Notes Chapter 1 1. The following definitions are employed in this study: (a) 'Intellectuals' comprise an occupational group within, and ideologically supportive of the middle class. Their role is to produce, distribute and exchange ideas (cf. Eagleton, 1976: 59-76; Lipset and Dobson, 1972: 137-8). (b) Although it departs somewhat from the meaning of the Russian original (see Pollard, 1964) it will be useful to define the 'intelligentsia' as an occupational group of persons who (i) are structurally divorced from the middle class and (ii) produce, distribute and exchange ideas which are supportive of non-dominant classes. Following the Russian original, one member of the intelligentsia is referred to as an intelligent, more than one as intelligenty. Both are pronounced with a hard 'g'. 2. Although erring in the opposite direction is probably just as common. See, for example, (Shub, 1944). Chapter 2 1. 'As it Christians, so it Jews.' 2. Historians frequently point out that western European feudalism was in many respects quite unlike the eastern European serf system and therefore reserve the term feudalism only for the west (see Blum, 1961: goff.; Florinsky, 1947: vol. 1, 108 ff.). In order to avoid the disputes concerning this issue, I shall, following Dobb (1963 [1947]: 35), use the term feudalism as a synonym for serfdom. 3· On earlier settlements, see (Dubnow, 1916-20: vol. 1, 13-43). 4· Taking the case of northern medieval Europe to be typical, many have ignored the widespread participation of Jews in agriculture and crafts in other times and places. (See Wischnitzer, 1965). 5· The remainder were employed as clerks and assistants to Jewish businessmen, in religious occupations such as rabbi, scribe, beadle and the like, as professionals (notably doctors), as craftsmen and even as agriculturalists. 6. A computation by Weinryb (1972: 153) of blood libel accusations, charges of profanation of the holy wafer, pogroms, etc., for the period 1542-1717 reveals that such excesses were concentrated in western urban areas, thus indicating a close 'connection between false accusations plus pogroms and the competitive struggle for livelihood between burghers and the Jews'. The thesis that anti-Semitism grew with the rise of indigenous bourgeoisies in Europe was first advanced by W. Roscher (1944 [1875]). For a favourable appraisal of his argument, see (Kisch, 1944). For a critique, see (Oelsner, 1958-g). Notes 119 7. Later, when declining opportunities in the mercantile sphere necessitated the growth of Jewish artisanry, apprentices could turn only to Jewish masters, restricted as they were from Christian guilds. Thus, the concentration ofJews in particular branches of production took on a certain momentum of its own. 8. Gerschenkron (in Habbakuk and Postan, 194I -67: 706-7) argues that 'there is little evidence that in the decades preceding the emancipation the institution of serfdom had become incompatible with the growth of agricultural output'. Rather, the two main motives behind Emancipation were (a) the state's desire to increase production after humiliating defeat in the Crimean War; and, more important, (b) its desire to be saved from the dangers of peasant unrest. The reasons for Emancipation were, then, of a political rather than an economic character. The problem with Gerschenkron's view is that it involves a misunderstand­ ing on the argument I employ in the text. The contention that contradictions between forces and relations of production resulted in the abolition of serfdom does not mean that existing class relations blocked all growth of agricultural output, as Gerschenkron interprets it; it means that the growth of output as a whole was hampered by existing class relations. The evidence he cites is therefore not a refutation of the explanation I employ. (In fact, he adds weight to what he calls 'the usual sweeping generalisations' by demonstrating how serfdom acted as a 'trammel upon industrial development' [ibid.: 7 I 5; also Gerschen­ kron, I 962: I 7] ) . Furthermore, it is undoubtedly true that the state wished to increase productivity in order to catch up with the great powers and that it feared increasing peasant unrest. Such motives clearly played an important role in the decision to emancipate the serfs. However, it could be argued that both low productivity and peasant unrest were produced by the inefficiencies of the institution of serfdom itself. Political motives, in other words, derived from this social (not merely 'economic') fact. 9· Notably, an important role in the early industrialisation of Russia was played precisely by those able to escape such obligations- the religious schismatics or 'Old Believers'. They fled to the Russian hinterland, beyond the reach of the bureaucracy, when the remnants of Church democracy were being destroyed by Archbishop Nikon. Persecution caused the Old Believers to withdraw into self-sufficient communities and 'to accumulate the money which provided their only protection and power' according to Blackwell. The parallel with the Jewish community is striking. See (Blackwell, 1968: 2I2-4o; also Gerschen­ kron, I970: I-6I; Bill, I959: 18-108). 