jews in the russian army

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Jews in the Russian ArmyOleksandr Nayman aa Director of the Kiev Regional Branch of theAssociation for Jewish Studies and JewishCulture ,Published online: 18 Dec 2007.

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Jews in the Russian Army

OLEKSANDR NAYMAN

The participation of the Jews in the Russian Army began with the establishment of theIsraeli Regiment by G. Potemkin in 1786. The Jews helped the Russian Army duringthe war with Napoleon and exhibited heroism during the Crimean and Russo-TurkishCampaigns. After that the discriminating regulations concerning the position of theJews in the Russian Army were somewhat eased. Many Jews received war decorationsfor their exploits during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. More than half amillion Jews fought fascism as members of the Red Army. They occupied fourth placewith respect to the number of awards granted to various nationalities of the SovietUnion.

Jews were not subject to conscription into the Russian Army before 1827,but rather paid a recruitment tax as did others belonging to the pettybourgeois. However, their participation in the Russian Army began muchearlier. The beginning of this could be considered 1786, when Field MarshalPrince Grigorii Potemkin, Empress Catherine IPs favorite, decided toestablish the Israeli Regiment. At first an Israeli Squadron was establishedusing small-town Jews who were put on horseback with Cossack picks andforced to grasp the fundamentals of horseback riding. Potemkin anticipatedthat the Ottoman Empire would soon be destroyed and hoped that theRussian Empire would capture Constantinople and the straits. He planned tomove the Israeli Regiment to Palestine and eventually settle all the Jewsfrom the empire there, since, in his opinion, 'all frauds in Europe originatefrom them'.1

One of the first Christian Zionists in the eighteenth-century, FieldMarshal Prince Charles Joseph de Ligne (1735-1814), who was a friend ofPote'mkin and Catherine II, reported about the Israeli Regiment. He wroteabout the heroism of the Jewish regiment under the command of BerkoIoselevich, who participated in the Polish uprising of 1794 and proved hissteadfastness in a fight against Suvorov's soldiers, and positively assessedthe experience of the establishment of the Israeli Regiment.2 Potemkin'sdeath in 1791 and the French Revolution, however, hindered the formationof Jewish military units in the Russian Army.

Jews did not remain on the sideline during the war between Napoleonand Russia. One of the most virulent anti-Bonapartists was the head of the

The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Vol.11, No.4 (December 1998) pp.133-145PUBLISHED BY FRANK CASS, LONDON

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134 THE JOURNAL OF SLAVIC MILITARY STUDIES

Belorussian Hasidic community, Rabbi Zalman Schneerson (1747-1812).He was responsible for a well-known prophecy concerning the death of theFrench emperor. On his recommendation, rich Jews offered large sums ofmoney to the Russian government to wage war against Napoleon. After thevictorious conclusion of this war, Emperor Alexander I declared 'hismerciful favor' toward them for their behavior during a time of difficulttrials, and promised to 'make a decision regarding their desires and requestsconcerning the improvement of their present situation'.3

While making an inspection tour throughout Belorussia after theFatherland War, the future tsar, Nikolai Pavlovich, wrote in his travel diarythat the Jews 'in 1812 were remarkably loyal to us and even helped us whenthey could only do so at peril to their lives'.4 It was specifically a Jew whobrought Field Marshal Prince Kutuzov a report from General Wittgensteincontaining news regarding enemy movements that was extremely importantfor the Russian commander. Ataman Platov almost captured Napoleon nearthe small town of Oshmiany, thanks to the help of a Jew who, 'led adetachment across mills lying to the side, along a path covered in deepsnow, which was hardly visible'.5

Not far from Velizh (Belorussia), near the village of Babinovichi, severalJews took prisoner a French government courier who was carrying animportant letter from Paris to Napoleon. The prisoner-of-war was sent withdispatches to St Petersburg. Prince S. G. Volkonsky described this incidentin his memoirs.6

The poet Lt Colonel D. V. Davydov, Hero of the Fatherland War,described a battle episode near the village of Liakhovo:

One of the uhlans [Russian light cavalryman] was chasing a Frenchchasseur [light cavalryman] with his saber. Each time the chasseurwas in range, he reigned in and took up the pursuit once again whenthe chasseur turned to flee. Noticing this, I cried to the uhlan, 'Shameon you!' Without saying a single word he turned his horse, shot theFrench chasseur, pursued him, and cut off his head... What wasstrange was the fact that the uhlan, having received the Cross of StGeorge for his exploits, could not wear it... He was a Berdichev Jewwho had enlisted in the uhlans.7

