Selected paragraphs from: Our Father's Harvest by
Keith Freedman
Following a statute, which was put into law in 1804, Jews were
permitted to engage in agriculture. To encourage them to leave
their urban existence, monetary loans and tax relief for lengthy-
periods were offered. In 1807 the first settlements were founded
in
Novorussiya (New Russia), that vast area of the south-eastern
Ukraine which had only recently come under Russian dominion. The
first region to be opened up was in the Government of Kherson
where 300 families were settled. (1) By l8l0 their numbers had
grown to 600 families spread over eight colonies. To maintain these
settlers 145,000 rubles had been spent by the government. Then a
change of heart on the part of the ministry responsible halted further
development. Contemporary reports stated: "The Jewish colonists are
dying of hunger and cold in the midst of the steppes. 5000 out of
10,000 died in a few years."(2)(p.10)
Following
the unrest in the cities caused by the institution of military service in 1827, it was
suggested that agricultural development recommence as an alternative means
of getting more Jews out of their urban life. It was not until 1833 that a
further contingent of would-be settlers set out from the northern cities.
This time they were directed towards Siberia in order to populate another
newly developing area. 1317 families were settled there by 1837 when
further emigration was stopped.
A new site for
colonization was found in the Government of Yekaterinoslav. Under Tsar
Nicholas I, the Minister of Domains Count Kesseler urged the Jews from
Lithuania and Courland to settle in Yekaterinoslav. Between 1840 and 1855
seventeen colonies were established in the region.
Footnotes:
(1) The history of Jewish agricultural colonization in
Russia has
been sparsely
recorded. Thus the experiences of the Komisaruk family
provide an
invaluable record of a little known aspect of Jewish
endeavor.
(2)The only
English sources are 'The Jewish Encyclopedia'- Funk
and Wagnal; and
'The Russian Jews- Emancipation or Extermination' ,
a translation of
a work written in 1893 by L. Errara.
Jewish Agricultural Colonization in Russia
(Adapted from Chaim Freedman’s books "Our Fathers’ Harvest" and
its supplement, privately published in Israel in 1982 and 1990.)
The primary source is "Yevruei Zyemlyedeltsi
1807-1887" (Jewish
Agriculturists) by Viktor N. Nikitin (Petersburg 1887). This mammoth work
of over 700 pages explains the sequence of events leading up to the establishment of the colonies, gives details of the organization and
financing of the initial settlement, and includes periodic reports on the
development and achievements of the colonies. The reports were prepared by
inspectors who were appointed to investigate conditions in the colonies
and recommend action to be taken by the government. Since considerable
funds were allocated by the government, exact statistics were constantly
required. …
During the first four decades of the nineteenth century Jewish
Agricultural settlement in that part of the southeastern Ukraine know as
Novorussiya (New Russia) was confined to several districts in Kherson
Guberniya (Government). In the 1830’s an abortive attempt was made to
divert settlers, intending to settle in the south, to Siberia. In the
early 1840’s it was proposed to develop a new region in the Governments of
Yekaterinoslav, east of Kherson. 1846 was the year set by the government
official Count Kisselev, who was I charge of the settlement program, as
the target date dfor the establishment of the fits colonies than were in
fact first settled. Eight were planned, then reduced to seven, of which
six were set up during the preliminary stage.
Kisselev set May 15, 1846 as the target date for all candidates to be
gathered in Mogilev. Prior to this, advertisements were published
throughout the provinces where likely candidates were expected. Therefore,
the description by Lipshutz (above) of the colonists leaving Courland in
1844’45 either indicates that the assembly of the candidates started prior
to 1846, or Lipshutz erred in the date. 324 candidate families were
selected from those who applied. However, by 1846, the budget available
necessitated Kisselev cutting back the numbers who were actually sent to
Yekaterinoslav to 185. A comparison of the two lists, the one of 324
families who are specified according to Government of origin, the other of
285 families specified by actual town within these Governments, enables us
to identify the origins of the groups.
The settlers in Grafskoy comprised a separate unit and the conditions
of their migration are described in "Jewish Agricultural Settlements, Yekaterinoslav Government" B.D. Brutzkus, St. Petersburg, 1913.) There
they are singled out as a group which suffered hardship die to the lack of
financial assistance required to purchase sufficient wagons for the
journey. These same circumstances are referred to by Nikitin where he
relates how a group of eleven families were discovered en-route to
Yekaterinoslav and were in dire circumstances due to the lack of
sufficient wagons.
