrograd “Retch,” with the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -comment that “It is difficult for the anti-Semites of yesterday -to pour new wine into old flasks. The scare-crows -of ‘Jewish freemasonry,’ the ‘universal Kehillah’ and -other myths still terrify the editors of ‘Kolokol’; but -instead of screaming: ‘The Jews are strong; crush -them!’ the cry now is ‘The Jews are strong; yield to -them!’ <b>It does not seem to occur to these new converts -that the Jewish question is merely one of elementary -civic decency.”</b><a name="FNanchor_8_9" id="FNanchor_8_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_9" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>The significance of this will be appreciated when it -is recalled that the liberal press reflects the ideals of -the Russian masses just as “Kolokol” reflects the hopes -and fears of the Russian government.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus"><b>3. The measure was granted grudgingly, with -galling limitations which emphasize the humiliating position -of the Jews.</b></p> - -<p>The Jews are even under the provisions of the new decree -still debarred from all villages, from the two capitals -Petrograd and Moscow, from the vicinities where royal -residences happen to be located and from the districts -of the Don and Turkestan which happen to be under -the jurisdiction of the ministry of war. These restrictions -were denounced as senseless by all the liberal -elements of the Empire. “Russkoe Slovo,” August 13 -(26), 1915, declares:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“Hereafter a Jew may live in Kaluga, but is excluded from -Tashkent; in Yekaterinodar he may not live; in Nizhni he may. -It is very hard to find any sense in such distinctions, even from the -point of view of the Black Hundreds. If you should ask Markov -2d [the leader of the Black Hundreds.—Tr.] into what cities we -ought to admit Jews—whether into Nizhni, or into Tashkent, -he would answer at first, of course, that we ought not to admit -them into either; but confronted with ‘dire necessity’ he would -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -hardly give preference to Tashkent, already full of alien -nationalities.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“And yet to whom, except Markov 2d and his kind, would all -these exceptions and limitations give any aid or comfort? Suppose -we do allow the Jews perfect freedom of travel within the -country; suppose we do find villages where so much as a whole -Jew—and not a fractional Jew—exists statistically per hundred -of peasant population; suppose we do find a Jewish tailor, a blacksmith -or a merchant in a Russian village—would that be such -a calamity?”</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus"><b>4. In practice the act is often ignored or evaded -by local officials.</b></p> - -<p>The Governor of Smolensk has continued to expel -Jews entering his province, entirely regardless of the -law. The government of Kiev even refused to permit -the publication of the ministerial decree until the middle -of September, some six weeks after its official promulgation, -and has consistently ignored it since. In practically -all the other governments of the Empire the -administration of the act is entirely dependent upon -the whims of the local governors. Late advices bring -reports of the expulsions of Jews from the Caucasus, -Tomsk, Vladivostok, Siberia, and many other cities and -provinces in which, under the terms of the abolition -decree, Jews are permitted to reside.<a name="FNanchor_9_10" id="FNanchor_9_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_10" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p>In many places the local authorities have even taken -advantage of the new decree to deprive the Jews of -rights possessed by them under older statutes. In -Saratov, for example, a small number of Jewish merchants, -professional men and artisans have been permitted -to live and engage in gainful occupations since 1893, -under the terms of a special Ukase issued in that year, -although the city, being outside the Pale, is closed to -Jews in general. The regulations, however, required -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -that the Jews obtain special passports from the police -department certifying to their right of residence in -Saratov, and special permits from the local license boards, -based upon the police certificates, authorizing them to -engage in their several occupations. But now that the -Pale has been “abolished” the police officials have discontinued -the issuing of special certificates, claiming -that since all Jews have been granted the right of residence -throughout the Empire the need for issuing such -certificates to individual Jews no longer exists. Yet the -license boards persist in their demand for such certificates -from the Jews and have, to date, absolutely refused -to grant them the necessary licenses without which they -cannot continue in their occupations. In other words, -the Jews of Saratov now have the legal <b>right to live</b> -in that city, but are denied the legal <b>right to secure the -wherewithal to live.</b><a name="FNanchor_10_11" id="FNanchor_10_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_11" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus"><b>5. The promulgation of the abolition act, designed -to mislead the public opinion, and thereby to win the -sympathy, of the civilized world, has not misled the -people of Russia.</b></p> - -<p>This is clearly indicated by the typical expressions -of editorial opinion which follow; and at this point it -may be well to remind the American reader again that -in Russia, more than in any other country, the press -must weigh its words carefully, since editorial missteps -have serious consequences.</p> - -<p>The “Russkoe Slovo,” August 13 (26), 1915, condemns -the measure as a half-way measure, as a substitution of -one Pale for another, “even though it be granted that the -new Pale is larger than the old.” It demands <b>the full -abolition of the Pale—“that greatest misfortune of -Russian life.”</b></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“Unfortunately,” it continues, “we tend to repeat our mistakes -only too often. When we do ‘submit’ to the demands of life we -do so either too late or with such indecision and so grudgingly that -in the end, instead of evoking real satisfaction, we not infrequently -evoke a feeling of misunderstanding or produce an effect which -is the very opposite of the one intended. Yet an act can be valid -and precious and achieve its highest aim only when it is done in -good time, cheerfully, frankly, straightforwardly and with decision—as -befits a government that is strong and sure of itself.”</p> - -<p>The Petrograd “Retch,” the great liberal daily, August -20 (September 2), 1915, points out that the measure is -merely tentative and must be legalized by statutory -enactment within six months. It hopes that this enactment -will not preserve the absurd limitations of the -original decree.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“If it has at last been recognized as expedient to remove that -shameful blot, the Pale, we ought to leave not even a small speck -of it. From a moral point of view,—and even an empire must have -a point of view—it matters little whether a man is held by a long -chain or a short one. <b>There should be no chains at all</b>....”</p> - -<p>This is echoed by the Petrograd “Courier”:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“If there is only one corner of Russia left to which Jews may -not be admitted, the Pale still remains, no matter what arguments -may be used, and no matter what promises of future ‘privileges’ -may be made. A principle cannot be measured quantitatively. -The step taken so far is merely a beginning, and life demands that -it should be completed. Besides the ‘right to live’ there are other -rights derived from it:—the right to attend school, to do business, -to own property, to choose one’s occupation freely.”<a name="FNanchor_11_12" id="FNanchor_11_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_12" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> - -<p>Even the extreme reactionary organ, “Kolokol,” -which has hitherto been most insistent in its demand -that “True Russians” be protected from Jewish competition -by the confinement of Jews to the Pale, now declares:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“Abolish the Pale entirely. Even now it is, in fact, nothing -but a sieve. All of real ability in Jewry, every Jewish faculty -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -sharpened for the struggle for existence, easily escapes the Pale. -But this constant necessity for circumvention of the law only corrupts -the Jews and exasperates them.”<a name="FNanchor_12_13" id="FNanchor_12_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_13" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> - -<p>The persons most affected, the six million Jews of -Russia, received the “Emancipation Act” with deep -mistrust. They were chiefly concerned lest the news -of this act should deceive their co-religionists abroad. At a -national conference of Jewish publicists and relief workers -at Petrograd these resolutions were adopted:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para"><b>“We are unwilling that our brethren in other lands shall gain -a false impression from our attitude toward the abolition measure.... -The permission to reside in cities outside of the Pale -in no way remedies the evil, nor does it relieve the pressing needs -of our times, nor does it affect in any way the legal restrictions -in force against Jews.... In expressing our profound indignation -at the humiliation and persecution to which the Jews have -been subjected since the beginning of the war, we declare that -the State can do justice to the Jews and prevent further persecutions -only by the total and unconditional repeal of all special -restrictions.”</b></p> - -<p>The leading Russian Jewish Weekly, “Evreyskaya -Zhizn,” of August 23 (September 5), 1915, declared -editorially:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“If this measure had been passed in July or August of 1914 -we would have met it with faith and joy. Then the Jewish people -were ready to appreciate any political measure of relief and looked -upon everything as the beginning of a new era. That new era -came, but, alas! of what a different nature! Periods of accusations -and horrors, of Kovno expulsions and Kuzhi<a name="FNanchor_13_14" id="FNanchor_13_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_14" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> -slanders came and -the people grew desperate. This half measure of the Ministers, -in spite of its practical importance, cannot vitalize the Jewish -people, and the main reason lies in the fact that this measure does -not carry with it any new view upon the real subject matter of the -Jewish question. This measure is only a slight relief in the condition -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -of citizens who have no rights and who remain without -rights.... The Jews are considered, in the new order, as -citizens of the second class. We remain the same pariahs, from -whom something has to be kept back, to whom the villages must -be closed with fear, and to whom the chosen centers must be closed -with a feeling of loathing.... The element of distinction -between Jews and other citizens remains and is even more emphasized. -<b>The principle of equality of rights for Jews has not been -realized and without it no material benefits promised by the new -act will find their way to the soul of the people. Only acknowledgment -of the right of Jews to all rights of Russian citizenship will -melt the ice of that cold disappointment which has seized all Russian -Jews.”</b></p> - -<p>Finally, the eminent Jewish historian, Simeon Dubnov, -in an impassioned article in “Evreyskaya Nedelya” -(September, 1915), denounced the hypocrisy of the -government and demanded the immediate abolition of -all Jewish restrictions:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“It is fully a year since the terrified faces of the ‘prisoners’ -appeared through the bars of that gigantic prison known as ‘the -Jewish Pale.’ Part of the prison was already enveloped in the -flames of war, and the entire structure was threatened. The -prisoners, in deathly terror, clamored that the doors be thrown -open. They were driven from one part of the prison to another -part that seemed in less danger, but the prison doors remained shut. -The warden’s answer to their prayer was that it was impossible -to ‘release them,’ even in war time, because later it would be difficult -to ‘recapture’ them!</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“Ultimately the keepers were compelled to open the doors -slightly and to let out a part of the dazed and half-asphyxiated -inmates; but even then they were quarantined within three governments, -which were immediately congested with refugees; and only -now, when the largest section of the Pale, with a Jewish population -of two million, has become foreign country—only now are the gates -of the overcrowded prison thrown wide open and the prisoners -cautiously permitted to leave....</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“<b>Should our further emancipation proceed at the same pace, -we shall attain full freedom only after our complete annihilation.</b>... -The sop is thrown to us under conditions internal and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -external which sharply emphasize its enforced character. This -measure is not one of restoration; rather it is like a rag thrown -to the victim after his last shirt has been taken from him. This -belated, partial, privilege must remind the Jew that of all nationalities -in Russia—not excepting the semi-savage tribes—he alone -needed <i>such</i> a favor.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“At this time of profound mourning, upon the graves of thousands -of our brothers who have fallen victims not only to the sword -of the enemy, but because of outrage within our own borders, amidst -the ruins of our cities, our weary hearts cannot rejoice over the -beggarly dole tossed out to us. In silence shall our people accept -the miserly gift from those from whom it is accustomed to receive -only blows; but, as ever, it will demand aloud that those rights of -which it has been deprived should be restored to it.”</p> - -<p>It is apparent, therefore, that the legal status of the -Jews in Russia has remained substantially unchanged -by the war.</p> - -<p>The restrictions normally imposed upon the Jews of -Russia (with the exception of certain specially designated—and -numerically negligible—fractions) subject them -to the following principal disabilities:</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">1. Other Residence Restrictions</p> - -<p>(a) <span class="smcap">Within the Pale.</span> Although originally granted -the right to live anywhere within the Pale, the privilege -was gradually restricted until the Jews were, in effect, -confined to the cities and larger towns. By the law of -May 3 (15), 1882, the Jews were forbidden to settle in -the villages of the Pale. By the law of December 29, -1887 (January 10, 1888), they were forbidden to move -from one town to another. By judicial and administrative -interpretation “towns” were often designated -as villages and the Jews expelled from them overnight. -The net result has been the congestion of the Jewish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -population in the cities and larger towns. Although they -constitute only 12 per cent. of the <i>total</i> population of the -Pale, they form 41 per cent. of the <i>urban</i> population. -As this congestion tended to create a ferocity in competition -which reduced incomes and standards to the -lowest limits, many Jews of necessity attempted to -escape into the interior of Russia. But their illegal -stay was possible only with the connivance of a corrupt -police. Even then the numerous police raids at midnight -or early dawn (<i>oblavy</i>—literally “hunts”), accompanied -by an excess of brutality, made the life of these -illegal residents one of fear and torment.</p> - -<p>(b) <span class="smcap">Outside the Pale.</span> The privileged five per -cent. that was granted the theoretical right of free travel -and residence throughout the Empire, was also continually -harassed by arbitrary police and judicial measures -which practically nullified their privilege. This -class comprises:</p> - -<p><i>Artisans</i>, permitted free residence by the law of 1865; -but constant restrictions and new interpretations of the -term have reduced the number of Jews enjoying this -status to a bare fraction of the Jewish population.</p> - -<p><i>Merchants of the First Guild</i>, allowed to leave the -Pale after five years’ membership in their guild, and on -condition of the payment of an annual tax of 800 roubles -($400) for ten years, after removal from the Pale. Numerically -insignificant to begin with, this class was -further reduced by police blackmail until it became -almost negligible.</p> - -<p><i>Jewish graduates of Russian institutions of higher -education.</i> The operation of the “percentage” rule, however, -reduces these to a minimum. (See pp. <a href="#Page_33">33</a>–<a href="#Page_34">34</a>.)</p> - -<p><i>Prostitutes.</i> Jewish women who have become prostitutes -are permitted to live outside the Pale.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center large bold">2. Occupational Restrictions</p> - -<p>The public service of the Empire, or of any of its -political subdivisions, is practically closed to Jews. -Jews may not be teachers (except in Jewish schools), -or, as a rule, farmers. These artificial restrictions operate -to drive the Jews into the occupations permitted to -them, chiefly trade and commerce, thus overcrowding -the ranks of tradesmen and artisans.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">3. Property Restrictions</p> - -<p>Jews may not buy or sell, rent, lease or even manage -land or real estate outside the Pale or outside of the -city limits within the Pale. The artisans privileged -to practise their handicraft outside the Pale may under -no circumstances <i>own</i> their homes. The ownership, -direct or indirect, of property in mines or oil fields is -also forbidden to Jews.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">4. Fiscal Burdens</p> - -<p>The Jews pay, in addition to the normal taxes, a candle -tax, designed for the support of Jewish schools, and a -meat tax, originally destined for Jewish religious purposes; -but in practice these funds are diverted to general, non-Jewish, -purposes, and even used, in part, for the enforcement -of police measures against the Jews.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">5. Educational Restrictions</p> - -<p>Jews are not admitted to the secondary or higher -educational institutions and universities, except in proportions -varying from 3 to 15 per cent. of the entire -number of non-Jewish pupils. (For high schools: 10 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -per cent. within the Pale and 5 per cent. outside the -Pale, except in the two capitals St. Petersburg and -Moscow, where it is only 3 per cent.; and for universities -all over the Empire, about 3 per cent.)</p> - -<p><b>A ministerial decree issued in August, 1915, permits -the children of all Jews actively connected with the war -to enter any educational institution in the country -regardless of the percentage norm; but in practice this -decree, like the decree abolishing the Pale, is entirely -subject to interpretation and modification by the local -authorities, who have, so far, virtually ignored it.</b></p> - -<p>The result of the percentage norm applied to the -admission of Jews to secondary schools and universities -is that in the towns to which the Jews are restricted by -the domiciliary regulations and where they constitute -in many cases a very large proportion of the population, -<b>the great majority of the Jewish youth are denied the -means of a higher education.</b> In Warsaw, the Jews -constitute 36.30 per cent. of the population; in Lodz, -47.59 per cent.; in Lomza, 39.42 per cent.; in Kovno, -54.60 per cent.; in Vilna, 40 per cent.; in Grodno, -52.45 per cent.; in Bialostock, 65.62 per cent.; in -Brest Litovsk, 78.81 per cent.; in Pinsk, 80.10 per cent.; -in Berditcheff, 87.52 per cent., etc., yet in all these -towns only the stipulated percentage of Jewish students -may be admitted.</p> - -<p>In addition to this restriction, many secondary schools -(School of Military Medical Hygiene, School of Railroad -Engineering, School of Electricity, etc.), are entirely closed -to Jews. Even commercial schools, maintained by Merchants’ -Guilds, admit Jews only in proportion to the -Jewish membership of the Guilds.</p> - -<p><b>The Government also restricts the establishment of -higher schools under Jewish auspices.</b> In 1884, it closed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -the Technical Institute of Zhitomir (founded in 1862), -on the ground that, in the southwestern Pale provinces, -the Jews contributed a majority of the artisans, and a -special Jewish technical school would increase this disproportion. -In 1885 it closed the Teachers’ Institute -(a noted center of Jewish learning) because “there was -no further need for it.”</p> - -<p>As a consequence of these limitations and restrictions -there has been a scramble among Jews to gain admission -to these institutions. Parents have employed every -expedient to have their children enrolled. Another -consequence is that many Jewish young men emigrated -to Switzerland, Germany and France, to obtain a higher -education, and thereafter to return to Russia to enter -professional life. A recent calculation shows that about -3,000 Jewish students from Russia annually exile themselves -in order to attend foreign universities.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">6. Military Service</p> - -<p>The Jews constitute only 4.05 per cent. of the population -of the Empire, but the proportion of Jews -in the annual army contingent was estimated, at the -outbreak of the Japanese war, at 5.7 per cent. This -is due to the fact that a great many exemptions which -the law provides for non-Jews are made inapplicable -to Jews. <b>In the army the Jews can achieve no rank -higher than that of corporal.</b> A penalty of 300 rubles -($150) is placed upon each Jewish defection, and the -whole family, including parents and relatives by marriage -of the person accused, is held responsible therefor.</p> - -<p>The results of these repressions and persecutions -are known. Politically outlawed, socially and economically -degraded, the Jewish population imprisoned in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -Pale has festered in misery. The merchants have been -obliged to resort to fearful competition. Workingmen, -overcrowding their industries, have been compelled to -work for starvation wages. Most of the Jewish homes -in Russia are miserable hovels, with little air or light. -In the great cities, the proportion of paupers approximates -a fifth of the Jewish population. In Odessa in -1900, of a population of 150,000 Jews no less than 48,500 -were supported by charity; 63 per cent. of the dead had -pauper burials, and a further 20 per cent. were buried -at the lowest possible rate. In the Governments of -Ekaterinoslav, Bessarabia, Pietrikov, Chernigov and -Siedlets, the number of charity cases at the Passover -festival increased from 41.9 per cent. to 46.8 per cent. -in four years.</p> -</div> -<div class="section"> -<h3>THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR</h3> - -<p>It was against this background of ever-spreading -persecution and misery that the great war broke upon -the Jews. They accepted it as loyal Russian citizens, -and not without hope that it might lead to some improvement -in their own conditions.</p> - -<p>The Kehillas (communities) of Petrograd, Odessa and -other cities officially sent large sums in gold for the -reservists, established hospitals for the use of the wounded -without distinction of race or creed, held great patriotic -demonstrations in the synagogues, at which the Rabbis -urged the Jewish youth to render their full share of military -service, and in other ways, presented, as the Mayor -of Odessa said, “an example of readiness to sacrifice -everything for the army.”</p> - -<p>The spirit of the Jews of Russia at the outbreak of -the war is well expressed in the appeal which the Jewish -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -community of Vilna, the oldest in Russia, at the very -heart of the Pale, issued in connection with the establishment -of a military hospital:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“Our beloved Fatherland—the great Russian Empire—has been -provoked to bloody, terrible conflict. It is a struggle for the -integrity and greatness of Russia. All true sons of Russia have -risen as one man to shield their country, with their own breasts, -against the onslaught of the enemy. Our brothers of the Jewish -faith, all over the Russian Empire, have also responded to the -call of duty ... and many have voluntarily joined the army -which has gone forth to the field of battle. But circumstances -now demand that those of us who have not been fortunate enough -to be called forward to fight for our country with weapons in our -hands should also make whatever sacrifices we can. We owe a -sacred obligation to those who have left their families behind, -those who are defending our country, and us, with their blood and -their lives. It is our duty to assume all responsibility for the -families of the reservists. It is our duty to take care of those who -will fall wounded or ill in the war. No doubt this sacred duty -will be assumed by the entire Jewish population of the Empire, -by individuals no less than by entire communities. The history -of all past wars, especially those of the nineteenth century, beginning -with the war of 1812, shows that the Jews have honestly -and sacredly fulfilled their duty as citizens and were ever ready -to sacrifice upon the altar of their country their wealth, their blood -and even their lives.... In like manner, at this great crisis -in the life of our country, we, the representatives of the Jewish -community of Vilna, the oldest in Russia and at the very heart -of the present conflict, take the liberty of appealing to our co-religionists -to begin at once the work of organizing relief for the -wounded and for the families of the reservists. <b>We must care -equally for all the soldiers of our glorious army, without distinction -of race or creed, for all are brothers, sons in common of -our great Fatherland....”