Jews and the Jewish Question in the Kiev General Governors’ Reports in 1864–1878

Abstract

The article discusses and analyzes excerpts from the reports of the Kiev general governors from the years 1864–1872 devoted to the Jewish community. These reports are a very important, but, so far, hardly used source referring to the history of the Southwestern Krai (governorates: Kiev, Podolia and Volhynia). In the first years after the January Uprising, the most important task for the Russian administration in this area was carrying out activities aimed at weakening Polish influence. The Jewish question was therefore left in abeyance. Only General Governor Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov paid more attention to it, fearing that the Jews, after the weakening of Polish influence, would take the leading position in the country’s economy. The analysis of the reports proves that all the general governors considered the Jews as a detached group living at the expense of society. The main reason for this situation was specificity of the Jewish religion. They believed that the key to solving the Jewish question could be the abolition of the Pale of Settlement and permission for Jews to settle throughout the Russian Empire. However, the opinions and proposals contained in the reports did not have a major impact on the policy of the state.