The pogrom in Kishinev in Russian-ruled Moldavia…
1903 CE
The pogrom in Kishinev in Russian-ruled Moldavia in April 1903, although more severe than most, is typical in many respects.
Riots had broken out after a Christian child, Michael Ribalenko, was found murdered on February 16.
Pavolachi Krusheven, the editor of the anti-Semitic newspaper Bessarabetz, and vice governor Ustrugov labeled the incident a ritual murder plot by the Jews, although it was fairly clear that the boy had been killed by a relative.
Beginning on the 19th, mobs, inspired by local leaders acting with official support, kill, loot, and destroy without hindrance from police or soldiers.
Interior Minister Plehve supposedly orders authorities not to stop the rioters.
After three days, when troops are finally called out and the mob dispersed, forty-five Jews have been killed, nearly six hundred have been wounded, and fifteen hundred Jewish homes have been pillaged.
Those responsible for inciting the outrages are not punished.
Despite a worldwide outcry, only two men are sentenced to seven and five years, respectively, and twenty-two are sentenced receive sentences of one or two years.
This pogrom is instrumental in convincing tens of thousands of Russian Jews to leave Russia for the West and for Palestine.
The child's real murderer is later apprehended.
Chaim Nachman Bialik, in his poem "City of Slaughter", chastises the Jews of Kishinev for not defending themselves in the pogrom.
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