Page 22 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

A birth and a pogrom

stories, and what could not be carried away was destroyed or set on
fire.
Finally, the Russian governor-general sent out several companies
of Cossacks from Zmonsky Castle and dispersed the rioters. But one
drunken Cossack is worse than a savage Indian, and they found
plenty of vodka in the wrecked saloons. Then they helped themselves
to whatever the Poles had not carried off. The Cossacks did not like
the Poles, and used a lead-loaded whip called a nagaika to disperse the
mob; a single Cossack on horseback with a nagaika could disperse a
hundred unarmed civilians. But the same Cossack hated the Jews
even more. Russia was considered a great power at that time and was
prominent in European diplomacy; it blamed the Poles for the
pogrom, but the Russian authorities stood by for three hours before
the Cossacks were sent out. The riot was only about a mile from
where they were stationed.
This pogrom, as brief and limited as it was, laid the foundations
for the pogroms to follow in Russia, in which the government arrived
on the scene late by several hours and then explained to the world
that the mob was incited by Jewish economic oppression.
Liberalism, which has enveloped Western Europe, had begun to
show its effect also among the intelligentsia in Russia. To overcome
its diffusion among the masses and distract the people from the real
facts—bad government, graft, ignorance, religious bigotry—the Jew
was the best scapegoat. We see it today in many countries where
greed and corruption hide behind patriotism and anti-Semitism.
Now, a b’rit, an engagement, or a wedding in the old country is a
great event in the community, not only for the parents and relatives,
but for those who live frugally and do not enjoy the good things of
life, like good meat and chicken, and cakes and sweets. They count
the days of pregnancy, to plan for a lavish distribution of roasted
goose, beer, nuts, and candy. The birth of a boy is a great affair: every
evening, after synagogue services, the local cheder teacher leads his
class of ten or fifteen children to the house of the mother of the
newborn baby. The children sing songs and the Sh’ma Yisrael prayer
before the curtains surrounding the bed of the mother and infant.
And when the prayer is over, the grandmother or father distributes
almonds and candy to the little tots of the cheder, wishing aloud that
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