The Jewish pogrom in Katerynoslav in Juli 1905

Abstract

The article is devoted to a little-known episode in the history of Katerynoslav: the Jewish pogrom of July 20, 1905. Due to the lack of historical sources, these events have not been adequately covered in general works on Jewish history or local history studies. The vast majority of them focus on the events of April and October 1905, when large-scale Jewish pogroms took place in Katerynoslav. The authors of this study set out to find out the causes, course, and consequences of the Jewish pogrom of July 20, 1905, in Katerynoslav. The research was made possible thanks to documents found in the State archive of the Dnipropetrovsk region and introduced for the first time into scientific circulation. As a result of the study, the course of the pogrom of July 20, 1905, was reconstructed for the first time. The authors refute the official version of the local authorities, reflected in the report to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, regarding: 1) the nature of the events; 2) their causes; 3) their scale; and 4) their consequences. The analysis of available documents makes it possible to assert that on July 20, 1905, an organized Jewish pogrom took place, but not spontaneous riots or individual “incidents” provoked allegedly by the Jews themselves. This is confirmed by the proven synchronization of the actions of different groups of rioters in 9 main locations in the central part of Кaterynoslav. It is noted that local law enforcement agencies were directly responsible for the violence in the city, as their inaction contributed to the escalation of interethnic clashes, and in some cases supported anti-Semitic sentiments, coordinated actions with the rioters. Ultimately, this explains the reluctance of the police to consider the victims’ statements and open proceedings against the perpetrators immediately after the July 20 pogrom. Hypothetical reasons for the pogrom were identified: 1) the intention to split the revolutionary movement in the city against the background of interethnic hatred (the version of the Russian Social Democrats); 2) revenge of law enforcement officers for the alleged physical injuries inflicted on a policeman by Jews on July 19 (if this conflict actually took place) and their use of anti-Jewish sentiments of some citizens; 3) the emergence of a pro-monarchist environment in Katerynoslav, the future “Black Hundred” movement, known for its anti-Semitic and chauvinistic views.