Pogroms

Pogroms Definition

Pogroms originally referred to an organised massacre aimed at the destruction or annihilation of a specific group of people. In the late nineteenth century, the term gained widespread use in Russia, evolving in the English-speaking world to describe riots directed against Jews in the modern era. Historically, the term often connoted ‘official planning and collusion’, contrasting with the concept of a riot defined as spontaneous disorder. While initially viewed through a monocausal lens, contemporary scholarship increasingly recognises that these violent occurrences involve elements of both organisation and spontaneity, prompting a move towards more complex interpretations of their causes and responsibilities.

Historical Context and Impact

The most extensively studied events are the pogroms of 1881–1882, which swept through the southwestern provinces of the Russian Empire. These events are considered a major turning point in Jewish history, prompting disillusionment with the promise of civic emancipation and social integration. They spurred the development of new political movements among Jews, including nationalism (such as Zionism) and socialist organisations targeting Jewish proletarians. The Russian state’s subsequent policy shifted away from promoting Jewish acculturation. These riots led to legislative attempts, such as the ‘May Laws’ of 1882, which aimed to segregate peasants and Jews, although these measures did not prevent further violence.

Specific Events and Legacy

The anti-Jewish riot of 1903 in Kishinev is a notable example, inspiring cultural responses such as Chaim Nachman Bialik’s poetry, which contributed to the legend of the Kishinev pogrom. The violence also included attacks during the Russian Civil War (1919–21), which are regarded as the most brutal period, resulting in estimated Jewish fatalities exceeding 500,000. While earlier analyses often assumed that local governments were responsible for the violence and that Jews were passive victims, recent scholarship has challenged these assumptions.

Evolving Scholarship

Recent historical analysis has moved away from singular explanations based on anti-Semitic ideology or plunder, instead recognising that pogroms are products of multiple, intertwined causal tendencies. This multi-causal approach is reflected in studies concerning violence in Poland between the World Wars and during the post-war period. Furthermore, attention has turned to the massacres following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, examining the reactions of local populations to Nazi policies and the connection between local anti-Jewish riots and the genocidal project. There is an urgent need for a comparative approach that contextualises these events within broader societal developments rather than relying solely on descriptive or statistical methods.