May Laws (Russia)

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The May Laws of the Russian Empire , officially known as the May 1882 "temporary regulations" ( Russ. Adopted Временные правила) and in March, 1917 during the Russian Revolution were canceled, were a series of anti-Jewish measures. They were made by Tsar Alexander III. in response to the pogroms that followed the assassination attempt on his predecessor Alexander II in numerous Russian cities, and served to restrict the free movement of Russian Jews .

background

The assassination attempt on Alexander II on July 1 . / March 13, 1881 greg. triggered numerous pogroms in southern Russia, which put the Jewish question in the public spotlight. In reports of senior government officials, the guilt was blamed on the Jews and pointed to the failure of the relatively liberal policies of Alexander II. Based on these reports, Interior Minister Ignatiev wrote to Tsar Alexander III:

“The main, even exclusive cause of this [anti-Jewish] movement is the economic situation. Over the past 20 years, the Jews have gradually brought trade and industry under their control; they have also acquired much land, mainly through purchase or lease, and through their unity have generally made every possible effort to exploit the people, especially the impoverished classes. In this way they have fueled a wave of protest that has taken the unfortunate form of violence. Now that the government has severely suppressed the insurrections and lawlessness to protect the Jews, justice requires the immediate establishment of severe regulations that will change the unjust relations between the general population and the Jews and prejudice the former Will protect the activity of the latter. "

On August 22nd, Jul. / 3rd September greg. the tsar ordered the formation of special committees in the districts inhabited by Jews. These committees were composed of representatives of the various classes and communities and had to determine "what types of Jewish economic activity have a detrimental effect on the life of the general population." the Jews, who were reinforced by a press campaign in the winter of 1882 with the support of the revolutionary Narodnaya Volja , while the Jewish representatives tried unsuccessfully to defend themselves and new pogroms broke out in cities such as Warsaw and Balta . With the approval of the government, Jewish leaders met twice in Saint Petersburg (September 1881 and April 1882) to discuss the government's proposals.

The regulation

Finally put the "time-limited ordinance" of July 3 . / May 15, 1882 greg. in six sections, including:

  • It is forbidden for Jews to settle outside cities and towns.
  • Purchase and lease contracts on behalf of Jews outside cities and towns are invalid.
  • Jews are not allowed to trade on Sundays and Russian Orthodox Holidays .

The temporary ordinance met the demands of Russian rural traders who hoped to get rid of their Jewish rivals in the villages of Ukraine and Belarus. In fact, these laws were a reduction in the size of the Pale of Settlement , as the presence of Jews was restricted to towns and cities.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the effectiveness of this regulation was slowly weakened. On May 10, 1903, the government decided to allow Jews to settle in 101 villages. In March 1917, immediately after the February Revolution , the May Laws were repealed by the Provisional Revolutionary Government .

literature

  • Jeffrey Kopstein: May laws. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 4: Ly-Po. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2013, ISBN 978-3-476-02504-3 , pp. 29–31.
  • Simon Dubnow : History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Translated from the Russian by I. Friedlaender, 2 Volumes. The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1916. Volume 2, pp. 309-312.
  • Encyclopedia Judaica , Vol. 11, 1906, pp. 1147-1148. jewishencyclopedia.com