10. All this applies only to the peasants who belonged to private landowners-about 40 per cent of the total number of peasants. No attempt will be made here to discuss the complex legislation affecting the remainder. Attached to the state and the royal family, the latter were, generally speaking, rather less harshly dealt with in terms of both the size and valuation of their allotments. Nevertheless, it may safely be said that they greeted Emancipation with little more enthusiasm than the others. I I. This impression was substantiated by Professor Robert Johnson in con­ versation with the author (in Toronto, 10 Aug I976). I2. After three partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795) Poland's territory was divided among Russia, Prussia and Austria. Having succumbed to Napoleonic forces at Jena in I8o6, Prussia's share of the spoils was next transformed into the I 20 The Jewish Intelligentsia and Russian Marxism Duchy ofWarsaw. The subsequent defeat of Napoleon led to the establishment of Congress Poland in IBIS as a kingdom attached to Russia. Finally, after an unsuccessful uprising in I 83 I, Congress Poland was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In this way Poland became Russia's Ireland. I3· My own views regarding this matter have been influenced by (Berkowitz, I976). I 4· In not a few cases-such as that of the Brodsky brothers, the sugar barons-wealthy Jews entered industry by first subsidising factories owned by indebted landlords and then taking over production completely. IS. Only the very wealthy could establish banks, while in railroad financing 'only the powerful and experienced railway "kings" were able to obtain the shares' (Westwood, I964: 68). Jews with middling capital were, however, able to invest in co-operative credit associations and non-interest loan societies (Dijur in Frumkin et al., I966: I38). I6. Wealthy Jews also stopped buying goods produced by the jewish community. The products made by the jewish artisan were generally oflow quality, while religious articles were no longer purchased because the wealthy tended to assimilate into Gentile society. q. A study by the jewish Colonisation Association (Evreyskago ..., I904: vol. 2, table 4I) reports soo,986 Jewish artisans in the whole Pale (i.e., including Poland). Margolin ( I908: 24S) has convincingly argued that due to faulty data-gathering techniques a more accurate figure would be at least 6oo,ooo. While I agree with Margolin's argument, I have accepted the soo,ooo figure as an estimate for the Pale exclusive of Poland. I8. Even within the Pale itself many of the large factories were, as Olga Crisp writes of the Ukrainian metallurgical industry, 'set up amidst the wild steppe' (I 9s9: 83) where Jews were forbidden to reside. (Although] ewish entrepreneurs were of course able to form joint-stock companies, retain controlling interest in their enterprises and conduct their affairs from the city [Yuditzky, n.d. ( I93o?): 69].) For further discussion of why Jews did not enter large industry, see (Brym, I976: Ss-7; Leshchinsky, I9o6; Mendelsohn, I970: 20 ff.). Chapter 3 I. By assimilation I mean the process by which one transfers one's identity from one ethnic community to another. 2. Ioffe was actually a member of the Karaite sect. The Karaites differed from other Jews in that they rejected the oral tradition (the Talmud). But given the fact that Karaism was even stricter in the demands it placed on adherents than rabbinism and that it embodied most of the key beliefs of traditional judaism, it seems acceptable to categorise Ioffe as jewish. The fact that his wife recently emigrated from the Soviet Union to Israel leads one to suspect that some level of Jewish consciousness, however weak, persisted in his family. (See 'Soviet Emigrant .. .'.) 3· Nor should one attribute the non-assimilation of some wealthy Jews living within the Pale to the high social density ofjewish communities there. The wealthy 'Rothschilds' ofPinsk, for example, did not assimilate as much as one would predict on the basis of some crude measure of class position; but this probably had a great deal to do with the fact that Pinsk suffered from a lack of Notes 121 workers so that Jews were employed in the mechanised factories there. In this and other cases (e.g., that of the Ginzburg family, which continued to employ many Jews in their business operations) apparent exceptions prove the rule that assimilation was largely a function of occupational contact. See (Ginzburg, I937; Mendelsohn, I970: 28; Rabinovich, I970). 4· Some degree of acculturation (as opposed to assimilation; see Gordon, I964, for an explanation of the distinction) could and did sometimes take place even without structural integration because the objective possibility of structural integration led some Jews to go through a process of what Robert Merton ( I968 [I949]: 3 I9 ff.) calls 'anticipatory socialization'.