Belarusian Jews - Belarusian Jews Under The Russian Empire

Belarusian Jews Under The Russian Empire

Upon annexation of Belarusian lands, Russian czars included the territory into the so-called Pale of Settlement, a western border region of Imperial Russia in which the permanent residence of Jews was allowed. Though comprising only 20% of the territory of European Russia, the Pale corresponded to the historical borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and included much of present-day Belarus, Republic of Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, and parts of western Russia.

By the end of the 19th century, many Belarusian Jews were part of the general flight of Jews from Eastern Europe to the New World due to conflicts and pogroms engulfing the Russian Empire and the anti-Semitism of the Russian czars. Millions of Jews, including tens of thousands of Jews from Belarus, emigrated to the United States of America and South Africa. A small number also emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine.

See also: Jewish Polish history during the 19th century and History of the Jews in Russia and Soviet Union