</b></p> - -<p>The Jewish press also gave resonant voice to this -spirit of loyalty and devotion. The “Novy Voskhod,”<a name="FNanchor_14_15" id="FNanchor_14_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_15" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> -one of the leading Jewish organs in Russia, issued this call:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> -<p><b>“We were born and brought up in Russia. Our -ancestors are buried here. We Russian Jews are bound -to Russia by ties which cannot be broken, and our -brothers who have been driven beyond the ocean by -cruel fate cherish their memories of Russia all through -life. Custodians of the commandments of our forefathers, -nucleus of the entire Jewish nation, we, the -Jews of Russia, are nevertheless united inseparably -with the country in which we have dwelt for hundreds of -years, and from which neither persecution nor oppression -can tear us away. At this historical moment, when our -country is threatened by foreign invasion, when brute -force has taken up arms against the great ideals of -humanity, the Jews of Russia will bravely go forth to -battle and will fulfil their sacred duty....”</b></p> - -<p>The Jewish contingent in the Russian army numbered -from 350,000 (an estimate made by the Mayor of Petrograd -before the Conference of Russian Mayors in August, -1914), to 400,000 (the estimate made by the Jewish -Colonization Association, Petrograd). The thousands of -Jewish students who have matriculated at foreign universities -because the “percentage rule” had closed the -Russian universities to them, returned to enroll under -the colors, even though they knew that there was no -hope of preferment for them.</p> - -<p>On the field of battle the Jewish soldiers distinguished -themselves for valor. Over one thousand received the -Medal or Cross of St. George. From the many letters -of appreciation and affection written by Russian officers -to the relatives of Jewish soldiers under their command -who had been disabled or killed, it was evident that the -Jews had won the affection and respect of the fighting -men in the field. But it was their eternal misfortune -that the war, by the logic of military geography, had -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -to be fought out, on the Eastern side, in Poland; for -between the Poles and the Jews there had long been a -state of open conflict—and the developments of the -campaign in Poland foredoomed the Jews to disaster -appalling and almost irretrievable.</p> - - -<h3 class="margin-top-plus-plus">POLES AND JEWS</h3> - -<p>The conflict between the Poles and Jews dates back -to the earliest period of Jewish life in Poland.</p> - -<p>In its early stages it was purely religious. The Church -Synod of 1542 declared that: <b>“Whereas the Church -tolerates the Jews for the sole purpose of reminding us -of the torments of the Savior, their number must not -increase under any circumstances.”</b><a name="FNanchor_15_16" id="FNanchor_15_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_16" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p>The Synod of 1733 reiterated this gospel of hate by -declaring that the reason for the existence of the Jews -is:</p> - -<p><b>“That they might remind us of the tortures of the -Savior, and by their abject and miserable condition -might serve as an example of the first chastisement -of God inflicted upon the infidels.”</b><a name="FNanchor_16_17" id="FNanchor_16_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_17" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p>In its later stages the struggle was chiefly political -and economic. When Russia acquired Poland, through -the several partitions in the eighteenth century, it frankly -adopted the old Roman principle of <span class="smcap">DIVIDE ET IMPERA</span>. -It persistently fomented hostilities between the Polish -and Jewish population by crowding them together in -a restricted area where neither could make a decent -livelihood, by pitting them against each other in an -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -economic struggle conducted on the lowest possible -plane and on the most hopeless terms, by playing off -religious and racial prejudices and by every other device -possible to a government with unlimited power -and an unprincipled policy. And the Poles, politically -undeveloped, instead of combining with the other victims -of Russia against the common oppressor, turned upon -their fellows with a ferocity truly unparalleled in -European history.</p> - -<p>Several years before the war broke out this struggle -came to a climax over the election of a deputy to the -Duma. The Jews of Poland felt that they were entitled to -at least one member to represent them in the Duma, -particularly in the city of Warsaw, where they constitute -nearly half of the population. It happened, -however, that in the city of Lodz they unexpectedly -elected one Jewish deputy, Bomash. The Jews, therefore, -seeking to conciliate the Poles and not to wound -their national pride by insisting upon the election -of a Jewish deputy from Warsaw, the ancient Polish -capital, offered to compromise, stipulating only that the -Polish candidate be not an avowed anti-Semite. The -Poles, however, insisted upon putting up a notorious -anti-Semite. The Jews, equally unable to support such -a candidate in self-respect or to elect one of their own, -united on a Polish Socialist candidate, electing him -to the Duma. This led to retaliation in the form of a -boycott directed not only at Jewish tradesmen, but even -at Jewish physicians, artisans and other workingmen, -which soon spread destitution throughout Poland, affecting, -as it did, Jews and Poles alike. So ugly and bitter a -form did the boycott assume that at times even the Russian -government was compelled to take the part of the Jews -as against the Poles.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center large bold">Anti-Semitism in Poland</p> - -<p>A significant observation upon the economic character -of the Polish-Jewish struggle was made by the well -known Russian journalist, Madam A. E. Kuskova.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“I found red-hot anti-Semitism everywhere in Poland. We -have anti-Semitism in Russia, but of a different kind.... Anti-Semitic -papers like ‘Dva Grosha’ accused all Jews of all sorts of -crimes, without protest from the Progressive press, and succeeded -in arousing the Polish people. In Pyasechna, a ruined place near -Warsaw, where ten-day battles took place, I spoke to many peasants -who accused the Jews of many of their troubles, but could never -explain what they really blamed them for. We Russians held a -meeting to try to find the causes of this feeling.... <b>We -came to the conclusion that ... the Polish-Jewish question -is really a Russian-Polish-Jewish question, and touches -us as much as the Poles. They have not room enough to live,</b> -and more and more Jews are coming there. Even democratic -organizations are compelled to take cognizance of this. One peasant -organization expresses through its organ the idea that it is true that -the Jews are a burden to Poland, but it warns the peasants against -anti-Semitism nevertheless.”<a name="FNanchor_17_18" id="FNanchor_17_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_18" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - - -<h3 class="margin-top-plus-plus">THE WAR IN POLAND</h3> - -<p>When the fighting armies overran Poland, the Poles -saw their chance and seized it. The dream of a free -Poland had never been absent from their minds. When -the world catastrophe came the Poles saw in it not only -an opportunity to regain their land, that had been dismembered -more than a century before, but also an -opportunity to avenge themselves on the hated Jews. -Just as the Russians had always played the Poles against -the Jews, so now the Poles hoped to play Russian, German, -Austrian and Jew against each other. It was -indeed to the interest of both Russia and Austria to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -court the sympathy of Poland. And the Poles seized -the occasion to denounce the Jews, now to the Russians, -now to the Germans, as spies and traitors.</p> - -<p>The position of the Jews under this cross-fire became -unbearable. Here are several cases, selected at random, -showing its effect upon the Jewish population:</p> - -<p>One of the first towns in Russian Poland captured -by the Austrians was Zamosti, near the Hungarian -frontier, taken by a detachment of Sokol troops in -September, 1914. They were soon driven out by the -Russians; and at once the Poles of the town denounced -the Jews to the Russian commander, accusing the Jews -of having given aid to the enemy during the Austrian -occupation of the town. Twelve Jews were arrested. -They denied their guilt but were sentenced to death. -Five of them had already been hanged, when, in the -midst of the execution, a Russian priest, carrying an -image of the Virgin, appeared and with his hand on -the image took oath that the Jews were innocent and -that the accusation was merely a product of Polish -vindictiveness. He proved that the Poles of the town -themselves had supported the Austrians and that even a -telephone connection with Lemberg could be found. -The seven remaining Jews were then set free. But five -had already been hanged.<a name="FNanchor_18_19" id="FNanchor_18_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_19" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p>At Lemberg, in September, 1914, the Poles accused -the Jews of firing on Russian troops; as a consequence -a great many Jews were arrested, and nearly seventy -were attacked and wounded; but an investigation -proved them all innocent, and Drs. Rabner and Diamond, -the Jews who had been taken as hostages, were released.<a name="FNanchor_19_20" id="FNanchor_19_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_20" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> -<p>At Kieltse and Radom the Poles plundered many -Jewish shops and when the Russians returned after the -German retreat the Poles denounced the Jews as German -sympathizers. Here also those Jews who were arrested -were found to be innocent and released after investigation.<a name="FNanchor_20_21" id="FNanchor_20_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_21" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>At Mariampol, near the East Prussia frontier, because -of a similar accusation, the entire Jewish male population, -with their Rabbi, Krovchinski, at their head, were -compelled to work the roads for three days—September -22–24 (October 5–7), 1914 (the first two of these days -falling on the Sukkoth holiday.)<a name="FNanchor_21_22" id="FNanchor_21_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_22" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> - -<p>In this town, also, one Gershenovitz was sentenced -to penal servitude for six years <b>because he acted as -Mayor during the German occu­pation,</b> although the -inquiry held by the Russians showed that <b>he had been -forced by the Germans to accept the office.</b><a href="#Footnote_20_21" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>At Jusefow the Jews were accused of poisoning the -wells. Seventy-eight were killed outright, many Jewish -women were violated and all the houses and shops -plundered.<a name="FNanchor_22_23" id="FNanchor_22_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_23" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>In Drsukenihi a mill owner, Chekhofski, was accused -of having given a signal for the German bombardment -of the town by blowing his mill whistle. When the -Russians reoccupied the town he was brought to trial -before the Military Tribunal and the charge was proven -to be groundless.<a name="FNanchor_23_24" id="FNanchor_23_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_24" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<p>These are only a few instances, taken at random, -of Polish slanders. <b>In not a single known case were -the charges justified; on the contrary, their gross absurdity -was demonstrated on numerous occasions before -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -military tribunals that could not possibly be charged -with prejudice in favor of the Jewish side of the issue.</b> -A perfect illustration of this is furnished by the story -of the villages of Groitsi and Nove-Miasto, near Warsaw.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">The Case of Nove-Miasto</p> - -<p>The Germans, in their first advance on Warsaw, in -September–October, 1914, occupied these villages for a -few days. When the Russian troops recaptured the -towns the Poles at once denounced the Jews as having -welcomed the German troops and having aided them -in every possible way—whereas the Poles, according -to their own account, had accepted the German rule -passively, doing only whatever they were forced to do -by the military authorities. They pointed out seven -persons, five Jews and two Germans, who had demonstrated -such devotion to the invaders as to merit trial -for treason and the death penalty. One Jew, Goldberg, -it was charged, had revealed to the Germans the hiding -place of ten Russian soldiers, resulting in their capture; -another Jew had shown them where they might requisition -horses and food, and had acted as guide.</p> - -<p>The case was brought to trial before the military -guard, and there, under strict examination, it assumed -an entirely different aspect. A priest, Zemberzhusky, -testified that Jews and Poles had acted precisely alike -toward the Germans; that their reception of the Germans -expressed no joy, that all alike had complained -of the invaders’ requisition and pillage, and that it was -only due to the tactful conduct of the citizens that the -town of Nove-Miasto was not entirely demolished. It -was shown that not a single Russian soldier had been -captured by the Germans and that the Goldberg charge -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -was entirely false. All the other charges were similarly -disproved. It developed that they were based on two -facts. In the preliminary investigation the trial officers, -being ignorant of Polish, were compelled to employ -interpreters. One of these interpreted the statement -of a Polish witness to the effect that he had seen a certain -Zilberberg walk the streets arm in arm with a German -officer. The fact brought out in the new trial was that -<b>the witness had actually seen the German officer seize -Zilberberg by the neck!</b> In the second place, the story -had been started in sheer malice by two notorious -gangsters, whose evidence was unworthy of any consideration. -All of the accused were therefore acquitted.<a name="FNanchor_24_25" id="FNanchor_24_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_25" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - -<p>The significance of this episode lies in the fact that the -Colonel in command in this particular case happened -to be a kindly man, who, being unwilling to see injustice -done, went to the trouble to have the case carefully -investigated. Hundreds of other cases based on -equally groundless accusations came to court without -the possibility of such a fair investigation.</p> - -<p>Another case of this sort is reported from Suvalki. -It was charged by the Poles that the Jews of Suvalki -had met the Germans with bread and salt (the national -Russian custom in welcoming guests). The facts were -that practically the entire population of Suvalki had -fled at the approach of the Germans. The Germans, -however, had, with their usual thoroughness, made -out in advance a list of the leading citizens of Suvalki -who were to be appointed to the deputation that was -“to welcome” the Germans. Only one Jew was on this list.</p> - -<p>Not all the Poles were bitterly hostile to the Jews, -as may be seen from the following story, reprinted from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -the Polish paper, “Novo Gazeta,” in “Rasviet,” February -8 (21), 1915, p. 36:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“An army officer, a Pole, reports this: Where our detachment -was stationed, I found a group of soldiers surrounding a muzhik, -who was telling them that the Jews had cut the telegraph wires. -The soldiers were furious and ready to take revenge on the miserable -Jews. I approached the group and said to the muzhik: ‘I am glad -to see that your patriotic impulses urge you to expose these Jew -traitors. You must take me to them at once. You say you know -the guilty ones. Show us how we can capture them and dispose of -them.’</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“The muzhik became confused at once. He stammered: ‘I -didn’t—say anything about them. I didn’t see them myself. I -didn’t see anything myself. People say so. Everybody says so.’</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“I assumed a severe attitude and said to him: ‘You know -these people perfectly well, but you don’t want to expose them. -You are trying to shelter these traitors. You must take me to -them at once!’ After more evasions, the muzhik broke down -completely. Thereupon the soldiers turned upon him, and wanted -to beat him, but I took him under my protection. He confessed -completely to me and I sent him off and told him to beg his -priest to preach on the following Sunday on the text ‘Love thy -neighbor as thyself.’</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“Another instance was this. In a Warsaw street car filled with -passengers, I saw a Polish woman physician looking out at a Jewish -automobile ambulance. ‘Look here,’ she cried, ‘These Jews also -have motor ambulances. I think they must be stolen.’ I -took it upon myself to ask her for an explanation of this. She -was decent enough to admit that she knew nothing at all about it -and that she had said these words without thinking.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“In these two cases it happened that I came out as a Pole -defending the honor of Poland, because I believe that Poland does -not require such outrageous falsifications and slanders for its regeneration. -If they were not so painful to relate, I could give you a -whole series of such incidents.”</p> - -<p>Even the Polish clergy, usually anti-Semitic, felt compelled -to protest against the excesses of their followers. -Thus in January, 1915, the priests of Plotsk, headed by -Archbishop Kovalsky, interceded on behalf of the Jews -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -with the Russian authorities who had made numerous -arrests upon the denunciations of Polish agitators.</p> - -<p>So outrageous was the attitude of the Poles that at -a Conference of Progressive Deputies of the Duma held -at Petrograd in January, 1915, resolutions were passed -to extend no help whatever to the Polish Deputies in any -of their nationalist projects in the Duma because of -their attitude toward the Jews.</p> - -<p>The Polish weekly, “Glos Polsky,” published in -Petrograd, contains an interview with Professor Milyukov -on the Polish question:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“Our point of view is that along the River Vistula live not only -Poles, but that there also lives another people, the Jewish people, -which has a right to be recognized....</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“When the Polish question will be taken up in the legislative -chambers, we shall demand that the fundamental act should guarantee -the rights of the Jewish minority as well....”<a name="FNanchor_25_26" id="FNanchor_25_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_26" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p>At several conferences of Russian, Polish and Jewish -communal workers which took place in Petrograd and -Moscow in January, 1915, <b>the majority of the Russians -expressed their solidarity with the Jews in this matter.</b><a name="FNanchor_26_27" id="FNanchor_26_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_27" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> - -<p>Even the most reactionary Russians foresaw danger -to Russia in the Polish campaign of vilification against -the Jews. Thus the “True Russian” (anti-Semitic) -leader, Orloff, after a visit to Poland, declared: “I have -seen nothing bad on the part of the Jews, although the -Poles made up all sorts of accusations against them. -But in these Polish reports you feel prejudice, vindictiveness, -hatred, nothing else.... <b>The Jews are loyal -and brave, and it is most inadvisable to pursue a policy -which might convert six million subjects into enemies.”</b><a name="FNanchor_27_28" id="FNanchor_27_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_28" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center large bold">The Kuzhi Case</p> - -<p>But the Russian military authorities, seeking a scapegoat -for their own failures, eagerly seized upon the -Polish stories, and gave them official standing and -wide circulation. The notorious Kuzhi incident illustrates -the methods used. The story, as first published -in the military paper “Nash Viestnik,” the official organ -of the northwestern army, on May 5 (18), 1915, in the -official daily newspaper issued by the Russian government, -the “Pravitelstvenny Viestnik,” May 6 (19), 1915, -and elsewhere, ran as follows:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“On the night of April 28th, in Kuzhi, northwest of Shavli, -the Germans attacked a detachment of one of our infantry regiments -resting there. This disclosed the shockingly treacherous -conduct of a part of the population—especially the Jewish part—towards -our troops. The Jews had concealed German soldiers -in their cellars before our troops arrived, and at a signal they set -fire to Kuzhi on all sides. The Germans, leaping out of the cellars, -rushed to the house which our regimental commander was occupying. -At the same time two of the battalions, supported by cavalry, -attacked our outposts and captured the village. The house in -which the commander had his headquarters soon fell in. Colonel -Vavilov ordered that the regimental colors be burned, and, refusing -to surrender to the Germans, was killed. Our reinforcements -then arrived, drove the Germans out of Kuzhi at the point -of the bayonet, and saved the remnants of the burning standard. -All the local inhabitants who had taken part in this terrible affair -were brought before a court-martial and the ringleaders will be -sent to Siberia. This sad incident again demonstrates the need -of keeping constant guard, particularly over all those Jewish towns -which have at any time been held by the enemy.”</p> - -<p>This story, in all its circumstantial details, was spread -broadcast throughout the Empire, in all the official and -semi-official organs of the government, on the bulletin -boards, wherever the Russian populace congregates. -By military order it was brought to the attention of every -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -man in the army, down to the last private. Country -editors were ordered to reprint the story under threat -of prosecution. Not a hamlet in all Russia but shuddered -at the monstrous treachery of the Jews. In Tashkent the -clergy offered a prayer in the Cathedral, petitioning God -to deliver the Russian army from the machinations of -Jewish traitors. Even the Liberals, usually sympathetic -toward the Jews, were silent, as no defense was possible -in so black a case.</p> - -<p>Then it occurred to someone to make an investigation. -Three deputies of the Duma went to the spot -in person and discovered that <b>in the entire village of -Kuzhi there were only six Jewish families—all but one -living in miserable huts without cellar space; that the -one cellar in a Jewish house was only nine by seven and -too low for a man to stand upright in; that it could not -possibly hide enough German soldiers to attack, much -less annihilate, a Russian detachment; that the few -Jews of the town had left it, with the permission of the -military authorities, on April 27th, the day before the -town had been attacked by the Germans, and were -known to have spent the night of April 27–28 at another -village, Minstok; and, finally, that no Jews had been -tried, convicted or executed at Kuzhi; in brief, that the -story was, from beginning to end, an absolute fabrication.</b></p> - -<p>This Kuzhi story was branded as a lie by the Jewish -Deputy Friedman in the Duma on July 19 (August 1), -1915. He was supported by the non-Jewish Deputy -Kerensky, who denounced the fabrication in these words:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para"><b>“I declare now from this rostrum that I personally went to -the town of Kuzhi to verify the accusation that the Jewish population -of Kuzhi had committed a treacherous assault on the Russian -army, and I feel it my duty to reiterate that this is but an ignominious -slander. There was no such case, and under local conditions -there could be none.”</b></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> -<p>But the refutation of the lie was not spread throughout -Russia. It has been consistently suppressed by the -military censor, and to this day the great majority of the -Russian people, in the absence of disproof, fully believe -the story.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">The Shavli Case</p> - -<p>Another spy story widely circulated in the anti-Semitic -press was that the Jews of Shavli had been -expelled from Kurland because they were detected -in the act of leading the German troops on to Shavli. -This also was printed in all the military and semi-official -newspapers of Russia and from there reprinted in the -general press. The newspaper “Dehn” pointed out -the absurdity of this and similar charges:<a name="FNanchor_28_29" id="FNanchor_28_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_29" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“Accepting the story as it stands, without demanding the -names of the Jews found guilty, or any other details, let us simply -examine the map. Shavli is not in Kurland at all. It is in the -province of Kovno, and is 50 versts from the nearest point in Kurland, -and more than 50 versts from the nearest point inhabitated -by Jews. The Germans, we know, moved to Shavli, not through -Kurland, but from the opposite direction. <b>The charge, if true, -would therefore mean that the Jews of Kurland went 100 versts -out of their way in an entirely strange territory in order to commit -treason by communicating with Germans. This is obvious nonsense. -Nor is it less obvious that this fiction has been manufactured -out of whole cloth.