On March 1, 1881 (according to the old calendar), members of the “Narodnaya Volya” organization carried out an assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II in St. Petersburg. At 3:35 p.m., the imperial standard was lowered from the flagpole of the Winter Palace—the city’s residents were informed of the sovereign’s death.
When news of the monarch’s death reached Kharkiv, crowds of city residents began gathering outside the offices of local newspapers early in the morning, demanding reliable information. Meanwhile, in churches and houses of worship of various faiths, memorial services were held for the deceased, and people swore allegiance to the new emperor, Alexander III.
On March 11, the acting Governor-General, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky, departed from Kharkiv for St. Petersburg by express train, accompanied by Raevsky, the head of the chancellery; Colonel Prince Golitsyn; Captain Volkhovsky, and Staff Captain Saltykov. A delegation elected by the city duma also departed on the same train.
And on March 15, when the late emperor’s ashes were laid to rest, the entire empire—and with it, our city—was plunged into deep mourning. All the stores were closed. Black banners hung in the streets, and the churches were overflowing with worshippers.
Over time, grief gave way to anger in people’s hearts. The tsar’s assassination was called “the work of Jewish hands.” As early as March 23, a pogrom took place in Lubny. In Yelisavetgrad, on April 15–17, a mob also ransacked Jewish homes. Only thanks to the intervention of the police and soldiers was the madness brought to a halt. About 500 rioters were arrested.
At the same time, journalists in Kharkiv newspapers expressed outrage over the pogrom and wrote about the opening in our city of yet another low-cost cafeteria by the ladies of the Jewish Community, where, for a nominal fee, not only people of the Jewish faith can receive their daily bread.
In late April 1881, a wave of pogroms against Jews swept through the southern provinces:
April 25—in the town of Berezovka;
April 27—in the city of Ananyev;
April 27–29—a pogrom in Konotop.
In the Kiev Governorate, between mid-April and early May, pogroms took place in 50 settlements. The mob spared no one. For example, in the town of Smela, a seven-year-old Jewish boy from a nearby village was killed simply for refusing to make the sign of the cross. The most brutal pogrom took place in Kyiv on April 26–27. In a single day, the rioters destroyed about 1,000 homes and stores, killed and wounded several dozen Jews, and raped about 20 women. It was not until the 27th that troops were deployed to the streets to restore order. During the clashes, the soldiers themselves were wounded, and more than 500 people were taken into custody.
Needless to say, the events in Kyiv shocked the public. Rumors spread rapidly that the wave of pogroms might spread from the Chernihiv, Poltava, Yekaterinoslav, and Kyiv provinces to the Kharkiv province. In our city, the authorities reacted immediately. As early as April 27 and 30, Governor Pyotr Apollonovich Gresser wrote to the Kharkiv provincial military commander, requesting that the police force be reinforced with troops.
The Sumy District Governor was ordered to step up surveillance at factories and plants and, at the very first signs of attempts to incite unrest, to take lawful measures to prevent it. Order No. 1 of May 3, “Regarding the Troops Stationed in the City of Kharkiv,” specified that three companies on duty were to be assigned to suppress any disturbances. In the event of pogroms, all other troops were ordered to take up positions in predetermined squares. Mikhailovskaya, Tyuremnaya, and Mironositskaya Squares were designated as assembly points for army units. The commander of the Cossack companies stationed in our city was ordered to carry out any emergency order received from the governor or the police chief at any time of day or night, without waiting for a specific directive from the provincial military commander. After the troops were assembled, their subsequent advance through the city, as well as the occupation of streets and strategically important sites (buildings, bridges), was described in great detail.
At the same time, the Governor-General of Kharkiv, Dmitry Ivanovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky, expressed his deep concern that a significant number of troops had been diverted from their direct duties and activities in order to prevent unrest. He pointed this out to the Governor of Kharkiv, Gresser: “Such a method of safeguarding public safety cannot be tolerated for a long time.”
He also asked Pyotr Apollonovich to investigate whether the tense situation in Kharkiv was the result of unscrupulous individuals inciting the population. It should be noted that such instigators did indeed exist in our city. For example, on that same May 3, the police officer in charge of the 4th precinct reported to the Kharkiv police chief that when a crowd of more than 200 workers had gathered on Universitetskaya Street to negotiate with a contractor, two drunk young men approached them from the direction of the fish market and began shouting, “Hey, guys, let’s go beat up the Jews!” The provocateurs were immediately arrested, and the police ordered the workers to disperse. Based on the order issued to the troops on May 5, the entire Kharkiv city police force also received detailed instructions on how to prevent possible disturbances.
On the same day, all the newspapers in our city published two appeals from the governor to the residents. The first statement urged people, in the event of unrest, not to swell the crowd out of curiosity—thereby putting themselves in danger—to comply with all police orders, and not to give in to the temptation to take part in the unrest.
The second announcement was aimed more at factory workers and the factory owners themselves.
On May 6, an encrypted telegram arrived in Kharkiv from the Minister of the Interior. In it, Count Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev informed the Governor-General that they had received information about riots planned for this coming Sunday in our city.
On that same day, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky informed a concerned delegation from Kharkiv’s Jewish community that, at the first sign of a disturbance, he would stop at nothing to restore peace. In his appeal to all residents of the Kharkiv Governorate, Svyatopolk-Mirsky pointed out that only enemies of the state could sympathize with pogroms, which benefit thieves and looters.
Governor Gresser deemed it necessary that on May 8, 9, and 10, all bars and restaurants in Kharkiv open no earlier than 11 a.m. and close no later than 8 p.m.
The previously mentioned orders issued to the military and police in anticipation of unrest on May 7 were significantly expanded and slightly modified. The following day, law enforcement was stepped up on the streets. As a result, May 8, 9, and 10 passed peacefully. However, it was too early to let one’s guard down. In the days that followed, leaflets began to appear on the city streets, insistently calling on residents to carry out pogroms against Jews. The police transcribed the texts of these leaflets and submitted them to the Kharkiv authorities.
Consequently, the governor proposed that the Minister of Internal Affairs impose restrictions on sales at drinking establishments on May 17, 21, 24, and 31, and June 1. Since a number of military units returned to their camps on May 16, the order “Regarding the Troops Stationed in the City of Kharkiv,” issued in anticipation of possible unrest, was amended for the third time.
At the same time, pogroms against Jews took place in several other cities throughout the empire:
May 1—in the city of Aleksandrovsk (Yekaterinoslav Governorate);
May 3–5—in Odessa;
May 3—in the city of Romny (Poltava Governorate);
May 4–5—in Orekhov;
May 9—in Shpola and Ananyev;
May 10—in Konotop and Vasylkiv.
Then a wave of pogroms swept through:
June 12 — Boryspil;
June 30–July 2 — Pereyaslav;
July 20–22 — Nizhyn;
December 13 — Warsaw.
And not a single one—in Kharkiv or the province. It’s heartening that, amid all this chaos and malice, our beloved city has still managed to hold its ground. Much of the credit for this goes to its residents and the coordinated efforts of the police and the military. I think we have every right to be proud of this and to remember it.
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