The descriptions by Nikitin indicate that the settlers
traveled south
in groups wherein their homogeneity of origin was preserved. Furthermore,
this was the basis of their allocation to colonies. For example,. Since
Truduliubovka (Engles) was initially set up with the 30 families, it can
be reasonably assumed that this was the group of 30 families from Salant.
A study of the Jewish community of Lutzin (Yehudut Latvia" Tel Aviv 1953)
reveals a number of families who were prominent in that town and who also
lived on the colonies. These include Zhmood Levin, Amiton, Ezeritz and
Lev. In particular, the first colony Novozlatopol (Pervernumer) comprised
the bulk of the Lutzin families. It can therefore be established that the
Zhmoods and Levins probably lived in Novozlatopol until they joined large
numbers of families who abandoned the colonies in the early 1870’s and
settled in nearby villages and newly developing towns such as Tokmak,
Berdyansk, Mariupol and Andreyevka.
Since the Rassein group consisted of eleven families and Nikitin
records the tribulations of a separate group of eleven families enroute to
the colonies, and Brutzkus identifies this group as that which established
Grafskoy, it can be concluded that the original settlers in Grafskoy were
those of the Rassein group.
Grafskoy is not listed amongst the first six colonies: Novozlatopol,
Veselaya, Krasnoselka, Mezhiretz, Trudoliubovka and Nechaevka. It first
appears in a list of crop yields for 1849 where it is referred to as
`Colony No.7' Each colony was known by number and it can be seen from
other charts that Grafskoy was No.7.
According to `Yevryeyskaya Encyclopaedia' Grafskoy was founded in 1848.
This explains the first crop yield in 1849.The original number of settlers
in Grafskoy by that time had risen to twenty-eight families. These
included the original eleven families from Rassein who had been waiting to
be settled since 1846. The rest of the families were most likely chosen
from a group of twenty-four families originating in Kovno Government who
had been diverted from the Kherson colonies where they had failed to be
absorbed. They were assigned to Grafskoy in conformance with the principle
of homogeneity of origin and their arrival no doubt provided the impetus
to establish an additional colony. The balance of this new group, namely
seven families, may have been settled on Nechaevka (Peness) since it is
known that a number of the families of that colony originated in the town
of Shavli which was in Kovno Government. This town is not listed amongst
the origins of the original 285 families, so settlers from there must have
arrived separately. This raises the possibility that the Gordon family of
Nechaevka which married into the Pogorelsky family of Sladkovodnaya (Kobilnye)
may have originated in Shavli.
It is of interest to speculate as to where the Komisaruks lived between
1846 and 1848. A chart in Nikitin for 1849 shows the number of settlers
destined for particular colonies who had not yet been settled in their
designated homes. It is stated that they lived in nearby villages. It may
be assumed that this had been so for the eleven Rassein families,
including the Komisaruks. Nikitin describes the process of agricultural
training undergone by the settlers whereby they were initially settled in
neighboring German colonies whose farmers taught the Jews agricultural
methods and supervised their work. Bearing in mind the close proximity and
subsequent relationship between the Jews of Grafskoy and the Germans of
Marenfeld (the source of drinking water for Grafskoy and the place of
refuge during the pogroms of 1881 and 1918/19), it would seem likely that
the eleven Rassein families lived in Marenfeld from the time of their
arrival in 1846 until they acquired the requisite farming skills and
established their own colony in Grafskoy in 1848.
`Ir Rassein' states that Rabbi Shlomo-Zalmen Komisaruk died in 1848.
The 1858 Revision List for Grafskoy corrects the date to 1853.So it can be
seen that he hardly had a chance to establish his family in Grafskoy
before his untimely death. However there is some evidence for Rabbi
Shlomo-Zalmen's role in the establishment of the colonies as held by
family tradition. Nikitin lists the number of rabbis living in 1847 in
both the Kherson and Yekaterinoslav colonies. In the latter there was only
one rabbi who had to serve 2500 settlers and this one rabbi may have been
him. This provides the background for an understanding of family tradition
that he was highly respected and influential in the region. Bearing the
only rabbi he would have had a heavy responsibility caring for the
spiritual needs of 2500 people spread over seven colonies.
The cause of Rabbi Shlomo-Zalmen's death can be gauged from reports of
numerous epidemics, principally cholera and scurvy which were particularly
rampant throughout Russia at the time of the establishment of the
colonies.