</b> And this is how it was manufactured: -Reports reached the newspapers that the Jews of Kurland were -being expelled. The anti-Semitic papers at once argued that if -the Jews were being expelled they must have committed some -treason, and since the line of the German advance was known to -be in the general direction of Shavli, <b>and since these people were -too lazy to consult the map, they promptly decided that the expulsion -must have been due to the fact that the Jews of Kurland had guided -the Germans to Shavli.”</b></p> - -<p>And so this preposterous story was started on its way.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> -<p class="noindent center large bold">Other Spy Stories</p> - -<p>No story was too absurd to be given credibility and -systematic circulation. It was reported, and seriously -believed, that at a place unnamed and a time unknown -some Jew had enclosed a million and half roubles in a -coffin and shipped the coffin to Germany. The chief -Rabbi and the Jewish community of Warsaw telegraphed -to the “Novoe Vremya” and several other leading papers, -protesting against this monstrous slander against the -Jews at a time when their sons were shedding their blood -freely on the battlefields. The “Novoe Vremya” declined -to publish the telegram.<a name="FNanchor_29_30" id="FNanchor_29_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_30" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>The Jewish community of Petrograd appealed to the -Grand Duke Nicholas, then Commander-in-Chief of the -Russian armies, in these words:</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">“The entire Jewish people would cast out, -with scorn and indignation, those base criminals -who, forgetting duty and conscience, would, in -this year of universal sacrifice, break their sacred -vows of loyalty to the fatherland. Such treachery -is alien to our faith and was never known to -exist among Jews to any greater extent than among -other peoples. <b>And never yet, in the course of -the centuries, no matter to what persecutions the -Jews, under the influence of prejudice created -by their devotion to their ancient faith and customs, -may have been subjected, has any government -denounced ALL of its subjects as traitors to their -country. This is the first time in all history that -such an attitude has been assumed by any government -toward the Jews. At the very time that our -sons are fighting in the ranks of the Russian -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -army for the honor and glory of Russia, we, their -fathers, are held responsible for the acts of a few -criminals and are being persecuted for their -vile deeds, aimed at the betrayal of our own -sons. Never has any man or any people been -subjected to torment greater than this, to humiliation -less bearable or more offensive to honor -or self-respect....</b> Your Imperial Highness! -In this sad hour of trial we long to implant in our -people faith in a brighter future, we long to preserve -that tie of loyalty towards our common -country which is so essential for the welfare of -all the peoples inhabiting Russia, and which was -demonstrated so powerfully when the insolent -enemy first threw down the gauntlet to Russia. -We do not wish to admit discord, despair and -sorrow where should reign only unity, harmony, -hope. <b>And we dare to appeal to your Imperial -Highness in the hope that measures insulting to -us will cease to be applied, that the stamp of outcast -be removed from our faces and that we may -be permitted, as loyal sons of our country, freed -from all suspicion, to use our whole strength in -the struggle with the common enemy.”</b></p> - -<p>No reply was received to this appeal; on the contrary, -the policy of fastening upon the Jews all the blame -for Russian defeats was carried out consistently by the -military machine. The “Russki Invalid,” the official -journal of the War Department, in the spring of 1915, -definitely accused the Jews of disloyalty to the State -and of sympathy for Germany, and openly attributed -Russian disaster to this cause.<a name="FNanchor_30_31" id="FNanchor_30_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_31" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> -<p>Military orders like the following were common:</p> - -<p class="noindent center">ORDER No. 89.</p> - -<p class="noindent center"><span class="smcap">Issued to the Soldiers of the Fortified Region, Fortress -Novogeorgievsk, Nov. 27, 1914.</span></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">“The German newspapers print articles declaring -that among the Russian Jews the Germans -find reliable allies who, besides supplying them -with food, are often the best and unpaid spies, -ready to enter any service injurious to the cause -of Russia, and that in German victory the Jews -see their salvation from Imperial oppression and -Polish persecution. Similar information continues -to come in from the army.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">In order to protect the army from the harmful -activities of the Jewish population, the Commander-in-Chief -has ordered that the forces of -occupation take hostages from among the Jewish -population, warning the inhabitants that in case -of treacherous activities on the part of any one -of the local inhabitants not only during the period of -our occupation of a given inhabited point, but also -after our leaving it, the hostages will be executed, -which order is to be carried out in case of necessity.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">Upon occupation of inhabited points, careful -searches are to be made to find out whether there -are any arrangements for wireless telegraphy, signaling, -pigeon stations, underground telegraphs, -and so forth, and the full penalty of the law is to -be meted out to anyone connected with this.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">Reference: Telegram by General Oranovsky of -this year under No. 3432. Signed, Chief of the -Fortified Region.</p> - -<p class="align-right right-indent-20pc"> -General of the Cavalry, <span class="smcap">Bobyr</span>.” -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> - -<p>This order was issued from the press at six o’clock -in the evening, December 2, 1914, and immediately -proved profitable to the dregs of the Russian soldiery, -as was demonstrated at a court martial held in Lomza, -where it was proven that three members of a signal -corps had “planted” a telephone in the motion picture -theater of a Jew named Eisenbiegel, and had then arrested -him and demanded 5,000 roubles blackmail. -In the course of the trial it developed that <b>one of the men -was responsible for the hanging of no less than seventeen -innocent Jews as spies solely because they were unable -or unwilling to pay the blackmail demanded by him.</b><a name="FNanchor_31_32" id="FNanchor_31_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_32" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>Even the loyalty of Jewish soldiers was officially -questioned. Order No. 1193 of the General Staff, dated -April 27–May 10, 1915, commands all the troops “To -watch the Jewish soldiers—especially their readiness to -surrender as prisoners—and in general, their entire -conduct.”</p> - -<p>But the publication and circulation of orders like -these reacted disastrously upon the Russian arms. By -branding the entire Jewish population as traitorous -the military authorities encouraged the Poles to fabricate -new slanders, the spread of which only served to heighten -the distrust of the populations and to make the fighting -area of Poland a quagmire for the Russian armies. The -troops did not know whom to trust or distrust. Instead -of fighting on friendly ground, welcomed and supported -by the moral and economic resources of the civilian -population, the Russians fought on ground undermined -by hatred, dissension and distrust.</p> - -<p>When they began to realize this state of affairs some -of the Russian commanders made desperate efforts to -check the spy mania.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> -<p>General P. Kurlov issued the following order in the -Baltic provinces on February 25, 1915:</p> - -<p class="noindent center">ORDER No. 27</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">“Of late, more and more anonymous denunciations -and reports concerning crimes and actions -closely connected with the peculiar conditions of -war times are coming in in the provinces given over -to my supervision. Such reports not only lack -confirmation in most cases, but investigations -prove that they are caused in the majority of -cases not by a patriotic desire to help the military -authorities, but by personal reasons of revenge, -not only not admissible in war time, but also particularly -criminal. By distracting the attention -of officials from their necessary duties, these reports -promote disorder and excitement among the -local population.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">“I have asked the various Governors to order -the police officials under their supervision not to -institute any investigations on the basis of anonymous -denunciations except in extraordinary cases -(Article 300 of the Criminal Code), but to forward -these denunciations to me and wait for orders.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">“In the case of signed denunciations and reports, -the police officials must first of all question -the denunciator, warning him of the consequence -of a false denunciation, and if any signs of crime -should be established in the courses of the examination, -he should be dealt with according to -Articles 250 to 261 of the Criminal Code, or the -Governors should impose penalties in their administrative -capacity. I order the police officials -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -to strictly follow Article 254 of the Code when -making an investigation. Witnesses found to -bear false reports shall be subjected to criminal -prosecution according to Article 940 of the Code.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">“In view of the particularly criminal character -of false denunciations in war time, I shall apply -the most rigorous measures to those found guilty -of this offense.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">“I have asked the Governors to make this order -public to all.”<a name="FNanchor_32_33" id="FNanchor_32_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_33" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - - -<h3 class="margin-top-plus-plus">SUPPRESSION OF YIDDISH PRESS AND SPEECH</h3> - -<p>It appears also that the similarity of the Yiddish and -German languages further laid the Jews open to distrust. -The use of Yiddish, in conversation, in correspondence, -over the telephone, in the theatre, etc., was -prohibited by legal, military and civil authorities under -penalty of heavy fine and imprisonment. In Lodz, Vilna, -Riga, Warsaw, and other Jewish centers, the performance -of plays in Yiddish was prohibited and theatres closed.</p> - -<p>Letters from foreign countries to Russia, in any -language except Yiddish were generally passed by the -censor after scrutiny, but letters in Yiddish were as a rule -not delivered at all.</p> - -<p>In July, 1915, the commander of the Russian forces -issued the following absolute order:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“On the basis of the power entrusted to me according to Paragraph -6, Article 415, Section 6, I prohibit postal and telegraph -communications within the district occupied by the army entrusted -to me, in the Jewish, German, and Hungarian languages.”<a name="FNanchor_33_34" id="FNanchor_33_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_34" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> -<p>By this order the Russian government not only -branded the entire Jewish people as spies and traitors, -but also prevented hundreds of thousands of Jewish -soldiers at the front from communicating with relatives -and friends, because many of the soldiers had been prevented -by educational restrictions from learning to read -and write Russian. To the Jewish soldier unable to -read or write was thus denied even that scant comfort -which his Russian comrades might derive from the stereotyped -communications checked on the regulation postal -card and mailed by field-post.</p> - -<p>At the beginning of the war the military censors assumed -command of the entire press of Russia. That they -used their power with the utmost unfairness against the -Jewish press was charged without contradiction in the -Duma by Professor Milyukov, Deputies Bomash, Suchanov -and others, who pointed out that if the aim of the -censor was to suppress every truth and encourage -every lie against the Jews, they could not possibly have -pursued a more consistent policy. Deputy Bomash -furnished the following concrete instances of perversion -of facts by the censorship.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">1. It systematically expunged or mutilated -the names of Jews to whom the cross of St. -George had been awarded.<a name="FNanchor_34_35" id="FNanchor_34_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_35" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> -<p class="padding-both-1em">2. When the Mayor of Petrograd congratulated -the Jewish community upon the heroic -conduct of a lad of 13, named Kaufman, the censor -suppressed the fact that Kaufman was a Jew, -and that the community referred to was the -Jewish community.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">3. Stories in the Russian press of the valor -of Jews in the French armies are either suppressed -or the Jewish names cut out.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">4. A news item referring to the fact that -General Semenov, whom Jewish soldiers had -saved from capture by the Germans, was treating -Jews kindly was suppressed by the censor.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">5. Letters of regimental commanders to the -parents of Jewish hussars congratulating them -on the valor of their sons, or notifying them of -medals of honor bestowed upon them, were suppressed -by the censor.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">6. The military censorship also suppressed -news of an absolutely non-military nature, whenever -it might in any manner have been construed as -friendly to Jews. Thus, a news item referring to -the non-sectarian activities of the National Relief -Committee, headed by the Princess Tatyana, -daughter of the Czar, was suppressed. A news -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -item regarding the disapproval of the Council -of Ministers of the policy of expelling Jews <i>en -masse</i> and of wholesale charges of treachery -was also suppressed.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">7. Even the official declaration of Count Bobrinski, -Military-Governor of Galicia, referring -to the correctness of the conduct of the Jews of -Galicia, was suppressed.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">8. But—outrageously false items published in -the notoriously anti-Semitic papers were generally -passed by the censor without hesitation. The -“Novoe Vremya,” the “Russkoe Znamya,” and -other anti-Semitic organs, systematically published -reports of wholesale Jewish desertions, treachery, -spying, etc., without at any time producing an -iota of evidence. Thus, “Russkoe Znamya,” declared -that the loyalty of not a single Jewish -soldier could be depended upon. The “Novoe -Vremya” declared that the Jews were without -exception embittered enemies of the Russian army, -and that during the Japanese war 18,000 out -of 27,000 soldiers voluntarily surrendered as -prisoners to the Japanese. Stories without name, -date or place to the effect that small Polish boys -warned the Russian soldiers to take nothing from -Jews because everything they would furnish was -poisoned were passed by the censor, and made -much of by the press. The notorious Kuzhi -canard was not only passed by the censor and -printed in the official and semi-official press of -Russia, but the censors even hinted to that section -of the press which hesitated to publish a tale so -manifestly absurd that future relations with the -censorship might be imperilled if the story were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -not given proper publicity. Editors received a -continuous stream of circulars forbidding the -touching of questions which had absolutely no -relation to the war.</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">9. When the great writers and publicists of -Russia decided that it would be desirable, for the -honor of Russia, to speak a good word for the Jews -and thereby indirectly deprecate before the world -the merciless governmental policy, the pamphlet -containing their symposium was suppressed by the -military censor. Even the preliminary letter of -inquiry sent out by these eminent Russians, -soliciting information as to the participation of -Jews in the war, was suppressed. The Jewish -weekly, the “Novy Voskhod,” was fined 2,000 -roubles and ultimately suppressed because of the -publication of this letter.</p> - -<p>In spite of these suspensions, however, the six million -Jews of Russia still continued, in a measure, to inform -themselves as to the conduct of their sons in the field, -and as to matters of Jewish interest in general, through -the half dozen, or more, Jewish newspapers, which managed -to struggle on in spite of the repeated fines and suspensions -imposed by the censor. But on July 5, 1915, -the entire Jewish press was suppressed. Lately several -papers have been revived in new form, but today the Jews -of Russia are practically in the dark. They have no -effective means of communicating with one another or -with the Russian public. They can neither prevent -the instigation of calumnies nor refute them when -spread abroad. They live in a constant state of terror -lest some new Kuzhi slander set the country aflame -against them.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> -<h3>WHOLESALE EXPULSIONS</h3> - -<p>This public official distrust of the Jewish population -of Russia increased with the Russian reverses, and the -assumption by the authorities that the loyalty of all -the Jews was open to suspicion gave added impetus to -the spy mania, set the Jews apart as a dangerous people -and delivered them helpless into the hands of the Cossack -soldiery and the hostile Poles. The atrocities committed -upon the Jews in Poland and Galicia have already -been referred to. But a more disastrous, though less -spectacular, consequence of the governmental attitude -towards the Jews was the systematic expulsion of the -entire Jewish population from the war zone, an act -which assumed the character of a merciless war by Russia -upon its own population.</p> - -<p>From the very beginning of the war there were individual -cases of Jews, who, being suspected of bad faith, -were ordered to leave a given locality. There were also -sporadic expulsions, or rather a forced exodus, of the -entire civilian population of localities which the authorities -desired to clear for military operations. But it was -in March, 1915, that the authorities began systematically -<b>to expel Jews from all the Polish provinces, even those -not occupied by German troops,</b> and from the governments -of Kovno and Kurland, thus affecting about 30 -per cent. of the entire Jewish population of the Empire. -Even the Jewish deputy from the Kovno district, Friedman, -was expelled, in spite of his constitutional privileges -as a member of the Duma.</p> - -<p>The first sufferers were the Jewish inhabitants of -the smaller towns, because these were readily segregated. -In a very brief space of time the region where the Jews -constitute over eighty per cent. of the population of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -small towns was absolutely denuded of Jewish inhabitants.<a name="FNanchor_35_36" id="FNanchor_35_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_36" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> -It was only the rapid invasion of this territory -by the Germans which prevented the complete -expulsion of every one of the two million or more Jews -who inhabited this area. And those who have remained -in this territory for the present have been promised, -by decree of the supreme military authorities of Russia, -immediate expulsion as soon as the Russian troops regain -a foothold here.<a name="FNanchor_36_37" id="FNanchor_36_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_37" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> - -<p>The enforcement of the expulsion orders was carried -out ruthlessly. The time generally allowed was twenty-four -hours, rarely forty-eight hours. The Jewish inhabitants -of the governments of Kurland and Kovno were -given from five to twenty-four hours’ notice.<a name="FNanchor_37_38" id="FNanchor_37_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_38" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> - -<p>The Jews of the city of Kovno were notified on the -evening of May 3 (16) to leave not later than midnight -of May 5 (18), 1915.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">Cruelty of Officials</p> - -<p>In a speech delivered in the Duma the non-Jewish -deputy Dzubinsky declared:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“As a representative of our 5th Siberian division I was myself -on the scene and can testify with what incredible cruelty the expulsion -of the Jews from the Province of Radom took place. <b>The -whole population was driven out within a few hours during the -night. At 11 o’clock the people were informed that they had to -leave, with a threat that any one found at daybreak would be hanged. -And so in the darkness of the night began the exodus of the Jews -to the nearest town, Ilzha, thirty versts away. Old men, invalids -and paralytics had to be carried on people’s arms because there -were no vehicles.</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“The police and the gendarmes treat the Jewish refugees -precisely like criminals. At one station, for instance, the Jewish -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -Commission of Homel was not even allowed to approach the trains -to render aid to the refugees or to give them food and water. In -one case a train which was conveying the victims was completely -sealed and when finally opened most of the inmates were found -half dead, sixteen down with scarlet fever and one with typhus....</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“In some places the Governors simply made sport of the innocent -victims;</b> among those who particularly distinguished themselves -were the governors of Poltava, Minsk, and Ekaterinoslav -... who illegally took away the passports of the victims and -substituted provisional certificates instructing them to appear -at given places in one of five provinces at a given date. When -they presented themselves at these designated places they <b>were -shuttled back and forth from point to point at the whim or caprice -of local officials.</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para"><b>“In Poltava the Jewish Relief Committee was officially reprimanded -by the governor for assuming the name ‘Committee for -the Aid of Jewish Sufferers from the War,’ and ordered to rename -itself ‘Committee to Aid the Expelled’ on the ground, as stated -explicitly in the order, that the Jews had been expelled because -they were politically unreliable—and, therefore, presumably, -deserved no help.”</b><a name="FNanchor_38_39" id="FNanchor_38_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_39" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p>No distinction of age, sex or physical condition was -made. As most of the able-bodied young men were at -the front, those affected by the expulsions were the -persons least able to bear up under the suffering and -privation entailed—old men and women, children, the -sick from the hospitals, the insane from the asylums, -even wounded and crippled Jewish soldiers—all were -driven out en masse, without the slightest regard for -human comfort or decency. Women in labor were given -no consideration and many births occurred along the -route. Mothers were separated from their children, -entire families were broken up and dispersed all over -Russia. The Jewish and liberal Russian press is filled -with long lists of victims seeking their lost relatives. -Where transportation was provided, the exiles were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -packed in cattle-cars and forwarded to their destination -on a way-bill, like so much freight. In many places -thousands of them were forced for weeks at a time to stay -in congested villages which were absolutely unable to -afford them a roof and shelter, or to sleep in the freight -cars or in the open fields. And tens of thousands were -forced to tramp weary distances along the open road, -or, in the fear of the soldiery, to take to the back roads, -the woods and swamps, there to die of hunger and -exposure.</p> - -<p>The total number of Jews who have been expelled to -date is unknown. Expulsions are still going on. At the -beginning of June, 1915, at the deliberation of the Petrograd -Central Committee for the Relief of Jewish War -Sufferers, which was participated in by the most prominent -provincial committees, it was calculated that -the total number of homeless Jews ruined by the expulsion—in -Poland and the northwestern district—is -600,000 at the least.<a name="FNanchor_39_40" id="FNanchor_39_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_40" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> After the Kovno-Kurland expulsions -there collected in the Vilna government alone -some 200,000 exiles.<a name="FNanchor_40_41" id="FNanchor_40_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_41" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> In Riga there gathered, by May -18 (31), some 9,600 families or 42,000 persons.<a name="FNanchor_41_42" id="FNanchor_41_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_42" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> Up to -August 6, 1915, there collected in the government of -Volhynia upwards of 250,000 refugees.