Russia's Minority Jews As Cannon Fodder: Our History

 Nadene Goldfoot                                        

          Conscripts in today's Russian Army:  Hundreds of thousands of young Russian men are drafted into the country's military every year, a practice carried over from the Soviet Union-era and the Tsarist systems before that.   It is being revived at this moment.  No wonder that the Ukrainians have been so successful.  They have their country to defend while the Russian army is there without good reason.  

Today's young Russian men are being tapped to go directly into the Russian army without any previous experience.  The TV News is full of such reports such as ABC's viewing.  An interview of just such a  man was presented, and he was ready to do i

 Russians, mainly parents of draft-a get

 

Our Jewish history of living in Russia had pinpointed Jewish boys, not even yet men, who were used by the Russians in the army for front line duties.  That's why so many mothers would disfigure their sons somewhat in order to dissuade the army from taking them; horrible as it sounds.  There was no Canada close by to send them to in order to evade that knock at the door.

Conscription is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day under various names.  This is exactly what's taking place today; September 2022 in Russia.  Young men are being physically forced, picked up bodily and taken away to the army.  It's being shown on television.

Cantonists were underage sons of conscripts in the Russian Empire. From 1721 on they were educated in special "canton schools" (Кантонистские школы) for future military service (the schools were called garrison schools in the 18th century). The canton schools and the cantonist system were eventually abolished in 1857, following public and international criticism and the Russian defeat in the Crimean War.

Jewish cantonist recruits in 1843–1854, according to statistics of the Russian War Ministry. Only in the eleven years listed below – the total of 29,115 children were conscripted. Basing on these data, it was estimated that between 1827 and 1856, there were over 50,000 of them.

After 1827, the term was applied to Jewish and Karaite boys, who were drafted to military service at the age of twelve and placed for their six-year military education in cantonist schools. Like all other conscripts, they were required to serve in the Imperial Russian army for 25 years after the completion of their studies (in 1834 the term was reduced to 20 years plus five years in reserve and in 1855 to 12 years plus three years of reserve). According to the "Statute on Conscription Duty" signed by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia on August 26 (September 7 new style), 1827, Jews were made liable to personal military service and were subject to the same conscription quota as all other tax-paying estates ("sosloviya") in the Russian Empire. The total number of conscripts was uniform for all populations (four conscripts per each thousand subjects); however, the actual recruitment was implemented by the local qahals and so a disproportionate number of Jewish conscripts were underage.

In the aftermath of the Polish uprising of 1831, children of political prisoners and boys on the streets of captured cities often were abducted, and placed in cantonist schools, with the intent of their Russification, see Incorporation of Polish children into the Imperial Russian Army (1831-1832) for more.

The vast majority of Jews entered the Russian Empire with the territories acquired as the result of the last partitions of Poland of the 1790s; their civil rights were severely restricted (see Pale of Settlement). Most lacked knowledge of the official Russian language. 

Before 1827, Jews were doubly taxed en lieu of being obligated to serve in the army  and their inclusion was supposed to alleviate this burden. However, the number of recruits reduced the number of young men that could go into the workforce, and this in combination with political restrictions led to widespread destitution.

Pale of Settlement: 25 provinces of Czaraist  Russia (Poland, Lithuania, White Russia, Ukraine, Bessarabia, Crimea)

Russia was divided into northern, southern, eastern, and western "conscription zones" and the levy was announced annually for only one of them. The Pale of Jewish settlement was outside conscription in the fallow years, so the conscription in general and of cantonists in particular occurred once every four years, except during the Crimean War (1853-1856), when conscription was annual. 

The first 1827 draft involved some 1,800 Jewish conscripts; by the qahal's decision half of them were children. In 1843 the conscription system was extended to the Kingdom of Poland that was previously exempt from it.

The 'decree of August 26, 1827' made Jews liable for military service, and allowed their conscription between the ages of twelve and twenty-five. Each year, the Jewish community had to supply four recruits per thousand of the population. Strict quotas were imposed on all communities and the qahals were given the unpleasant task of implementing conscription within the Jewish communities. 

Since the merchant-guild members, agricultural colonists, factory mechanics, clergy, and all Jews with secondary education were exempt, and the wealthy bribed their way out of having their children conscripted, fewer potential conscripts were available; the adopted policy deeply sharpened internal Jewish social tensions. Seeking to protect the socio-economic and religious integrity of Jewish society, the qahals did their best to include “non-useful Jews” in the draft lists so that the heads of tax-paying middle-class families were predominantly exempt from conscription, whereas single Jews, as well as "heretics" (Haskalah influenced individuals), paupers, outcasts, and orphaned children were drafted. They used their power to suppress protests and intimidate potential informers who sought to expose the arbitrariness of the qahal to the Russian government. In some cases, communal elders had the most threatening informers murdered (such as the Ushitsa case, 1836), see mesirah. 

The Crimean War was a military conflict fought from October 1853 to February 1856 in which Russia lost to an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. The zoning rule was suspended during the Crimean war, when conscription became annual. During this period the qahals leaders would employ informers and kidnappers (Russian: "ловчики", lovchiki, khappers), as many potential conscripts preferred to run away rather than voluntarily submit. In the case of unfulfilled quotas, younger boys of eight and even younger were frequently taken.

Training and pressures to convert

Herzel Yankel Tsam, one of only eight recorded exceptions in the Russian army in the 19th century of Jewish cantonists who rose to the rank of officer without first converting to Christianity. Drafted as a 17-year-old cantonist, he became an officer in 1873. He was not allowed any promotions beyond captain until his retirement after 41 years of service, when he was given rank and pension of a colonel. In spite of pressures, he never converted.

All cantonists were institutionally underfed, and encouraged to steal food from the local population, in emulation of the Spartan character building. On one occasion in 1856, a Jewish cantonist, Khodulevich, managed to steal the Tsar's own watch during military games at Uman. Not only was he not punished, but he was given a reward of 25 roubles for his prowess.

The boys in cantonist schools were given extensive training in Russian grammar (and sometimes literature), and mathematics, in particular geometry necessary in naval and artillery service. Those who showed aptitude for music were trained in singing and instrumental music, as the Imperial Army had a large demand for military wind bands and choirs. Some cavalry regiments maintained equestrian bands of torban players, and cantonist schools supplied these as well. Some cantonist schools also prepared firearms mechanics, veterinarians for cavalry, and administrators ("auditors").

       Religion Conversion

The official policy was to encourage their conversion to the state religion of Orthodox Christianity and Jewish boys were coerced to baptism. As kosher food was unavailable, they were faced with the necessity of abandoning of Jewish dietary laws. Polish Catholic boys were subject to similar pressure to convert and assimilate as the Russian Empire was hostile to Catholicism and Polish nationalism. Initially, conversions were few, but after the escalation of missionary activities in the cantonist schools in 1844, about one third of all Jewish cantonists would have undergone conversion. There must be many Russian men surprised at finding their DNA matching Jewish people these days, and this is also true of German men as well.  I've even had experience with finding that happen to me.  They'll swear their ancestors never included any Jews and can possibly be quite huffy about it.  

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonist#:~:text=Jewish%20cantonist%20recruits%20in%201843,were%20over%2050%2C000%20of%20them.

https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-conscripts-in-the-russian-military-2015-10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War