Russian Jews Between the Reds and the Whites, 1917-1920. Oleg Budnitskii
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for the spiritually feeble and was opposed to emigration to Palestine. Finally, that same year also saw the founding of the Jewish People's Group, with Vinaver at its head. Its membership included most of the Jewish “Kadets.” The members of this group also held anti-Zionist beliefs.96
A number of Jews were also among the leadership of the Russian revolutionary parties, including the Social Democrats (Iu. O. Martov-Tsederbaum, P. B. Aksel'rod, and others), the Social Revolutionaries (G. A. Gershuni, the Gots brothers, and others). Russian anarchism first appeared within the Pale of Settlement (it was centered in Bialystok, Ekaterinoslav, and Odessa) and Jews often constituted a majority in anarchist groups.97 The radicalization of Jewish politics was accompanied by the continued integration of the Jewish population into Russian society.98 Over the previous half-century, a small but growing segment of Russian Jewry had come to consider themselves “Russian keepers of the Torah.” This relatively small, yet influential, group was more educated and prosperous than the general Jewish population, and was deeply involved in the economy and politics of the Empire. For members of this group, Russian culture was as important as Jewish culture; if the Russian language was not their native tongue (though it often was), they at least used it for professional communication. A number of them played significant roles in the development of Russian culture as well. Not all of the members of this group should be considered assimilationists; adopting Russian culture no longer necessarily entailed disowning one's Jewish heritage or a refusing to participate in issues affecting the Jewish community. Business owners, lawyers, doctors, writers, scientists, and publishers, they believed that liberalization and reforms would allow Jews to live in Russia as well as they did in Western Europe, and they actively collaborated with Russians to that end. They were often just as fervently patriotic as their Russian counterparts.
Government policy toward the Jews at the turn of the twentieth century continued to demonstrate the same lack of consistency as in earlier periods. On the one hand, decisions undertaken by the Senate and favorable rulings by the Ministry of the Interior resulted in a number of restrictions from the “Temporary Laws” being eased or removed during the period 1897–1907. Surprisingly, these rulings had little to do with political orientation, and Prime Ministers of varying political beliefs (Sviatopolk-Mirskii, Stolypin, Plehve) all softened the authorities' stance towards Jews. Among the restrictions that were lifted were the laws forbidding Jews to live outside of cities and the prohibitions on distilling alcohol.99
However, some restrictions remained, such as those limiting access to education, as well as the laws aimed at keeping Jews out of certain professions. In 1894, seven years after the law imposing quotas on Jews in educational institutions was enacted, Jews still comprised 13.3 percent of all university students (1853 total), while by 1902 the number had dropped to 1250 (7 percent of all students). As a result, many Jewish students went abroad. In 1902 and 1903, between 1,895 and 2,405 Russian Jewish students studied abroad in European institutions (nearly twice the number enrolled in Russia). During the revolutionary years of 1905–7, the number of Jewish students enrolled in Russia increased to 4,266 (12 percent). Restrictive measures were reinstated soon after, and in 1913 there were 2505 enrolled Jewish students (7.3 percent).100 In 1915 the government passed an initiative granting educational privileges to those who had served in the war (as well as their children) regardless of faith or ethnic status. This increased the percentage of Jewish students to nearly 8 percent (approximately 2,000) of all students enrolled in state universities and institutes in 1916. During the war it was impossible for Jews to study abroad, and studying in private institutes of higher education became the only available option. As the number of Jewish students in private institutions increased, the government considered instituting quotas for Jewish students at private institutions as well. Officials were split into two more or less even camps, and the Emperor eventually decided the matter, siding with those in favor of quotas on May 21, 1916.101 Given the extreme measures taken in government education policy towards the Jews from the mid-1880s to 1914 one cannot help agreeing with Nathans' claim that these events were a kind of “silent pogrom.”102
In 1886, 9,255 Jewish students were enrolled in gimnaziums. In 1911, the number had increased to 17,538, but the percentage had fallen, from 10.2 percent to 9.1 percent of all students enrolled. The number of university students during the same period increased from 1,856 to 3,602, but in terms of percentage there was a decrease from 14.5 percent to 9.4 percent.103 Taking into account overall population growth, and the increase in education and numbers of spots for students in universities, it becomes clear that thousands of young people whose parents were unable to pay for their education were prevented from realizing their educational goals.104 This situation increased the numbers of the “thinking proletariat” that was to produce future revolutionaries.
The beginning of the twentieth century greeted Russian Jews with another wave of pogroms, which were even more bloody than those of years past. Unchecked antisemitic propaganda found fertile ground among a population whose culture already contained numerous antisemitic aspects. The result was the Kishinev pogrom, which took place during Easter in 1903. The cold-blooded murder of nearly 50 Jews in peacetime shocked both Russian society and the international community at large.105 This new wave of pogroms was to continue through the years of the 1905 revolution.
Even under the “constitutional monarchy” Jews did not receive full civil rights. According to Russian law, Shmariagu Levin, a Jewish Duma deputy, did not have the right to live in Petersburg. Attempts to address the issue of Jewish rights met with little success. The persistence of the Pale of Settlement and the numerous restrictions on Jews in this newly “free” country seemed barbaric to Western countries, whose own citizens were not immune from persecution while in Russia. In 1911, the United States government withdrew from its trade agreement with Russia, due to the fact that its citizens of Jewish heritage were subjected to the same restrictions as local Jews.106
In 1913, an event occurred that seemed to come straight out of the annals of medieval history. Menahem Mendel Beilis, a resident of Kiev, was indicted for the murder of a 13-year-old Ukrainian Christian boy. A number of antisemitic organizations and far-right Duma deputies called for his conviction based on the accusation that Beilis had engaged in ritual murder, though there was no evidence to support the ludicrous claim. Though he was eventually acquitted, the very possibility of such a show trial speaks volumes as to how the Jewish populace was treated in the last years of the Russian Empire.107
Despite the numerous restrictions in place, the number of Jews in the Russian elite continued to grow. German, Jewish, and Polish subjects comprised 20 percent, 11 percent, and 11 percent (respectively) of all founders of corporations from 1896 to 1900.108 The Imperial government, for whom nationalism was a matter of policy, introduced measures aimed at limiting the presence of “foreign” actors in the domestic economy. In 1911, Stolypin instructed the Ministry of Industry to push Jews out of the bread trade. From 1913 to 1914, laws were enacted that prohibited Jews from controlling real estate or serving as directors of corporations.109 In 1914, the Ministry was shocked to discover that in the Northwestern Territory only 8 percent of those employed in banks and corporations were Russian, compared to 35 percent Jews, 26 percent Germans, and 19 percent Poles. The Ministry insisted on the imposition of quotas based on ethnicity in order to redress the situation, both in the Northwestern Territories and in the rest of the Empire.110 Despite these measures, Jews would continue to comprise approximately 20 percent of the “business elite” in Russia.111
As we can see, during these three decades government policy towards the Jews was more concerned with the placing of restrictions than with any kind of “emancipation,” even though the government considered the latter its official policy and would occasionally take steps in that direction. According to J. Klier, Jews were persecuted because of their connection to the “Polish question.” His claim rests on the notion that the government considered Jews to be in league with the Poles due to their close economic ties, and, as the latter presented a threat to the Empire as a whole, both groups were subjected to discrimination. The result was that Russia's Jews, who could have become “obedient” subjects much like the Jews of Austria-Hungary or Germany, were instead pushed towards the opposition, eventually joining liberal or revolutionary movements in accordance with their social position