Part 5 (1/2)
THE WAR AND THE STATUS OF THE JEW
_Prince Paul Dmitriyevich Dolgorukov, a prominent leader of the emanc.i.p.atory movement in Russia, was born in 1866. He is one of the founders of the Const.i.tutional Democratic party, and for a while he stood at the head of the Central Committee of this party. He was a member of the Second Duma, where he represented the city of Moscow._
THE WAR AND THE STATUS OF THE JEW
BY PRINCE PAUL DOLGORUKOV
The storm that has recently swept over our country brought to light a series of conditions which have been weighing down upon the Russian nation for a good many years. These conditions on account of their long duration have come to be considered as something habitual. The impossibility of their further continuance, at least in their present form, has suddenly become quite apparent.
The first among these is the existing att.i.tude toward peoples whose fate is closely interwoven with the fate of Russia. The need for a new policy toward the Poles has been recognised officially and solemnly.
The hour for settling the Jewish question has also struck. The contrast between the duties and responsibilities of the Jew toward the state and his position in the country where he is deprived of all rights and privileges has always existed; during the war this contradiction has become so p.r.o.nounced that it is impossible to overlook it any longer.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews are shedding their blood for Russia, while at home they are deprived of such elementary rights as other Russian subjects could lose only when convicted of crime. When a population of six million occupies such a position, the fact is bound to make itself felt in all walks of life; but what the war has made supremely clear is the limitations to which the Jew is subjected as to his right to choose freely his place of residence and to give his children an education.
The so-called ”Pale of Settlement,” Poland and the southwestern section, const.i.tuted the arena for the early operations of the war.
The tradesmen, the merchants, all people of any means were ruined; the poor workman was left without a crust of bread. The invading foe forced both these groups to flee. Where were they to flee? The simplest solution that presented itself was for them to go into other cities of the ”Pale.” But the burden of the war was felt there also.
The chief bread-winner of the family had gone to war; both industries and trades were crippled. Emigration, the safety valve of poverty, was now impossible. Into the midst of this suffering came pouring in the refugees from the border regions, on the one hand, and on the other, the exiles from Germany and Austria, where they had previously found food and shelter, and whence they had now, so to speak, been thrown overboard.
The economic role of such an element, hungry and unemployed, is easily appraised. Small wonder, then, that such a condition should become absolutely unbearable; starvation has become a common occurrence, and many prefer suicide to asking for alms. And should some of these care to ask for aid there is no one who could offer it, since the local population cannot cope with the need that has so suddenly swooped down upon them.
Russia is a vast country, as is the soul of the Russian. Enough land and bread exists for all its children. Many have relatives who would welcome the refugees and exiles into their homes for the time being; many could earn their livelihood. But in accordance with the existing regulations the authorities must observe that no one who has not the right of residence should come without the ”Pale.” The absurdity of such regulations becomes more apparent when applied to partic.i.p.ants in the war. Thousands of wounded Jewish soldiers are scattered all over Russia, many outside the ”Pale.” Their own may not come to stay with them nor even visit them. Should one of these wounded die, his people are deprived of the privilege of paying their last respects to him; unless they choose to violate the law and remain during the visit in hiding without registering their arrival.
The conditions under which the Jewish child may be educated are at present fraught with similar difficulties. A great number of educational inst.i.tutions in the south and west are now closed. The parents are recommended to transfer their children to other cities--in which case the local schools have been allowed to accept Jewish pupils in excess of their regulation percentage. But the possibility of utilising this privilege in inst.i.tutions outside of the ”Pale” is in its turn combined with the ”right of settlement,” which condition certainly limits the application of this privilege. With this exception, all other educational inst.i.tutions of higher and middle grades, strictly observe the usual percentage and the drawing of lots, on the basis of which the Jewish students are accepted. These limitations have become especially conspicuous, because the war has completely done away with the possibility of entering the universities of Germany and Austria, to which the Jewish youth flocked prior to the war.
Another question arises: Where should the Jewish students, who have begun their studies at a foreign university, now turn? In vain do they knock at the doors of the higher inst.i.tutions; these remain closed to them, in spite of the fact that there are many vacancies there. They cannot get back to the universities of either Germany or Austria. Thus must they waste years of persistent effort and vast amounts of energy, and very many of them will not be in a position to continue their studies, and subsequently serve their own country, which is so sadly in need of educated men. Are all these discriminations against Jewish people essential for the _great Russia_, which is now called upon to free nations and peoples from a foreign tyranny?
The complete abrogation of all national disabilities must pa.s.s through our legislative inst.i.tutions, but the loosening of the existing limitations is a measure which it is perfectly possible to take at once.
JEWISH RIGHTS AND THEIR ENEMIES
_Professor Maxim Maximovich Kovalevsky, one of the greatest Russian sociologists, was born in 1851. Owing to his political convictions, he had to leave Russia. In 1901 he founded in Paris the Russian Higher School of Social Sciences, the faculty of which consisted of exiled Russian scholars and political emigrants. In 1905 he came back to Russia, resumed his University work and took an active part in the political movement. In 1906 he was elected to the Duma and in 1907 to the Imperial Council.
He died in 1916._
JEWISH RIGHTS AND THEIR ENEMIES
BY MAXIM KOVALEVSKY