<a name="FNanchor_42_43" id="FNanchor_42_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_43" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">Hostages</p> - -<p>There is evidence to indicate that the Russian government, -overwhelmed by the consequences of the expulsion -policy, has suggested to the military authorities the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -advisability of repatriating the exiles; but these authorities -have refused to consider the suggestion except -on condition that the Jews voluntarily give hostages -from among their own ranks, these hostages to include -the Rabbi and other leading Jews. This proposal has -been universally rejected by the Jews through their -representative in the Duma, Deputy Friedman, in a -letter to the President of the Council of Ministers:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“As a deputy from the province of Kovno, from which I, together -with all other Jews, have now been expelled, I consider it -my duty to call the attention of your excellency to the following:—</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“According to the latest decrees of the authorities the Jews -who have been expelled from their homes are to be allowed to -return on condition that they give hostages. <b>This monstrous -condition, which the government aims to impose upon its own -subjects, the Jewish people will never accept. They prefer to -wander about homeless and to die of starvation rather than to -submit to demands which insult their self-respect as citizens -and Jews. They have honestly performed their duty toward their -country and will continue to do so to the very end. No sacrifices -frighten them and no persecutions will make them swerve from -the path of honor. But neither will any persecutions force them -to accept a lie, to give testimony, through base submission, that -the monstrous accusations against them are true.</b> When the insolent -enemy threw down the gauntlet to Russia the Jews arose -to shield their country with their breasts, and I had the honor -to appear at the historic session of the Duma as their spokesman -in the expression of this spontaneous, inspiring enthusiasm. <b>The -Jews gladly assumed all the sacrifices demanded of them by their -country because of a feeling of duty to the land to which they -are bound by century old, historic bonds, and also because of a -sincere hope for a brighter future. And I may say with deep -conviction that even now, after all that we have gone through, -this sense of duty is as strong as ever.</b> But with the very same -deep conviction I consider it my right and my duty to declare that -<b>no privations will shake our firm conviction that as Russian subjects -we cannot be made the victims of measures applicable only to -enemies and traitors; that we consider ourselves and shall never -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -cease to consider ourselves above all suspicion of treason to our -duty and our vows.</b> If the authorities really desire to return -the Jewish people to the places from which they were driven away -by order of the authorities they must take cognizance of this feeling -which I can testify under oath, on the basis of many conversations -and observations, is universal among us. <b>This permission to return -under shameful conditions is only a new and senseless insult. -So the entire Jewish population feels, and this feeling is shared -by me, their representative.”</b></p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">Misery of Refugees</p> - -<p>This sudden uprooting of an entire people from the -land in which it has dwelt for centuries has brought -irretrievable disaster to the Jews of Poland and Russia. -It has been estimated that nearly three of the six million -Jews of Russia and Poland are now without means of -support.</p> - -<p>Overwhelming and incalculable as the economic loss -may be, the moral losses far exceed them in intensity. -Jewish communal life is disrupted. Many of the cities -and towns from which the expulsions took place were -centers of Jewish culture. Most of the Jewish colleges -and schools have been closed and many of the buildings -and synagogues have been destroyed. It is safe to say -that these losses cannot be repaired for generations to -come.</p> - -<p>The demoralization and pauperization of the individual -refugees is painfully noticeable everywhere. Beggary, -which was practically unknown among the Jews, is now -only too frequent.</p> - -<p>The appalling misery of the refugees is fully described -in the appended report of the Russian Jewish Committee -for the Relief of War Sufferers (see p. <a href="#Page_98">98</a>). The Jews -of the Empire living outside of the war zone, have assumed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -a system of self-taxation which, added to their normal—or -rather normally excessive—burden of taxation is -practically impoverishing them. The small Jewish community -of Moscow alone gives about 85,000 roubles a -month, ranging from an average of 200 roubles per -month imposed upon 265 manufacturers down to the 10 -roubles per month imposed upon their poorest clerks. -Other cities are contributing in proportion but they -cannot possibly keep pace with the ever-growing need.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">Unfair Administration of Relief</p> - -<p>And in the midst of this catastrophe the old struggle -between the Poles and Jews has continued with unabated -ferocity. The local relief committees refused to accept -Jews as representatives, denied Jews any help whatsoever -and even drove them away, by intimidation and force, -from the relief stations supported by their own people. -Of seventy-one relief committees operating in Poland, -fifty-two contained no Jewish members, although the -Jews constituted nearly one-half of the urban population -and thirteen to fourteen per cent. of the rural population -in these places. In the other nineteen committees the -Jewish membership constituted scarcely ten per cent. -of the total, although the Jewish population ran from -thirty-five to sixty-eight per cent. of the total population -in the cities and from ten to fifteen per cent. in the -rural districts.<a name="FNanchor_43_44" id="FNanchor_43_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_44" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> And <b>in most of these places the Jews -had contributed the major part of the relief funds.</b> -Even institutions supported solely by Jewish contributions -were expropriated by the Poles.</p> - -<p>Thus “the magnificently equipped Hospital for the -Wounded, in Warsaw, created at the expense of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -Jewish Kehillah, which had refitted the Roman Hotel -for the purpose, has been running until now under the -official name of the Warsaw Local Relief Committee. -But this has turned out to be an anti-Semite organization -without a single Jewish representative, its board being -made up of rabid Judeophobes, who feel no scruples in -the methods and means of their anti-Jewish policy. -Private donations, the personal labor of Jews—all this -has gone into Polish institutions, all this has disappeared -in the Polish river-bed,” declares “Novy Voskhod,” -Sept. 11 (24), 1914.</p> - -<p>The present attitude of the Jews of Russia toward this -problem is well reflected in a letter, published in a recent -issue of “Evreyskaya Zhizn,”<a name="FNanchor_44_45" id="FNanchor_44_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_45" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> from a Jew, the owner -of a salt mine, who had been invited, among others, to -contribute salt for the poorer people of Warsaw, without -distinction of race or creed. He replied, in effect, that -the proposal met with his deepest sympathy, but he took -the liberty of inquiring as to who would have charge of -the distribution of the salt. “Everybody knows,” he -wrote, “the intolerant attitude of the Polish Relief -Committee toward the Jews. This makes us doubt -whether your high principle would be carried out conscientiously -if administered by Polish hands. The Warsaw -Committee is particularly distrusted, and it would -be extremely unpleasant for me to feel that the necessaries -that we contributed should be withheld from our -own fellow Jews. On the other hand, we would welcome -gladly every effort on the part of Russian organizations -to undertake to cooperate with Poles and Jews in this -matter to insure an equitable distribution.”</p> - -<p>When the Central Citizens’ Committee of Warsaw -was dissolved by the German governor of Poland, in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -September, 1915, its accounts showed that it had distributed -over eleven million roubles ($5,500,000) since -the outbreak of the war, <b>of which the Jews received -scarcely 100,000, although they constitute one-sixth of -the population and the funds had been gathered with -the express understanding that the distribution be absolutely -without discrimination between Poles and Jews.</b> -The Liquidation Commission which disposed of the -balance on hand at the time of the dissolution of the -Central Committee—some 1,290,000 roubles—allotted it -all to Polish institutions. <b>Although there are 300,000 -Jews in Warsaw, the majority of them in dire need, -not a rouble was offered for their relief.</b></p> - -<p>Finally it must be noted that the occupation of -Poland by the German forces has afforded little relief -to the Jews, as the scarcity of food in Germany precludes -the shipment of any considerable quantities of -provisions to ameliorate the distress of the starving -Jews of Poland.</p> -</div> - -<div class="section"> -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> -<h3>PROTESTS OF LIBERAL RUSSIA</h3> - -<p>The cruelty of the government’s policy toward the -Jews has not received the support of the Russian people, -as the numerous protests uttered in the Duma, in public -assemblies and in the press clearly indicate. When it -is remembered that those non-Jews who, in Russia, dare -to utter a word in favor of the despised Jews, risk their -position and prestige to a degree unparalleled in any -other country, the following calendar of protests and -manifestoes constitutes a body of evidence against the -Russian government which must compel conviction.</p> - -<p>These protests have been grouped, for convenience, -into four classes:</p> - - -<h4 class="margin-top-plus-plus">THE VOICE OF THE DUMA</h4> - -<p>Early in the session of the Duma the Left groups -proposed an interpellation of the Government with respect -to its illegal acts against the Jews. After some debate -the proposed questions were referred to the Committee -on Interpellations, which reported them out, on August -30, 1915, in this form:</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em">I. Do the president of the Council of Ministers -and the Ministers of the Interior and Justice -know of the illegal conduct of their administrative -officers with respect to the following:</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>1. That officers of the prison administration -received persons taken by the military authorities -as hostages from the local Jewish population of -Riga, Prushkov ... etc.?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>2. That the prosecuting attorneys took no -steps to obtain the immediate release of these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -persons, accused of no crime and illegally imprisoned?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>3. That the expelled were driven by agents of -the police in Vilikomir, Zhagory and Shadov into -freight cars inadequate for the accommodation of -one-tenth of them, and that the remainder, including -children, aged men and women, and -invalids were compelled to follow afoot?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>4. That the officers of the local governments -took no steps to check the repeated robberies by the -local population of the property left by the exiles?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>5. That the officers of the Gendarmerie of -Homel prohibited the supplying of food to the -exiles, even though they were at the point of exhaustion -from hunger and thirst?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>6. That in Novozybkov individuals who sent -telegrams appealing for help were arrested?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>7. That the officers of the Gendarmerie, with -armed threats, refused to admit to sealed cars -persons who brought food to the expelled at -the station of Bielitsa, on the Poliess railroad?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>8. That the police officers locked the exiles in -sealed cars for several days at a time?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>9. That in the shipment of these exiles from -Zolotonosh to Kovno and back some of them were -kept in the cars ten days?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>10. That the local government administration -of the cities of Minsk, Samara and Rostov required -the reprinting in the local paper of the -story of Jewish treason in the village of Kuzhi, -first published in “Nash Viestnik”?</b></p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>11. That the local administration of Tashkent -ordered prayer for the delivery of the army from -the treachery of the Jews?</b></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> -<p class="padding-both-1em">II. If the illegal acts of the authorities are -known to the indicated individuals what steps -were taken by them towards the punishment of -the guilty and the prevention of similar breaches -of law in the future?</p> - -<p>The significance of this interpellation cannot be -overestimated, insofar as the facts implied in these -questions are officially accepted by the great standing -committee of the Duma as worthy of cognizance. Had -the questions originally proposed by the Left groups -been without foundation they would have been rejected -without reference to the Committee on Interpellations; -and had the Committee on Interpellations found, upon -examination of the evidence underlying each question -by both the Right and Left deputies on the Committee, -that the evidence was defective or inadequate, the interpellation -would never have been reported out in this -form. <b>The fact that it was so reported indicates -that the evidence was incontrovertible, and was so -accepted by the Liberals and reactionaries alike.</b> The -report of the Committee is dated August 30, 1915, but -as the Duma was prorogued immediately afterwards, -the Government’s answer to the interpellation is not known.</p> - -<p>In the course of the debates on these and other -questions affecting the Jews the expressed attitude of -the representatives of the great bulk of the Russian -population left no doubt of their absolute opposition -to the Government on the Jewish question.<a name="FNanchor_45_46" id="FNanchor_45_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_46" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> - -<p>Professor Milyukov, the leader of the Constitutional -Democrats, declared on July 19 (August 1), 1915:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“The strongest factor in the disruption of our national unity -was the government’s policy toward our alien subjects. <b>The foul -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -play upon the obscure racial prejudices of the masses, with the -customary weapon of this kind of strife—anti-Semitism and the -persecution of all dissenting nationalities or religions—has been -exercised with unparalleled effrontery. Under the mask of military -precaution, measures worse than credible are taken against -crimes that are imaginary.... At a time when nations are -struggling for the liberties and rights of small peoples, such terrible -deeds embitter our friends and evoke joy among our enemies.”</b> -(Loud applause from the left.)</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>Deputy Kerensky.</b> “We are fighting this war in a territory -occupied by non-Russian nationalities. But <b>did not our government, -this very year, cause these peoples to doubt the wisdom of -the path they took a year ago, when they linked their destiny with -ours?”</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>Deputy Tchkheidze.</b> Aug. 3 (16), 1915: “It is well known to you -that the Government régime has been based on Jewish oppression -and that at all critical moments <b>it aimed its blows first of all at the -Jews, because they were in the line of least resistance....</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“A year ago the war began and at once accusations of treachery -against the Jews were started by the Government. To-day Russia -and the whole world knows who is to blame for the condition in -which Russia found herself. The guilty ones were not at all the -Jews, as the whole country will confirm, but those who stuffed their -pockets with the money which they made on Government orders -for army supplies (shouts from the left: “That’s true!”) The -guilty ones were those who, with the aid of men like Myasoyodyeff, -Grotgus and other traitors, betrayed Russia....</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“This is supposed to be a war for liberty, fraternity, and equality, -but what justice is there in making a whole nation answer for the -crimes of individuals, granting that there are any?</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“In the name of what truth is the Kuzhi slander being published -in the ‘Pravitelstvenny Viestnik?’</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“In the name of what truth are the various periodical publications -ordered to reprint this communication under penalty of a -fine?</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“What justice demands that a Jewish volunteer who has several -times been wounded be expelled within twenty-four hours when -he tries to find a place in Russia to recover from his wounds?</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“In the name of what humanity is it forbidden to hand food to -starving Jewish refugees cooped up in freight trains? In the name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -of what brotherhood is one part of the army aroused against the -Jewish soldiers who are in the trenches side by side with our own -soldiers?</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“We accuse the Germans of breaking the laws of warfare, of -using poison gases and mutilating prisoners. Such acts can call -forth only indignation and protest. Let these acts be a stain upon -the ruling classes of Germany. But, gentlemen, in the name of -what laws of humanity are orders issued to the Russian army to -drive peaceful Jews ahead of the troops and to expose them to -fire?</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“In the name of what laws of humanity are Jewish-Russian -subjects taken as hostages and put into prisons and tortured and -shot?</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para"><b>“We denounced the Germans for having destroyed Louvain -and the Cathedral of Rheims; but I ask you in the name of what -ethical or esthetic principles is a Jewish woman who seeks refuge -in the synagogue violated?”</b></p> - -<p><b>Baron Rosen, former Russian Ambassador to the -United States,</b> also protested outspokenly against the -continuation of the anti-Jewish policy of the Government -in a speech before the Council of the Empire, Aug. 22 -(Sept. 4), 1915. (See Appendix, p. <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.)</p> - - -<h4 class="margin-top-plus-plus">RESOLUTIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY</h4> - -<p>The leading political party of Russia—the Constitutional -Democratic Party—officially voiced its sentiments -on the Jewish question at a national convention of the -Party, held at Petrograd on June 19–21 (O. S. June 6–8), -1915, at which the Central Committee of the Party -submitted a comprehensive report which was adopted -unanimously, and which, summarized in the form of a -resolution, was ordered published. This resolution, after -citing the loyalty and patriotism of the Jews at the outbreak -of the war, continues:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> -<p class="padding-both-1em">“This intense spirit of patriotism manifested -by the Jews in the hour of Russia’s danger seemed -for a time to have broken down the rooted prejudices -of the Government and to have cleared -the way for the recognition in Russia, of that -civic equality which is accorded the Jews throughout -the civilized world. But this would have deprived -our reactionaries, those champions of an -outlived past, of their old and well-tested weapon -of black demagoguery—anti-Semitism. And so we -see that under the direct influence of these notorious -Jew-baiters measures were early adopted by -the Government to set the army and the people -against the Jews. Every advantage was taken -of the exigencies of war. Isolated cases of espionage, -likely to occur among the border populations -of all nations, were seized upon as a basis for -universal accusations and furnished the occasion -for the invention of incredible myths and rumors -circulated exclusively to the injury of the -Jews.... The Jews have been held collectively -responsible for the acts of individuals -among them—a policy which outrages the most -elementary sense of justice, a policy which is no -longer sanctioned by the laws of any civilized -land, a monstrous survival of the remote -past.... Needless to mention the spread of -discord and hatred, the growth of mutual suspicion -and distrust among the races inhabitating Russia -which must of necessity follow such a policy....</p> - -<p class="padding-both-1em"><b>“Not only in the name of brotherhood; not -only in the name of that harmony so necessary -where different nationalities are fated to live -under the shelter of a common government; not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -only for the sake of keeping alive among the -Jewish people, now being driven to despair, some -hope of a brighter future, and some faith in that -progress of which they have ever been the valiant -champions, but also for the sake of the attainment -of that ideal of the Russian people—the elevation -of our beloved Fatherland to the status of a truly -enlightened empire—must we offer united opposition -against the forces of reaction.... Our -adversaries hope to continue, even after the war, -to use the poisoned weapon of primitive race -hatred which they have used until now. It is our -task to demonstrate to the masses of the people -that they are again being duped, that their base -passions are now being aroused in order to distract -their attention from their own vital interests. -We must continue, as before, to point out, firmly -and persistently, that there is only one path to -a brighter future for Russia, the same path along -which the entire civilized world has traveled, -and that along this road there is only one solution -of the Jewish question—a solution demanded by -the most elementary principles of civilized government—and -that is to grant them, as individuals, -full civic rights, and as a people, the right to free -racial and cultural self-development.”</b></p> - -<p>A striking incident occurred during the debate upon -this resolution. One of the leaders of the party, Maklakov, -a brother of the former Minister of the Interior, advanced -a plea in extenuation of the alleged Jewish treacheries.</p> - -<p>“The Jews have suffered such cruel persecutions in -Russia,” he remarked, “that they might well be excused -even if these spy stories were found to be true.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> -<p><b>“We spurn this right to baseness,” cried out former -deputy Vinaver, a Jew. “Our loyalty is not for sale. -We are not newcomers here. Our ancestors have lived -here for hundreds of years. We are patriots because -we feel ourselves bound to Russia. We believe in Russia -even more than you do.”</b></p> - - -<h4 class="margin-top-plus-plus">PROTESTS OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS, CITIES, ETC.</h4> - -<p>Various municipalities outside the Pale have petitioned -the government to give equal rights to the Jews.</p> - -<p>The Municipal Council of Smolensk, at its session of -December 19, 1914 (January 1, 1915), passed a resolution, -with only two dissenting votes, petitioning the government -“to abolish all measures which restrict the rights -of Russian subjects of the Jewish faith, and, in particular, -to abolish the Pale of Settlement.” At this session -Councillor P. V. Mikhailoff said:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“We are referring not only to those families of Jewish soldiers -at the front, to families fleeing from devastated Poland, but even -to the soldiers themselves who are placed <i>hors de combat</i> because -of their wounds, after having valiantly served in our ranks. -Thus, for example, a Jewish soldier wounded in the hand and -in the breast, having parents in this city, obtained permission -<i>only with the utmost difficulty</i> to stay here three months. At the -end of this period he must go back to the Pale and live there without -means or medical attention, although he is threatened with tuberculosis.... -This is merely one case in thousands which -prove to us the horrors of the situation in which Jewish soldiers -and their families are placed because of their deprivation of civic -rights. Those families whose members have shed their blood -for Russia are ruined by the invasion of the enemy. They arrive -here to find a refuge from starvation and death, from ruin and -violation. We must remember that nearly a half million Jews -are fighting side by side with our brave warriors against the common -enemy. As to the civilian Jews, they have no less patriotism or -enthusiasm than the other inhabitants.... His Majesty, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -the Emperor, in passing through Lublin, Grodno, and Tiflis, has -deigned to express his thanks to the Jews for their faithfulness -to our common country. The conclusion from this is clear: <b>There -is no serious reason to maintain any longer those measures of -restriction so futile and so pernicious and so malevolent.... -But the Jewish question is not merely a question of abstract -justice. The economic and moral development of our city life -is seriously retarded by the restrictions placed upon one part -of the population....”</b><a name="FNanchor_46_47" id="FNanchor_46_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_47" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> - -<p>In August, 1914, a meeting of municipality, Zemstvo, -Stock Exchange, and University officials and merchants, -at Odessa, resolved that the country would benefit by -the abolition of all repressive laws and the opening of -educational institutions to all citizens.<a name="FNanchor_47_48" id="FNanchor_47_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_48" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p>In August, 1914, the Moscow Conference of Mayors -also forcibly condemned the expulsion policy of some -governors and resolved to use its influence to ameliorate -the position of the Jews.