This final note on the Russian conscription process begins with a
discussion of the cantonist movement. The men who were a part of it
were, unofficially, called by the Russian "lovchiki" or the Yiddish
"khapper" which is translated as both "kidnapper" or, more colloquially,
"one who grabs." And it is with this activity that the stories of
Jews avoiding conscription must come under closest scrutiny. This is
what appears to have happened.
The high quota that was demanded, the brutally severe conditions of
service, and the knowledge that conscripts would be forced to contravene
Jewish religious precepts and cut themselves off from their homes and families,
made those liable for conscription try every means of evading it. The
communal leaders who were made personally responsible for implementing
the law took the easiest way out and filled the quota from children
of the poorest homes.
Every community had special officers, khapers, who siezed the children,
incarcerated them in the communal building and, finally, handed them over
to the military authorities. The khapers were not scrupulous about
adhering to the minimum age of 12 and frequently impressed children as
young as 8. These were alleged by witnesses on oath to have reached
the statutory age. These children were most frequently then spirited away
to inaccessible places (cantonists institutions in Kazan, Orenburg
[now Chklaov], Perm, and Siberia) from where they could not escape and
return home, and where they waited until achieving the age of 12 at
which point they were then formally inducted into the army.
So it seems that something like half of the inductees would not have been
able to claim that they were sole supporters of families since this half was
no older than 12 and more likely no older than 8. The radical author,
A. Herzen, described a meeting in 1835 with a convoy of Jewish cantonists.
"The officer who escored them said, "They have collected a
crew of cursed little Jew boys of 8 or 9 years old. Whether
they are taking them for the navy or what, I can't say. At
first, the orders were to drive them to Perm; then there was a
change and we are driving them to Kazan. I took them over a
hundred versts farther back.' The officer who handed them over
said, 'It's dreadful, and that's all about it; a third were
left on the way' (and the officer pointed to the earth). 'Not
half will reach their destination,' he said.
[material deleted]
"The brough the children and formed them into regular ranks:
it was one of the most awful sights I have ever seen, those
poor, poor children! Boys of 12 or 13 might somehow have
survived it, but little fellows of 8 ..."
The bottom line of all this cantonist activity is this:
1) the khappers seized even Jews possessing legal (and
illegal) passports;
2) the possession of a deferral based on physical condition
was irrelevant;
3) the poimaniki (or the ones who were khapped), were
impressed into service with no ability secure redress;
4) children were the special objects of such raids though
no man was safe upon leaving his home;
5) several sources give the clear impression that the khappers,
themselves, were Jews; it is ironic that the word "khapper" appears
to be a variant of "kapo" though, in fact, it is not.
Insofar as Jews self-mutilating themselves by cutting off toes, a foot,
fingers, an ear, etc., this may indeed have been done by the most
desperate. But the stories that parents maimed their children in this
way cannot, in my view, be accepted at face value. Does any Jew think
that local rabbinic authority would have encouraged, permitted,
tolerated (chose whatever word you wish) the physical mutilation of
children for any purpose whatsoever? Does any Jew think that a
parent would do such a thing to their child, no matter what the
provocation? That parents have killed their children in defense of
HaShem is well documented both in the times of the Crusades, and also
in the best-known case of Masada, but deliberate mutilation of children
is not only unknown, it is a disgusting suggestion. And not for one
moment do I believe these stories or any others of this nature on the
basis of the evidence presented.
However, there were reported cases of children who were made unfit for
service (or at least an attempt was made to make them unfit) by not
permitting them to sleep for days, running them around town for hours until
they were exhausted, and starving them, etc. I can understand, believe,
and accept this, but physical mutilation? No!
This leaves us with only one question yet to be addressed: why do these
stories exist? And for that, I suggest a plausable but invented
hypothesis. Most of the adult Jewish males who came to the United
States came here with forged paper, fleeing Russia as illegal
emmigrants, which, to a certain extent, made them illegal immigrants.
These people were terrified that their illegal presence in the U.S.
would become known and they they and their familities would be
unwillingly returned to Russia.
As a consequence, they made up stories that made their presence in the
U.S. quasi legal; i.e., as the purported only son of a family (and
they had forged documents in support of that -- my great, great uncle
Moshe Singer of Reading, PA was such a forger), they would say that this
legally excused them from service in the Russian army, and their
presence here was much more lawful, at least in their eyes. But if
it were to be found out that their entire paperwork trail was based on
an illegal flight from a sovereign state, they foresaw nothing but
trouble. So they made up bube meises, and their children repeated
them, and we heard them, and we pass them on to our children. And
we spend years trying to find the family "Smith" whose name they adopted
when they became the erstwhile only child of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And there
is no such family because the whole thing never happened that way.
I ask you to accept that, while I am talking as if
I know something, in fact, I do not. This is a lot of speculation
based on the principle of Occam's Razor; i.e., given a situation,
the most likely cause of that situation is the simplest suggestion,
not an elaborate and complicated one.
There are several interesting books on the subject that you may find
enjoyable. I certainly did. Besides the "Journey of David Tobock"
mentioned earlier, there is "The Shteltl Book" by Roskies, "The
Ladsman" by Peter Martin (a fiction novel), "The Persecution of the
Jews in Russia," London, 1891, Report of the Russo-Jewish Committee,
and, of course, the Encyclopedia Judaica, though the 1903 edition is
the more helpful. This latter reference tool is much closer to the
problem and, in my opinion, much more accurate and descriptive.
In closing, I end with two points
1) David Chapin (dchapin@er.arco.com) corrects an error in
an earlier note when he points out that, under the Tsar
Alexander (assassinated in the 1880s), the service duration of
25 years was reduced to 5-10 years. When Alexander was
assassinated the Jews of Russia considered this a great
calamity and the emmigration to the United States doubled and
tripled right after his death. Why? They fear reinsitution of
the 25 year military service requirement.
2) Many Jews considered it their duty to serve in the Russian
army and Sholem Aleichem, in a serious story, comments on how
two Jews spend Passover, proud of their ability to be of
service to their country. When such men completed their 25
years of service, they were considered heros as they returned
to an often very different village from that which they left.
====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@admin.fhda.edu)
), то надо искать где-либо поблизости, т.е. в Смоленской губернии. Вот в одном из источнике говорится о том, что в Поречье( сейчас- город Демидов) была школа военных кантонистов.