The Kishinev pogrom: In 1903, the central authorities in Russia wanted Jewish blood to be shed, and that is exactly what happened.

The three-day pogrom of Kishinev’s Jews exactly 120 years ago (April 6 (19)–7 (20), 1903) left an indelible impression not only on the local Jewish population but also on the entire Jewish world.

To this day, the memory of the pogrom does not fade, according to Moldovan Ambassador to Israel Alex Roitman, for whom the day of remembrance is an opportunity for his country to build and develop friendly relations with the Jewish state.

“The imperial Russian authorities, including the anti-Semitic Minister of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve, wanted to see a pogrom in the city, without their sanction, the Jews of Kishinev would not have experienced such a devastating tragedy”.

“Russia is still trying to destabilize Moldova to hinder its choice to become part of the free world and its desire to join the European Union“, Roitman decisively states.

“They are waging war against us and spreading propaganda aimed at sowing hatred and discord between ethnic groups, and this is reminiscent of the anti-Semitic propaganda of 120 years ago“.

This is reported by Israel Hayom.

Incitement in the press

“There were two main factors that caused the unrest — the poisonous incitement of anti-Semites and the silence of the Russian authorities and their representatives in the city“, Roitman explains, donning the historian’s cap.

The newspapers of those days were filled with propaganda and disinformation about Jews, and this influenced the course of events. The worst offender was the Russian-language anti-Semitic newspaper “Bessarabets”, edited by Pavel Krushevan, a particularly fervent anti-Semite. The pages of “Bessarabets” were filled with fabricated stories about “Jewish crimes” and calls to “avenge them”.

Roitman notes that overall, relations between Jews and non-Jews in Moldova, then known as the Bessarabian province within the Russian Empire, were good.

Jews made up almost 50 percent of the population in major cities, and in Jewish settlements, people from other ethnic groups even understood Yiddish. But the poisonous combination of anti-Semitic propaganda, some of which came from the church, and the authorities’ desire to direct popular anger over their poor living conditions against the Jews led to disaster.

“There was an order from above not to prevent the unrest“, says Roitman. His conclusion is based on research and archival documents and testimonies about the events during and after the pogrom.

The Russian army and police did nothing to stop the unrest, intervening only after three days of killings and brutality. There were even reports that a bishop saw the rioters and blessed them.

Hands untied to harm Jews

“The memoirs of Prince Urosov, appointed after the pogrom as governor of Bessarabia, undoubtedly show that his predecessors and subordinates sat idly by and did nothing to stop the violence, and that the anti-Semitic mob received a clear signal from them that for three days they had free rein to attack Jews.

The imperial authorities, including the anti-Semitic Minister of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve, wanted to see a pogrom in the city, without their sanction, the Jews of Kishinev would not have experienced such a devastating tragedy.

“I researched another wave of anti-Jewish riots that swept through the Pale of Settlement in 1882-1884. At that time, too, the atmosphere could have led to pogroms, but the army and police did not allow the anti-Semitic hatred that was boiling in the area. In contrast, in 1903, the central authorities in Russia wanted Jewish blood to be shed, and that is exactly what happened“.

Respect for Moldova’s Jewish heritage

This year, Moldova will commemorate the 120th anniversary of the tragic events in Kishinev with a ceremony attended by state leaders.

Moldovan authorities honor the memory of the Jews killed during the pogroms of 1903, just as they honor the memory of the tens of thousands of Moldovan Jews who perished during the Holocaust. Anti-Semitism in Moldova has almost completely disappeared, and it has been replaced by a respectful attitude towards Jews and the state of Israel. If anything spoils this idyll, the Moldovan ambassador hints, it is incitement from Russia.

“Russia is now trying to destabilize Moldova to hinder its choice to become part of the free world and its desire to join the European Union“, Roitman decisively states.

“They are waging war against us and spreading propaganda aimed at sowing hatred and discord between ethnic groups, and this is reminiscent of the anti-Semitic propaganda of 120 years ago“.

“In Moldova, we remember and recognize the legacy of the large Jewish communities that once existed here,” said Ambassador Roitman.

“Now this legacy is also expressed in the strong ties between Moldova and Israel, and this legacy is a bridge that connects us and contributes to further strengthening ties. Moldova was one of the first countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. It supports Israel in international organizations and works to strengthen friendship with the Jewish people”.

Blood libel leading to the Kishinev pogrom

As has happened many times in Jewish history, it was a blood libel that served as a convenient trigger for incitement to violence. After the death of two local children, a boy and a girl, false rumors spread that they were “killed by Jews to use their blood for making matzah for Passover”.

Of course, these accusations were unfounded (the boy was killed by members of his own family, and the girl committed suicide), but facts never stopped anti-Semites from fanning the flames of hatred. After the Passover prayers, an angry mob turned against their Jewish neighbors.

The Kishinev pogrom was not the first pogrom in the Russian Empire, but it became infamous for the brutality of the pogromists, who nailed victims’ heads, gouged out their eyes, threw babies out of windows, castrated men, and raped women and girls.

When the unrest ended, a grim tally was taken: 49 Jews were killed, about six hundred were injured (92 seriously), and the attackers caused terrible destruction to Jewish homes and businesses in the city.

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Kishinev pogrom: In 1903, the central authorities in Russia wanted Jewish blood to be shed, and that is exactly what happened.