Pogrom

The term pogrom entered English from Russian, where it means “devastation” or “riot.” It is generally used to describe a violent attack, often with official complicity, against a minority group. While the word is most closely tied to anti-Jewish violence, it has been applied to other ethnic and religious persecutions, such as the 1955 Istanbul pogrom against Greeks and Armenians. Scholars debate the precise boundaries of the term, with some reserving it for state-sponsored or tolerated attacks and others using it more broadly for communal riots.

Pogroms in the Russian Empire occurred in three major waves: the 1821–1871 period, the 1881–1884 wave following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, and the 1903–1906 wave that included the infamous Kishinev pogrom. These attacks often erupted in the Pale of Settlement, where Jews were legally confined. Authorities frequently did little to stop the violence, and some officials were suspected of instigating it. The 1903 Kishinev pogrom, which killed dozens and injured hundreds, drew international condemnation and spurred Jewish emigration and self-defense movements.

During the Russian Civil War (1918–1921), pogroms in Ukraine and other regions claimed tens of thousands of Jewish lives, perpetrated by various factions including White Army forces, Ukrainian nationalists, and others. The Holocaust saw a different scale of systematic genocide, but the term pogrom is sometimes used for the 1938 Kristallnacht attacks in Nazi Germany. After World War II, pogroms continued in Poland, such as the 1946 Kielce pogrom, which killed 42 Jews and led to a mass exodus of Holocaust survivors. The term has also been applied to violence against other groups, such as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India and the 1955 Istanbul pogrom.

One lesser-known aspect is the role of Jewish self-defense organizations, such as the Ha-Shomer and the Jewish Bund, which emerged in response to pogroms. Another is the impact of the 1881–1884 pogroms on Jewish political thought, contributing to the rise of Zionism and Jewish socialism. The term pogrom has also been used in political rhetoric, sometimes controversially, to describe non-Jewish violence, such as the 2002 Gujarat riots in India. Additionally, the 1955 Istanbul pogrom, which targeted Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, is often overlooked in Western histories but had a profound effect on Turkey's minority communities.

Pale of Settlement

A western region of the Russian Empire where Jews were legally permitted to reside, established in 1791 and abolished in 1917.

Kishinev pogrom

A violent anti-Jewish riot in 1903 in Kishinev (now Chișinău, Moldova), which resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.

Kristallnacht

The Night of Broken Glass, a series of coordinated attacks on Jews in Nazi Germany and Austria on November 9–10, 1938.