The journal Syn Otechestva [Son of the Fatherland] (No.26, 1816)published an essay, 'News of the Exploits of the Petty Bourgeois Jew, RuvinGummer, from Grodno Province, Krin District'. Gummer, who lived duringthe war on the estate of the landowner Chapsky, hid in his house a certainLieutenant Bogachev, who was a courier carrying an important message forGeneral Tormasov from General Ertel'. Cutting off one of his daughters'braids, Gummer made peiss for the lieutenant, and so disguised, delivered

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JEWS IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY 135

him along with his documents to the Russian units. Discovering what hadhappened, the French 'attacked...the family of the honorable Jew with theferocity of wild beasts, looted his belongings, beat his children and his ill-fated wife, and, having tortured them, hanged them'. Duke Viutembergskyattested to Gummer's exploits. The journal noted that Gummer,unfortunately, did not receive any compensation for his losses.

N. Polikarpov, the director of the Moscow Main Staff Archive (the so-called Lefortovo Archive), wrote that the Jewish postal service, whoseadministrators were Jewish leaseholders, traders, banking house owners,and innkeepers, was almost 24 hours faster than regular messengers andcouriers. In particular, the Jews were faster than General Baggovut'scourier, who was sent to General Barclay de Tolly, and they reported toAlexander I a full 24 hours earlier than the regular courier that Napoleon'sArmy had crossed the Neman River.9 Sometimes the speediness of theJewish courier service worked against them. For example, at the end of thewar, the Jews transmitted some information, which although rapid wasimprecise. Marshal Oudinot managed to convince the Jews that Frenchforces would cross the Berezina River at a location that the French hadselected only for a feint. The Jews reported this information to Admiral A.S.Chichagov and, as a result, Napoleon managed to slip out of the trap. Theadmiral executed three Borisov Jews, but after the true circumstances cameto light they were 'posthumously rehabilitated'.10

The Governor of St Petersburg, General M. A. Miloradovich, said thefollowing about the Jews: 'These people are the most loyal servants of theState; without them we would not have been victorious over Napoleon, andI would not have been decorated with these medals for the War of 1812.'"As distinct from the Jews, the majority of the Russian Empire's Polishpopulation were Bonapartists, which, to a considerable degree, adverselydetermined the nature of Polish-Jewish relations.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the Jews had a distinct favorable attitudetoward the Decembrists, the bands of secret Russian revolutionaries. TheDecembrists' Southern Society was at the center of the Jewish Pale ofSettlement. The headquarters of the Viatskii Regiment, which wascommanded by the insurgent PesteP, was located in the Jewish town ofTul'chin (in the present-day Vinnitsa Oblasi).n Among the Decembrists wasGrigorii Abramovich Peretts, the titular advisor and son of the tax farmerAbram Izrailevich Peretts (1771-1833) who supplied salt to the RussianNavy. G. A. Peretts was accused of establishing the secret society named'Heirut' (which is Hebrew for 'freedom') and was later imprisoned in aspecial casemate in St Petersburg's Peter and Paul Fortress. After twomonths of imprisonment, he was sent to reside in Perm' under local policesupervision. The Berdichev Jew, Davidko Loshak, was also involved in this

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case; he was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress and accused ofpolitical ties with the 'director' of the Southern Society.

'Russkaiapravda' [Russian Truth], the Decembrist formal program, waswritten by P. P. Pestel', who proposed cooperating with the Jews:

...in order to establish a special separate state in some part of AsiaMinor, for which it is necessary to designate an assembly point for theJewish people and provide several forces to support them. If allRussian and Polish Jews gather in one place, then there will be morethan two million of them. It will not be difficult for this number ofpeople who are searching for a homeland to overcome all obstaclesthat the Turks may set up against them. Once they pass throughEuropean Turkey, [they can] cross into Asiatic Turkey, and once there,after occupying sufficient land, [they can] establish a special Jewishstate.13

Apparently Pavel Petrovich was the first Zionist in the Ukraine.After compulsory military service was introduced for Jews in 1827, they

were obliged to provide ten recruits for every thousand souls. For Christiansthis norm was one-third less. Officially, army service began at 12 years ofage, but in practice ten-year-olds were taken into service. Adolescents werethen sent to canton schools, but study there was not considered part of the20-year term of service. Jews in these schools were forced to convert toChristianity by all possible means. They were billeted only in Christianhomes, forced to eat lard and work on Saturday, etc. Officers alsoencouraged conversion to Christianity in all possible means. Those whowere baptized were better fed and dressed and were excused from drills anderrands. Many children, who were even prohibited from corresponding withtheir relatives, perished from this spiritual and physical torment.

