Originally posted by Ned
ElTigre, I don't suggest that the Jews of the Pale couldn't be good Russians or Poles. I just suggest that they were not.
ElTigre, I don't suggest that the Jews of the Pale couldn't be good Russians or Poles. I just suggest that they were not.
the only difference between them and other Russians or Poles is their religion is more than wrong, it is obscene.
You didn't bother giving a good rationale for this curiously harsh condemnation of a wide range of people.
Spent too much time reading Holocaust denial websites is my diagnosis.
Three rather different views of Jewish patriots in the Pale and elsewhere :
The 2003 film "Arnold Margolin - An Eminent Ukrainian and Jew," shown here by its co-producer, Iryna Ovdiy, depicts the success story of a Jewish activist who was also a Ukrainian patriot, occupying important posts in the government of the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR) in 1918-1922, who later dedicated much of his life to Ukrainian causes. In contrast, the 2004 book "Jews of Ukraine in the Years 1943-1953: Outlines of Documented History," which was presented by its author, the historian and archivist Michael Mitsel, is a tale of Ukrainian Jews as victims of discrimination and persecution. Both presentations were complemented by the expert commentary of Dr. Taras Hunczak, professor of history and political science at Rutgers University.
and:
Simon Petlura was the head of The Directory, Ukraine's third government (the first was the Rada, the second the Hetmanate) during the days of Ukraine's first republic (1917-1920). The Ukrainian Social Democratic party to which Petlura belonged had a long tradition of friendly relations with Jewish political leaders.
Therefore, the Directory renewed Jewish personal-cultural autonomy [a Ministry for Jewish Affairs was first established by the Rada and abolished by the Hetmanate], attracted prominent Jews such as Arnold Margolin and Solomon Goldelman into its government, appropriated large amounts of money for pogrom victims, and even negotiated with the famous Zionist leader Vladimir Zhabotinsky about the inclusion of Jewish police units into its army.
Petlura issued Order No. 131 to all of his troops on 26 August 1919:
It is time for you to realize that the Jews together with the majority of the Ukrainian population have recognized the evil of the Bolshevik-Communist invasion and know already where the truth lies. The most important Jewish parties, such as: "Bund," "United Jewish Socialists," "Poalei-Zion," and the People's Party have decidedly placed themselves on the side of the Ukrainian independent state and are working together hand-in-hand for its good.
Therefore, the Directory renewed Jewish personal-cultural autonomy [a Ministry for Jewish Affairs was first established by the Rada and abolished by the Hetmanate], attracted prominent Jews such as Arnold Margolin and Solomon Goldelman into its government, appropriated large amounts of money for pogrom victims, and even negotiated with the famous Zionist leader Vladimir Zhabotinsky about the inclusion of Jewish police units into its army.
Petlura issued Order No. 131 to all of his troops on 26 August 1919:
It is time for you to realize that the Jews together with the majority of the Ukrainian population have recognized the evil of the Bolshevik-Communist invasion and know already where the truth lies. The most important Jewish parties, such as: "Bund," "United Jewish Socialists," "Poalei-Zion," and the People's Party have decidedly placed themselves on the side of the Ukrainian independent state and are working together hand-in-hand for its good.
And in Poland:
During the Kosciuszko Insurrection and wars against Tsarist Russia in 1794 Jews supported the uprising either in auxiliary services or in arms. For example they took part in the April revolution in Warsaw where many of them perished.
After the Russian army was repulsed from Warsaw the idea was born to create a separate military unit composed of Jewish volunteers.
This idea was backed by the commander in chief of the Insurrection, Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
"Nothing can convince more the far away nations about the holiness of our cause and the justness of the present revolution," he wrote in a Statement on the Formation of a Regiment of Jews, "than that, though separated from us by their religion and customs, they sacrifice their own lives of their own free will in order to support the uprising."
The Jewish regiment under Colonel Berek Josielewicz took part in the fighting during the storming of the Praga district of Warsaw by Tsarist troops on 4 November 1794. With the blood shed in this war they documented the loyalty of the Jewish population to the cause of the revolution and the slogans it upheld-equality and fraternity.
After the Russian army was repulsed from Warsaw the idea was born to create a separate military unit composed of Jewish volunteers.
This idea was backed by the commander in chief of the Insurrection, Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
"Nothing can convince more the far away nations about the holiness of our cause and the justness of the present revolution," he wrote in a Statement on the Formation of a Regiment of Jews, "than that, though separated from us by their religion and customs, they sacrifice their own lives of their own free will in order to support the uprising."
The Jewish regiment under Colonel Berek Josielewicz took part in the fighting during the storming of the Praga district of Warsaw by Tsarist troops on 4 November 1794. With the blood shed in this war they documented the loyalty of the Jewish population to the cause of the revolution and the slogans it upheld-equality and fraternity.
I'm not offering any commentary on the authenticity of the information, just using it to show how some people viewed Jews as fellow patriots.
They were roundly abused by the Russians for generations, so much so that many prominent Jews didn't want the US to go to war against Germany because that would be we would be helping Russia, their enemy.
Now I am not clear on the attitude of the Jews of the Pale about Poland after WWI.
But, given that the Poles joined in with the Nazis in killing the Jews shortly after the German takeover in WWII, I suspect the relations between the Poles and the Jews of the Pale were not all that good.
Thanks for that exhaustive, well-documented guide to Polish-Jewish relations in Nazi-occupied Poland.

But the Jews got nothing.
In 1934 the Soviet government established the Jewish Autonomous Region in a sparsely populated area some five thousand miles east of Moscow. Located along the Sino-Soviet border, the Jewish Autonomous Region, popularly known as Birobidzhan, was designated as the national homeland of Soviet Jewry.
Still, one might ask why Walther Rathenau should consider he had anything much in common with a Russian Jew living in the Crimea.
He after all described himself as:
' a German of the Jewish tribe. '
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