Zionist library for boys and girls · 1908-01-01 · 3 · p. [Seite]

— EASKikM THE JEWS IH RUSSIA In the 19 £h Century, when the Western countries were fighting for their national freedom - and when slogans like "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" .were influencing and changing all Western Europe - Russia was still .ruled lyy despotic Tzars. Russia consisted of many national groups. Under Tzar Paul I (1796-1801) and Alexander I (1801-1821) a determined effort was madeto unify all these differ.-", ent nationalities and minorities. These groupings "being unlike the "bulk of the -population disturbed the Tzar and made him feel uneasy. The; J pas were regarded as one of the the most strange and disturbing elements. Living in the ghettos - their numbers had''grown from two -million to six million. This big, strange community had developed its own culture, its own language and its own customs. Apart from all this, its religion differed greatly from that of the Poles and Russians, and this factor made the Jews stick .together. When Paul I and Alexander, tried to unify the various nationalities inside the vast Russian territory, they were concerned firstly with the Jews. A" policy of assimilation by force started. The Talmud - the book of Jewish Law - was suppressed. All Jewish children were ordered to be educated in special schools, erected by the Tzar, in which Russian education was primary. Those Jews who willingly submitted to this Russification (and often gave up their Jewish religion so that they eouldbe baptized) were;Trewarded" by official favour. But most Jews putaup a heroic opposition to the Russians, who wanted to rob them of their Jewishness. Jewish children, who were taken away from their parents for militar^r service, were often tortured into the acceptance of Christianity - but we know that even