When they reached the age of 18, Jews were required to swear to serve'with full obedience to the military leadership as faithfully as if they wereobliged to serve to protect the laws of the land of Israel'.14 The general textof an oath for all Jews was established in 1827, when the first regulationsfor compulsory recruitment were established. The oath was taken in thepresence of a rabbi, who had to sign a document that was preparedaccording to an established formula, which declared that he was performingthe ceremony faithfully and would not leave anything out that was requiredby Jewish law.

Various additional prohibitions were established for Jews. Thus, theywere forbidden to be assigned as batmen [officers' servants] or toquarantine watch duty, to some disability and artisan companies, non-combat companies and squads consisting of guards forces, teams frommilitary schools, etc. Over time, the military leadership evidently

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understood that it was difficult to expect patriotism and heroism from therank and file if they were constantly subjected to restrictions andoppression. In 1832 Emperor Nicholas I permitted Jews to become non-commissioned officers (NCOs), but 'only for excellence in battle against theenemy'. Four years later, [the government] permitted Jews to be decoratedwith military awards for combat exploits, and, one year later, Russianministers proposed that the aged parents of Jewish sailors who were servingin Nikolaev and Sevastopol' be granted the right to live there. However, thesovereign amended the resolution 'to apply to widowed mothers only'.

The number of Jews recruited into service increased fivefold in 1841.Jewish soldiers were permitted to marry, but only under the condition thattheir children were numbered among the cantonists [the inhabitants ofJewish cantons]. Taking into account the impoverished living standard ofthe majority of the Jews, all of whom were eking out a miserable existencein conditions of difficult, tedious labor and day-to-day living, lower normswere established to determine their fitness for military service. Thus, alower minimum chest capacity and height was applied to Jews than forrecruits from other faiths. The family of any Jew who did not appear at therecruitment point on time was fined 300 rubles. Consequently, thepercentage of Jews in the army was considerably higher than the percentageof Jews in the overall Russian population.

The higher recruitment norms for Jews resulted in the recruitment of eveneight-year-olds among the cantonists. Those who did not have passportswere handed over to the recruiters. Some draft-dodgers exploited this fact bykidnapping Jewish people and handing them over as soldiers in the place ofchildren from well-to-do families, who paid for this method of substitution.A book entitled, The Travels of Benjamin III, which is a classic of Jewishliterature written by Mendele Moicher Sforim, dealt with this problem.

Despite the fact that they were prohibited from living there,nevertheless, 500 Jewish soldiers died bravely during the defense ofSevastopol'. A monument to them was erected in the city. It is certainlypossible that this record of heroism influenced the government, since in1856 cantonists younger than 20 years were returned to their parents, andthree years later Jewish soldiers were given the right to indefinite leave after15 years of exemplary service. Later still, Jews who had completed theirservice in the army received the right to live anywhere in the country. In1860 Jews were permitted to serve in guards units, and, in the followingyear, they were allowed to become NCOs with the same rights as Christians.

Archive materials contain many examples of Jewish bravery during theRusso-Turkish Campaign (1877-78). At that time, during the storming of anenemy redoubt near Gornyi Dubnik, surprise Turkish artillery fire producedconfusion in a Russian detachment and prompted it to begin to withdraw.

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Suddenly a loud exclamation, 'Shma Yisroel!' resounded. It turned out thata small group of Jews had advanced while uttering this victory cry, andbehind them the entire assault column broke through the Turkish trenchlines. In this manner, one of the Plevna Fortress's most important redoubtswas captured. General M. G. Cherniaev related the following incident.When the commander of one of his redoubts was killed, he appointed theJew D. A. Gol'dshtein to take his place. Subsequently, the garrison skillfullyrepelled the Turkish attack and Gol'dshtein received a medal for bravery.He was wounded and died in subsequent combat. In yet anotherengagement, on the advice of a Jew, the Russian soldiers put on Turkishfezes [caps] and, while collectively uttering the cry of'Allah', they attackedand produced confusion among the enemy ranks. In another instance, aJewish drummer-boy followed his commander into battle. Rushing into theattack, he carried the entire detachment with him.

