Kishinev Pogrom - Official Russian Version of Events

Official Russian Version of Events

The Russian ambassador in the United States Count Cassini (maternal grandfather of fashion designer Oleg Cassini and journalist Igor Cassini) claimed in an interview on May 18, 1903:

"There is in Russia, as in Germany and Austria, a feeling against certain of the Jews. The reason for this unfriendly attitude is found in the fact that the Jews will not work in the field or engage in agriculture. They prefer to be money lenders. ... The situation in Russia, so far as the Jews are concerned is just this: It is the peasant against the money lender, and not the Russians against the Jews. There is no feeling against the Jew in Russia because of religion. It is as I have said—the Jew ruins the peasants, with the result that conflicts occur when the latter have lost all their worldly possessions and have nothing to live upon. There are many good Jews in Russia, and they are respected. Jewish genius is appreciated in Russia, and the Jewish artist honored. Jews also appear in the financial world in Russia. The Russian Government affords the same protection to the Jews that it does to any other of its citizens, and when a riot occurs and Jews are attacked the officials immediately take steps to apprehend those who began the riot, and visit severe punishement upon them."

Read more about this topic:  Kishinev Pogrom

Famous quotes containing the words official, russian, version and/or events:

    The honor my country shall never be stained by an apology from me for the statement of truth and the performance of duty; nor can I give any explanation of my official acts except such as is due to integrity and justice and consistent with the principles on which our institutions have been framed.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

    Watching a woman make Russian pancakes, you might think that she was calling on the spirits or extracting from the batter the philosopher’s stone.
    Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)

    Exercise is the yuppie version of bulimia.
    Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)

    One of the extraordinary things about human events is that the unthinkable becomes thinkable.
    Salman Rushdie (b. 1948)