<a name="FNanchor_48_49" id="FNanchor_48_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_49" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> - -<p>So also the Congress of Delegates from cities of -Western Siberia petitioned for the abolition of all Jewish -disabilities.<a name="FNanchor_49_50" id="FNanchor_49_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_50" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> - -<p>Within the past few months the municipalities of -Samara, Saratov, Ekaterinoslav and other important -centers; the Siberian Municipal Conference, and the -Conference of twenty Zemstvos held at Yaroslavl, all -petitioned the government and the Duma to remove the -disabilities affecting the Jews of Russia.</p> - - -<h4 class="margin-top-plus-plus">PROTESTS OF TRADE AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS</h4> - -<p>The Military-Industrial Committee, organized in May, -1915, to integrate the economic resources of the country -on a war basis, met on August 25, 1915, and condemned -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -the incompetence of the government openly. In his -presidential address P. P. Riabushinski deplored the -tardiness of the government in calling upon the social -forces of the country. “This leadership of the country -has been attempted by persons incapable of leadership, -and it is now evident to everybody that a <b>new personnel -is needed within the government....</b> We have -observed the workings of the government departments -from the very beginning of the war, and have come to -the conclusion that these departments are unable to cope -with the situation. The supply of war material is altogether -unorganized, as the army well knows.... -The government will from now on transfer to us more -and more of its functions. <b>But the longer this is deferred -the less benefit will result....</b> This work cannot -be done through a poorly organized government.... -The State is a huge business enterprise, whose parts -must work harmoniously.... The war has now -changed from a struggle of will and spirit into a struggle -of machinery. <b>Therefore, the persons entrusted with -the defense of the country must know the country....</b> -It cannot be denied that Russia is at the present moment -facing a great danger, and we fear that the time may -come when our courage will sink.... (<i>censored</i>). -Our army is suffering heroically.... (<i>censored</i>). We -know that after a while, with the war continuing in the -same poor fashion as at present, the government will -be ready to meet us half-way, but we also know by -experience <b>that it will then be too late and even the very -best man called by the government will be unable to -accomplish anything.”</b></p> - -<p>This address was met with thunderous applause. -Another speaker, Prof. E. L. Zubashov, referring to the -Jews, declared that: <b>“The sons of the Jewish nation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -are now fighting side by side with the Russians for their -country. Unfortunately this country has until now been -only a step-mother to them. Let us express the hope -that it may now become a mother to them.”</b> He therefore -proposed a resolution favoring the abolition of all -restrictive laws against the Jews. His proposal was met -with prolonged applause and was accepted by the convention.<a name="FNanchor_50_51" id="FNanchor_50_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_51" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> - -<p>At a meeting of the Free Economic Society—the -foremost economic organization of Russia—on January -16, 1915, the following resolution was adopted unanimously:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“The Commission ... has taken into account the exceptionally -difficult position in which the Jewish population finds -itself, in view of the residence restrictions to which they are subject.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“While they are suffering all the terrors of war together with -the rest of the population, the Jewish population, being mainly -urban, has suffered particularly from the general disorganization -of economic relations not only within the immediate region of -military activities, but far beyond.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“Under these conditions it would be a great relief to the suffering -population if measures were adopted which would make it easier -for them to move about in search of work. In view of the size -of our country and the unlimited economic resources of its regions, -especially those of the interior, have hardly been touched by the -miseries of war. There are regions in the interior of Russia where -economic conditions have even improved somewhat, since they -have assumed many of the industries abandoned in Poland, and -since the commissary department placed large orders here.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“At the same time the Jewish population is even at this exceptional -time artificially confined to the cities of Poland and the -western provinces by force of existing legal limitations which increases -the hardships of war for them. <b>If in time of peace these -restrictions,</b> which are economically harmful and morally degrading, -<b>are recognized as a relic of barbarism that must be abolished, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -is all the more difficult to reconcile ourselves with them at the -present time, when hundreds and thousands of Jews serve under -the Russian banners on the battlefield.</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“In view of these facts the Commission has decided to request the -Council of the Free Economic Society to communicate with the -government and members of the society who are members of the -legislative bodies:—</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para"><b>“To immediately stop the functioning of all restrictive laws -relating to the Settlement rights of Jews,</b> and</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para"><b>“To abolish them immediately and permanently by legislative -enactment.”</b><a name="FNanchor_51_52" id="FNanchor_51_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_52" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<p>Numerous commercial and technical associations have -passed resolutions declaring that the main cause of -Russia’s economic backwardness lay in the restrictions -placed upon Jews, and that the sole means of combating -German predominance over Russian industry and trade -is through the abolition of these restrictions. Among -these organizations are the national grain, lumber, fur -and gold trades; the Chambers of Commerce of Moscow, -Petrograd and the leading cities of Russia and Siberia, -and the national Congress of Bourses; the Russo-American -Chamber of Commerce, etc. Practically every national -convention of every industry has petitioned the government -to liberate the economic talents of the Jews by the -removal of all legal restrictions.</p> - - -<h4 class="margin-top-plus-plus">PROTESTS OF RUSSIAN WRITERS AND PUBLICISTS</h4> - -<p>Just as the commercial and industrial elements of -Russia demand equality for the Jews on economic grounds, -so the intellectual elements of Russia demand it on broad -human grounds.</p> - -<p>The great manifesto issued at the beginning of the -war by 225 of the leading publicists and writers of Russia, -declares:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> -<p class="smalltext-para">“Russia, in the present great war, is straining all her physical -and intellectual forces to an extraordinary degree. All the peoples -of Russia are taking part in the war, sharing equally in all the labors. -We believe that the blood of the fighters is not being shed in vain. -We believe that after having borne the horrors of the war, the -population will return with increased energy to the work of building -for a better and brighter future. This we believe, and we hope -that the relations between the different peoples that inhabit Russia -will be built up in the future on the eternal foundations of wisdom -and justice.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“But at this moment, so important in history, we see with -sorrow and consternation that to the sufferings of one of the nationalities -inhabiting Russia new distress and new vexations are added. -The limitation of the right of education is now felt with particular -pain by the Jewish youth. As the Western frontiers are closed -the usual exodus to the foreign schools is checked, while in Russia -itself the percentage limitations against the Jews in the schools -are maintained in force. The Jews of the destroyed towns have -no right to leave the Pale of Settlement, a measure which often -leads to a disintegration and a division of members of families, -wives and children of wounded soldiers not being allowed to visit -their husbands and fathers, and being at the same time exposed -to all sorts of chicanery. <b>The sorely-tried Jewish nation which -has given to the world such precious contributions in the domain -of religion, of philosophy, of poetry; which has always shared the -travails and trials of Russian life; which has been hurt so often -by prejudice and insult; which more than once has proven its love -for Russia, and its devotion to her cause, is now again exposed to -unjust accusations and persecutions.</b></p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“The Russian Jews, who are industriously working with us -in all spheres of labor and activity that are accessible to them, -have given so many convincing proofs of their sincere desire to be -with us, to render service to our cause ... that the limitation -of their right of citizenship is not only a crying injustice, but also -reacts injuriously upon the very interests of the State. The Russian -Empire can, and must, draw its strength from the complete union -of all the nationalities inhabiting Russia, and only by the placing -of all citizens upon an equal footing will the power of Russia become -indestructible.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para"><b>“Russians, let us remember that the Russian Jew has no other -country than Russia, and that nothing is dearer to a man than -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -the soil on which he is born. Let us understand that the prosperity -and power of Russia are inseparable from the well-being and -the liberty of all the nationalities which constitute its vast Empire. -Let us understand this truth, act according to our intelligence and -our conscience, and we may be certain that the ultimate disappearance -of persecutions against the Jews and their complete emancipation -will form one of the conditions of a truly constructive -imperial régime.”</b></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="section"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> -<h2>AUSTRIA-HUNGARY</h2> - -<p>The total estimated Jewish population of Austria-Hungary -is about 2,250,000, of which nearly one million -were, at the beginning of the war, in the border province of -Galicia, in the immediate area of hostilities.</p> - -<p>Here, as elsewhere, the Jews manifested their keen -loyalty by trooping to the colors even when they were -normally exempt, as in the case of the students of the -Budapest Rabbinical Seminary, many of whom volunteered, -although not required to do so. The Government -recognized this loyalty in many ways, particularly in -the granting of special privileges with respect to the -observances required by the Jewish religious ritual. -Thus the Emperor, in his own name, sent 20,000 Tallithim -(prayer shawls) for the soldiers in the field during the -holidays. When, at Passover, it was discovered that -the matzoths for the Jewish troops had been improperly -prepared, the Government, at the instance of the Chief -Rabbi of Vienna, authorized the wholesale distribution -of potatoes to Orthodox Jews.</p> - -<p>Hundreds of Jewish soldiers have been decorated on -the field of battle, and many were given officers’ commissions.</p> - - -<h3 class="margin-top-plus-plus">GALICIA</h3> - -<p>It was the million Jews of Galicia who were made to -feel the full burden of the war. Although their economic -condition before the war was greatly inferior to that -of the general population, their political condition was -one of equality. But the Russian invasion of Galicia, -in September, 1914, changed their status overnight. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -The Russian Governor-General, Count Bobrinski, a -notorious anti-Semite, found the political status of the -Jews in Galicia most abhorrent to him. He at once -proceeded to degrade them to the status of the -Russian Jews, and, if possible, still lower. He proposed -to his home Government that all Jewish landed property -in Galicia be confiscated and the Jews be forbidden to own, -lease or rent land; and this, he added, was an immediately -imperative step, to be carried out even before -the formal annexation of Galicia was announced!</p> - -<p>On February 13, 1915, the Grand Duke Nicholas -issued an order declaring that “in view of the increase -of spying on the part of the Jews, it is decreed that:</p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em hang-2"><b>1. No person of Jewish nationality may enter Galicia.</b></p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em hang-2"><b>2. No persons of Jewish nationality may pass from one district -of Galicia into another.</b></p> - -<p class="padding-left-1em hang-2"><b>3. Infractions of this decree will be punished by a fine of three -thousand roubles ($1,500) or by three months’ imprison­ment.”</b><a name="FNanchor_52_53" id="FNanchor_52_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_53" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p>The spirit of these documents, communicated to the -troops, produced a series of outrages against the Jewish -population more horrible even than any perpetrated -in Russia. As each town was invaded by the Russians -the troops first sought the Jewish quarters, and here -they let themselves loose in an orgy of pillage, sack and -rapine.</p> - -<p>In the town of Bohorodczany there appeared, in January, -1915, a detachment of Austro-Polish troops. They -demanded food and quarters and were, of course, supplied. -After a brief stay they departed. But the act -of the Jews was reported to the Russian commander in -Stanislau. He immediately sent a “punitive” expedition -of four hundred Cossacks to the town. They set the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -town on fire, routed out the Jewish women and girls -from their places of concealment, assembled them in -the square and there held an orgy under the open sky. -After their lusts were satisfied they drove the victims -under the crack of the whip, half naked and starving, -along the roads to Stanislau. One woman, who had -risen from childbirth only a few days before, died on -the way. One of the physicians of Stanislau, Dr. B., -testifies that he alone treated ten cases of women and -girls who had been violated.<a name="FNanchor_53_54" id="FNanchor_53_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_54" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<p>In Szczerzec, Galicia, the Russian soldiers caught -one Jacob Mischel, a town councillor, poured oil over -him and burned him alive.<a name="FNanchor_54_55" id="FNanchor_54_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_55" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<p>In Dembica, Cossacks raided a synagogue to which -the Jews had fled for refuge and prayer, robbed and -imprisoned the men, and outraged the women. Those -who escaped through the windows were caught by the -guards below and men and women were knouted to death. -Then the troops set fire to the synagogue.<a name="FNanchor_55_56" id="FNanchor_55_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_56" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> - -<p>These are typical cases of outrages perpetrated against -the Jewish population of Galicia. Scarcely a town in -the line of invasion escaped. The Jewish population fled -before the invaders in vast numbers.</p> - -<p>There are about 175,000 Jewish refugees in Vienna; -70,000 of these are destitute. There are about 70,000 -living in barracks in Bohemia; 8,000 of these are in Prague. -There were about 52,000 in Budapest. All fugitives who -have settled in Hungary, however, have been removed -to Austria proper. Dr. J. Bloch of Vienna, estimates -that the total number of Jewish refugees from Galicia -is about half a million. The situation of these refugees -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -is somewhat better than that of the Jewish refugees in -Russia, inasmuch as the Government has placed them -in concentration camps, attends to their minimum wants -and gives each one an allowance of 70 heller (14 cents) -daily. With the rise in the prices of food, the daily -allowance has risen to about 90 heller (18 cents) per -capita. They are treated well by the population, and -in many cases are provided with some work.</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="margin-top-plus-plus">ROUMANIA</h2> - -<p>The future of Roumania is of interest to the Jews -for two especial reasons: first, because the Jews of -Roumania are deprived of their rights as citizens in -contravention of a solemn promise made by Roumania -to the Great Powers at the Berlin Congress in 1878; -secondly, because it will no doubt be Roumania’s aim -to win back from Austria-Hungary certain large territories, -including Transylvania and Bukowina, in which -the bulk of the population is of Roumanian descent, -thus, if successful, incidentally, increasing the number -of Jews under Roumanian rule from about 250,000 to -more than one million.</p> - -<p>During the present war Roumania has given evidence -of its hostile attitude towards the Jews. Thousands of -Jewish refugees who fled before the savagery of the -Russian army which invaded Bukowina, sought refuge -in Roumania. These were treated with great brutality -by Roumanian officials in the border towns. At the beginning -of July, 1915, the Government issued an order to -the administrative authorities of all the districts bordering -on Austria-Hungary to expel all the Jews from the localities -near the frontier, and to send them to the interior -of the country. The officials took advantage of this edict -to expel not only the refugees, but also hundreds of -Jewish citizens of Roumania who had been living in the -border towns for generations. The order of expulsion -was executed summarily, and the Jews were forced to -leave within forty-eight and in some cases with all their -goods in twenty-four hours. As a rule, they were not -permitted to take their belongings with them, and even -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -under the most favorable circumstances they had perforce -to leave them behind because they knew neither their -destination nor their fate.</p> - -<p>This action of the Government caused a great deal of -adverse comment in the press. “Vitorul” the official -organ of the Liberal Party, now in power, met these -attacks, in its issue of July 12, 1915, as follows:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“Some of the newspapers pretend that the Ministry of Internal -Affairs has given orders that the native-born Jews established in -the towns bordering upon the northern frontier of Moldavia be -sent into the interior of the country. This news is inexact. The -Minister of Internal Affairs was not aiming at the Jews established -in the towns near the frontier or in any other place when he issued -his order of expulsion. The order given by the Minister of Internal -Affairs concerns only the alien subjects of a foreign country, and the -native-born Jews who, though not living in frontier towns go there -on business, acting as cereal brokers. And the purpose of the order -is to prevent such people from committing acts dangerous to the -interests of the population of the state. The peaceful Jewish -population living near the frontier is not the object of any hounding, -as the irresponsible newspapers would have it.”</p> - -<p>The Bucharest “Adeverul” (Truth), an independent -organ, and one of the two newspapers in Bucharest which -sympathize with the Jews, replied:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“In answer to the attacks of the Government organ upon -the ‘irresponsible’ newspapers, we are in a position to publish a -list of the ‘peaceful Jewish population’ which has been the subject -of the most terrible persecutions by the authorities. <b>We can give -the names of the reserves, mobilized at the very moment, whose -children have been driven from their homes.</b> It is possible that -the Minister of Internal Affairs did not mean to ‘aim,’ as the official -organ says, at the Jews. If the Minister is innocent of the charge, -we would like to know what punishment to inflict upon his subordinates -who wilfully misrepresented his order.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“But it is not we who are irresponsible. It is the Government -that tries to mislead the public with ambiguous statements. It says -that the order referred only to the brokers, who may commit dangerous -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -acts. We know that the law punishes crimes and delinquencies -which <i>have</i> been committed, but does not anticipate crimes -that <i>may</i> be committed. Then again, the law provides strict -punishment for each delinquency and not a general and preventive -punishment, such as deportation. Why is it that those who have -committed the infraction have not been arrested and peaceful -people are being punished instead?</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">“Even the Government recognizes that this preventive punishment -is applied to the alien and such Jews as are only doing business -though not living in those places. It means that the suspicion -rests equally upon the alien and the Roumanian Jew, because the -Jew, although not an alien, is of another religion. The suspicion -then falls upon all the native-born Jews. Thus we see, that even -if the official organ’s public interpretation of the law be correct, -it is still the Jews who will suffer. But we cannot accept the -explanation. It is false.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“It is an absolute fact that not transient traders but people -who are innocent, who are paying taxes in those localities have -been expelled.”</p> - -<p>It is idle to speculate as to what Roumania may do if -she becomes involved in the war. But it is well to consider -whether, if she does not become involved, it will be possible -to bring to the attention of the belligerent powers at a -future peace conference the question of the status of the -Jews of Roumania. These are in the anomolous position -of people virtually without a country. They are subjects -of Roumania, pay taxes and support the Government. -But even the native-born and those whose parents and -grandparents were native-born subjects of Roumania, -cannot become citizens, and are also discriminated against -by the Government. In this respect, Roumania may be -called “Little Russia.”</p> - -<p>The situation of Roumania as a nation is exceptional. -She was made an independent country by the European -Powers, meeting at the Congress of Berlin, after the -Russo-Turkish War of 1877–8. In a treaty which was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -then signed by all the great Powers of Europe, the -following articles were inserted:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">XLIII. The High contracting parties recognize the independence -of Roumania, subject to the conditions set forth in the -two following articles.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">XLIV. In Roumania the difference of religious creeds and -confessions shall not be alleged against any person as a ground -for exclusion or incapacity in matters relating to the enjoyment -of civil and political rights, admission to public employments, -functions and honors, or the exercise of the various professions -and industries in any locality whatsoever.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">“The freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship -shall be assured to all persons belonging to the Roumanian State, -as well as to foreigners, and no hindrance shall be offered either -to the hierarchical organizations of the different communions, or -to their relations with their spiritual chiefs. The subjects and -citizens of all the Powers, traders or others, shall be treated in -Roumania, without distinction of creed, on a footing of perfect -equality.”</p> - -<p>Roumania having become an independent nation -upon its recognition by these Powers, and upon the -conditions set forth in the treaty of Berlin, it may be -possible at the conclusion of the war that the violations -of this treaty on the part of the Roumanian Government -may be considered by the Powers whose honor is -thus flaunted by an open violation of a treaty to which -they solemnly became parties.</p> - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> -<h2>PALESTINE</h2> - -<p>The Jews of Palestine were among the earliest victims -of the war. The greater part of them are dependent, -wholly or in part, upon their co-religionists in Europe -and America. With the outbreak of the war all the -normal channels of communication were temporarily -interrupted. Even had this not occurred the complete -stagnation of trade in Europe would have made it impossible -for the Jews, who were themselves in difficulties, to -continue to afford material assistance.</p> - -<p>The difficulties of the situation before Turkey became -a belligerent are briefly set forth in the following extracts -from a report, dated October 21, 1914, made by Mr. -Maurice Wertheim, who was entrusted by Ambassador -Morgenthau with the distribution of a fund of $50,000 -contributed by American Jews.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The colonists themselves did not stand in actual need of assistance, -as they are largely men of certain means and can help themselves. -Furthermore, they are able to obtain their bank deposits -in the following manner: the Anglo-Palestine Bank, with which -most of the Jews in Palestine do business through their various -branches in Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, Safed, and Tiberias, etc., are -registering or certifying for their depositors checks down to the -smallest denominations. These checks are made payable to the -drawer, endorsed by him, and the registration stamp of the bank -is equivalent to a notice that the check will be cashed by the bank -after the moratorium. With these checks the colonists are able -to supply their immediate needs and harvest their crops.