General A. N. Kuropatkin, the Tsarist War Minister, later wrote that theTartars and Jews had been able to and would continue to fight and die asheroically as any other Russian soldiers. The general knew well that one-fourth of the Russian Army's 10th and 30th Divisions, which had taken onnew recruits in the Pale of Settlement, consisted of Jews. In fact, they madeup more than half of some companies' composition.

The names of many Jews who perished in the war are etched on amonument to the Muscovite heroes of Plevna that stands behind thePolytechnic Museum in Moscow.

More than 30,000 Jews took part in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5)and about 3,000 more served as military physicians. Jews constituted morethan 10 per cent of the soldiers and officers of some of the companies. Eventhe journal of the Black Hundreds [an anti-Jewish movement], called Novoevremia [New Time] acknowledged their heroism, writing:

What anecdotes do not tell of Jewish cowardice! Nevertheless, duringthe present war many Jews have shown themselves to be excellent,brave, and capable soldiers. Many of them have been awarded the StGeorge Cross, and there are some who even have two or three, andthese crosses are given not by the commanders, but are conferred bythe company itself! And how the other soldiers love these Jews!Officers as well cannot praise them enough!15

Russia lost the Russo-Japanese War and 73,301 men were taken prisonerduring its conduct. However, only 1,739 (2 per cent) of these prisoners wereJews. This percentage is five times less than the overall percentage of Jewsin the Russian Imperial Army.

Corporal Iosif Trumpel'dor (see Figure 3, p.143), who lost his left armin battle, but nevertheless remained in the army, was the first Jew to become

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a Holder of the St George Cross during this war. A special order concerninghis exploits was published throughout the army. Trumpel'dor was also thefirst Jew to become an NCO during the war. Later, during World War I hebecame deputy commander of a Jewish muleteer [mule] detachment thattook part in the British operations at Gallipoli. Trumpel'dor returned toRussia in 1917, where he headed the Chalutsian [Jewish] Movement. Twoyears later, he returned to Palestine along with other members of thismovement. He died in 1920 during a clash with the Arabs.

Private Viktor Schvarts received three St George Crosses while inmilitary service during the Russo-Japanese War. He took part in all of thelarge-scale battles and was wounded 11 times. He also received a medal forsaving a drowning officer. NCO Moisei Shtromakh was awarded both theOrder of St George, 4th Class and 3d Class. During World War I, hereceived the Order of St George, 2d Class and was again wounded threetimes. Zalman Novitsky was wounded by an explosive bullet and receivedthe St George Crosses, 3d Class and 4th Class, for reconnaissance duty andfor saving a divisional transport train.

Mordko Gil'shtein was awarded the Order of St George, 4th Class, forsuccessful reconnaissance duty and for saving a wounded commander. LevKhaikin was awarded two crosses for his exploits during the Japanesecampaign. In addition, he was awarded the Order of St George, 2d Class, forcapturing a spy. Seriously wounded, he found out about the award whilerecuperating in an infirmary. Abram Zel'kovich, a 29-year-old soldier,received two St George Crosses for his part in the war with Japan.Subsequently, during World War I, the Commander-in-Chief himselfpresented him with an order of St George, 2d Class. Mark Tabakov was alsopresented with this award; he had also received the Order of St George, 3dClass and 4th Class during the war with Japan.

Private Chaim Skliar from Kerch' distinguished himself in the Battle atthe Yalu River, where his unit succeeded in capturing a troop train. He wasawarded the Order of St George, 4th Class, for this feat. His exploitscontinued during the next war, when, on 15 September 1914, an enemysoldier captured his regimental flag. Scout Skliar led 36 of his comradeswho made up his reconnaissance detachment in an attack that recovered theflag in hand-to-hand combat. A report about his exploits and his award ofthe Order of St George, 3d Class, was read in Kiev on 6 January 1915.

F. S. Tartakovskii from Cherkassy was awarded with the St GeorgeCross, 3d Class and 4th Class and the St George medal, 4th Class. He wasalso presented with the Order of St George, 2d Class for delivering a veryimportant dispatch after covering three versts [a Russian unit of distanceequal to 2/3 mile] on a wounded horse while under heavy enemy fire. Thereconnaissance scout, NCO Shinderman, was awarded the St George Cross,

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4th Class, for having saved his commander's life under fire and for repellingtwo German machine-guns. Shinderman suffered from shell-shock aftercombat near Vilnius, but soon returned to the front. During a subsequentreconnaissance mission on 2 November 1915, he killed a German officerand captured important documents and war materials that he delivered to hisunit. For this he was awarded the Order of St George, 3d Class.

