For most people October 31 is a day of parties and dressing up in costumes. But just over a century ago, October 31, 1905 was a tragic day, ushering in hundreds of pogroms that killed thousands of Jews across Russia. Crowds surged through the streets, yelling threats, destroying property, and murdering Jewish men, women and children with impunity.
The immediate cause of this seismic wave of violence was the October Manifesto, a declaration from Czar Nicholas II guaranteeing basic freedoms and political rights. Promulgated on October 30, 1905 (sometimes referred to as October 17 on Russia’s “Old Calendar”), the declaration came amid rising political turmoil and the threat of revolution. Instead of calming tensions, the manifesto led to huge demonstrations and riots in many Russian cities. Tragically, it was Russia’s Jews who suffered the most.
In the city of Odessa, crowds rushed into the street to celebrate the manifesto. One student recorded that “a joyous crowd appeared in the streets; people greeted each other as if it were a holiday.” Among the throngs were many Jews who believed the new laws would help grant them long-sought legal rights. But violent scuffles soon broke out.
As the mood in Odessa darkened, many Russians began turning on the city’s Jews with almost unimaginable sadism. At first, angry rioters beat Jews in the streets and ransacked the homes and businesses belonging to local Jews. The extreme right-wing anti-Semitic group, the Black Hundreds, entered the fray, encouraging pro-Czar Russians to blame Jews for their country’s ills. When a city official was shot dead, the surging crowds became enraged and attacks accelerated, turning into a violent pogrom that lasted several days. The police either turned a blind eye or eagerly participated in the attacks.
Eyewitnesses described Jews being thrown out of high windows to their deaths. Jewish children were murdered in front of their parents. Rioters targeted Jewish pregnant women, assaulting them and killing some by cutting open their stomachs. Parents were tortured by watching their children die. By the time the pogrom was over, over 400 Jews were dead and about 300 injured in Odessa alone.
October 31 saw hundreds of other pogroms across Russia, mostly in the south. 690 pogroms cost 4,000 Jews their lives; the wave of hatred and murder saw another 10,000 Jews injured.
In the Belarusian town of Rechysta, local Jews, many of whom belonged to Communist and Communist-Zionist groups, organized to defend themselves from murderous mobs. The threat of violence was high: local Black Hundred members issued warnings calling Jews “enemies of the Czar” and demanding Jews’ “extermination”. Police officers distributed rifles to townspeople, and a parish priest announced “the Jews should be killed to a man, since they want to overthrow the Czar.” Violence erupted in the town when some locals beat up Jewish businesswomen and ripped up the dry goods they were selling.
About twenty Jewish men organized and fought back, but were soon hopelessly overwhelmed. One Jewish fighter, Noi Geizentsveig, later explained, “We did not see the enemy during the skirmish, therefore we did not throw the bombs (the Jewish self-defense group had acquired) and responded by aimless shooting." The Jewish fighters were overwhelmed; local thugs shot and stabbed them, yelling “Here is your freedom!” and “Here is your constitution!”, references to the October Manifesto they blamed the Jews for bringing about.
New York Times, November 5
Within hours, eight Jewish fighters were murdered and twelve were wounded. They were dragged to the town’s police station and locked up with no food, water, or medical care, dead fighters together with those still living. Later on, the fighters who were still alive were consigned to house arrest, denied medical care even though some were severely injured.
The final pogrom of the hundreds that started October 31, 1905 was in the town of Bialystok (in present day Poland). Eighty-two Jews were murdered in those few convulsive days of violence, and about 700 people were injured. Czar Nicholas II dispatched officials throughout Russia’s territory to report back on the pogroms, which dissipated nearly as abruptly as they began.
Victims of the Kiev Pogrom
For many Russian Jews, the October 31 pogroms was proof that they had no future in Russia and spurred many to leave. One Russian Jew who fled was the famous Yiddish writer Shalom Aleichem. He and his family watched three days of pogroms overwhelm the Jewish community of Kiev from their hiding spots in one of the town’s hotels. When the violence was over, they hastily made plans to flee Russia, eventually moving to America.
On November 25, 1905, three weeks after the terrifying pogrom and just before he left Russia for good, Shalom Aleichem wrote to a friend in New York, Dr. Maurice Fishberg, begging him to use his influence with American Jews to encourage the United States not to help Czar Nicholas II (who was embroiled in the Russo-Japanese War and was looking for a loan). After watching his fellow Jews murdered in cold blood, Shalom Aleichem, like many Russian Jews, despaired of Jews’ future there. “Six million Jews” in Russia could be “murdered” there, the author wrote, in a long, impassioned letter about Russian politics and the war.
Over a century after the horrible spasm of violence that consumed much of Russia, we owe it to the many thousands of Russian Jews massacred in the pogroms of October 31, 1905, to remember their deaths and honor their memories.
(14) MARSHALL S. DICKER DMD, FAGD, November 4, 2019 12:02 AM
what is the surprize??
I READ ARTICLES LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME....WHAT THEY SHOULD TELL ALL JEWISH PEOPLE IN EUROPE, BOTH WESTERN AND EASTERN....IS......ESCAPE NOW WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE......JEWISH PEOPLE HATRED IS ON THE RISE, TERRIBLY.....AND GOVERNMENTS IN THOSE AREAS ARE STANDING BY...DOING NOTHING AND EVEN SUPPORTING THE HATRED.
THE TIME NOW IS VERY MUCH LIKE PRIOR TO WW2 AND IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE......THERE ARE ONLY A VERY FEW SAFE PLACES FOR JEWISH PEOPLE....
ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES ASSUREDLY....OTHER COUNTRIES, LESS SO AND MOST ARE NO NO NO!!
THE CAUSES FOR THIS DONT MATTER....I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS TO SPEAK ABOUT THE WHY....BUT THAT IS FOR ANOTHER TIME....
NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE PLANS AND CARRY THEM OUT........THE ANTI SEMITES WILL NOT GET BETTER.....THEY ARE THE AMALAKITES OF MODERN TIMES.......WE, SADLY, CANT KILL THEM BUT WE CAN ABANDOM THEM, SHADE THEM, FIGHT THEM AND WITH G-D'S HELP......DESTROY THEM.
(13) Susan Goodman, November 2, 2019 5:43 PM
How did my grandma’s family survive.
My grandma’s mother and father and her sister’s and brothers lived in Odessa and survived this.
(12) Todd Zimmer, November 2, 2019 4:57 PM
Fiddler on the roof
Dr. Nice Article!, Strange, of all days October 31, I just happened to watch Fiddler on the roof, and the ending was about Pogoms, what dispair, and sadness, diaspora upon diaspora.... Everything is by the hand of Hashem, for our Good. Perhaps Rab Teviah was not appreciative for what he had constantly kevetching, like Adam was not thankful concerning his wife post fall, resulting in another relocation program. Both relocated for the Good, albeit clouded to personal view. Thank you for sharing, “Fiddler” makes more sense now! Lesson: hardships will come, be thankful in all things, we are sojourners here, like Abraham.
(11) jay, November 2, 2019 10:26 AM
I did not know
Thank you for this. I had no idea. Thank you and never again.
(10) Raymond, November 1, 2019 2:14 PM
No Civility without the Torah
Amazing, sad, and horrifying that even citizens being given their individual freedoms was somehow used as an excuse to murder Jews. Given the long record of antisemitism around the world, I have come to realize that just about anything can and has been used as just another excuse to murder our Jewish people. And, I have also come to realize, that how the above antisemites behaved, and how the Germans, Ukrainians, and other Eastern Europeans behaved toward the Jews just a few decades later, is exactly how just about every non-Jew would behave if not for the influence of our Torah. There is no true morality without our Torah, and these utterly barbaric Russians have provided us with very strong evidence for such a contention.
(9) Leslie, October 31, 2019 5:39 PM
Wow...I never knew what my Russian Ancestors went through!!!...
Your article shook me up and opened my eyes to a story I never knew. I knew about my brave Russian Grandmother hiding during one of the Pogroms in Brusilov (about 100 miles from Kiev), however, I never knew one of them happened on Halloween. I will now take off the butterfly wings I pinned to my jacket today in honor of all those affected by this Pogrom. Halloween will never be the same for me after reading your moving article.
(8) Stephen Brody, October 31, 2019 5:33 PM
Move
We remember, we remember every generation that where we lost our Jewish families Now is the time for all Jews to leave Europe and return home- to Israel. If not possible, come to America Some “things” never change. NEVER AGAIN. AM YISRAEL CHAI
(7) Dvirah, October 31, 2019 5:14 PM
Nothing New Under the Sun
This article reminds me of the joke about a mid-European diplomat trying to convince an American ambassador to support some request of his government; says the diplomat: "if you refuse our request, my people will be so angry they will get drunk and go out and kill Jews!" The ambassador then asks what will happen if the request is granted. Replies the diplomat: "my people will be so happy they will go out, get drunk and kill Jews."
Anonymous, October 31, 2019 5:44 PM
I think this joke is inappropriate...
In light of the seriousness of this article, I think posting a joke was inappropriate.
Anonymous, November 1, 2019 12:17 PM
No joke
I don't think Dvirah was "posting a joke", nor expecting to amuse anyone. She simply emphasized the sad truth of antisemitism.
(6) Sarah, October 31, 2019 4:17 PM
The pogroms
This is why my grandmother and great-aunts and great-uncles fled from Russia to come to the country?.
(5) Anonymous, October 31, 2019 3:50 PM
Jews shoud not be celebrating Halloween
Thank you for this article. In my opinion Jews should NOT be celebrating Halloween, period. Not only out of respect for those lost during these pogroms but more importantly because of the holiday's pagan roots. But here we are in 5780 and tonight there will be many Jewish families dressing up their children in costumes. They don't mind skipping Purim but would never ever ever give up on Halloween. There is no question in my mind that the end to all this foolishness is truly near. May it be in our lifetime!
(4) Anonymous, October 31, 2019 3:29 PM
Halloween
I have always hated Halloween. As a child,I never had any desire to trick or treat because my mother, a Holocaust survivor told me what the peasants did to Jews on Halloween in Europe. At the time I was a child,Halloween was nowhere near the proportions of what it is today. Jews who participate in it, do not realize that this is a Pagan holiday, that has absolutely nothing to with Judaism which is an innocent day for fun and parties and trick or treat .We can expect antiSemitic incidences on this day.Unfortunately, many unaffiliated Jews celebrate Halloween , such as neighbors across the street, who have a huge ‘Frankenstein ‘ on their lawn. I would love to show them this article.
(3) Julian, October 31, 2019 3:23 PM
Thank you for reminding, Jew borne in Kiev
We need better know our history
(2) Charlotte Katz, October 31, 2019 2:33 PM
Sad to just now learn about this terrible period in our history
Sad to just now learn about this terrible period in our history. The comment by Sholom Aleichem about the possibility of 6 million Jews being killed in Russia was an eerie omen of what was to come
(1) Shimeon Weiner, October 31, 2019 2:33 PM
Thank you
I appreciate the work you put into this article. Yes, we need to remember them, and thank you for reminding me.