The moment anyone arrives in Israel from Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, and is asked about their place of birth, they immediately hear from their Israeli interlocutors the phrase "Chișinăupogrom".
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The three-day pogrom against the Jews of Chișinău, exactly 120 years ago, left an indelible impression not only on the local Jewish population but on the entire Jewish world. To this day, the memory of the pogrom has not faded, according to the 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.
In addition to his training as a diplomat, the Moldovan ambassador holds a degree in history, and the Chișinău pogroms were his main area of research. Roitman says it is important to understand the reasons behind the grave harm inflicted on the Jews of his beloved city during the Passover holiday of April 1903, so that such a tragedy will not happen again.
Incitement in the press
"There were two main factors that caused the riots - the toxic incitement by the antisemites, and the silence of the Russian authorities and their representatives in the city," explains Roitman, donning his cap as a historian.
The newspapers of those days were awash with propaganda and disinformation about Jews, and this influenced the course of events. The worst offender was the Russian language antisemitic newspaper, 'Bessarabets,' edited by Pavel Krushevan, a particularly heinous antisemite. The pages of Bessarabets were full of invented stories of 'Jewish crimes' and calls to 'avenge them.'
Roitman notes that, in general, relations between Jews and Gentiles in Moldova, known then as the province of Bessarabia in the Russian Empire, were good. Jews constituted close to 50 percent of the population in the major cities, and in Jewish towns, people from other ethnic groups even understood Yiddish. But the toxic combination of antisemitic propaganda – some of which originated from the church – and the desire of the authorities to direct the people's anger at their poor living conditions against the Jews, led to the disaster.
"There were orders from above not to prevent the riots," says Roitman. His conclusion is based on research and archival documents and testimonies of the events during and after the pogrom. The Russian army and police did nothing to stop the riots, only intervening after three days of murder and brutality. There were even reports that a bishop saw the rioters and blessed them.
A free hand to harm Jews
"The memories of Prince Urossov, who was appointed governor of Bessarabia after the pogrom, reveal beyond any doubt that his predecessors and subordinates sat back and did nothing to stop the violence, and that the antisemitic mob received a clear message from them that for three days they had a free hand to attack Jews. The imperial authorities, including the antisemitic Minister of Interior Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve, wanted to see a pogrom in the city; without their sanctioning, the Jews of Chișinău would not have suffered such a devastating tragedy.
"I have researched another wave of anti-Jewish riots that swept the Pale of Settlement between 1882-1884. Then as well, the atmosphere could have led to pogroms, but the army and police did not allow the antisemitic hatred that simmered in the area to boil up to the point of action. In contrast, in 1903, the central authorities in Russia wanted Jewish blood to be spilled and that is exactly what happened."
Honoring Moldova's Jewish heritage
This year, Moldova will mark 120 years since the tragic events in Chișinău in a ceremony attended by state leaders. The Moldovan authorities will honor the memory of the Jews murdered in the 1903 pogroms, just as they honor the memory of the tens of thousands of Moldovan Jews killed in the Holocaust. Antisemitism in Moldova has disappeared almost entirely and its place has been taken by a respectful attitude towards Jews and the State of Israel. If anything is spoiling this idyll, hints the Moldovan ambassador, it is incitement from Russia.
"The Russians are trying to destabilize Moldova, in order to thwart its choice to be part of the free world and its wish to join the European Union," Roitman states determinately. "They are waging a war against us and spreading propaganda that is meant to sow hatred and discord among ethnic groups, and this is reminiscent of the antisemitic propaganda of 120 years ago.
"In Moldova, we remember and acknowledge the heritage of the large Jewish communities that once existed here," states Ambassador Roitman. "Now this heritage is also expressed in the strong ties between Moldova and Israel, and this heritage is a bridge that connects us and contributes to further strengthening ties. Moldova was among the first countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. It supports Israel in international organizations and works to cultivate a strong friendship with the Jewish people."
The blood libel that led to the Chișinău Pogrom
As was the case many times in Jewish history, it was a blood libel that served as a convenient trigger to incite violence. False rumors spread following the deaths of two local children, a boy, and a girl, claiming that they were "murdered by Jews in order to use their blood in the preparation of matzos for Passover."
Needless to say, these accusations were baseless (the boy was murdered by members of his own family, and the girl committed suicide), but the facts never stopped antisemites from fanning the flames of hatred. After Easter prayers, an incensed mob turned against their Jewish neighbors.
The Chișinău Pogrom was not the first pogrom in the Russian Empire, but it became notorious for the cruelty of the rioters who hammered nails into their victims' heads, gouged out their eyes, threw infants out of windows, castrated men and raped women and girls.
When the riots ended, the grim tally was taken: 49 Jews had been murdered, around six hundred injured (92 of them seriously), and the attackers had caused terrible destruction to Jewish homes and businesses in the town.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