During a reconnaissance raid near Lyk, the artilleryman Itsko Nazimovfrom Zhitomir reported the presence of two German corps. About 5,000German prisoners, 450 guns, 24 machine-guns and trains, and 50 carts werecaptured during the resulting operation. Nazimov was awarded the Order ofSt George, 4th Class, for his contributions. Corporal Lev Lebedinskii, anartilleryman from Bobrints (in Kherson district), withdrew guns fromtrenches under a rain of shells and was awarded the Order of St George, 4thClass. Later on, for the results of his timely observations, he was awardedthe Order of St George, 3d Class. He later died at his observation post.

It is also necessary to mention the heroism of Jewish youth that reachedthe front in various ways and amazed the soldiers with their combat bravery.Isaak Mal'tinskii, a 14-year-old from the Smorgon'- Vilenskaia District,received the St George Cross, 4th Class, for breaking through a barbed wireobstacle in the Carpathian Mountains region. In the majority of cases, mostof these youth served as reconnaissance scouts. David Boch from theMedibozha-PodoPskaia District was awarded the St George Crosses, 4thClass and 3d Class, as well as the St George medal, for reconnaissance heconducted in the enemy's rear area. I. Kaem, a 15-year-old volunteer,infiltrated into an enemy camp, passed himself off as an Austrian subject,enlisted in the army, and remained there for several days. Upon his return,he reported important intelligence information and was presented with theOrder of St George, 4th Class, for his feat.

Marcus Keilin, a 16-year-old and another yet another volunteer scout,carried out his combat assignment by killing two sentries and removing thebreach mechanisms from two enemy guns. He took part in 18 battles andwas awarded the St George medal for saving his wounded commander.Isaak Gol'dberg, a 15-year-old volunteer, received the St George Crosses,3d Class and 4th Class, for successful reconnaissance and for saving awounded warrant officer whom he carried out from under fire under a hailof bullets.

Solomon Evzerovich, a 17-year-old from Zhitomir, was decorated fortransferring machine guns from one front to another under enemy fire. IosifGutman was four years younger than Evzerovich when he twice ran awayfrom his parents to joint the army. Several times he carried out the mostdangerous assignments and was awarded the St George Cross for bravery.

A. Kaplan, who fought in East Prussia, was also awarded the St George

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Cross. He received his decoration for capturing German guns and machine-guns, and for successful reconnaissance duty. Once, while disguised as apeasant, he stole into the enemy camp, gathered important intelligenceinformation, and transmitted it to his leaders. This made it possible toeliminate an enemy battery. Lev Faingor, A. Zvimanovich, A. Katsnel'son,Meyer Bondar' (see Figure 1, p.142), Zakharii Shor (see Figure 4, p.144),Genrikh Berger, and Mordukh Ploskin all received St George crosses of allfour classes.

Berko Vol'rekhit, Lev Borishpol'skii, Isaak Sokolovskii, Iosif Bursakov,Il'ia Matskin, Avraam Bokfel'd, Zalman Faibisovich, and Shlema Vaniarshwere all awarded two Orders of St George. Isaak Shnirel'man, AisikGorodnitskii, Abram Ulengaik, and Naum Rit were awarded both the Orderof St George and the St George medal. Aron Kruglikov, Izrail' Konevskii,Ben'iamin Vaserman, and Iosif Sokhchevskii received three orders and amedal, and Samuil Beker received two orders and a medal.

