The Maccabaean

I.

FULL upon the heels of the first massacres which befell the Jews of Russia in the eighties there ensued a mass emigration to various parts of the world and also, almost simultaneously, an internal migration to different parts of the Russian Empire.

We have no statistics of this internal migration and must be content with conjecture. It is, therefore, also difficult to estimate its significance and influence upon the subsequent development and organization of Russian Jewry. Immediately after the first progroms, terrible persecutions were instigated against those Jews who lived outside the “Pale of Settlements,” and those who had settled on farms, estates, etc., and had no equal civic rights. The Jews so engaged— we have no conception whatever of their numbers—were compelled to grasp the staff of the Golus and wander out, not knowing whither. It seems remarkable that this element did not migrate to America, towards which great masses of Jews streamed at that time. America then was not as popular as it is to-day. A voyage across the ocean then involved great difficulties; in addition, to the benighted countryman, a voyage to America was beset with portentous dangers. The bulk of the emigration to America came principally from the large cities near the frontier, where the Jews had come in contact with the outside world.

A great part of this element emigrated to Russian Poland; principally to the large cities, of Warsaw, Lodz, Petrikov, etc. First, because Russian Poland was the industrial centre and, secondly, because the Jews could move about more freely, unhampered by the heavy yoke of oppression to which they had been subject in Russia.

The Russian government immediately realized the great service which this immigrant element rendered her in the Russification of Poland which had hitherto been going on very slowly. It exerted all its power to create a Russian atmosphere in Poland. It Russified the municipal administration, the railroad system, the credit institutions and above all, the educational institutions.

A horde of Russian officials, not necessarily of the best quality, had been despatched to Poland and occupied all the government posts. They received a larger salary than had ever been given them before as an inducement to good work in the Russification of Poland. The work, however, went on all too slowly, for the Russian officials did not succeed in their Russification of Poland; the Polish environment overwhelmed the officials. They were largely subject to the influence of their environment and, in course of time, were transformed into a species neither Russian nor Polish. The pure Russian language could only be heard in the police headquarters. Elsewhere it was corrupted.

Far more difficult was the Russification of industry, of society and of the street. In the world of industry everyone is free to choose the language he prefers; no one can impose upon the merchant a specific language

and even if that imposition is carried out, its effects cannot be controlled. Officials have no access to society and the spirit that permeates society is reflected in the street.

It was the intention of the Russian government to permeate higher society with a Russian atmosphere, through the medium of the official, who, as a rule, occupies a rather high position in Russian life. The Russian officer is not averse to the good things of life, and the fascination of the Russian officer in times of peace, his gallant and heroic demeanor, would surely prove irresistible to the high society of Poland. . .The wealthiest and handsomest officials were therefore sent to Poland to set the tone in "society." But even here, the Russian government erred greatly.

It reckoned without its host or, to be more correct, without its hostess. To the higher social spheres the Russian officer had no access. "The gates were closed upon him. This exclusion forced him to turn to the fallen “Lords of the Manor” and the similar social levels, and even here, he met with little success and wholly failed in the principal aim in which the government was greatly interested. Instead of assuming the office of an instructor and seeing to it that the Polish “Panienkas” learn the Russian language, the officer soon learned to speak the Polish tongue. He was thus transformed from tutor to diligent pupil.

In short, the Russian government exerted all its power to turn Poland into a Russian province, but the means employed were all too weak to be effective. Here a veritable gift from Heaven was sent to them. An element which has lived all its life in a Russian environment suddenly migrated to Poland, into the very heart of Poland—Warsaw, establishing its business there and unconsciously bringing in the very spirit and modes of life to which they were accustomed. True, in Russia itself, this element was only an object of contempt and considered as "aliens," but for Poland they were sufficiently equipped with Russian culture and would do for the time being. Above all, there was no need to pay them any fee and there was therefore no expense involved in the work of Russification.

This explanation and conception of the important röle of the newly immigrated Jews in Poland can be found in official documents issued by the governor-general of Warsaw to the central government of St. Petersburg, and this conception was also re-echoed in the Russian Duma whenever the question of Polish administration was discussed. Notorious anti-Semites insisted that particularly in Poland, the Jews be admitted to the municipal administration, for there they were needed. It can easily be seen how much venom, how much provocation there is in such an establishment of Jewish equal riehts ın Poland.

The tragedy of the Jews in Poland is explained by the fact that the new Jewish element served unintentionally as a tool in the hands of the Russian government, against the spiritual interests of the Poles. Poverty stricken and fleeing from terrible persecution, thev reluctantlvy served interests not their own. In