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The only pressing requirement of the colonists was to exchange -some of these checks for gold in order to pay Government taxes -and military exoneration fees, and this was arranged.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">Further than this, the two great needs of the Jewish colonies, -generally speaking, were: (a) to take care of Jewish laborers -thrown out of employment by existing conditions, and (b) to secure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -new markets for their products to take the place of those that had -been affected by the war.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">There are about 2,500 Jewish laborers in the colonies. It is -impossible to determine the exact percentage of unemployed amongst -them, but even if we assume that only half of them are out of employment, -it is easily seen that the amount of money we were able to -divert to this purpose will not go very far. I might say here that -in dividing the fund amongst the various districts in Palestine, -we allotted to the colonies a somewhat larger proportion than their -population justified.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The opening up of new markets for Palestinian agricultural -products (oranges, wine and almonds, are the chief articles of export), -is probably the most pressing need of the colonist movement in -Palestine. Colonists feel that the chief market for the oranges -which in the past has been England, will be greatly interfered with, -and if they are not able to dispose successfully of their products, -their entire future and very existence will be threatened.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The situation in the larger centers of population is very bad. -Almost no currency enters the country and foreign checks that do -find their way there are not realizable. This naturally places -in great want those who depend on the “Chaluka” contributions -and also the large class who depend on money sent by relatives. -Furthermore, the industries of manufacture of antiques and souvenirs -are completely stopped, owing to want of customers, and -there is no money to conduct industries such as building, carpentering, -tailoring and shoemaking, in which large numbers of Jews -are employed. I found that the better class of Jews had themselves -organized temporary relief, but their possibilities of assistance -are rapidly drawing to a close. People who had, a few weeks before -my visit, contributed to the maintenance of soup kitchens, stood -in need themselves upon my arrival. One Jewish hospital had -already closed.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">The food situation in Palestine was precarious, for while prices -had not risen to any large extent, yet the source of supply was -limited. The introduction of wheat from the East of the Jordan -had been prohibited by the Government (which restriction through -the efforts of the Ambassador we have endeavored to have lifted). -In order to guard against possible shortage of food and also to -offer food at the cheapest possible price, our Committee will purchase -from time to time as large quantities of food as it can, have -bread baked itself, and will sell same at cost, or possibly a little less.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> -<p>When Turkey entered the war as an ally of Germany -and Austria-Hungary the situation of the 50,000 Russian -Jews, who constituted half of the Jewish population -of Palestine, became precarious. As nationals of an -enemy country, they became liable to any restrictions -or deprivation of rights which military necessity or -international animosity might dictate. Thus these -thousands of Jews were to suffer because they technically -bore the nationality of a country which had virtually -exiled them.</p> - -<p>Upon the intervention of the German and American -Embassies, however, the Ottoman Government made -special concessions to these Jews. Several weeks’ time -was allowed for those who so desired to become Turkish -subjects by naturalization. Upon the expiration of this -period, those who had not availed themselves of this offer -were ordered to leave. About 600 were forcibly expelled -and about 7,000 others left voluntarily. Most of the -fugitives took refuge in Egypt, whence a number emigrated -to the United States. In the spring of 1915, however, -the Council of Ministers decided that the deportations -be discontinued.</p> - -<p>The difficulties of the economic situation of the Jewish -population were further increased by Turkey’s entrance -in the war. The Government confiscated most of the -crops, and a great many of the settlers were either drafted -into the army or compelled to buy immunity.</p> - -<p>In March, 1915, the American Jewish Relief Committee -and the Provisional Zionist Committee were -enabled, through the courtesy of the United States -Government, to send a food ship to Palestine. Although -considerable portions of these supplies were diverted by -the Turkish Government into non-Jewish channels, the -food question was to a great extent solved, and conditions -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -have been steadily improving. The present situation -is briefly described in the following extracts from a -report of the Provisional Executive Committee for -General Zionist Affairs, dated August 10, 1915:</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The <i>economic</i> situation has also shown some improvement. -The arrival of the relief food ship “Vulcan” has been partly responsible -for this result. After considerable discussion with the government -authorities, the following ratio of distribution has been agreed -upon; 55 per cent. for the Jews, 26 per cent. for the Mohammedans, -and 19 per cent. for the Christians.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The sending of the relief ship has had the important effect -of lowering considerably the prices of food. The gathering of the -harvest is now in full swing. The crops are satisfactory, especially -in Galilee, which is principally a corn growing country. Our -farms, in particular, have proved an important factor in the present -crisis by supplying the colonies and cities with grain at reasonable -prices. There is reason to believe that Palestine will now be able -to hold its own in the matter of food, without depending on further -shipments from America. There is still some shortage felt in sugar -and in some less important groceries, of which small quantities -may still be procured from Egypt.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The economic prospects would be considerably brighter were -it not for the <i>locust</i> which has swept over Palestine in large numbers. -In corn-growing Galilee the danger is less palpable than elsewhere -where plantations are the principal feature of agriculture. The -fight against the plague has been taken up energetically and systematically.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">The danger of a shortage in grain was another problem that -needed careful consideration. While in normal times Palestine is -in a position to export grain abroad, the outbreak of the war, owing -to the heavy requisitions of the Government and the difficult communications -with the North of Palestine and the Hauran, the -granaries of the country, brought an alarming situation. To deal -with it, a special committee was organized. A number of well-to-do -Jews bought up quantities of grain and had them milled, -offering the flour to the public at cheap prices. In this way the -danger threatening the population from unscrupulous speculators -was averted and the prices were kept down. Thus, when, shortly before -Passover, the price of flour had soared up as high as 65 francs, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -the action of the committee had the effect of reducing it to 48. The -committee also supplied public institutions with cheap flour.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">As another means of relief, public stores were opened by the -committee for the sale of provisions. In spite of the fact that some -of the goods were requisitioned by the government, the stores served -a good purpose, helping, among other things, to circulate the checks -of the Anglo-Palestine Company.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">From the very beginning of the crisis, the Palestina Amt made -it a rule that no workingmen were to be dismissed, as such action -might subject them to the danger of starvation. To supply all -the workingmen with employment, public works were undertaken, -such as road building, canalization and water supply. Several -builders who had been forced to discontinue their building operations -were assisted with loans to resume them.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">Finally, a Public Loan Association was organized to meet the -needs of those who had formerly received remittances from abroad, -and, owing to the discontinuation of these remittances consequent -upon the outbreak of the war, found themselves in pitiable circumstances. -Some 900 persons took advantage of the facilities offered -by the Association.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-para">According to the statistics compiled by the Palestina Amt and -embodied in a separate report, some 8,000 Jews left the country -during the crisis. Of these, 4,000 were from Jaffa, 2,000 from Jerusalem, -1,500 from the Judean colonies and 500 from the colonies -in Galilee. The estimated number of Jews at present in Palestine -is 88,100, of whom 13,500 are to be found in the colonies.</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para">The requisitions and the war contributions levied upon the -Jews during the war, amount to 152,805 francs.</p> -</div> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="section"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> -<h2>APPENDIX</h2> - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">I.</p> -<h3>REPORT OF THE RUSSIAN-JEWISH RELIEF<br />COMMITTEE</h3> - -<p class="padding-both-1em smalltext-last-para"><i>NOTE.—The following report was issued by the (Russian) -Jewish Committee for the Relief of Sufferers from the War, -to its members in Russia, in May, 1915, since when conditions -in Russia and Poland have steadily grown worse. -The authoritativeness of the report is guaranteed by the personnel -of the committee, numbering among its membership -the foremost Jews of Russia, among whom may be named: -Baron A. de Gunzberg, H. Sliosberg, M. Ginsburg and B. -Kamenka, chairman of the Executive Committee; M. A. -Warschavsky, chairman of the Organizing Committee; and -D. Feinberg, L. Bramson and M. Kreinin, Secretaries.</i></p> - -<p><b>Terrible disaster has befallen the Jewish population -of the Pale of Settlement and of Poland. Hunger and -thirst and disease and death, and moral sufferings beyond -the power of human pen to describe are the lot of hundred -thousands of Jewish men, women and children whom the -war has driven from their homes, whose houses and -hearths have been plundered and destroyed. Hundreds -of thousands of our unfortunate brethren are staring -in hopeless despair into a future that seems to spell -nothing but new tears and sufferings....</b></p> - -<p>According to the data collected by the General Polish -Relief Committee, <b>in Poland, alone there are at least 200 -towns and about 9,000 townlets and villages that have -suffered from the war, the material damage amounting -to the gigantic figure of over a milliard roubles ($500,000,000).</b> -Besides the terrible losses sustained by the rural -population, the whole industrial production, amounting -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -to nearly 800 million roubles a year, has been ruined. -About three million townspeople are destitute, and of -these three million at least half, i. e., 1,500,000, are Jews. -To this number of unfortunate victims we have to add -the population of the provinces of Kovno and Grodno in -the northwestern region of the Pale, the provinces of Bessarabia, -Podolia and Volynia in the southern and southwestern -regions. These provinces, bordering upon Germany -and Austria, have a Jewish population of at least -500,000 people. <b>Thus the total number of Jews that -have, in one way or another, suffered immediately from the -conditions of warfare equals over two million people, -representing one-third, of the total Jewish population of -Russia.</b></p> - -<p>Besides, there are hundred thousands of destitute -Jews in Galicia (within Russian occupation) looking -forward to relief from this country.</p> - -<p>To the utter ruin of their material welfare there are -added the unspeakable sufferings that the population -of the war area has to endure. In the most favorable -of cases the inhabitants of the border places escape from -the zone of fire, taking refuge in the inner parts of the -country; while a large proportion of those unfortunate -Jewish families have remained in the ruined places, -facing the phantoms of starvation and disease that -gather a rich harvest among them.</p> - -<p>Such is the devotion and love of the Jews to their -native places, to their own corner, that they prefer to -stay in the devastated towns and townlets and villages, -if only permitted to do so. And those who have fled -from their homes take the first opportunity of returning, -heedless of the terrible disasters lying in store for -them. A vivid example, typical of many other instances, -is given by the Jews in the villages of Vissiltsy, District -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -Busak, province Kielce. Our delegate found the place -razed by hostile shells. The population—mostly Jews—for -over three months had been huddling together in -cellars, where they had taken refuge. They were not -to leave their shelter by day; no food was to be -cooked, no fire lighted at night—such were the stringent -orders from military quarters. A humane military chief -permitted them to crawl out of their dingy holes by night -and feed out of the soldiers’ cauldron. But soon another -chief took his place and the unfortunate Jews were left -to starve in their cellars. <b>Those that succumbed were -buried in holes that the survivors dug for them in the -very same cellars....</b></p> - -<p>Infinitely tragic too is the fate of those Jews who, -by rigorous orders of the military authorities at a notice -of from three to twenty-four hours are expelled from -whole provinces of Poland, their presence near the area -of hostilities being considered “a danger to the safety -of the Russian arms.” Leaving their homes and belongings, -the fruit of years of hard toil, an open prey, the -unfortunate exiles by the thousands wend their weary -way to towns and villages, thirty or more miles distant, -that have not yet come within the decrees of the military -authorities. Old men, sick women, clasping little children -in their arms, carrying bundles with some scanty belongings -that they had snatched up in haste, fill the silent -roads with the sound of their moans and sobs. Here -an old man breaks down, breathing his last sigh in the -middle of the road. There a woman kneels by the roadside -staring in despair too deep for tears, at the child -that lies dead in her arms.... Many are those -who succumb on their way; indescribable are the sufferings -of those who survive. Scarcely have they found -shelter in a hospitable town or townlet when—alas! -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -too frequently—the prohibition of the authorities is -a few days later extended also to these places, and again -the Jewish population must start upon its weary pilgrimage....</p> - -<p>The total number of refugees from the war zone and -of exiles can scarcely be calculated with precision because -large numbers have made their way to numerous small -townlets throughout the Pale, thus frustrating systematic -registration, while, at the same time, the progress of the -war tends to swell the host of refugees daily.</p> - -<p>Some idea of their number is given by the following -approximate figures:</p> - -<table class="table-101" summary="Table page 101"> -<tr> - <td class="col1">Warsaw</td> - <td class="col2">75,000 people</td> - <td class="sep"> </td> - <td class="col3">Radom</td> - <td class="col4">2,000 people</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col1">Vilna</td> - <td class="col2">12,000 people</td> - <td class="sep"> </td> - <td class="col3">Gussiatin</td> - <td class="col4">1,000 people</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col1">Kielce</td> - <td class="col2">3,000 people</td> - <td class="sep"> </td> - <td class="col3">Shakvi (Suvalki)</td> - <td class="col4"><a name="FNanchor_56_57" id="FNanchor_56_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_57" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>1,500 people</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col1">Konsk</td> - <td class="col2">4,000 people</td> - <td class="sep"> </td> - <td class="col3">Lomzha</td> - <td class="col4">5,000 people</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col1">Minsk</td> - <td class="col2">2,000 people</td> - <td class="sep"> </td> - <td class="col3">Khmelnik</td> - <td class="col4"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col1">Prassnysh</td> - <td class="col2">1,500 people</td> - <td class="sep"> </td> - <td class="col3"> (Prov. Kielce)</td> - <td class="col4">1,500 people</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>And yet these figures only show the number of refugees -who have applied for assistance; hundreds of thousands -of others are meanwhile living upon their savings and -do not come under the registration. But they also will -be at the end of their scant resources one of these days -and will join the ranks of the destitute.... Thus, -for the above-named places and for many other dozens -of towns and townlets the number of refugees within -their walls may be doubled without fear of exaggeration.</p> - -<p>While numerous towns and townlets have, in generous -hospitality, opened their gates to the unfortunate refugees -and exiles from the war area, the native Jewish population -of these places is itself suffering a severe economic crisis, -an acute attack of unemployment, which as a matter -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -of fact, is further intensified by the influx of refugees -eager to offer their services, for the smallest remuneration. -Thus poverty and misery are growing in these places -too, the burden of relief becoming too heavy for the -local community to bear.</p> - -<p>We have already stated that the industrial life of -Poland and in a large part of the Pale has been laid -waste as a consequence of the war. Hundreds of factories -have been destroyed, hundreds others have had to -stop work for want of capital, raw material, fuel and—first -and foremost—for want of a market for their articles -of production. Many thousands of workmen who were -formerly employed by these factories have remained without -bread.</p> - -<p>Whole branches of trade have been shattered, burying -the welfare of the artisans under their ruins. The -tailors, weavers, bootmakers, builders, trades, normally -sustaining a large percentage of Jews in Poland and in -the Pale, are dead; the artisans are left to starve, unless -something can be done to save them.</p> - -<p>Commercial life also has been laid waste. The merchants—great -and small—are ruined; hundreds of merchant’s -clerks are thrown out of work and have to apply -to public charity.</p> - -<p>There is yet another class of sufferers whose wants -and needs have to be attended to. About 300,000 Jews -are fighting in the ranks of the Russian army. Their -mothers, wives and children are receiving but scanty -support (about 2 roubles a head) from the Government. -About half of them, however, are not getting any Government -aid at all, their marriages, although legally solemnized, -not having been entered in the official marriage -registers. (It is a well known fact that the uneducated -Jews of Poland and in the Pale frequently omit to have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -their marriages registered, failing to realize the full importance -of this formality.) Rent and food having -become considerably dearer with the outbreak of the war, -the soldiers’ families often suffer acute want, which -necessitates immediate help lest these people become -charges on their community. Many of the soldiers will -never return from the battlefields; others will come -back as cripples, unfit to support themselves or their -families. They will all want support of some kind or -another....</p> - -<p>It is a boundless sea of troubles that has to be coped -with and the full weight of the task is falling upon Jewish -shoulders. The gulf dividing the bulk of Russian society -from Jewish life and needs and sorrows has not been -bridged over by the horrors of war. Though now and -again a voice of sympathy is heard from Russian quarters, -here and there a Russian hand is extended to feed a -starving Jewish child, both moral and material assistance -offered by non-Jews to our stricken people is but infinitesimal -as compared with the magnitude of the distress.</p> - -<p>Nor do we now wish to dwell specifically on Polish-Jewish -relations, it being too well known to what extent -they have become pointed during the recent months, -bearing in their train infinite, yea, unbearable sufferings -for our Jewish brethren.</p> - -<p>In order to unite the efforts of Jewish society towards -the relief of the Jewish sufferers from the war, at the -very outbreak of the European conflagration there was -formed at Petrograd a General Jewish Relief Committee, -with the sanction of the Russian authorities, to act as -a center for the collection and distribution of funds -to the destitute and needy Jews. At the very beginning -of its activity the General Committee issued an appeal -to the Jewish public calling it to its duty to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -unfortunate sufferers, just as the Jewish soldiers fighting -and distinguishing themselves in the ranks of the Russian -army are doing their duty by their mother country.</p> - -<p>Jewish society at large has shown its usual responsiveness -and material support has been forthcoming in as -large a measure as individual means and circumstances -would permit.</p> - -<p>Committees, similar to the General Committee, working -on the same lines and in close unity with it have since -been organized in prominent centers of the stricken area -and outside of it—e. g., in Warsaw, Moscow, Kiev, -Odessa, Kharkov, and in addition the existing Jewish -organizations, such as the Central Committee of the -Jewish Colonization Association, the Society for the -Promotion of Education in Russia, the Jewish Health -Society, the Society for the Promotion of Trade and -Industry among Russian Jews, etc., etc., are taking active -part in the relief work. Representatives of the various -committees and societies working in the war zone and outside -it meet periodically in order to discuss new measures -and schemes for the alleviation of the terrible distress.</p> - -<p>The conditions and extent of distress in towns, townlets -and villages of Poland and of the Pale are being -ascertained through delegates of the General Relief -Committee working actively and energetically towards -the organization of various forms of relief in the several -districts. In a number of places the local Jewish community -has readily joined in the relief work, doing its -utmost to meet the demand for food, shelter, clothing; -the local philanthropic and communal Jewish institutions -thus becoming valuable agencies of the General Relief -Committee. On the whole, however—particularly as far -as Poland is concerned:—<b>the organization of assistance -to the war sufferers is meeting with endless difficulties, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -due largely to the fact that the suffering population is -in such a state of frantic terror, that many Jews do not -even dream of applying to anyone for assistance. In -many instances the first terror has given way to complete -apathy.</b></p> - -<p>Often our representatives have to seek these people -out in their hiding places, to rouse them from their -lethargy, to exercise moral pressure on the more prominent -members of the community, before anything can -be done for the sufferers. This attitude of the people -becomes intelligible when we consider the conditions -that they live in under ordinary circumstances—their -poverty, their lack of education, the contempt they are -accustomed to meet with on the part of the non-Jewish -population.</p> - -<p>Similar conditions prevail in the Galician Provinces -within Russian occupation:</p> - -<p><b>“I found them huddling together in damp and dark -cellars, half-naked, sick and starving”</b>—these are the -words of one of our representatives who visited some of -the places that had witnessed all the horrors of the war. -<b>“They showed complete apathy, appeared to be in a trance -of terror. Only a madman—he had become insane -because of superhuman suffering—followed me into -the street, shrieking for bread. I handed him a coin, -but he threw it down and clamored for bread....”</b></p> - -<p>The ever changing conditions of war, that open -up new regions for relief work today, and close other -districts tomorrow, that throw ever new crowds of -sufferers upon public charity—these, to a large extent -baffle all our efforts towards relief, destroying today -what was organized yesterday. Add to this the peculiar -circumstances of Jewish life in Russia, the unfavorable -attitude of the authorities towards the Jewish population -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -in the war area—and the difficulties that the organization -of relief has to cope with will stand out in their full -significance.</p> - -<p>Owing to these and other conditions the General -Relief Committee up till now has had to concentrate -largely on extending “first aid,” this term being here -used to comprise feeding and sheltering of the sufferers. -Distribution of food (at low rates or free of charge), -of fuel, clothes, foot-wear; organization of feeding centres, -amelioration of sheltering and housing conditions, of -sanitation and hygiene among the war sufferers—are -the chief forms relief has taken so far.