Faivel' Sandal, Mordukh Blokh, Zelik Blait, Mordukh Grosman, PinkusIzrailevich, Berko Lantsman, Mordka Aptekar', Samuil Khiursh, AleksandrRabinovich, Shlema Meerovskii, Nuta Gol'dfarb, Semen Shraiber, MoiseiKnofmakher, Gersh Baibus, Leiba Plis, Khanan Bogach, Itser Shuster,Movsha Burakovskii, Leiba Maizner, Zelik Teterovskii, IankeFPomeranchev, Moisei Beriuk, Biniamin Shriber, Gersh Golander, Lazar'Grinborg, Aron Kantor, Shmul' Presman, Samul Lifshits, Iankel'Basibelevich, Iankel' Sherman, Avraam Kalika, Meer Kantsel'son, IakovBliakher, Itska Reznikov, Shlema Beisman, and Arii Borovskii wereawarded the Order of St George. KhaskeF Lisitsa, Shmul' Shteingart, BerMaikher, Aron Rybak, Iankel' Rychevoi, Vol'ka Berkovich, MoiseiLitinskii, Ber Kukli, Elizar Krashenyi and Elia El'kin received the StGeorge medal. Abram Khanknover, Borukh Gurvich, Abram Prusskii, IosifVilin, Girsh Ashkinazi, Stanisalv Rotshtadt, Bin'iamin Bil'kovich, IsaakChudnovskii, and Iosif Zibko were awarded two St George medals.16

Jewish fighters also exhibited their heroism in subsequent wars. Jewswho fought fascism as members of the Red Army occupied fourth placewith respect to the number of awards granted to the country's variousnationalities. Around 150 Jews were awarded with the title of Hero of theSoviet Union.

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FIGURE 1

CAVALRY HEROES

l.M. Z. Bondar 3. M. Dubovitsky

4. Z. Dubovitsky 5. Z. Dubovitsky 6. M. Z. Gol'din

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FIGURE 2

HERO CAVALRYMEN OF THE 145th VORONEZH MILITIA'S [DRYZH1NY]1st COMPANY

1. Luka Zaluzdannyi (Ukrainian), 2. Illarion Opelad (Moldavian). 3. Vasilii Semenov (Russian),4. Vladimir Bzhezinsky (Pole), 5. Aleksandr Kaukhov (Russian), 6. Iosif Shvets, 7. BorisBlizniuk (Jew).

FIGURE 3

l.TsionMadel' 2. Iosif Trumpel'dor

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FIGURE 4

(Left to right) Z. Shor, F. Kozorez, E. Kaufman

NOTES

Oleksandr Nayman, 'Evrei v rossiiskoi armii', translated by Dr Harold S. Orenstein, CombinedArms Doctrine Directorate, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

1. S. Dudakov, Istoriia odnogo mifa [History of a myth] (Moscow 1993) p.30.2. See Der Furst von Ligne (Vienna 1924) p.192.3. Iu. I. Gessen, Istoriia evreiskogo naroda v Rossii [History of the Jews in Russia], Vol.1 [St

Petersburg 1916], p.361; Rassvet [Dawn] 4 (1931) pp.10-11.4. Quoted in N.K. Shil'dnr, Imperator Nikolai Pervyi, ego zhizn' i tsartsvovanie [Emperor

Nicholas I, his life and reign as tsar] (St Petersburg 1903) p.68.5. Zapiski Alekseia Petrovicha Ermolova [Notes of Aleksei Petrovich Ermolov] Part I (Moscow

1865) pp.258, 270.6. Zapiski Sergeia Grigor'evicha Volkonskogo [Notes of Sergei Grigor'evich Volkonskii] (St

Petersburg 1912) pp.174-5.7. D. V. Davydov, Sochineniia [Works] (Moscow 1962) p.364.8. Translator's note: peis are the long side-curls worn by Hasidic Jews.9. See Ia. I Sanglen, 'Zapiski' [Notes], Russkaia starina (March 1883) pp.543-4.

10. S. M. Ginsburg, Otechesvennaia voina 1812 g. i russkie evrei [The Fatherland War of 1812and Russian Jews] (St Petersburg 1912) pp.93-6.

11. Quoted in I.L. Orshanskii, 'Iz noveishei istorii evreev v Rossii' [From the latest history ofthe Jews in Russia], Evreiskaia biblioteka [Jewish library], Vol.2 (St Petersburg 1872) p.253.

12. See Dekabristy. Biograficheskii spravochnik [The Decembrists. A biographical handbook](Moscow 1988); Ukraina-Izrail' 1 (1992); Evreiskaia gazeta [Jewish newspaper], 22 (1991).

13. P. P. Pestel', Russkaia starina [Russian antiquity] (St Petersburg 1906) p.53.

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14. Evreiskaia entsiklopediia [Jewish encyclopedia], Vol.12 (St Petersburg 1908-11) p.933.15. Novoe vremia, 6 Aug. 1904.16. See Jewish News, 13-14 (1995).

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jews in the russian army

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