120 years anniversary of the Kishinev (Chisinau) Pogrom, 1903

History of the pogrom

On 6-7 April 1903 (19-20 April, according to the new style calendar), a pogrom took place in Kishinev, what is today the Moldovan capital of Chisinau, that would forever alter the course of Jewish history. At that time, Chisinau was home to 110, 00 people, of whom 50,000 were Jewish, and was the capital of Bessarabia - a governorate of the Russian Empire.
As Passover approached in 1903, newspaper editor Pavel Krushevan published an article in the Russian-language newspaper Бессарабец (Bessarabets) accusing Jews of ‘blood libel’, claiming that they committed the ritual murder of a 14-year- old child, Mihail Rybacenko, in Dubasari to use their blood. The subsequent investigation confirmed that the teenager was in fact killed by relatives.
Nevertheless, the antisemitic seeds had been planted for a pogrom which began on Orthodox Easter, 6th April. The authorities nor the police nor the army intervened to stop the violence. Upon the recommendations of Mayor Karl Schmidt and the founder of the volunteer fire brigade, Mihal Chekerul-Kush, many people hid in the safety of their homes while the violence raged outside. Amidst the horror, there are also stories of Jews and vulnerable people being helped by residents of Chisinau during the senseless violence.
On the evening of 7 April, after receiving an order from Saint-Petersburg, the police and army stopped the atrocities. Forty-nine Jews were murdered during the pogrom, the youngest of whom was just one year and three months old. Around 500 people were injured, 2000 Jewish families were left homeless, and 1500 Jewish stores and homes were ruined.
More than 800 people involved in the pogrom were detained in Chisinau. Most of those who took part in the antisemitic violence were fined, and those convicted were sentenced to serve prison sentences ranging from six months to seven years. The Chisinau pogrom was condemned without precedent in Russian and foreign media. This terrible event, like dozens of other pogroms, was a precursor to the horrors of the Holocaust.