In southern Russia, the first outbreak of pogroms
in the spring of 1881 spread quickly to Chernigov province. The
communities of Konotop and Nezhin were the most severely effected.
Pogrom is a Russian word designating an attack, accompanied by destruction,
the looting of property, murder, and rape, perpetrated by one section
of the population against another. The attacks were carried out
in Russia, mainly by the Christian population against the Jews between
1881 and 1921, while the civil and military authorities remained
neutral and occasionally provided their cover, and even open support.
The second wave of pogroms took place from 1903 to 1906. The most
serious pogroms took place in Odessa and Kishinev. Altogether, pogroms
were carried out in 64 towns, and several were in Chernigov.
After the start of the pogroms, the exodus of Jews began from the
Pale of Settlement to America, Australia, Europe, South America
and Palestine. There were many reasons for this mass exodus of the
Jewish population, but the official sanction of pogroms was the
major cause. Mandatory military service was another reason that
many young Jewish men departed from Russia. Jewish boys as young
as eight or nine were forced into military service for as long as
twenty-five years. To evade the draft, some boys would damage their
own bodies. They would puncture their eardrums, give themselves
a hernia, or chop off the finger used for firing a gun.
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