</p> - -<p>At the present moment there are being equipped -by the General Relief Committee two so-called “sanitary -and feeding expeditions” whose object it will be to offer -medical assistance and provide free food to the sufferers -in the war area of Poland, irrespective of religious denomination. -(The money for this purpose has been -received from London with the express condition that no -distinction be made between Jews and non-Jews).</p> - -<p>Moreover, insofar as this has been possible, efforts -have been made to secure work for the refugees and -for those who have lost their employment as a result -of the war. Thus in Warsaw there has been opened a -workshop where refugees are employed in manufacturing -various articles of underclothing for distribution among -the war sufferers. In Vilna there has been established -a workshop for bootmakers who are filling Government -orders for army boots. Similar workshops have -been organized at Dvinsk, Fastov, etc. Further, there -has been opened at Warsaw a labor-bureau which is -obtaining work for a considerable number of artisans.</p> - -<p>A large number of small merchants and artisans being -in urgent need of credit to enable them to re-establish and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -operate their business and to prevent them from lapsing -into utter destitution, credit is being afforded them -through the medium of the Jewish cooperative credit -societies that are working throughout the Pale of Settlement -and Poland. So far, by way of experiment, about -23,000 roubles have been invested in this operation; -however, should this useful form of assistance be enlarged, -considerable means will be required for the -purpose.</p> - -<p>At the present moment the General Relief Committee, -working in close cooperation with the committees -in Moscow, Kiev and Odessa, is extending relief -to over 300 centres of population situated in the following -provinces:</p> - -<table class="table-107" summary="Table page 107"> -<tr> - <td class="col-107-1A">Poland—</td> - <td class="col-107-2A"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3A">Approximate Number<br />of Populated Centers</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Warsaw (including city of<br /> - Warsaw where a large number of<br /> - refugees are concentrated)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">46</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Vilna</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">18</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Kovno</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">40</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Suvalki</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">20</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Liublin (only part of it<br /> - being accessible to relief work)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">25</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Kielce (only part of it<br /> - being accessible to relief work)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">12</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Radom</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">15</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Grodno (now included in<br /> - sphere of activity of Moscow<br /> - Committee)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">5</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Lomzha (now included in<br /> - sphere of activity of Moscow<br /> - Committee)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">10</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Plotsk (now included in<br /> - sphere of activity of Moscow<br /> - Committee)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">8</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province Kholm (now within activity<br /> - of Kiev and Odessa Committee)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">10</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1C">Southwestern Province—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></td> - <td class="col-107-2C"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3C"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Province: Podolia, Bessarabia and<br /> - Volynia (Border districts)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">10</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1C">Galicia—</td> - <td class="col-107-2C"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3C"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1B">Petrograd Committee (cooperating<br /> - with Kiev and Odessa Committee)</td> - <td class="col-107-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3B">75</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1D">Outside War Area</td> - <td class="col-107-2D"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3D">10</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1E"> </td> - <td class="col-107-2E"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3E">—</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-107-1F">Total</td> - <td class="col-107-2F"> </td> - <td class="col-107-3F">304</td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> -<div class="section"> -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus">Some idea of the expenditures of the General Relief -Committee in Petrograd is given by the following figures:</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus noindent center">FOR GENERAL RELIEF</p> - - -<table class="table-108" summary="Table page 108/109"> -<tr> - <td class="col-108-1A">Poland—</td> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-3A"><span style = "padding-right: 4.8em;">Roubles</span></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Warsaw</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">350,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Warsaw</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">10,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Lodz</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">1,500</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Lomsha</td> - <td class="col-108-3B">12,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Suvalki</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">7,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Liublin</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">75,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Radom</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">45,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Cholm</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">4,400</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Kielce</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">40,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B"> </td> - <td class="col-108-2B">———</td> - <td class="col-108-3B">545,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1A">Southwestern Province—</td> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-3A"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">(Border Places)</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">14,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Radzivilov</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">14,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Chtin</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">5,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Volotchisk</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">5,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Gorokov</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">1,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Novosselitsy</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">500</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Various small places</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">5,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B"> </td> - <td class="col-108-2B">———</td> - <td class="col-108-3B">31,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1A">Northwestern Province—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></td> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-3A"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Kovno</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">55,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Vilna</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">30,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B">Province Bialystock, Minsk, etc.</td> - <td class="col-108-2B">10,000</td> - <td class="col-108-3B"> </td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-108-1B"> </td> - <td class="col-108-2B">———</td> - <td class="col-108-3B">95,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1AX">Galicia</td> - <td class="col-108-3AX">112,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Assistance to Jews in Palestine and Syria <span style="font-weight: normal;">(through<br /> - representative in Alexandria)</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A">10,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Assistance to Russian-Jewish Refugees from Abroad<br /> - <span style="font-weight: normal;">(when passing Petrograd)</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A">1,500</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Assistance to Wounded and Recovered Soldiers returning<br /> - to the Front</td> - <td class="col-108-3A">15,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Purchase of Matzoth for Soldiers at the Front <span style="font-weight: normal;">(subsidy<br /> - to the Rabbinical Committee)</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A">15,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Subsidy to Various Educational Institutions <span style="font-weight: normal;">(Yeshiboth,<br /> - Jewish teachers, etc.)</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A">16,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Organization of cheap credit to Jewish artisans, workmen<br /> - and merchants <span style="font-weight: normal;">(through Jewish Cooperative Credit<br /> - Societies)</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A"><a name="FNanchor_57_58" id="FNanchor_57_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_58" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>22,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Assistance to clerks of Jewish Cooperative Societies<br /> - <span style="font-weight: normal;">(affected by the war)</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A">1,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A">Organization and support of sanitary and feeding<br /> - expeditions <span style="font-weight: normal;">(two expeditions)</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A">50,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A"> </td> - <td class="col-108-3A">———</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A"><span style="padding-left: 6em;">Total</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3A">914,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1AX"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Expenditure of the Moscow, Odessa, Kiev Committees</span></td> - <td class="col-108-3AX">350,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A"> </td> - <td class="col-108-3A">—————</td> -</tr><tr> - <td colspan = "2" class="col-108-1A"> </td> - <td class="col-108-3A"><a name="FNanchor_58_59" id="FNanchor_58_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_59" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>1,204,000</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>According to approximate estimates within the next -months the General Jewish Relief Committee, working -conjointly with the Jewish Committees in Moscow, Kiev -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -and Odessa, <b>will require the following sums to satisfy -the most urgent needs of the organizations now in full -operation and yet to be started:</b></p> - - -<table class="table-110" summary="Table page 110"> -<tr> - <td class="col-110-1A">Poland and Northwestern Provinces—</td> - <td colspan = "4" class="col-110-2A"><span style = "padding-right: 4.0em;">Roubles</span></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Warsaw</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">150,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">200,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Warsaw</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">15,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">20,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Liublin</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">20,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">25,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Suvalki</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">12,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">15,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Radom</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">20,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">25,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Kielce</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">20,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">25,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Kovno</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">25,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">30,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Vilna</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">10,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">15,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Grodno</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">8,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">10,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Lomzha</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">15,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">20,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Plotzk</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">6,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">8,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Cholm</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">10,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">12,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1A">Southwestern Provinces—</td> - <td colspan = "4" class="col-110-2A"><span style = "padding-right: 4.0em;"> </span></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Volynia</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">20,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">25,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Podolia</td> - <td class="col-110-2B"> </td> - <td class="col-110-3B">...</td> - <td class="col-110-4B"> </td> - <td class="col-110-5B">...</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B">Province Bessarabia</td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">40,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">50,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1A">Galicia—</td> - <td colspan = "4" class="col-110-2A"><span style = "padding-right: 4.0em;"> </span></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Outside war area</span></td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">10,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">15,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Restoration of trade and industry<br /> - among war sufferers</span></td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">100,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">150,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Extraordinary expenditure</span></td> - <td class="col-110-2B">From</td> - <td class="col-110-3B">10,000</td> - <td class="col-110-4B">to</td> - <td class="col-110-5B">15,000</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1C"> </td> - <td colspan ="4" class="col-110-2C">———————————</td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="col-110-1B"><span style="font-weight: bold; padding-left: 4em;">Thus</span></td> - <td class="col-110-2B"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From</span></td> - <td class="col-110-3B"><span style="font-weight: bold;">484,000</span></td> - <td class="col-110-4B"><span style="font-weight: bold;">to</span></td> - <td class="col-110-5B"><span style="font-weight: bold;">650,000</span></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="noindent small bold">[Expressed in United States currency, the sum of $242,000 to -$325,000 per month will be required, according to this early -estimate, to satisfy the most urgent needs of the sufferers.]</p> - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus">As already pointed out, the sphere and extent of -distress are ever increasing with the progress of the war. -The Jewish relief organizations in Russia thus stand -before the alarming problem: whence to obtain adequate -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -funds to satisfy the ever growing demand. This problem -becomes the more urgent as new forms of relief must be -devised as the time goes on. It will not do merely to -feed and shelter the stricken population. Many of the -sufferers are able and willing to work, if they but had the -possibility of doing so.</p> - -<p>The attention of the Jewish public will therefore -have to be concentrated on a new problem: to help the -ruined artisans to rehabilitate themselves, to rebuild -their shattered homes and to restore their ruined business -by means of cheap credit provided for them. The -solution of this problem will, however, require infinitely -larger means, which Russian Jewry is unable to raise....</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">II.</p> -<h3>SPEECH OF DEPUTY FRIEDMAN<br /> -IN THE DUMA</h3> - -<p class="noindent center">(August 2, 1915)</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para noindent center">(Translated from Petrograd “Retch,” of August 3, 1915, and<br /> -published in the New York “Times,” September 23, 1915)</p> - -<p>In spite of their oppressed condition, in spite of their -status of outlawry, the Jews have risen to the exalted -mood of the nation and in the course of the last year -have participated in the war in a noteworthy manner. -They fell short of the others in no respect. They mobilized -their entire enrollment, but, indeed, with this difference, -that <b>they have also sent their only sons into the -war.</b> The newspapers at the beginning of the war had -a remarkable number of Jewish volunteers to record. -<b>Gentlemen, those were volunteers who were entitled -through their educational qualifications to the rank -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -of officers. They knew that they would not receive -this rank; and nevertheless they entered the war.</b></p> - -<p>The Jewish youth, which, as a result of the restrictions -as to admission to the high schools of the country, had -been forced to study abroad, returned home when war -was declared, or entered the armies of the allied nations. -A large number of Jewish students fell at the defense -of Liege and also at other points on the western front.</p> - -<p>The Zionist youths, when they were confronted with -the dilemma of accepting Turkish sovereignty or being -compelled to emigrate from Palestine, preferred to go -to Alexandria and there to join the English army.</p> - -<p>The Jews built hospitals, contributed money, and -participated in the war in every respect just as did the -other citizens. Many Jews received marks of distinction -for their conduct at the front.</p> - -<p>Before me lies the letter of a Jew who returned from -the United States of America:</p> - -<p>“I risked my life,” he writes, “and if, nevertheless, -I came as far as Archangel, it was only because I loved -my fatherland more than my life or that American freedom -which I was permitted to enjoy. I became a soldier, -and lost my left arm almost to the shoulder. I was brought -into the governmental district of Courland. <b>Scarcely -had I reached Riga when I met at the station my mother -and my relatives, who had just arrived there, and who -on that same day were compelled to leave their hearth -and home at the order of the military authorities. Tell -the gentlemen who sit on the benches of the Right that -I do not mourn my lost arm, but that I do mourn deeply -the self-respect that was not denied to me in alien lands -but is now lost to me.”</b></p> - -<p>Such was the sentiment of the Jews that found expression -in numerous appeals and manifestations in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -press, and finally also in this House. Surely these -sentiments should have been taken into account. One -should have a right to assume that the Government -would adopt measures for the amelioration of the fate -of the Jews who found themselves in the very centre of -the war-like occurrences. Likewise, one should have -taken into account the sentiments of hundreds of thousands -of Jews who shed their blood on the field of battle.</p> - -<p>Instead of that, however, we see that from the beginning -of the war the measures of reprisals against the -Jewish populace were not only not weakened but, on the -contrary, made much stronger. <b>Banished were Jewish -men and women whose husbands, children, and brothers, -were shedding their blood for the fatherland.</b> A wounded -soldier named Alexander Roskhov, who had been shot -in the eye, came to Charkof for further treatment. On -his passport were the words, “To be sent to a settlement.” -The private soldier Godlewski, one of whose -legs had been amputated, and who found himself at -Rostof on the Don for recuperation, they tried to send -to his native village in the Government of Kalisch, already -under German occupation; and it was only due -to the activities of the Rural League that he was permitted -to stay. An apothecary’s helper, who likewise -had been wounded on the battlefield, was not allowed -to remain in Petrograd for his cure, and it was only by -virtue of special intercession that he was later allowed -to sojourn two months more at Petrograd, with the -notice, however, that at the expiration of this period -no further extension of his sojourn would be granted.</p> - -<p>In a long war lucky events alternate with unlucky -ones, and in any case it is naturally useful to have scapegoats -in reserve. For this purpose there exists the old -firm; the Jew. Scarcely has the enemy reached our -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -frontiers when the rumor is spread that Jewish gold -is flowing over to the Germans, and that, too, in aeroplanes, -in coffins, and—in the entrails of geese!</p> - -<p>Scarcely had the enemy pressed further, than there -appeared again beyond dispute the eternal Jew “on the -white horse,” perhaps the same one who once rode on the -white horse through the city in order to provoke a pogrom. -The Jews have set up telephones, have destroyed the -telegraph lines. The legend grew, and with the eager -support of the powers of Government and the agitation -in official circles, assumed ever greater proportions. A -series of unprecedented, unheard of, cruel measures was -adopted against the Jews. These measures, which were -carried out before the eyes of the entire population, -suggested to the people and to the army the recognition -of the fact that the Jews were treated as enemies by the -Government, and that the Jewish population was outside -the law.</p> - -<p>In the first place these measures consisted of the -complete transplanting of the Jewish population from -many districts, to the very last man. These compulsory -migrations took place in the Kingdom of Poland and in -many other territories. <b>All told, about a half million -persons have been doomed to a state of beggary and -vagabondage. Anyone who has seen with his own eyes -how these expulsions take place, will never forget them -as long as he lives. The exiling took place within twenty-four -hours, sometimes within two days. Women, old -men, and children, and sometimes invalids, were banished. -Even the feebleminded were taken from the -lunatic asylums and the Jews were forced to take these -with them.</b> In Mohilnitse, 5,000 persons were expelled -within twenty-four hours. Their way led to Warsaw -through Kalwayra. Meantime they were forced to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -travel across fields through the Government of Lublin, -and were deprived of the possibility of taking along -their inventories. Many were obliged to travel on foot. -When they reached Lublin, the Jewish Committee there -had provided bread and food for them; but they were -not allowed to tarry, and they had to travel on at -once.</p> - -<p>On the way an accident occurred; a six-year-old -child was killed by a fall. The parents were not permitted -to bury the child.</p> - -<p>I saw also the refugees of the Government of Kovno. -Persons who only yesterday were still accounted wealthy -were beggars the next day. Among the refugees I met -Jewish women and girls, who had worked together with -Russian women, had sewed garments with them and -collected contributions with them, and who were now -forced to encamp on the railway embankment. <b>I saw -families of reservists. I saw among the exiles wounded -soldiers wearing the Cross of St. George. It is said -that Jewish soldiers in marching through the Polish -cities were forced to witness the expulsion of their wives -and children. The Jews were loaded in freight cars -like cattle. The bills of lading were worded as follows: -“Four hundred and fifty Jews, en route to ——.”</b></p> - -<p>There were cases in which the Governors refused -outright to take in the Jews at all. I myself was in Vilna -at the very time when a whole trainload of Jews was -stalled for four days in Novo-Wilejsk station. Those -were Jews who had been sent from the Government of -Kovno to the Government of Poltawa, but the Governor -there would not receive them and sent them back to -Kovno, whence they were again reshipped to Poltawa. -Imagine, at a time when every railway car is needed for -the transportation of munitions, when from all sides -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -are heard complaints about the lack of means of transportation, -the Government permits itself to do such a -thing! At one station there stood 110 freight cars containing -Jewish exiles.</p> - -<p>Another measure which likewise is unprecedented -in the entire history of the civilized world, is the introduction -of the so-called system of “Hostages,” and, -indeed, hostages were taken not from the enemy, but -from the country’s own subjects, its own citizens. Hostages -were taken in Radom, Kieltse, Lomscha, Kovno, -Riga, Lublin, etc. The hostages were held under the -most rigorous régime, and at present there are still under -arrest in Poltava Jewish hostages from the Governments -of Kieltse and Radom.