Zionist library for boys and girls · 1908-01-01 · 3 · p. Seite 2

~2thosc children very often preferred to choose death rather than give up their Judaism, (We arc told of young Jewish children who wore ordered to draw wator from a river so that they could ho batized. nAy, sir" - the childrent replied, andjumped into the river, in fu11 uniform, novor toeome up again.) Of course there were some Jews who sincerely believed that a certain degree of Russification would be of groat value to the Jews - and these men tried to convince the Jews that the Tsarist schools, should be attended. Many scholars and merchants who expected an improvement; of the treatment they received, followed the call of these men. The example they followed was that of Western Jewry - where the conditions of the Jews were greatly improved during the time of Moses I^erdLesohn and the Emancipation period. They sincerely believed that the Tzar was erecting these schools for their own benefit, and not in order to rob them of their Jewish religion. But they were deeply disappointed. They found that the Tzar aimed to destroy the "ICah&ls" (Hebrew word for Jewish communities), and only intended to grant the Jews a wider living space if they would become Christians. The Jews, persecuted and restricted, sought to free themselves from their Shackles in every possible way. They took active part in the Polish revolt against Russian control - hoping that through the overthrow of Russian domination, freedom would also come to them. But the Revolt failed - Poland became a depenclancy of the Tzar and anti-semitism broke out in its worst form* On the other hand the Polesthemselves did not encourage the Jews, or thank them for their help, because they were as strange to them as to the Russians. This is the background on which the Haskala movement developed.