"As regards the colonies in Ekaterinoslav,
a report made in 1847 by Baron Stempl, superintendent of the colonies
shows that the settlers on arriving in Ekaterinoslav generally found no
provision made for them. They were not permitted the dilapidated shanties
which serve for houses, and were not even allowed to seek shelter in the
neighboring villages until spring, as Stemple had suggested. Those who did
so were cruelly driven back by Cossacks. Epidemics of scurvy and smallpox
occurred soon after ("Archives of Kherson-Bessarabia Board of
Administration," report of Feb. 15, 1849, No. 116; see also Harold
Frederic, "The New Exodus," pp/ 78. 79, New York, 1892). After 1849,
Jewish immigrants from northeastern Russia were directed chiefly to the
government of Ekaterinosalv, where up to 1856, fifteen colonies,
sheltering 766 families, were founded. The Ekaterinoslav colonies were
under the management of a director appoint4ed by the Kherson-Bessarabian
bureau of government domains, and were divided into four districts, with
an overseer at the head of each. The colonists elected their own aldermen,
all the other authorities being Christians. Hebrew schools (hedarim)
were prohibited in the colonies.
"The following
table shows the condition of the Jewish colonies in the government of
Ekaterinoslav in 1890:
"Of the hired help, 106 persons were Christians and 25
were Jews (K. Sluchevski, "Yevreiskiya Kononii," in Russki Vyestnik,"
iv.206, 1890).
Contrast between 1851 and 1865
"In 1856 only four more colonies were founded; namely,
two in the government of Kherson and two in that of Ekaterinoslav. Under a
law enacted in 1866 Jewish colonization ceased entirely. The measure was
adopted mainly for financial reasons, the basket fund no longer sufficing
for both colonization and education. Besides this, New Russia was no
longer in need of artificial colonization. The reports of V.V. Islavin, an
official who visited the colonies in 1851 and again in 1865, enable a
comparison of those years to be made. Instead of the 15 colonies in 1847
there were 37 in 1865---20 in Kherson and 17 in Ekaterinoslav; the 2.210
families in 1851, consisting of 14,780 persons had increased in 1865 to
2,873 families consisting of 32, 943 persons; and instead of 85,563
deciatines of cultivated land in 1851, there were in 1865, 129,521
deciatines.
"The following figures contrasting the conditions of
ten
colonies in 1851 and in 1865 will be of interest:
"In 1869 the Ministry of Domains instituted an inquiry
respecting the Jewish settlers of the New Russian colonies in order to
ascertain how many of them really occupied themselves with agriculture and
how many were indigent and worthless. As a result, in the course of ten
years 10,359 men, women and children were expelled from the class of
agriculturalists. In 1874 all reserve lands, which had been counted as
part of the colonies, were taken away from them."
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
"These results were the more remarkable because it was
exactly in this year 1881 that the colonies received the greatest check to
their development by the riots, which actually reached the colonies
Kherson and Bessarabia and disturbed the sense of security in all the
rest. Several of the best Jewish farmers in Bessarabia emigrated in that
year to the United States and Palestine.
"The May Laws of 1882 (put into application in 1891)
influenced the development of the Agricultural Colonies of Russia only
indirectly. They put a stop to all immigration of the Jewish inhabitants
of the towns into the villages, and indeed sent no less that 50,000 form
the villages into the towns. By this means the development of agricultural
tastes among the Russian Jews was effectively arrested.
Recent Progress
"But the Agricultural Colonies were particularly
exempted from the operation of these enactments. In 1880 a fund to promote
handicraft and agriculture among the Russian Jews was initiated, with a
capital of 200,000 rubles, by S. Poliakov, Baron H. Gunzburg, A. Sack,
Leon Rosenthal, M. Friedland, and others. Seven years later (1887) the
amount of this fund (1.110,271 rubles) was turned over to the general fund
of the government treasury. In 1891 an agricultural school, affiliated
with the Jewish Orphan Asylum was opened at Odessa. In 1899 the government
granted Baron H. Gunzburg permission to found a Jewish Agricultural colony
on his estate in the district of Bendery, government of Bessarabia. The
colony is called Rossianka, and covers 500 deciatines of land, of which
400 are under cultivation, each farmer being entitled to 20. The remaining
100 deciatines are reserved for a common pasture and for futures
enlargements of farms. All the settlers, except soldiers that have served
their time, must be graduates of some agricultural school; an all
storekeepers mist be Christians. ("Abiasaf," 1899, p.361).
"In 1900 according to the latest reports, there were
more that 100,000 Jewish agriculturalists in Russia cultivating their own
farms, 60,000 of whom are settled in 170 colonies. In South Russia, Jews
in great numbers seek work on Christian estates and find employment there.
In Siberia, especially in the district of Krasnoyarsk, there are numerous
Jewish agriculturalists who have established themselves on single farms;
and, except as to their religion, they differ little form the general mass
of the peasants."
from: The Jewish Encyclopedia
Funk and Wagnals 1951