</p> - -<p>Some time ago, in commenting upon the procedure -against the Jews, the leader of the Opposition, even -before the outbreak of the war, used the expression -that we were approaching the times of Ferdinand and -Isabella. I now assert that we have already surpassed -that era. No Jewish blood was shed in defence of Spain, -but ours flowed the moment the Jews helped defend the -Fatherland.</p> - -<p>Yes, we are beyond the pale of the laws, we are -oppressed, we have a hard life, but we know the source -of that evil; it comes from those benches (pointing to -the boxes of the Ministers). <b>We are being oppressed -by the Russian Government, not by the Russian people.</b> -Why, then, is it surprising if we wish to unite our destinies, -not with that of the Russian Government, but -with that of the Russian people? When three years -ago there was pending here the Cholm law proposal, -did the thought ever occur at the time to the sponsors -of the bill that in a short time they would have to scrape -and bow before free autonomous Poland? We likewise -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -hope that the time is not distant when we can be citizens -of the Russian State with full equality of privileges -with the free Russian people.</p> - -<p>Before the face of the entire country, before the -entire civilized world, I declare that the calumnies against -the Jews are the most repulsive lies and chimeras of -persons who will have to be responsible for their crimes. -[Applause on Left.]</p> - -<p>It depends upon you, gentlemen of the Imperial Duma, -to speak the word of encouragement, to perform the -action that can deliver the Jewish people from the terrible -plight in which it is at present, and that can lead them -back into the ranks of the Russian citizens who are -defending their Fatherland. [Cries of “Right.”]</p> - -<p>I do not know if the Imperial Duma will so act, but if -it does so act it will be fulfilling an obligation of honor -and an act of wise statesmanship that is necessary for the -profit and for the greatness of the Fatherland. [Applause -on the Left.]</p> - - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">III.</p> -<h3>ABSTRACT OF SPEECH OF BARON R. R. ROSEN<br /> -IN THE COUNCIL OF THE EMPIRE<span class="medium"><a name="FNanchor_59_60" id="FNanchor_59_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_60" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></span></h3> - -<p class="noindent center">August 22 (September 4), 1915</p> - -<p class="smalltext-last-para noindent center">(Translation from “Retch,” No. 231, August 23 -(September 5), 1915)</p> - - -<p>Baron Rosen began with the statement that while -the question of supplies for the army and navy was -paramount, there was nevertheless another side to it, -and that was the question of the domestic policy of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -Empire. He reminded his hearers that in May, 1913, -he had warned the Council of the Empire of the catastrophe -imminent in Europe, but that his statement -had been met with ridicule and skepticism. The result -of such an attitude is now obvious to all. In this great -conflict, it has become clear that neither side will be -able to crush the other, as was expected at the outset -of this war. But even as it is, this war of extermination -of the white race must, in the end, be decided in favor -of one of the two parties at conflict. He thought that -certain intangible elements entering into the question -would be of great importance in the settlement of this -war. Putting aside the political, economic and psychological -questions that led to this conflict, he thought -that the ultimate issue was the decision of the world -to battle against the dictum of Germany that “might -is greater than right and right is created only by might.” -Under the circumstances, it would seem that the sympathies -of the entire world should be on the side of the -allies. But in reality this is not the case; and for this -there are several reasons.</p> - -<p>“It is undoubtedly within our power to do away with -one of the factors militating against us in the public -opinion of neutral countries. In the struggle that we, -together with the most civilized nations of Europe, are -waging against the Pan-Germanism, imperialism and -absolutism, and for right and justice, for the liberty -and independence of the weaker nations, <b>we shall achieve -the full sympathy of the civilized world only when we -shall have put our inner front—if I may use that expression—on -a level with the political ideology of our valiant -allies;</b> for instance, in the conduct of our polity with -reference to the borderlands, and the so-called alien -races composing its population.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> - -<p>After stating that there were two diametrically opposed -political systems, one current among the Allies and the -other among the Germans, Baron Rosen continued:</p> - -<p>“To the maximum injury of the true interests of Russia, -we have adopted and have carried out unswervingly the -true German system of politics with reference to our -borderlands and the so-called foreign races and foreign -faiths, a policy which has been made even more perfect -by the admixture of medieval religious intolerance.</p> - -<p>“It may be retorted that the fate of a campaign is -decided by military power and not by the greater or -lesser sympathy of neutral countries for the policy of -a given state. The German Government does not think -so; for otherwise it would not spend countless millions -for pan-German propaganda in all the countries of the -world, even the most remote. But we, on the other -hand, not only fail to oppose anything to this propaganda, -but by the course of our domestic policies we place -in the hands of this propaganda powerful arguments -for arousing against us public opinion of such countries -as the United States, the only great neutral power, and -of Sweden, our neighbor.</p> - -<p><b>“It is inconceivable that the framers of our policy -should fail to realize that the propaganda directed against -us, conducted under official auspices and equipped with -the amplest resources, will scarcely cause our own interests -and the interests of our Allies one-tenth of the harm -which is caused to these interests by our attitude towards -the Jewish population of Russia and our systematic -violation of the legal conscience of the Finnish population—an -attitude which smacks of the dark times of medievalism.</b></p> - -<p>“The question now is, why did not the Government -find it possible to put an end to this problem decisively -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -and forever, as it has finally, and, alas, with such delay, -settled the question of the autonomy of Poland? This -may be explained only by the fact that the Government -hesitated to break with the traditional policy so dear -to the militant nationalism.</p> - -<p>“Accordingly the Duma and the Council are in duty -bound to come to the aid of the Government in this -regard and take upon themselves the initiative of introducing -a bill for the abolition of all laws restricting the -rights of the Jews and for the abrogation of the law of -July 17 (30) concerning Finland. The passage of these -measures would undoubtedly lighten the heavy task -now confronting the Government in the sphere of international -relations and it would be met by our valiant -allies with the liveliest satisfaction.</p> - -<p><b>“We must remember that this great European war -is not only a struggle of interests, but is also a struggle -of ideas and principles. In the battle against German -militarism, Russia has placed herself on the side of right -and freedom, and for the triumph of the idea for which -we are now fighting, it is necessary that in Russia, too, -there should be no longer any people without rights or -any people oppressed.”</b></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<p class="margin-top-plus-plus noindent center large bold">FOOTNOTES</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_1_2" id="Footnote_1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_2"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> “Legal Sufferings of the Jews in Russia”; edited by Lucien Wolf. -London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1912.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_2_3" id="Footnote_2_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_3"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Petrograd and Moscow.—Ed.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_3_4" id="Footnote_3_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_4"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Petrograd “Retch,” Aug. 8 (21), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_4_5" id="Footnote_4_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_5"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Petrograd “Retch,” Aug. 14 (27), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_5_6" id="Footnote_5_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_6"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> This has reference to that section of the “Constitution” of 1905, -which empowers the government to issue ministerial decrees while the -Duma is not in session, but requires it to introduce corresponding -legislation in the Duma within six months after the ministerial decree -has been published.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_6_7" id="Footnote_6_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_7"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> “Reform Advocate,” Nov. 13, 1915. (Tr. from the French).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_7_8" id="Footnote_7_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_8"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Quoted from “Retch,” Aug. 9 (22), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_8_9" id="Footnote_8_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_9"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> “Retch,” Aug. 9 (22), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_9_10" id="Footnote_9_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_10"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Oct. 25 (Nov. 7), 1915, Nov. 8 (21), 1915, etc.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_10_11" id="Footnote_10_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_11"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Nov. 8 (21), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_11_12" id="Footnote_11_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_12"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Quoted from “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Aug. 23 (Sept. 5), 1915, pp. 10–12.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_12_13" id="Footnote_12_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_13"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Quoted from “Retch,” Aug. 9 (22), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_13_14" id="Footnote_13_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_14"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See page <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_14_15" id="Footnote_14_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_15"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> September 24 (Oct. 7), 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_15_16" id="Footnote_15_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_16"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Friedlaender, “The Jews of Russia and Poland,” p. 38.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_16_17" id="Footnote_16_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_17"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 57.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_17_18" id="Footnote_17_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_18"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> “Rasviet,” December 5 (18), 1914, p. 12.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_18_19" id="Footnote_18_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_19"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> George Brandes in “Politiken,” Nov., 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_19_20" id="Footnote_19_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_20"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> “Russkaya Viedomosti,” Oct. 2 (15), 1914, p. 20. “Novy Voskhod,” -Oct. 2 (15), 1914, p. 21.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_20_21" id="Footnote_20_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_21"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> “Novy Voskhod,” Sept. 22 (Oct. 8), 1914, p. 20.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_21_22" id="Footnote_21_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_22"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> “Rasviet,” Dec. 5 (18), 1914, p. 18.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_22_23" id="Footnote_22_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_23"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> “Rasviet,” March 29 (April 11), 1914, p. 20.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_23_24" id="Footnote_23_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_24"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> “Politiken,” Nov. 1, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_24_25" id="Footnote_24_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_25"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> “Rasviet,” April 12 (25), 1915, pp. 18–19; “Novy Voskhod,” April -10 (23), 1915, pp. 29–30.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_25_26" id="Footnote_25_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_26"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> “Rasviet,” Jan. 25 (Feb. 7), 1915, p. 27.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_26_27" id="Footnote_26_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_27"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> “Rasviet,” Feb. 1 (14), 1915, p. 39.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_27_28" id="Footnote_27_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_28"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> “Rasviet,” Apr. 26 (May 9), 1915, p. 24.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_28_29" id="Footnote_28_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_29"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Quoted from “Retch,” May 10 (23), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_29_30" id="Footnote_29_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_30"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> “Novy Voskhod,” Aug. 28 (Sept. 10), 1914, p. 22.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_30_31" id="Footnote_30_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_31"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> “Novy Voskhod,” April 24 (May 7), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_31_32" id="Footnote_31_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_32"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> “Nasha Slovo,” June 24, 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_32_33" id="Footnote_32_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_33"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> “Retch,” May 8 (21), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_33_34" id="Footnote_33_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_34"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” July 19 (Aug. 2), 1915, p. 42.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_34_35" id="Footnote_34_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_35"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Here is a list taken at random from an issue of “Rasviet,” April 5 -(18), 1915, p. 34:</p> - -<p class="fn-para">For saving a wounded Russian officer, presumably under fire, private B. -M. O., of the village of Strumin, of Mohilef Government, was rewarded -with the cross of St. George, fourth class.</p> - -<p class="fn-para">Private S. Y. R. awarded cross of St. George, fourth class.</p> - -<p class="fn-para">Private A. Kh. L., inhabitant of the village of Saxagan, of the -Government of Ekaterinoslav, was awarded third and fourth grade crosses -of St. George, and promoted to be sub-officer.</p> - -<p class="fn-para">For delivering despatches from the Staff to his battalion under the -enemy’s strong fire, private B. S. G. was awarded a medal of St. George -and made a corporal.</p> - -<p class="fn-para">Severely wounded and now in a hospital at Moscow, Abr. B. was awarded -a silver medal which was handed to him by Orloff, Adjutant to his -Imperial Majesty.</p> - -<p class="fn-para">A long list of similar items is published in every issue of this paper.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_35_36" id="Footnote_35_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_36"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> “Ziemia Lubelska,” April 23 (May 6), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_36_37" id="Footnote_36_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_37"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> “Retch.” May 10 (23), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_37_38" id="Footnote_37_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_38"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> “Evreyskaya Nedelya,” June 14 (27), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_38_39" id="Footnote_38_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_39"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> “Evreyskaya Zhizn,” Aug. 9, 1915, p. 19–20.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_39_40" id="Footnote_39_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_40"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> “Hajnt,” May 21 (June 3), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_40_41" id="Footnote_40_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_41"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> “Evreyskaya Nedelya,” May 31 (June 13), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_41_42" id="Footnote_41_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_42"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> “Evreyskaya Nedelya,” June 14 (27), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_42_43" id="Footnote_42_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_43"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> “Retch,” Aug. 6 (19), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_43_44" id="Footnote_43_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_44"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> “Rasviet,” January 4 (17), 1915, p. 31–2.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_44_45" id="Footnote_44_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_45"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> July 5 (18), 1915, pp. 30–31.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_45_46" id="Footnote_45_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_46"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Stenographic report of the Proceedings of the Duma.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_46_47" id="Footnote_46_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_47"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> “Novy Voskhod,” Dec. 30, 1914 (Jan. 12, 1915), p. 22–24.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_47_48" id="Footnote_47_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_48"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> “Novy Voskhod,” Sept. 4, 1914, p. 15.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_48_49" id="Footnote_48_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_49"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> “Novy Voskhod,” Aug. 14 (27), 1914, p. 24–25.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_49_50" id="Footnote_49_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_50"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> “Novy Voskhod,” April 24 (May 7), 1915, p. 30.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_50_51" id="Footnote_50_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_51"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> “Retch,” July 28 (Aug. 10), 1915; “Birzhevyia Viedomosti,” Aug. 26 -(Sept. 8), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_51_52" id="Footnote_51_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_52"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> “Rasviet”, Jan. 25 (Feb. 7), 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_52_53" id="Footnote_52_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_53"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> “Prikarpatskia Russ”.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_53_54" id="Footnote_53_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_54"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> “Judisches Archiv,” p. 5.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_54_55" id="Footnote_54_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_55"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> “Judisches Archiv,” p. 6.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_55_56" id="Footnote_55_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_56"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> “Judisches Archiv,” p. 10.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_56_57" id="Footnote_56_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_57"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> At moment of investigation.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_57_58" id="Footnote_57_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_58"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Besides the sums granted to the cooperative credit societies by -the Jewish Colonization Association.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_58_59" id="Footnote_58_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_59"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Towards these expenses Russian Jewry has contributed a little over -a million roubles.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn-para"><a name="Footnote_59_60" id="Footnote_59_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_60"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Baron Rosen was formerly Russian Ambassador to the United States.</p></div> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="transnote"> - -<p class="center bold small"><a id="TN" name="TN"></a>Transcriber’s Note</p> - -<p class="TN-style-1">Obvious punctuation errors in the transcribed text have been corrrected.</p> - -<p>Other errors have been corrected as follows:</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 3 – “Pittsburg” changed to “Pittsburgh”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 31 – “is it” changed to “it is” (rather it is like a rag thrown - to the victim)</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 43 – 3rd and 4th footnotes swapped to correspond with anchor - ordering in text.</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 57 – “Miliukov” changed to “Milyukov” (in the Duma by Professor - Milyukov)</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 59 – “Japenese” changed to “Japanese” (during the Japanese war)</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 62 – “Evreiskaya Nedelya” changed to “Evreyskaya Nedelya” in - footnote 37</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 72 – “Miliukov” changed to “Milyukov” (Professor Milyukov, the - leader of the Constitutional Democrats)</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">Page 98 – “lossses” changed to “losses” (terrible losses sustained)</p> - -<p class="TN-style-1">Source material used in this book has been translated from a number -of languages including Polish, Russian and Yiddish. Hence -there are variations in the spelling of words and this is particularly -apparent in the rendering of place names. The following variations in -the spelling of words and place names have been left unchanged:</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Bialystock”, “Bialostock”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Cholm”, “Kholm”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Kehillas”, “Kehillah”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Kielce”, “Kieltse”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Liublin”, “Lublin”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Lomza”, “Lomzha”, “Lomsha”, “Lomscha”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Plotsk”, “Plotzk”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Poltava”, “Poltawa”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Rostov”, “Rostof”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“Volhynia”, “Volynia”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-1">Archaic usage, unusual/inconsistent hyphenation, other variations that have been left unchanged:</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“amid”, “amidst”, “among”, “amongst”, “anomolous”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“corn growing”, “corn-growing”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“court martial”, “court-martial”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“despatches”, “esthetic”, “feebleminded”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“ever growing”, “ever-growing”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“half naked”, “half-naked”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“inhabitated”, “inhabitating”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“manifestoes” (as the plural of “manifesto”)</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“RUSSIAN-JEWISH RELIEF COMMITTEE”, “Russian Jewish Relief Committee”, - “Russian Jewish Committee”, “Russian-Jewish Refugees”, - “Russian Jewish soldiers”, “Russian Jewish Weekly”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“scare-crow”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-2">“today”, “To-day”, “toward”, “towards”</p> - -<p class="TN-style-1">A redundant column header in a table starting on page 107 and -continuing on to page 108 has been removed. The two pages over which -the table was spread no longer have a physical page break in this -transcribed text. 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