In April 2018, the 115th anniversary of the Kishinev Pogrom is marked. This year, the Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and the Jewish Cultural Center KEDEM launch an awareness campaign, which includes a series of articles and materials disseminated in both local and international mass-media. A thematic exhibition has been inaugurated in the central park in Chisinau (Kishinev), the capital of Moldova, and then displayed in the local schools.
‘On reading the first newspapers reports I
perceived the monstrosity of the event and experienced a mixed feeling of
compassion for the innocent victims and amazement at the extent of human
brutality…’ (Leo Tolstoy about the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903).
Jews have lived on the territory of present-day
Moldova (known as Bessarabia) for over 600 years, contributing to the
development of the country. During this period, the local community experienced
various times, including difficult ones. The 1903 Kishinev Pogrom made the town
sadly known all over the world.
According to the data of the 1897 official
census carried out in the Russian Empire, there were 230,000 Jews living in the
Province of Bessarabia amounting to over 12% of the total population. In
Kishinev the percentage was even higher and reached 46% of the population.
The pretext for the Pogrom was centuries old
blood libel; Jews were blamed for killing a boy in Dubossary, a town not far
from Kishinev. The antisemitic propaganda used it and called for revenge. The
Pogrom broke out on Easter and lasted three days. 49 people were killed, about
600 wounded, almost one third of buildings that belonged to Jews - destroyed or
damaged.
The Kishinev Pogrom foreshadowed further
persecutions of Jews, a series of pogroms in Bessarabia and neighbouring
Ukraine in 1905, a prefiguration of the Holocaust. Bloody pogroms of 1903-1905
led to mass emigration of Jews from the Russian Empire to Eretz Israel, USA,
South Africa, Latin America and Canada. As Theodor Herzl wrote after the
Kishinev Pogrom, ‘The feeling of unity among the Jewish people has not found a
manifestation so powerful or so tragic for many centuries.’
- ‘What can we do now, 115 years after?! The
message is very clear: we have to counteract inter-ethnic and inter-religious
intolerance, combat antisemitism using all the possible means, work with the
authorities, reach out and engage the youth, the media, speaking out loud about
such tragedies that changed our history to avoid repetition’ - stated Alexander
Bilinkis, the President of the Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova.
- ‘There are certain lessons to be learnt from
the Kishinev pogroms in 1903 and 1905, especially today when we observe a rise
of antisemitism and xenophobia in Europe. Historically multicultural societies
such as Moldova are not immune from that. We as the NEVER AGAIN Association
feel a duty to join the campaign and spread the word internationally’ - said
Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent
organization established in Warsaw in 1996. The mission of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’
Association is to promote multicultural understanding and to contribute to the
development of a democratic civil society in Poland and in the broader
region of Central and Eastern Europe.
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