“Here, eat it, you feed on human flesh”: If Ivan the Terrible had not destroyed Veliky Novgorod: what Russia might have looked like and what the Jews lost

Destroyed Alternative

In January 1570, Ivan the Terrible committed not just mass murder. He carried out a civilizational crime — the destruction of Great Novgorod, Russia’s last chance to follow the path of European development. A republic with a veche (popular assembly), elected bodies, developed trade, and religious tolerance was wiped off the map.

Muscovy slaughtered the goose that laid the golden eggs. With Novgorod’s destruction, Russia lost its window to Europe — along with a culture of open dialogue, ties with Baltic merchants, and political diversity. It was then that Russia definitively turned away from freedom and embarked on a dark and brutal medieval path.

This material is part of the NAnews‼️ “History and Facts” section, where we uncover forgotten pages of the past to understand how they shape the present.

The Jews of Novgorod: A Forgotten Chapter of Russian History

Great Novgorod was one of the rare cities in the Middle Ages where Jews lived not in fear, but in partnership. They traded, taught, and interacted with the clergy. Archbishop Luka Zhidyata of Novgorod, protégé of Kyiv Prince Yaroslav the Wise, is believed by some historians to have had Jewish ancestry — and this did not prevent him from being a leader of the city.

The Jewish presence in Great Novgorod is a story of peaceful coexistence, intellectual exchange, and trust — ultimately destroyed by Moscow’s violence.

• As early as the 11th century, Jews or their descendants held high ecclesiastical office. Archbishop Luka Zhidyata, who led the Novgorod diocese from 1036 to 1059, may have been of Jewish origin. His nickname (“Zhidyata”) at that time had no negative connotation. Similar assumptions exist about Bishop Nikita the Hermit, also thought to have been a baptized Jew.
• The First Novgorod Chronicle records that in 1445, during a famine, townspeople “sold themselves into servitude” to visiting merchants — “Jews and Bessermans” (Muslim traders). This does not indicate hostility but rather genuine trade activity and strong economic ties.
• In the 15th century, Jewish scholar Skhariya the Jew arrived in Novgorod and became the spiritual leader of the “Judaizers” movement. They prayed in Hebrew, studied Jewish philosophy, and preserved translations of treatises like “Shestokryl” as well as Maimonides’ works.
• Among his associates were Joseph Shmoilo Skarovey and Moses Khanush, Jews who actively integrated into Novgorod society.
• After Ivan the Terrible’s pogrom, Jews vanished from the chronicles. According to Gavriil Derzhavin, the tsar expelled Jews from Novgorod — possibly as part of a larger campaign against independent life and thought.
• The name of the legendary Novgorodian merchant Sadko is even linked by some researchers to the Jewish name Tsadok.

The Pogrom and the Prophecy: “Eat — You Feed on Human Flesh”

Ivan the Terrible, staging a fake accusation of a conspiracy with Lithuania, sent 1,500 oprichniks to Novgorod. Within a week, up to 10,000 people were murdered. Archbishop Pimen was humiliated. Women and children were drowned; others were hacked to death.

When the tsar arrived in Pskov, the holy fool Nikolka Salos handed him a piece of raw meat and said:
“Eat — you feed on human flesh”.

Novgorod and Kyivan Rus: Jews in a Shared Cultural Space

• Novgorod and Kyiv were the twin centers of Rus. Princes trained there. Yaroslav the Wise is a prime example.
• By the 10th century, Kyiv had an organized Jewish community, and Novgorod was a key hub on the “Varangians to Greeks” trade route.
• Jews served as translators, traders, and mediators between cultures — and both Kyiv and Novgorod welcomed them.
• While pogroms raged in Europe, here Jews found relative safety.
• It was within this cultural model that the Judaizers emerged — something unimaginable in closed, autocratic Moscow.

Conclusion: Jews were part of the shared space of Kyivan Rus, and Novgorod was a vital link. This was a chance for freedom — destroyed by Moscow’s violence.

From Novgorod to Ukraine: The Pattern of Evil Repeats

The destruction of Novgorod is not just history. It is a recurring model of behavior.

The Putin regime repeats this script: false accusations of betrayal, mass repression, and destruction of free cities — Mariupol, Kharkiv, Bakhmut.

Putinism Is the Heir to the Oprichnina

The Oprichnina was the first “state-run terror police”. Ivan IV created a death squad army. Today’s Kremlin operates the same way. What happened in Novgorod is echoed in Bucha, Irpin, and across Ukraine.

Why This Matters to Jews — and to Israel

The Jewish people know the cost of silence. In Novgorod, they were part of dialogue. Moscow destroyed that openness.

Today, as Putin’s Russia once again wipes out all dissent, both Ukrainians and Jews suffer. Among those killed in Ukraine are many Jews. Israeli citizens of Ukrainian origin see how history repeats.

A Lost Chance: What Russia Could Have Been

The website NAnews — News of Israel reminds you:
Novgorod was a chance. It was destroyed.
Ukraine — they failed to destroy. And we remember those who tried to light the way in the darkness.